A new way to cross train

Monday is typically the day of rest for 3 day training, but I am off schedule thanks to last week's rain. Which is just fine, because I had previously committed to a charity golf tournament that took place Monday.



I am not on the charity golf circuit, mind you. Mostly, I did it because my friend Caroline asked me to, and I don't see her nearly often enough. So, charity golf it was!













On the course, we came across this tree. The trunk would suggest the tree was dead, having been burned out presumably by lightning. The leaves, however, suggest otherwise.

We came across a turtle! I have not seen a turtle on the golf course before. . .

Caroline was happy to get on the ground to provide a scale for you.

We saw egrets. It really was a lovely day, although a bit cool.

And then, the monster of my childhood nightmares appeared - the snapping turtle! Caroline again provides perspective and scale. It is obvious to me that she did not read the same creepy story I did as a child, wherein the snapping turtle lay in wait to snap a child up! She seems to be unconcerned for the potential that this turtle might snap! her! UP!!!

If you'd like to donate to our walk, please go here:

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/TwinCitiesEvent?px=3237566&pg=personal&fr_id=1302

Thank you for your support.

Sunday Walk

It is with sadness that I report an incident which resulted in a computer meltdown at my house last week.



Diego expanded his repertoire - for months now he has been content to lie on top of my computer monitor. On Sunday of last week, he curiously stretched his paw across to my computer box - the thing that holds all the working parts. I watched in slow motion as he sent the box tumbling off the desk! And that, my friends appears to be the death of my computer.



This loss naturally resulted in an end to the Funk Family Network, which allowed for others in the household to access the intra-web. Including yours truly. I have been going nuts as my Internet addiction has become crystal clear.



Mr. J. has created a stop gap measure which, for now, will do. As such, I am back on line and back to updating.







I set off for an 8 mile walk on Sunday. (A bit topsy turvey, for those of you familiar with the schedule. I'm on it, I assure you!)



I see the Wabasha Street Bridge will be closed for the fourth. This makes sense, in that this bridge spans Raspberry Island (which has made an appearance here previously). It is also close to the site of the fireworks. I am not exactly sure where the fireworks are launched, in that I watch them from my back deck, but it's down there somewhere. . .



This sign reminded me of the Fourth, several years ago, when a mother who clearly was given more than she could reasonably handle, threw her 1 year old twins over the side of this very bridge, then jumped herself, yelling, "Freedom!" So sad. Miraculously, one of the boys survived. So did his mother. She is now in prison, of course. Although if memory serves, the Ramsey County Attorney's Office had the good sense to recognize this woman had problems and actual life in prison wasn't the answer. Hopefully, she is getting some mental health assistance. If she was a guy, I'm sure she wouldn't be getting same, but our women's prison has some decent programming.









Cirque de Solei has come to town. I caught their act in Vegas with my friend Anj, who is walking the 3 day in Arizona this year. Anj also went to see Jersey Boys. I should have gone with her to that. For me, the first 5 minutes of Cirque were really cool. The next 10 moderately amusing. The next hour excruciating. How many times can you watch death defying feats involving the use of ankles and elbows?

Since I altered my route and headed to the East Side of Saint Paul yesterday, I thought I'd document the view into downtown from the Kellogg Blvd. bridge.

I had a client who used to live here. That's right, these are the bushes off 94 at Mounds Blvd. He used to live here in a tent with his two dogs - until the Humane Society took the dogs away because it was too cold for them to sleep outside. I am not making that up. John stayed. He didn't like sleeping in buildings. He also wasn't a fan of showers and smelled, as my office mate at the time put it, "like a dancing bear." Unfortunately, after John's girlfriend left him for a guy over in Swede Hollow (another homeless 'neighborhood' not far from here) he got into a fight with said guy, which resulted in John going to prison. I spent some time yesterday pondering the impact of mental illness. Also wondering if John was out yet. And how he was doing. And thinking about another homeless guy I know, who is currently in San Diego - or at least, was the last time I heard. . .

