A Rimy Run

Run five miles

As far as I can tell, “do a thing”s end up falling under one of three categories:

1) Goofy art project

2) Thought problem

3) Life betterment

That last category ends up being the most personally satisfying, and the most difficult.

I’m no stranger to running. I “played” cross-country from second grade through twelve. I’ve run at least fifty 5ks, and a handful of half marathons. At my very best I was able to clock a mile at 4:24.

The problem, however, is that all of these impressive running events occurred a significantly long time ago. Seven years, to be precise. While a sense of endurance is never lost, things like cardio strength, muscle mass, and general fitness dissipate rather quickly when neglected. So when I decided on Sunday I should run five miles, it was based on a fuzzy recollection of fun warm-up runs and not on the reality of my current physique. Also, I somehow forgot that it is freaking January. That’s how I ended up running a very painful 5.3 miles this morning in -7° temperatures around a frozen lake.

This is the route I took:

Blue Dot: My House

1) Lake Calhoun

2) Awesome Cemetery

3) Businessy District

4) Obscenely Nice Neighborhood

5) Nice Neighborhood

6) My Neighborhood

Here is what I probably looked like while I was running:

I bet you want a close up:

(Not pictured: It was so cold my eyes kept tearing up and little ice crystals formed on my eyelashes and would occasionally flake off and land of my chest.)

While exhausting, and significantly longer than I should have committed to, it was a wonderful run. There’s something magical about a jog that seems to wipe away all worries and clear the mind. I’ll have to do this more often.

As a bit of an aside, Lake Calhoun is a wonderful running destination in the city of Minneapolis. Typically it is surrounded by a wide variety of bikers, skaters, joggers, and walkers. However, in the dead of winter it becomes a bit empty. In my run around the lake I encountered only three living things. Here are drawings of each:

 Hipster in disguise I bet.

Either a large man in one coat or a very small man in ten.

Dog in jacket. I’m pretty sure it was judging me.

Next: Discover a new absurd phenomenon.