Mornings like these

This spring, I had settled into a running routine that worked well for me: 20-30 miles per week, mostly completed over my lunch hour with the exception of one longer run on Saturdays. I took a cutback week a couple of weeks ago because I got the chance to try out a couple of lunchtime fitness classes (pilates and a different yoga class). After that, suddenly, it was way too warm for a midday run without my face being bright red for the rest of the afternoon.

It's time, I realized, to get back to morning running.

I considered this morning to be a test run, since my Saturday miles are usually morning ones anyway (albeit later in the morning, earlier in the spring). I had forgotten how still the neighborhoods are in the early morning, save for a few people out walking their dogs. An hour or two later, the playgrounds and garage sales and neighborhood baseball games and lawnmowers were in motion. But during my run, the city was quiet.

And, of course, the morning clouds:

By the time I got home, the clouds had burned off completely. The sky changes so fast in the early daylight.

A peek at the neighborhood

A big tulip patch next to a stop sign, leaving me wishing that every intersection included tulips:



A halo around the sun spotted on this morning's sun, reminding me of a winter sun dog:

A big sky with puffy spring clouds on an evening walk:

The prettiest blossoms, which I was ready to call crabapple or regular apple but may very well be something else entirely (input welcome):



A few raindrops during a chilly week:

And lots more leaves (and even some lilac buds) emerging with each passing day:

A new skyline view

This evening I was over in Minneapolis for a meeting, and I squeezed in a run before the meeting. I looped around Dinkytown and part of the University of Minnesota, and on a whim I ran up a trail to the Witch's Hat Water Tower in Prospect Park.

You can only go all the way up once a year (and I do believe I'll mark my calendar), but even the view from the water tower's base was striking:

I liked this new-to-me peek at the Minneapolis skyline.

Warm March sun

My first run in my 30s: blue skies and that strong March sun!

I listened to a baseball podcast for the first time in months, and even though the temperature was still in the 20s, it felt a lot like spring.

Morning run

Today I had just enough time to squeeze in some miles before work!

I'm really starting to notice the extra daylight in the morning and evening now. This morning, just before the sky started to get lighter, I loved the glow of the streetlights against the gray-blue clouds.

Then, only a few minutes later, I saw this!

I was cold by the time I got back home but glad I got out there. I do like those pink sunrises.

Magnificent sun dog

Today I saw my first sun dog!

If you are in Minnesota, you are probably shaking your head in disbelief and wondering how this could be true. This cold, snowy, long winter has been exceptional for sun dogs, which basically involve sunlight passing through ice crystals when the sun is low on the horizon. (You can read lots more about this phenomenon on today's MPR weather blog.)

Periodically through the winter, my Twitter feed has exploded with content about sun dogs, and every time, I've been out and about either too early or too late to see a sun dog. You can guess that this greatly displeased me.

Today, I looked at Twitter before taking Wish out for his morning walk, and once again, Minnesota was on sun dog alert. I wondered if today would be the day that I finally saw one and if I would even be able to spot it.

We trotted outside, and there was no mistaking it. I gasped.

We strolled around the neighborhood for a few brisk minutes (it was -10) and I couldn't take my eyes off it. It was a magnificent sight to start the day.

Back home

Well, hello!

We just got home from our long weekend in Colorado! I thought I'd be able to post a few pictures now that my Blogger app is up and running on my phone, but then the phone itself decided to act up. (Oops.) I'll catch you up with a trip recap this week. For now, we have dinner and a snuggly dog to which we must attend.

First, just one photo. These are the Colorado skies that I watched during our drive to the airport.

Hope your week is starting out well, Reader!

Wrapping up May

On my list of favorite things: starting Friday evening with a walk in the sunshine.

P.S. Happy two-year anniversary this week to this old blog!

Winter trees

Sometimes I forget how pretty trees in the winter can be.

Make no mistake: it's hard to top the beauty of summer trees. And even more difficult in my book, as you guys know, to top how beautiful trees in the fall are. But even without leaves, there is a certain appeal to these bare branches. They are almost somehow more interesting in this season. I was running along the river road yesterday, and there was a gorgeous contrast going on: dark trees, bright blue sky, and a brilliant sun. It didn't hurt that the temperature was nearly 40 degrees - and that by the end of the day, dreary clouds would roll in and the skies would open up with cold rain.

A happy run.

A few weeks of fall (so far)

Reader, I was running along the Mississippi River today, and the sun was shining over purple clouds against the fall colors along the riverbanks. It was so lovely and, of course, I'd left my camera at home because I was doing intervals along the river. (My last set of intervals before the marathon! I feel like it's officially taper time now.) Anyway, taking photos of clouds is not part of most speedwork regimens. Instead, I will look back at a brief autumn recap so far:

A pink sunset:

Green leaves:

Yellow leaves!

Orange leaves! (Are you sensing a pattern yet?)

The sumac is less Fruit Stripe Gum now and more uniform. And yes: red leaves!

My favorite part of this picture is the shadows on the river, with the St. Paul skyline way off in the horizon:

And this one must be the remnants of a bridge, but it looked like cinnamon sticks from way up high:

Much of the past few days (and upcoming days, if the forecast is any indication) have been gray and blustery, so it pleases me to look at the blue skies in most of these photos. What's the weather like where you are, Reader? And even more importantly: have the leaves peaked?