All tuckered out

I try so hard at dog class!

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?

Marvelous Monday: Week 41

Oh, my. I can't believe marathon weekend is in the books. This morning started out gray and gloomy, and the road barriers still stacked next to every intersection exacerbated a little feeling of post-marathon letdown. (And I wasn't even running! Jeepers!) It was a full, hectic, wonderful and fulfilling few days - the first marathon weekend I've experienced in a more intensive volunteer role than past years - and I'm thinking I'll elaborate a little bit more when my thoughts are more coherent.

For now, it's Marvelous Monday. Here are five sweet pieces about the start of the week:

1) Reading report: I finished Gone Girl, which I found both totally crazy and, as advertised, a great vacation/summer read (even though I obviously wasn't on vacation). I don't usually tread too deeply into the Mystery/Thriller/Crazy Storyline genre, but this book was a quick read and wholly captivating because of the wild storyline. I finished it a full week ago and the end still gives me shivers. And I was also giving Josh, who hadn't read the book, periodic updates with every twist and turn, which I'm sure he really appreciated. Now I'm on to Swamplandia! I also stocked up on Kindle books from the library, because...

2) ...I'm traveling this week! I'm flying to Montreal for a work conference. I am so excited both about the conference material and the chance to explore a city that has been on my To Visit list for ages. I need to cram a little bit of French vocabulary this week! Have any of you been there? Any recommendations for me?

3. Food report: I love candy corn and enthusiastically basked in the vast quantities that were all around me this weekend. But I also love soup and am trying to redirect that energy toward cooking a batch of the pumpkin-black bean stew tonight instead.

4. The past couple of weeks leading up to marathon weekend have been so full for both of us that our home had slowly been going to shambles. (Reader, I don't hold anything back in Miles and Laurel.) When I came home from the marathon yesterday, I opened the door and found that Josh had aggressively deep-cleaned the entire place (including the chores that I hate) to surprise me. It was the best thing ever, because starting the week with a scrubbed, shiny home was exactly what the doctor ordered (or would order, had I visited a doctor to seek advice).

5. Wish has found a new love in his life, and it is leaf piles. They are all over the neighborhood now - not even officially human-generated leaf piles, just piles of leaves next to fences and hedges. Today he tromped through a pile so deep it covered his legs, and seeing his stocky torso scoot through the leaves was so cute, I laughed out loud.

Of course, being at the marathon finish line yesterday also got me totally pumped up for my own race a week from Sunday. Even though one big fall event is over now, there's a lot of marvelous stuff still coming up.

What are you looking forward to this month, Reader? Do you love or hate candy corn, and do you think it's possible to feel ambivalent about candy corn? Did you run a race this weekend? And tell me what you're reading, because there's still time to add to my book list for my trip later in the week!

The final stretch

This afternoon, the road to the Twin Cities Marathon and 10 Mile finish line was quiet.

But in fewer than 24 hours, this stretch will be packed full of thousands of people, 100 yards away from crossing the finish line. To me, there is nothing like this sight - or the feeling it conjures up. No matter how a particular marathon has gone for me, the last tenth of a mile - when the finish line is in sight - is an exhilarating personal celebration. Sometimes I just can't stop smiling. Other times, I remember my mind slowing down, taking a minute to think about all the work I put in to get to that spot.

I love the finish line, and I'm lucky to be able to volunteer there each year, at the site where I finished my first marathon in 2007. I can't wait to see this road full of runners tomorrow.

Race weekend

Not for me! It is for thousands and thousands of other people in Minnesota, though, because it's Twin Cities Marathon weekend! My days will be full because I volunteer with one of the race committees. Today I took a vacation day and squeezed in my weekend long run before kicking off marathon weekend festivities in the afternoon.

I looped around the river road through downtown Minneapolis. It was the coldest run I've done in many months: 37 degrees at the start - but more importantly, so windy. It turned out that I had inadvertently scheduled myself to run the entire first half basically into the wind, followed by the second half with the wind at my back. This was totally a coincidence, but it helped me finish the run feeling jolly instead of miserably cold. I definitely (and I'll say it again: definitely) could have used a pair of gloves during the first half.

It was so pretty out there. I'm feeling like a little bit of a broken record here, but it really was. The sun was brilliant, the clouds were puffy and the blue sky was so vibrant. It was been so gusty here over the past couple of days, but a lot of the leaves are hanging on, too.

First, I took a peek at downtown Minneapolis from under the Hennepin Avenue bridge:

This is what the bridge actually looks like:

Of course, I took a minute to look at leaves:

And I got over to the Lake Street bridge, and the sun was so bright, it ended up looking in photos like how kids draw suns:

The river (and trees along the river) looked beautiful.

That's the report, Reader. Next weekend's run is 12 miles, and the weekend after that is my own race weekend! This weekend, I'm just excited to cheer on friends and family, in one of my favorite races in the world.