Tag Archives: Minneapolis

As the weather warms up, each run feels a little different. I’m finally shedding my extra layers and running without feeling weighed down. Carmel and I have been having a grand old time running the mountain.  I also hosted an essential oil class with my mother-in-love. I swear by essential oils for multiple things, including helping me sleep. 🙂 After my class, I was feeling pretty tired, and I had my eighteen miler the next day, but The Lowest Pair was playing downtown at Guu’s. I first heard them when they opened for Trampled By Turtles in Green Bay last year, and I think they’re fabulous! I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to hear them in my backyard, so I went over there.

I’m having a little bit of a crisis of work intention, but I’ll go into that more in my next post or two, so going to a concert alone was certainly an interesting experience.

The next morning, I woke up with a stomachache and generally feeling crabby. I didn’t want to run, so I put it off, and put it off some more. I did some work, and cleaned the house, and finally, I convinced myself to bite the bullet. Since it was in the 20s, I headed into the gym for my run. Luckily, my crabby mood lifted about mile 9. I ate some Starbursts and drank my Nuun, and watched some The Boss on Netflix.

Now, for a bit of honesty. 🙂 

You would think that having dozens of double digit mile runs under my belt, that I would remember the basics. One of the most important rules to follow is that you shouldn’t try out new clothes because they can chafe you, or ride up, or restrict your breathing… ain’t nobody got time for that. Since I was in such a funk when I was getting ready, I must not have been thinking straight, but I picked out a super cute tank top that I’d never run in before. I’d worn it for yoga and strength training, but not running. In any event, about ten miles into a sweaty treadmill run, my arms were chafing so badly that I ended up running and swinging my arms away from my body for the final eight miles. That shirt also just soaked up all my sweat. Gross AND annoying. Alas, I have no idea what the f I was thinking lesson learned. 

As soon as I left the gym, I went straight to our local soft serve place, Belts, and ate my recovery lunch while sitting in a mustard bath.  I recovered with laundry and packing for my weekend- the Trout Unlimited Upper Midwest Regional meeting. I was so excited to see my Wisconsin TU guys, my Illinois TU friends (hi, Myra!), and, of course, the staff. Dont worry, I made sure to grab some Spotted Cow to share with the guys.

Brian had Friday off, so he helped me finish packing and loaded my car for me. Before I knew it, I was on the road. A couple hours into my drive, I looked in the backseat and realized I didn’t see my garment bag hanging there. I called Brian, who informed me that we’d forgotten to put it in the car, and it was still hanging on our bedroom door frame. I ended up making up for it by buying new meeting clothes (thanks for no sales tax on clothes, Minnesota!), and my WITU friends and I headed over to our friends’ house for a cookout.

 Thanks for hosting this rowdy bunch, Criqui family!

I enjoyed the meeting, especially learning about the plans that TU has for helping us protect and restore our beloved Great Lakes. I represented Wisconsin well by attending the “Women In TU” presentation… 

  And we got to catch up over dinner. Go Badgers! Linn and Mike, from WITU, worked with my friend, Kyle (remember Kyle, from Oregon?), to put on a presentation…

   …our CEO gave a talk of his own…

…and Matt (from TU AND the River Alliance) and Linn gave a presentation about advocacy.

 I took Kyle to the Mall of America to walk around for a bit, and I dropped him off at the airport on the way to visit the Weisses.  I got to meet baby Lexi!!  The Weisses are fabulous parents, and I just love watching my friends grow into their new role. Thanks for letting me spend the night and cuddle with your babe! I was on the road early on Monday, and headed home. I love seeing that “Welcome to Wisconsin” sign.

Thanks for reading!

Miles this year: 188.45