I just love fall in the Twin Cities; October is my favorite month of the year! With the Twin Cities marathon on October 9th (next Sunday!), my birthday on the 14th, and our wedding anniversary on October 18th, there are plenty of reasons to celebrate…as well as great running weather, right?
Though its darker in the morning, the weather has been wonderful. It’s amazing how much better running feels in these temps.
Here’s how my running/training went this past week:
Monday: My sister Cresta was in town for work. She had meetings in the morning, so I took a half day of PTO to hang out with her in the afternoon. We ran to the “troll tree” on Lake Harriet to drop off a note that my niece wrote to the troll.
I’ll be sure to stop by later to see if he responded!
My sister had just done the Ragnar Trail Northwoods so we just did 4.5 miles together as her legs were still pretty tired.
After the run, we did some shopping and then grabbed some beers at Inbound and Surly. I have four sisters and none of them live in the Twin Cities. I would love for one to move here…so I’m always trying to convince them how great a place Minneapolis is. 🙂
Tuesday: I ran after work in the rain. 4 miles easy at 9:15 min/mile
Wednesday: Easy 4 miler with Matilda in the morning. I didn’t realize before Dustin took this picture that Tilda’s new collar and her leash were quite so reflective! My headband is this reflective Sweaty Band.
4 miles, 9:15 min/mile. After work, I made it to a 5:30 [solidcore] class. I never get out of work that early- it was such a treat! The instructor was Courtney- she was fabulous. Great class.
Thursday: I ran with my coworker (and running buddy) Nordica. We covered 7.75 miles at a 9 min/mile. It was so fun running with her- I hope we do it more often! She’s super fast, but slowed down for me. Thanks Nordica 🙂
Friday: Complete rest. We drove up to the cabin after work.
Saturday: I slept in and then lounged for awhile before finally getting ready for my run around 10:30 am. Then I realized that I forgot to pack any socks! I didn’t really want to run 10 miles or so without socks, so we drove into town to a local Dollar General where I picked up a pack of 6 pairs for $5. Not exactly high-quality running socks, but they got the job done!
I did wear my new Athleta Ready Set Shorts!
These shorts were a recommendation from Jess Runs ATL. Love them! They have two side pockets and a zippered pocket in the back. Buy them here!
10 miles at a 9 min/mile average. Those hills though…
Only on a cabin run would you find a random fishing pole on the side of the road:
…Or run by a rifle range. It was really busy there too, lots of gunfire. I guess it’s hunting season!
Sunday: Another 6.2 miles at the cabin on the hills. After we returned to Minneapolis, Dustin was heading to the climbing gym, so I decided to squeeze in another [solidcore] class. The 5 pm class was a ‘super’ solid class, meaning rather than 50 minutes, it was 65 minutes long. Tough! I chatted with a girl in the class who runs Ironmans (she has done Kona, which is the Boston of Ironmans!) She loves [solidcore] and swears by it. I’m sold! 🙂 (PS: If you try it, please tell them Jessie sent you! They have a great referral program.)
Summary: About 35 miles, 2 strength classes, 1 complete rest day. A pretty low-key week overall.
So, the reason we went to the cabin, (other than just to relax of course), was to pick up this carving of the Arc de Triomphe. Dustin’s dad carved it in 1958! It hung in the Normandy hotel in downtown Minneapolis until the early 2000’s.
…And now it is going to hang in our kitchen! I am so excited; I love having artwork with some meaning and family history. I shared a few pictures in this post of some sculptures we have already from his dad. Excited to have more!
Now we just have to figure out how to safely hang it…it’s HEAVY.
I had also hoped we would be able to see the Northern Lights while we were up north, but unfortunately we didn’t see them.
Anyways, it was a relaxing weekend at the cabin with beautiful fall weather. I hope the good weather keeps up for next week at the Twin Cities Marathon!
What’s your favorite month? Have fall running temps arrived where you are? Please share!
Join Jess and me again for our link-up, instructions below:
What a great week! I am just loving the Temps right now, in the mid 50s here in the mornings. I’m so glad you liked the shorts! They are pretty much all I wore this summer.
As usual, I love the Matilda pics 🙂
Yes thanks for the recommendation! I got mine on sale too- I might have to buy more!
October is definitely a busy month for you! You have some great things coming up 🙂
The temperatures this week have been nothing short of amazing. Dare I say that the hot and humid days are behind us?! I sure hope so!
I also love those Athlete running shorts – great recommendation by Jess!
I hope you are right- now comes the rewarding part of suffering through the summer running!
very cool piece of wood art!
and another great training week for you!
good luck at your next marathon 🙂 can’t believe you’re running another marathon so soon!! wow!
Ah no! My sister Erin is running Twin Cities marathon!
Ohhhhhhhh I was really surprised you were doing a marathon back to back!
Well, good luck to Erin! I hope she enjoys it 🙂
The artwork looks amazing!
I took a look at the video of the solidcore class and it looks wow! Really super intense! I wonder if we have anything similar in Zagreb cause my core is really weak but I keep postponing doing something about it
I have the Zagreb and Ljubljana halfmarathons coming up and I’m super excited to try to make a PB
Thank you Tamara! Yes, his dad was very talented 🙂
Solidcore is fantastic- it’s an intense pilates, but so much more. I love it 🙂 And yes, great for the core which is so important for runners!
Best of luck to you on your two upcoming races!
Looks like such a great week, and running at the cabin looks amazing.
October is my favorite month, it’s finally fall like weather in Colorado and it’s not yet winter.
I bet fall in Colorado is gorgeous. Thanks for stopping by Beth!
October is my birthday month, too! Absolutely love fall weather and fall running!
Yay for October birthdays!
What an amazing carving! The AdT is the start/finish of the Paris marathon and also the finale to the school trip I go on to France most years so is a very special place for me. I love how you have something so personal to hang in your home and add to its story.
Thank you Allison! I am really excited to hang the carving in our house.
I also really want to run Paris soon!
Oh you must – you would love it!