Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Redo of a run one year later.

I am really lucky to be living in the Twin Cities.  There seem to be never ending trails to go and run and if you plan it correctly you could run on a different trail with different types of scenary every day.  In fact the number of trails in Minneapolis has been a contributing factor that moved us past Portland, Oregon as the most bike friendly city in the US (according to Bicycling magazine).

Today, I decided that I would revisit one of the first longer runs I ever attempted.  On April 24th of last year I ran from my house down the Trout Brook trail, down the Gateway, around Phalen and back to my apartment.  This is approximately 10.5 miles.  Looking back at my running log, it took me 1:40 at a 9:07 pace.  I remember getting done with this run and wonder "How in the hell can anyone run a marathon?"  I had started to doubt that I would ever be able to run a marathon let alone run a half marathon.  I was so tired could barely move after this run.

Well fast forward almost a year and I redid that same run, but this time I brought my camera.


Me running by a little pond on the Trout Brook trail


The trees along the trail are starting to sprout some leaves


An old Rail Road bridge along the trail


Getting a bit closer to Phalen


Passing under the roads to get to Phalen


Still no leaves on the trees at Phalen but it sure was windy.


Some guy fishing


If you look closely this is the guy who walks his cat on a leash as I mentioned in a previous post. Unfortunately there was no monkey man.


Finishing up the loop around Phalen.

I finished up the run in 1:22 at a 7:50 pace and had a lot more energy in me.  Not only did I shave off 20 mins from the run but it was barely a struggle at all.  Its amazing to see how far you can come with a little training.

Todays music selection is one of my from one of my favorite current stars of the Honky Tonk, Wayne "The Train" Hancock.  I chose this song not only because it is one of my favorites but also for the thunderstorms that rocked my apartment this morning.  Enjoy!

2 comments:

  1. Hi Honky,
    I wan to run around the lakes!! It looks like such a great run:) One of these weekends when I don't have a race I am making a date with one of those trails!! Congrats on the improved time Chris!!

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  2. What a great run! Congratulations on all of your progress. What you have accomplished in a year is amazing. Who knows what you'll be doing a year from now. Thanks for sharing this great run.

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