Far, far away you can see the High Bridge on the left. Then the Wabasha Bridge, the Robert Street Bridge, and 52 in the foreground. After the 35 W bridge fell into the river, the state did an assessment of other bridges in the state. The 52 bridge is one of the top 3 bridges in the state most likely to fall into the river if it doesn't get some much needed repair.

For those of you who might be thinking that a guy who can run a state for 8 years without raising taxes might make a good president, I'd like to gently remind you that taxes are for supporting roads and schools and the like. If you don't have a sufficient tax base, your infrastructure crumbles - right into the river! I'm just saying. . .

Indian burial mounds from 1500 - 2000 years ago. How cool is that? About the time JC was walking the earth halfway around the planet, an Indian Tribe was creating a place for their dead which is now protected by Minnesota Statute - and it's right in the city of Saint Paul!

I was walking along the road instead of on the path, because the path at that point was particularly isolated in this area. I inadvertently stepped on that wire pictured right by the white line there. Note to self: get a tetanus shot! Note to friends: If I start foaming at the mouth, get me a tetanus shot!

My walk ended with breakfast at Mickey's with Mad and Mr. J. Great morning.

If you'd like to donate to our walk, please go here:

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/TwinCitiesEvent?px=3237566&pg=personal&fr_id=1302

Thank you for your support.

walking with a mission

In an effort to catch up, I'm skipping the weekday update. Suffice it to say I have walked and did Body Sculpting. My biceps continue to improve.

It is dang hot here in MN. In a matter of weeks it has gone from October cold to August hot! Seriously, we are melting, here. Walking early in the morning is a must.

On Saturday, I set my alarm for 6 o'clock a.m. I was on a mission. Unfortunately, when I woke up at 2 a.m. wondering if my Garmin was properly charged, I ignored that. So at 6 I was confronted with a 'low battery' Garmin. This simply will not do on a 15 mile walk! So I plugged it in and tried not to be too annoyed at my delay of departure.

I packed a backpack with 2 bottles of water and a bottle of Gatorade. Also my camera, credit card, some cash and ID. At 7, I left the house like a bat out of hell. I channelled my inner Mad, and set a brisk pace. Because I had a ten o'clock appointment at InVision, I had to stay on a brisk pace. I was walking between 13:30 and 14:45 minute miles.

I zoomed over the high bridge, and down 7th Street towards the airport. (No where NEAR InVision, I know! Did I mention I had to get 15 miles in?)

I didn't stop to take a picture until I got to Mickeys. Mickeys, of course, is a St. Paul treasure. Open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Great All American Breakfast. Sit at the counter and watch the cook master the grill. It's really cool if you are at all ADD. I am given to understand Mark Hansen, of Marx in Stillwater, got his start at Mickeys. (You really should go to Marx, as well. Be advised, however, it is a slightly different price point. . . )

I didn't stop for another pic until I was on the River Road, talking on the phone with my mom. This view took my breath away. I'd like to walk this route again, when I'm not in such a hurry!

No more pics until after my errands. I came off the River Road at St. Clair. I hit the Cheese Shop at 9:45. It doesn't actually open until ten, but Ben was more than willing to accommodate me. I got some more Red Hawk (yummy!) and some Zoro sounding thing (cousin to Manchego), as well as a small bit of Swiss. Then I raced off.

12 1/2 miles into my walk, it was just 7 minutes past ten when I arrived at InVision, for their Garage Sale. I got a cute pair of cat eye sun glasses for $25.o0. Normally, I wouldn't spend $25.00 on a pair of sun glasses, since I am prone to losing them. However, I reasoned since they were marked down from $225.00, they were practically free. I figure I might be grown up enough to have grown up sun glasses. We'll see, won't we?

I was coming down Grand Avenue and just about HAD. IT. This is the view. What's coming up presented a small dilemma.

