Taper: 7.3 miles on Gateway...Plus

A couple of mallards on a log:
Don with friend, Randy, came running toward us... fun to meet on the trail.
Two inches of rain overnight.. and the trail was still quite wet.

Daisies are blooming!!!
Sweet Pea spotted this tiny turtle at the edge of the trail. With 2 inches of rain last evening and overnight ... the worms were out!! Breakfast for the robins... or "road kill" under bike tires or running shoes. But we only photographed them.
We are doing pretty well with negative splits; our last mile was the swiftest!

Other trail tallies:
2 dogs being walked
2 children biking with dad
1 very small girl biking with mom or sitter
1 Dear Old Man sweeping the trail with his lawn broom ... Lots of debris on the trail from recent wind and rain.

PS ... July/August "Running Times," page 18 "Double Your Pleasure: Two-A-Days Could Be Your Marathon Secret Weapon" suggests 30-45 minutes for a second run of the day.

YO!! we did another 40 minutes in the neighborhood this afternoon! Toasty 75 degrees and bright blazing sun.

Another 8.6 miles on Gateway Trail

Sweet Runner Dude was out there to meet us a couple of times.
I had the creepy feeling the bicycle riders had read my blog! Everyone was so polite today. Nearly everyone warned of their approach.
Not that we really need a warning, I guess, because I never have so much as an elbow over the center line (No yellow line in this picture, but on much of the trail)
But it is unsettling to have bicyles race by, sometimes riding side-by-side.
Some of the cyclists seemed to be here for the big bike race, but many just seemed to be the usual folks.
We saw a young mother roller blading her 2 small tots along in a double stoller.
We saw and heard several loons fly over: a sight I have never seen in the sky.

Sweet Pea and I are so slow that I hate to mention this ... but
we did negative splits again.
About 60 degrees and a light breeze ... a joy to run!!

PS Another blogger who has written to the 5 runner questions:

run-dmz.blogspot.com

5 Runner Questions

These are some of the runners who have blogged recently about these questions:

runmomrun.blogspot.com

dcspinster.blogspot.com

breakingthetape.com/21stcenturymom

1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago?

A. I weighed 20 pounds more and had never run.

2. What is your best and worst run/race experience?

A. BEST: I loved the (12)marathons and (6)half marathons ... wouldn't trade the memory of a single one.
WORST: Even the worst races were good for a story or a joke, and none has been fatal.

3. Why do you run?

A. Because I can ... To prove I'm alive ... To eat the healthy food I want to ... To be with my family runners ... To get medals ... To keep my body strong and my brain working ... To have something to blog about ... To stay alive.

4. What is the best or worst piece of advice you've been given about running?

A. I read Runner's World, Running Times and runner's blogs ... lots of good stuff there. Nobody bothers slow old women much with advice. :-)

5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know.

A. My cell phone ring tone (in my running shorts pocket) is a piano concerto.


If you would like to write about these questions, consider yourself tagged.

8.6 Miles on Gateway

(Little Elk Creek Church 150th Anniversary was posted last Monday... see below.)

Sweet Pea and I had a great run today on Gateway Trail ... in spite of maybe 60 bicycle riders getting tuned up for the Great River Energy Bicycle Festival that starts Wednesday and finishes in Stillwater MN on next Sunday. . . . . Bicycle Festival

Most of those self-important amateur athletes were oblivious of the safety benefit of giving an "on your left" as they went speeding by.
We stayed particularly alert.

An added delight today was the presence of so many (16-18) children between the ages of 5 and 12 on bicycles ... having a Sunday ride with their parents and friends. We cheered them all as we met them.

July "Runner's World", p.33: "Fast Forward ... Progression runs fine-tune your pacing, boost your fitness, and ramp up your speed."
We ran 4 miles out and 4 miles back. Each mile back was faster than that mile had been on the way out. Our speediest mile was the final one. OK!

Can't believe I went off today without my camera.

20 Miles on Gateway

Temp in the mid-sixties all day long with a variable breeze 7-10 mph. Heavy overcast: storms were coming. Don was at home watching the radar move in from Sioux Falls.. to Mankato... to the western suburbs, and keeping in touch by cell phone.
We made our long 20 miles before a drop of rain.

These lovely pink wildflowers decked out the hillsides and pond banks. Geese and goslings Sweet Pea especially appreciates the dogs being walked. We could hardly believe this picture when we got home. On the trail, we didn't realize the prize the cat had in its mouth!
This was near a horse stable .... where cats help keep the mouse population down.
I am extremely sensitized to poison ivy ... so I was on the lookout for it: find the shiny 3-leaf plants. Honey suckle is lovely this time of year; not so lovely when it's branches are spreading to choke out other plants. There will be a new crop of dandelions!

