Saturday afternoon
9.7 mi / 15.6 km
34 F / 1 C
29 F / -1.6 C windchill
Tried that new route I’ve been talking about. First I ran a few blocks down to the recreational park where there's a path off a dead end street past the playing field where you can cross the main railroad tracks running through the Twin Cities. That was still covered in snow, and just then a train came by, so I had to wait for 10 minutes. I thought about seeing how long I could stand in the snow, but didn’t want to risk an irreversible numb plunge, so I slipped on my Moc3 backups. I should've run around the park and under the railroad bridge a bit farther on and then doubled back on the road paralleling the tracks on the other side, but it would've taken close to the same amount of time as just waiting there.
Once across the tracks, I took off the Moc3s and got on the U of M campus shuttle bus route, where cars are prohibited. The bike path that runs along the bus route was still snowed over, so I ran on the road. The cold asphalt felt good, and I kind of regretted not going on Thursday's run. I could've just gone up to the fairgrounds and done my back-n-forth route there shod through the slush. Maybe it would've even been dry by then. And after not running for four days, my legs felt a bit heavy.
After a short bit on the bus route I cut due south down the Minneapolis-St. Paul border, then cut into the Minneapolis neighborhood by the UofM football stadium, Prospect Park, and made a beeline for the river up over a pedestrian bridge spanning the main freeway, I-94. The neighborhood's sidewalks were kind of slushy, but I was in a good barefootn' mood, and embraced it.
Once on the River Road’s bike/pedestrian path, I was free from slush, and could pick up the pace a bit, dipping down into the 9:30 mm range. I headed South by Southeast, crossing back into St. Paul briefly and then crossed over Marshall Avenue bridge back into Minneapolis. I stopped to stretch on the bridge’s hand rail and admired the view of the Mississippi River, and the Minneapolis UofM campus which straddles both sides of the river, up on its bluffs, a little further upstream, and then the Downtown Minneapolis skyline beyond that, close to where I intended to cross back over the river on the historic Stone Arch Bridge by St. Anthony Falls. The falls no longer exist, having been replaced by a spillway and locks and dams, but used to be the only major falls on the Upper Mississippi River, and thus the first portage coming up from New Orleans. I think the portage was the initial motive for settlement in the downtown area, and then the spillway/dam’s hydro power gave rise to the flour mills of Minneapolis.
I'll have to bring our camera next time I run this route.
Anyway, after crossing over Marshall Bridge, I got back on the River Road, which descends from the bluff down close to the river’s shore after about a mile and a half. A spattering of fellow joggers were on the path too. One young guy took out his ear buds to tell me how much he admired me as he passed going about 30 seconds per minute faster than me. I gave him my usual line, that BFR just takes a little getting used to.
Indeed. There were two biggish hills on that side, returning back up close to the now tapering bluff, with about a mile of mild chipseal, and a fair amount of wetness. Around 5-6 miles I was starting to tire and my pace went over 10mm. I decided to bail on the longer version of this route, which would've taken me to the Stone Arch Bridge and would have added another couple of miles, and ran back up to the river bluff to cross over an old railroad bridge that has been converted into yet another pedestrian/bike bridge. This one connects the East Bank of the Minneapolis UofM campus with the West Bank. When we were kids we used to come over to both campuses on our stingrays and gawk at all the hippies.
That’s the nice thing about this route, or routes; there are a lot of versions possible once you run the first two miles or so to the river. By car it seems farther away, but because of the short-cut you can take as a runner, by crossing the tracks and using the UofM bus route, you can get to the river from my neighborhood pretty much as the crow flies. Once on the river there’s at least 6-8 route possibilities, of varying distance, most of it through pleasant scenery and along dedicated bike/pedestrian paths.
However, after crossing back over onto the East Bank side, what looked like a dedicated bike path on Google Maps, linking this bridge back to the UofM shuttle bus road a mile or so away, was actually a gravelly road paralleling the still active railroad tracks cutting through campus, an offshoot of the main tracks I had crossed at the beginning of my run. The road was pretty muddy in spots too.
I had been looking for a gravel road nearby to run on, but had more or less given up, so it was a nice find. After extending my temperature range this past (almost) winter, I would like to extend my range of surface types over this year's spring, summer, and fall, so this route’s sections of mild chipseal and gravel will be a good addition to my repertoire. Nonetheless, my feet were still somewhat abraded from last Saturday’s debris-filled run, so it was tough going in spots. By the time I made it back onto the campus bike path near the stadium, my feet were on the verge of tapping out as they started getting numb in the mud, slush, and puddles mixed in with the abrasive gravel and rocks.
Once back on smooth asphalt -- ahhhh -- I was able to pick up the pace again. Towards the end I started to feel my ITB strain a bit, but along the length of it not by the knee, so I decided to risk it and kept running along the bus route until I reached the spot where I had to cross the tracks again. The snow there felt good on my sore soles. Once on the other side of the tracks, back in my cozy neighborhood, I walked the last third of a mile home.
Overall a very satisfying run/adventure. I didn’t go quite as far or fast as I had intended, but the challenging surface conditions made up for it. It’s good to test the ‘barefoot’ side of “barefoot running” once in a while too. I sometimes get too caught up in the ‘running’ part. Still, on Tuesday’s run I’ll definitely be looking for nice, smooth and dry asphalt and a faster paced tempo run. Spice is variety of food.
So, I did it. 15 miles through lots of sharp rocks
(even through Moc3's), wind that worked really hard at keeping me from moving forward, hills
(even though dear hubby said it was the flat route....). Fortunately, we were running into the wind for the first half. The sharp rocks and exhaustion kept me under control when it was at my back. I had to walk one steep hill for less than 1/10th of a mile in about mile 13. My legs just gave up. But I was pleasantly surprised to find I could run again after that. I am going to go with "perceived effort" on this one and give myself a high score.
But it was "fun." Mostly because I was running with my honey, but partly because I did it.
Great job Laura! That's a long ways to go over rough surfaces.
15 barefoot miles at 7.25 pace - beautiful running day - and it felt easy!
Amazing pace Chris! That's my 880 pace. You ran 30 times farther! If you have time, a few more sentences describing the run would be appreciated.
Hey Lee, no worries. I'm not increasing my mileage anytime soon nor much when I do increase it. As far as the Hawks signing Winfield, I am super excited about it. We have a good young cb, but unfortunately he has been injured a lot last two years. I think Winfield is insurance for him as he was only signed for a year.
Yah, I can't believe the Vikes didn't offer a similar deal before cutting him. But Spielman seems to know what he's doing, so he must have a plan. He's probably eying a corner with one of our two picks in the first round.
Pretty sure this happened from doing too many leg exercises that my wife found on youtube of a couple of chicks demonstrating some leg exercises to work the butt and leg muscles. We did these exercises together and we are both kinda sore.
Does that mean the exercises worked or is it just that we are both out of shape or all of the above?
I usually try to do my butt/leg/hip exercises a full 48 hours before my next run, otherwise I feel sluggish too. Butt they're well worth doing. I think they help support your running quite a bit. Strengthens your hips, glutes and the muscles around your knee, which helps prevent runner's injuries.