See the bridge? That's Grand for traffic going down the hill. Traffic going up goes straight, then right. It's longer. After almost 14 miles, it looked MUCH longer. There's no pedestrian path on the bridge there. I took it anyway. I ran it, mind you, to reduce the amount of time on the bridge.

Once safely on the other side, I contemplated climbing that wall, which would shave another 1/2 mile off my walk. Decided I was too old and too tired to actually attempt to scale a wall AND navigate whatever was on the other side. Walked to the corner.

Here is the base of the high bridge. I could hardly feel my feet!

A pic of the capitol half way up the bridge. . .



And the river.

In a nod to Mad, I took the 'short cut' home. 15 miles. Complete. Whooo hoooooo!!!!!

If you'd like to donate to our walk, please go here:

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/TwinCitiesEvent?px=3237566&pg=personal&fr_id=1302

Thank you for your support.

Sunday Walk with Mad

In recent weeks, Mad and I have been walking, but not walking together. It seems she cannot tolerate the way I walk. I am not kidding. It annoys her. What, exactly, annoys her, you ask? Why, everything! But especially the way my foot strikes the pavement. Drives her insane crazy.



I am pleased to report, however, that I am not the only one who can raise that child's ire. We were at the movies, waiting for the previews to start when she announced, "I can't stand the way that guy is chewing his popcorn!" "What guy?" I ask, oblivious. "That guy," she points to a guy three rows ahead of us and 6 seats to the right. I am not making that up. I didn't even realize he HAD popcorn.



There was nothing I could do about popcorn man. The same cannot be said to be true, however, about the two women who settled next to us a few chairs away in our same row. They arrived talking up a storm. Which is fine, as far as I'm concerned, until the lights go down. Michelle Obama says you shouldn't go to a movie on date night because you (and I'm quoting here) "can't talk during a movie." She said 'can't' people! Not 'shouldn't,' 'can't.' Duh. They even make an announcement about this before the previews. I can only assume the two women didn't hear the announcement over their incessant chatter. They kept talking and talking. The first preview was for a movie that looked boring, so Mad and I tolerated the chatting. Then another preview came on that actually looked interesting. The chatting continued. I found this intolerable.



Channeling my inner southern woman, I got out of my seat and went down the aisle, to where the two women were STILL chatting. "Excuse me," I said in my best imitation of Miss Mellie from Gone with the Wind. Remember that scene where she's dying? And she asks Scarlett to 'look after Ashley'? How sincere and kind she was? That was me in the Inver Grove Heights Theatre at the 5:00 o'clock show. "Are you ladies planning on talking through the whole movie?" I asked in a voice so sweet I hardly knew it was me talking! "Or just through the previews? Because if it's going to be through the whole movie, my daughter and I would be happy to move. . ." I don't know who was more stunned - them, or me! I was told quite sternly to "Sit. Down." Which I did. To the sweet sweet sounds of silence. There was not another peep out of either of them. Lovely.



Sunday, Mad agreed to walk with me, because she wanted me to buy her jeans at Herberger's - a store about 5 miles away. Since we needed to do a 10 mile walk, this seemed to be a fine idea.











On our way to Herberger's, we stopped for breakfast at the Uptowner. Now, this is the first picture I took on this walk. That child can MOVE! She set the pace. We were walking 13:30 miles. Whew! Lucky for me, there was a red light or I probably wouldn't have caught this picture!

















While we were waiting for our food, Mad decided the jelly needed to be organized by flavor. She does not get that from me!











Ah, Herberger's! We picked up a pair of skinny jeans for a song! After that, Mad went to her dad's house to hang out in the hot tub. (Note to self: check out hot tub prices. . . My calves could use one!)

If you'd like to donate to our walk, please go here:

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/TwinCitiesEvent?px=3237566&pg=personal&fr_id=1302

Thank you for your support.

14 mile walk

Friday, I did 'Body Sculpting' for cross training. I'm starting to see a difference in my arms. I am NOT, however, seeing a difference in my resentment level towards a certain 'back up exerciser,' who seems to feel compelled to do these exaggerated, pursed lips, exhales every time the camera pans on her.

