Another week down

It has been a while since I have updated this blog, so I decided to it on my megabus back to Chicago. I am on my way back from the Twin Cities. I had an awesome time celebrating at te Grinagers' wedding. I expected it to be a great time but I worried that I would potentially have to skip a couple of my runs. 

I got in to St. Paul around 8:30 p.m.  on Thursday and had a pretty late night hanging out with some of the wedding guests. I thought about going for my four mile run that night but it had been too dark and I did not want to get lost. The first thing I had to do is find a place to run. There is a little park called Harriet Island regional park right by the hotel I stayed in. I figured that would be a good place to go for a short run. I wanted to do two miles somewhere and back, but I ended up just doing loops in the park instead. The run went pretty well. I also enjoyed the sunny weather and breeze that also accompanied my run. My splits were pretty wacky but I am happy I got the run in.  Once I got done I stretched in an open field and just relaxed. When I got back to the hotel I figured out there would be a a half marathon Saturday morning. I wish I had figured out earlier so I could have gone to the expo. The race started right by right by our hotel so I decided that I would get up early and watch part of it. 

Plaza De Honor at Harriet Island Regional Park

I spent part of my Friday night trying to find a trail or good route to do my 15 miler Saturday morning. There were a couple if good options but I settled on running from to my hotel to Lake Phalen. The park is 4.2 miles from where I stayed and Lake Phalen is 3.125 miles around. I decided to run to Lake Phalen, do two laps and run back to the hotel. Now that I had a plan on where to run, I just had to actually get out of bed and do it. 

Start of the Twin Cities Half-Marathon

Getting up early surprisingly worked out well. I think it had something to do with me not wanting to be in the hotel for too long. I did lay around for a bit but I eventually got up around 8 a.m. I knew I had plenty of time because the wedding started at 4:30 p.m. I got my gear on and did this hip strengthening and flexibility routine I have been doing lately. I like it a lot and would suggest it to any runner.  I left my hotel room and watched some of the runners during the Twin Cities half. Now that I got all of all that out of the way, I could go running!

Lake Phalrn

My three concerns for the run were getting lost, accidentally finding a bad neighborhood and not ring able to complete the run. I am proud to say none of the above happens; I think(it had been early and not many people were out). It also worried me that I did not eat or drink anything before the run. I am not a morning runner so it just skipped my mind. I used google maps to get me to the park; it worked out really well. There definitely plenty of inclines on the way there. There were concerns that these would kill my legs and I would have to give up. I told myself that would not happen because I did not want to have to pay for a cab back. 

Lake Phalen

Once I successfully made it to the park, I really enjoyed the scenery around the lake. I could not have asked for a better view and weather. The other thing I loved about the trail is that there were not too many people and the bikers have their own lane. The park is pretty flat except some small inclines. I attacked the inclines and felt they made my running a lot easier when I did not have to run up them. The two laps went really well and I headed back to the hotel. Getting back seemed much quicker for some reason; who knows.

Lake Phalen

I finished the run in the same park I ran in in Friday and thoroughly stretched. It felt awesome to complete the run and relax in the sun for a bit. I did not mind walking a little more because I did not want to be sore from the run so I could do some dancing(don't worry, I did plenty of dancing)!  I relaxed at the hotel and eventually got ready for the wedding! 

The moral of the long story is that vacation runs can be tough to fit in, but with some planning, they can happen. Use the Internet or ask someone for a good place to run. It can also be a fun way to view a city. That is all I have got for today. 

Run Happy!