Running
I had exactly 45 min to get this run in before the next meeting. Not bad overall as I gave myself a couple min to cool down as it was much warmer out than expecting and for me… I over dressed but glad to have the sun out and a little warmer weather.
Running street hunter edition… It got dark quick so I decided to use my time to pick off some streets I have not run and boy did I find elevation and some interesting places I need to circle back to at some point. Especially that trail that I didn’t dare go down at the late hour it was.
Even though it was overcast today the weather wasn’t bad out for my run. I like having slower Mondays at work from a meeting perspective as it lets me reset for the week ahead and go a little longer running to as I just put more work time in later in the evening.
Decided to do a short Easter run today in order to hit a smaller millage goal of the week. Also, felt like with the amount of snacking and food in my future today this will be a good start. Looking at this dock I feel like it is placed out further than before but I could be wrong. 🤷♂️
Friday morning unplanned half that included Ridge Road. I might have choose one of the more hillier routes to run today for no good reason at all.
From the top of Ridge Road
From across Christmas Lake looking back at Ridge Road
Had to take it slow with a number of ice spots out there today. Also, the route I ran got interesting as I came to some sections where the sidewalks were not clear and I didn’t feel like running on a busy road.
Compared to yesterday today’s run was rainy. I thought I found a break in the action only to find myself out there getting poured on. Just amazing change in weather 24 hrs later. 🌧️
What better kind of run to have than a trail run while the snow falls. Not bad for a birthday run this year. 🥳
Forty-Three
What another year it has been. It has been an interesting year and still busy as always. I keep thinking to myself that I should start these days, if not a month or so before my actual birthday but I feel there is something blocking me off from this time to reflect quickly and jot some things down. It is not to say I haven’t thought about it but I also don’t want this to feel like work or something I have to do. I want it to be something I want to do, so that is why I am doing it now while watching some snow fall and drinking some coffee.
This year was a really fun year at our seasonal camping spot. Between my wife and kids, I feel like someone was there as much as they possibly could be all summer long. I came back and worked from home during the weeks, typically with a kid or two (depending on activities), and went down earlier on weekends or sometimes took a Monday off and came back Monday night or Tuesday early. It has been a really enjoyable time down there this year by having more space in the new to us camper and just giving us a place to get away and not worry about things in our actual house. It then really feels like a weekend with no plans, versus if we would have been around our house, I would find odd projects and feel like I need to get stuff done there.
Another quick fun thing that happened this past year was April’s brother got married and we all were able to spend time as a larger family for a weekend. Not only was that awesome, but the wedding was at April’s parents’ house overlooking the pond on their property. Besides the sweltering heat, it was just a lovely time.
Down in Ollie, IA for April’s brother’s wedding at her parents’ farmhouse.
As of the first of this year, my parents moved up to Minnesota which has already been great. We have been able to see them more, and they have been able to come to so many more kid events than before they would not have been able to. I don’t think they will be busy anytime soon with 6 grandkids in all kinds of activities. It was a little strange when I was back at my parents’ house in December, knowing that this town I grew up in and this house I grew up in will probably be one of the last times I am here. Not that I won’t go back for my reunions from time to time, but other than that, I have less of a pull to head back that way. I am good with closing that chapter of my life and excited that my kids will have a new different relationship with my parents as they live so close. Now I just have more boxes of stuff they have dropped off and I am slowly working throughout in my shed office.
For me personally over this past year, I don’t have too much to report, as I didn’t really do much but try to keep running as I have but didn’t really do any big races but found a trail race in the fall that was just fun as there were no expectations. As I type this today after a really long run yesterday, I actually don’t have any plans for the upcoming year, which I know I really need to start thinking about. I guess for now I will just refer back to Brendan Leonard of Semi-Rad’s philosophy called The Zen of Running I will “put in the miles so I can…. put in the miles so I can…”
Last year this time I was thinking of focusing on connections, and I am not 100% sure I really did it complete justice at this point. However, from a work perspective, I have over the course of the last couple of months been trying to double down on it. I think it is the one thing that makes 100% virtual work hard is you can’t have as many chance visits. So, starting and since my visit in December, I have made it a point to find people in the office and/or let some of the local people know I am around. I need to force myself to do this with some friends of mine, as sometimes in the throes of the weeks I can still make too many excuses.
For this next year Resilience will be the theme, and my family has taken a liking to it as well. I actually a couple weeks back wrote this exact quote down on a piece of paper and put it in the kitchen for the kids to see every day (well and myself).
“Resilience is knowing that you are the only one that has the power and the responsibility to pick yourself up." Mary Holloway.
Even with the colder weather it was actually a good day for a run. Explored some new areas and then took the easy trail to get back to the car in the end.
Needed to move today after a long day of being on calls and knowing my night was going to entail updating slide decks. However, on this run if I would have been fast enough I could have snapped a picture of two beavers that quick jumped in the water and swam away here. FYI it is snowing… 🌨️🤦♂️
When you see a green arrow while out on a run pointing into the woods you follow it right? Well it didn’t lead me to anything but took my mind off the back to cold weather again today.
Running tonight I can close to a track and this came up on my watch. Very interesting and I wonder if it helps with track accuracy (which I am assuming it would). Now that I think about it this might have been around the spot I had my GPS issue tonight. 🤨
Between running into the wind for the first half of this run and the GPS screw up. I am not sure how far or fast I really ran 🤷♂️.
When we started the goal was 8 as we both have been a little down for the count. As we approached stopping at 12 I swayed the vote to run another loop to get us on par with plan. Overall legs were good but my stomach not so much but we got the miles. Also ,we have been spoiled as it was cold today!
Decided to make it a short easy run today on as many trails as I could find. Was the perfect start to the day in the woods with the sun peaking through.
Some days it feel hard and today was that day. I decided to use the not feeling great run to pick up some streets I hadn’t completed. Nice to see the new completed building at Round Lake, should be a nice addition as the old building had no windows, no places to sit, and never used.
Where did the trail go? I thought they hadn’t started construction around Braemar yet and I was right and wrong as I found myself running through chopped up trees. Let’s just say I don’t know if I was on the trail at points, had to walk over bad parts, and I got some nice cuts on my legs.
Now that is is finally getting warmer out and the millage is creeping up I realized I am in need of a new Hydration pack since the last time I wore one the strap broke and I never replaced it. So does anyone have any suggestion for a good running one?