Saturday we had a 14 mile walk. I was inspired to take a picture at each mile marker. Turns out, there's frequently not anything particularly inspiring just because you are at a mile marker. That said, I'm already in for the proverbial pound, so let's take a look, shall we?

Here we are at mile marker one. My plan for this walk was to break it into 2 parts: a 6 mile walk with the new shoes, followed by an 8 mile walk with the old shoes. For the 6 mile walk, I thought I'd go to the farmer's market. The farmer's market is in Lowertown, which is about a mile and a half from my house. Unless, of course, you go 'the long way. . .' This is a pic of the 'Uppertown' sign at the base of the high bridge.

Mile 2: Taking a left towards St. Clair extends the walk, as you might imagine. I had hit Mile 2 when I passed the Holy Mackerel Tattoo and Piercing Parlor.

Mile 3 - I believe the Landmark Center was the first Federal Courthouse in the territory. There used to be a museum inside the Landmark Center documenting Nazi prisoners of war held here in the Midwest. Closed for lack of funding.

Mile 4 - I looped through the farmer's market, bought $6.00 of Swiss Chard and a Cheddar Brat, and headed back. This is a picture of Rice Park. (or is this Mears, and the other Rice? I get them mixed up!)

Mile 5 - This is from the base of the Wabasha bridge looking back at down town. By this point, my shoes had been filing objections for at least a mile. I debated taking them off for the climb up the Ohio Street hill. I decided against it, because I figured barefoot I could injure so many MORE spaces on my feet. I got home before mile 6 was complete.

Mad and I went to Run - N - Fun to get her a second pair of walking shoes. Then I went to the hardware store looking for assistance in FINALLY staining my kitchen cupboards. I started taking paint off those cupboards in the summer of 2006. It took me well over a year on and off to get through the at least 7 layers of paint put on those cupboards over the past 100 years. I spent the next 18 months NOT finishing the job, for fear of ruining it. I finally accepted that I could 1. stain it; and 2. paint over it if it sucked. I bought supplies, returned home, then headed back out for my 8 mile walk.

Mile 6 It wasn't far from the house that mile 6 was completed. This is walking up to the top of the high bridge for the second time that day.

Mile 7 - Approaching United Hospital.

Mile 8 - I took a left before United and walked up the Ramsey Hill. This is just a view of Summit Avenue.

Mile 9 - By this point, I had a spring in my step. My destination was mile ten. I was so close I could taste it!

I was on a quest for my own personal brand new 'drug of choice,' Red Hawk Cheese from Cowgirl Creamery. Some of you may have been reading this blog back in April, when I first discovered the joy of Red Hawk. I was in San Fransisco at the time. (Small wonder. How many people got addicted in San Fran over the years?) I have been chasing that taste ever since.

They say admitting you have a problem is the first step in finding a solution. In which case, let me just say that I am not actually addicted to Red Hawk Cheese. I can quit any time I want. I just don't want to right now. OR EVER!! This cheese is so good I dream about it.

Mile 10 - Behold. The St. Paul Cheese Shop. It's on the corner of Snelling and Grand. The service is great. The accoutrements are fab-o. I got some grapefruit marmalade (I KNOW!) to go with a sheep cheese called Ros, some crackers, and half a round of Red Hawk. Now it was just a matter of walking the 4 miles home and then - cheese heaven.

Mile 11 - I liked these little flowers lining the sidewalk at the paint your own pottery place.

Mile 12 - Dixies is apparently 2 miles from my house!

Mile 13 - again, by United Hospital. I took a shortcut back to the high bridge.

Mile 14 - Mr. J called as I was trudging up the high bridge. Let the record reflect that in this walk I went up the high bridge, up the Ramsey Hill, up the Ohio Street hill, and I wasn't even winded. I credit the tall box climb! But I digress. Mr. J called, wondering how I was doing. My Garmin told me I was at 13.85. I knew I'd hit 14 before I hit home. Since I had him on the phone, I asked if he'd come meet me. I'd get off the high bridge and keep walking to 14, but that was it. (I actually walked to 14.1 before Mr. J arrived. Bless him. Even though it was 'only' another 1/2 mile.)

