Clouds, bridges and wrestlers

I can't count the number of long runs during which I've wanted a camera on hand.  One of the best ways to see the kookiest things a city has to offer, I'm convinced, is to spend two or three hours on its streets. Today I ran by half of an entire youth wrestling camp running up a big hill by the U of M, lugging the other half of the campers up the hill on piggyback.

Anyway, I never carried a camera, mostly because I didn't know what exactly I'd do with the photos. Well, enter Miles and Laurel.  Now I have a spot to share them!

(A Friday long run, by the way, is thankfully a rare anomaly.  Because of travel or other commitments, I end up shifting my weekend long run to a weekday once or twice per marathon training cycle.  Sunday's a triathlon this week, so my alarm clock rang at a most unpleasant hour today and I headed out to get it done.)


Here's the St. Paul sky early in the run.  I guess I'm not keeping
the secret that I love clouds very close to the vest, am I?

Some people love short, intense interval workouts.  I love long runs.  I find them simultaneously relaxing (well, when they go right) and a fun adventure around the city, early, when the city is quiet.  By the end of marathon training, planning a long run can get horribly monotonous, so I try to think of themes, like one run that took me past as many stadiums as I could fit into the distance.  I get a kick out of running through downtown Minneapolis or fraternity row by the U of M early on weekend mornings, when the streets are empty.

Today's route was a staple for Twin Cities runners: the river road, which winds for miles and miles on either side of the Mississippi and connects Minneapolis and St. Paul.  I made it over to a spot that provides one of my favorite views of the Minneapolis skyline, the Stone Arch bridge:

Every time I cross the bridge, I peek at the condos that face the river.  Downtown Minneapolis is not my style for residence, but I just love the huge windows in the buildings.

Not the property on the left, though.  (That's the Mill City Museum!)

 And this is the view from the river road, peeking back at the Stone Arch bridge:

Now, home for the day because of summer hours at the office, it's time to harvest a pile of mint and a nap.