5.25 miles
fairview loop*
44 degrees
*another Marshall loop variation/expansion. This is my fall 2022 weekend routine. Today I added some more distance by staying on Marshall until I reached the next main street after Prior Avenue at Fairview. A few more blocks, a little more distance, some more of St. Paul to see.
A good run, even if my kneecap was not quite in place for the first mile. Mostly it’s okay, though I worry about it rubbing and creating another bone spur. The weather was close to perfect: mid 40s, sun, not much wind. I felt strong and relaxed and not wanting to stop for any lights. I like this loop, even if it feels longer than it actually is. The hill up Marshall is not bad, especially after Cretin, and the hill down Summit makes it feel easier. I wonder how much I can keep adding onto this loop?
10 Things I Noticed
- running across lake street bridge, looking over the railing, I saw an 8-person shell heading south. I stopped briefly to admire it
- the river was smooth and dark blue and beautiful
- graffiti below the bridge on the st paul side
- running by the former Izzy’s ice cream, where FWA and RJP shared a birthday party, I noticed a wooden shelf jutting out of a window — was this the takeout window?
- a big apartment building with huge windows near the door stretching multiple floors—I think I remember seeing a big gold chandelier
- a big fancy house on Summit with stone pineapples at the end of the driveway
- the hill on marshall: steepest at the beginning, then much more gradual until it kicks up a little between prior and fairview
- the bells at st. thomas were ringing
- reaching the river, running up the hill near Summit, hearing voices behind me — runners, I think. One of them encouraging another to go! go! go! Were they going faster than me? No. Either they turned off or were slower
- more shells on the river. I could hear a male coxswain instructing the rowers. Also heard people cheering for the 1/2 marathon races on the west side
This poem makes me think of the various poems I studied last October about bells. Maybe it’s time to revisit the bell for the end of October?
Let this darkness be a bell tower/ Rainer Maria Rilke
Quiet friend who has come so far,
feel how your breathing makes more space around you.
Let this darkness be a bell tower
and you the bell. As you ring,
what batters you becomes your strength.
Move back and forth into the change.
What is it like, such intensity of pain?
If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.
In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.
And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am