Ten miles for the Sunday walk. Mad and I have a plan that involves shopping. . .

If you'd like to donate to our walk, please go here:

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/TwinCitiesEvent?px=3237566&pg=personal&fr_id=1302

Thank you for your support.

Thursday 5 miler

Have you ever had one of those mornings, where you wake up and lie about trying to come up with excuses for why you can't/shouldn't/won't do your training walk? That was NOT my experience on Thursday. You see, on Thursday morning, my house was completely without coffee beans.





Now, I appreciate that this is not a crisis in some households. My folks, Dave and Mary Kay, have probably not had 'real' coffee in their house since the Folgers days of 1973. Around the time they put away that stellar green glass ashtray the size of a Frisbee. (A fine murder weapon, that would have been. . .)





I, on the other hand, almost always have coffee in the house. When I don't, it's because I had an extra cup the night before and hadn't been planning properly.





As such, when the alarm when off at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, I was up and ready to roll.

















I was already on the cusp of Irvine Park when I saw this sign. The 'Please' is awful faint, but you get the idea. . .















And here, the fountain in Irvine Park. No water flowing yet. There was a guy sitting on one of the benches who asked me, "Why'd you take a picture of the fountain?" Told him I thought it was pretty.











So I'm coming out of the park and I see this path cutting up to Kellogg. I was tempted to make a run at it. Then I remembered I am a grown up.









This fountain is in Mears Park. It is also on the way to Starbucks.

Post Starbucks, this Monument DOES have the water flowing. I'm not sure what the Monument is FOR. There are squares that say basically, "We landed on the shores." "We ate and slept near the natives." "We conquered the land." (No mention of how we destroyed a people and a way of life. . . )

If you squint, you can see a guy sitting on the bench on the right side of those stairs. He's just sitting there at 7 in the morning taking it all in. I'm not sure if he spent the night there, was from one of the boats in the marina, or walked down there. In any event, it occurred to me that watching the river for a while might be a really cool way to pass some time.

Back on my side of the river, I came across this wetland.

Here's another view of the wetland, which is on Plato between Robert and Wabasha.

My purple iris. This pic was taken pre - weeding with Mary and Bridget, of course.

If you'd like to donate to our walk, please go here:

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/TwinCitiesEvent?px=3237566&pg=personal&fr_id=1302

Thank you for your support.

more dc walks

Walking in D.C. was an absolute joy. Here's the tail end of my Saturday walk. I realize I am days behind in my updates. A fickle computer is delaying posting by shutting down at random. I think it is the universe trying to teach me patience. . .

As we were walking towards the Jefferson Monument, we came across this collectin of black cars. Hmmm. Which important person was in this building, anyway? We saw a motorcade the day before that involved cars that looked just like this, along with a dozen or so police on motorcycles.

Yet another shot of our nation's capitol.

We wandered down 14th street until we couldn't go any further and then snuck over to 15th between 2 important looking buildings. This squad was parked there, but the police were no where to be seen.

Behold. The Jefferson Monument from afar. I haven't been here in over 25 years. I couldn't wait to see it again.

As I was taking it in, this helicopter came barreling by.

Here it is.

Thomas Jefferson.

The sun was setting as we were leaving. The White House is in the distance in the middle of the frame.

The sun setting over the basin.

Leaving, with the Memorial all lit up.

From the Jefferson Memorial.

I could hardly turn away I was so fascinated by this view.

My 5 mile walk this morning wasn't nearly as eventful.

Nonetheless, I'll be blogging about it soon.

If you'd like to donate to our walk, please go here:

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/TwinCitiesEvent?px=3237566&pg=personal&fr_id=1302

Thank you for your support.