This is one of those great kid-strollers that can be pulled by a bicycle. It is fun to see the infants and toddlers out.

Several states are having tornado watches, warnings ... and tornados.
We have had at least an inch and a half since 5pm.
It is good to have a long run in.
It is good to be home before the storms.
Week total: 38.3 miles

Running

10 mile race on Saturday
8.3 miles on Gateway on Tuesday

For most of the run on Tuesday, it was just a bit misty, cloudy, not unpleasant.
At around mile 6 the trail and the trees ahead of us looked white: it was a wall of pouring rain. We ran into the rain and ran in it for about half a mile.
We wanted to run longer but we were soaked, so we finished our 8.6 and went home for hot popcorn instead.

All sorts of thunderstorms tomorrow. We will try to get a run in, but we aren't optimistic about a long one. We don't run in lightning.

Has anybody else noticed that there are tornado watch boxes somewhere every single day?

150 Year Anniversary

Overarching the chancel are the words, "Let God Be Magnified."
In this place I stood in that traditional Norwegian pulpit and preached the Gospel. At this altar I officiated at Holy Communion, blessed the children and lovingly served the folks who knelt at this railing. I made an unusual number of hospital calls in Eau Claire, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Menomonie. One sweet woman remarked that I ought to have a helicopter! Eighteen years later one man remembered my funeral sermon for his friend. Young people and children witnessed that a woman could be a pastor. For the few short months in 1990 we did ministry together, and I was the interim pastor. This was my fifth of thirteen interims.
Yesterday at the anniversary Sunday morning worship, Pastor Steve Carlson recognized former pastors, lay officers and leaders, Sunday school teachers, a descendant of the founding pastor, and many others in attendance. They invited even the interim pastors back.
Pastor Carlson wrote an amazing compilation of all the past congregational history stories, which was printed and offered free .. with the request of a donation.
The Sunday school children sang an excellent arrangement of "This Little Light of Mine". The combined choir of Little Elk Creek and its sister congregation and also a male quartet sang.
Bishop Duane Pederson brought greetings and assisted with communion.
Pastor Carlson's sermon was a gracious recounting of the history, and a call to continue the ministry.
The organ has been refurbished. The retired organist, whom I had worked with, assisted on this special day.
Catered lunch was served and the crowd flowed out onto the yard... with celebrating people everywhere. At the left side of the picture you can see the keg of root beer, popular with kids of all ages. Delicious home-made yummy bars for dessert.. and in the center of the table... the "white food" for which Scandinavians in the midwest are so famous. When I was there in 1990, I brought Holy Communion at home to the folks who couldn't climb the many stairs to the sanctuary. The artfully designed addition in the forground, making the entire church handicap-accessible, was built and paid for recently. The people in this rural area of Wisconsin are not wealthy, but they take seriously the call, "Let God Be Magnified." They are beneficiaries of those settlers a hundred and fifty years ago who humbly "prayed a church into being."


The benediction I usually used in my interim ministry: "May God bless you. May the peace of God which passes understanding keep your heart and mind in Jesus, the Risen Christ. Amen.

Northern Lakes Races

Our favorite runner coming in to the finish of the 30K. Northern Lakes 30K and 10 mile races are around and in the area of Bald Eagle Lake, on the north edge of the city of White Bear Lake.
Sweet Pea and I did the 10 mile around Bald Eagle Lake. Today was a bit warm for a race.. high 60's .. but a nice gusty breeze kept us going.

At about 3:30 this afternoon the weather radio came on and we are in a severe thunderstorm watch.

Longevity

Earlier this week we posted a picture of Runner Dude's Mom.. who celebrated her 98th birthday this month.
We thought we should add that his Dad is still alive and active too!! The two of them are an awesome inspiration to all who know them.
Currently, they are planting their gardens and tending their yard and berry bushes. Also attending community and church activities, visiting old friends, including those in care centers.
The great-grandchild babe in the picture is Runner Dude's grand-niece.

Mayo Clinic: 8 hour day

Sunrise on the way to Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. An eight hour day, some of it spent waiting here on the 10th floor of the Mayo Building. The best part: gracious time with the doctor who takes time for discussing all the questions and the blood test results. Don is responding well to the experimental drug. What a powerful meaning in that word, "responder" ! Side effects are not desirable, but tolerable.
Write on your hearts that every day is the best day of the year.

You can see complete results at MyelomaHope.blogspot.com.