10 miles!
downtown loop with slight variation
46 degrees/up to 17mph wind
10 miles! 10 miles! Without stopping! I ran up 3 really steep hills without any problems. A perfect morning. My legs felt really strong and I knew that I could run the entire way. No doubts. Ran on the river road path down the Franklin hill, through the Bohemian flats, up the I 35 hill, past the Guthrie, down to Mill Ruins park, up a steep hill back to the river road then home. Occasionally my knee felt a little sore or my shoulder tight or my foot ached, but only briefly. The rest of the time I felt good and joyful and grateful to be having good runs after over a year of struggling with my knee. The last time I ran 10 miles without stopping was April 22 of 2017. 19 months ago.
What do I remember from the run? More than 10 Things
- Being able to almost see the forest floor.
- Trying to keep a steady pace as another runner slowly passed me.
- Watching my shadow run ahead of me, then beside me, then ahead of me again.
- Feeling excited when I realized that they added a solid white line on the biking path in the flats for us runners who don’t want to run on the seriously slanted walking path right by the river’s edge.
- Hearing some loud cracks over at the U, deciding it was construction work but still wondering if it were gunfire.
- Hearing a bus rumble by above my head as I ran under the Washington Ave bridge.
- Admiring the lush green grass under the bridge, finally returning after years of being a construction dump site for the bridge collapse debris.
- Feel surprisingly okay running up the very long hill right before downtown.
- Encountering the dude painting the white line that I was so excited about with a weird machine that looked like a lawnmower near the memorial for the people who died when the bridge collapsed.
- The rough, uneven planks on the river road by the Mill City Museum and the sign that reads, “Caution: planks slippery when wet”
- Instead of running on the Stone Arch Bridge, taking the path down to the Mill Ruins park, running past an embarrassed woman about the get her picture taken.
- Hearing a tour guide barking out directions at a group of young kids.
- Running up the steep path that connects back up to the path, right by the bridge collapse memorial, and passing several people, including two girls who had been running up the hill but gave up.
- Running down a steep hill and feeling great.
- The shimmery sparkle of the sun on the river’s edges near the flats.
- Flashes of white boats through the trees near the rowing club.
- Spotting at least one roller skier, several other runners, many walkers, a few dogs, some bicycles. No daily walker. No Santa runner (an older runner who is super fast and has a white beard like Santa Claus).
- Almost being tripped by a stupid squirrel, darting out in front of me.
- Looking at the spray painted image of a butt with wings and a heart on the left cheek under the Lake Street bridge that Rosie pointed out last weekend.