Apple Season is in full swing!

Ah, fall is here again! And with it, comes apples. Lots and lots of apples! I've blogged about my love of apples and fall in general previously, but it bears repeating. Fall rocks. Crisp days, and Honeycrisp apples. The photo below says it all. I bought 1/2 peck of Honeycrisp and 1/2 peck of Macoun apples at an orchard yesterday, a couple Firesides at the Midtown Global Market today, and was treated to a bag of Regents in my CSA (farmshare). Good thing I like apples, because I've got some work to do to polish those off!

An interesting thing I just learned, the Honeycrisp is a cross between a Honeygold (which I knew) and a Macoun (which I didn't know)! I had never even heard of a Macoun until yesterday. Turns out I owe a lot to that Macoun apple. And as far as I can tell, 3 of the 4 apple varieties I bought were all developed here at the U of M! Can't get much more local than that!


The other thing you can tell from this photo is that I own too many knives. All the better for cutting up apples for some delicious apple crisp!

Good Luck Chicago-Bound

To all my Chicago Marathon-running friends: Kirk, Anne, Marty, Deb, Mark, Rob, C-Fletch (?) and everyone else:

GOOD LUCK!!

Make sure you look like this at the finish so people think you've given it your all:

(Photo used with permission from wkphotography.com)

You all are going to have an incredible day! Make Chicago your kind of town!

And good luck to those (Drew, Jim) running Whistlestop this weekend too!

2:53:02 and a little extra motivation

This is a race report I am looking forward to write!

A lot of people have made statements about how it was a great day or a crappy day with all that rain and cold temps. I'd say it was a good day. Not ideal, but much much better than we've had at Grandmas and TCM in recent years. So I'll take it! We had about 40 PRs in my marathon training group (MDRA), and I'd attribute most of that to the fact these runners had PRs just waiting for a good day.

I had pretty much the best overall race of my life! Prior to this, the best race where I ran to the best of my abilities was Chicago 2005 when I shocked myself and went under 3 hours for the first time. The best race in terms of support of friends and family was TCM in 2006, but I had a bad running day.

I pulled it all together and removed my doubts about the Twin Cities Marathon. I've never run TCM well until yesterday. I'll just give a little race recap here:

I got to the Dome around 6am to wait for all my fellow MDRA runners. It was great to see them and have the chance to wish them well. After a cool 5 minute warmup with Nick, we were ready to roll. We headed for Corrale 1 and waited for the gun (note: my only TCM complaint was that the entry into corrale 1 was too narrow, it took way to long to get in. There should be an alternate entrance from the plaza.)

I decided that I would go out with a local runner whose goal was similar to mine. I paced off him and that was a mistake. Since he is such a great racer I assumed that he would run a smart race. He might have, but he didn't run MY race. So lesson learned, run your own race. After a 19:35 5K, I knew that I had to step back 20 seconds a mile. I did so and settled into a long string of 6:30s.

The race was going very well (even though at this point I'm getting passed by a lot of runners who DID NOT go out too fast), but then at mile 12 the sky opened up. Until that point the rain was nice; after that the rain was torrential. I was stuck on the bridge over Nokomis, easily the most exposed part of the race. That was momentarily demoralizing as I feared that might last hours. 15 minutes later the rain stopped. 15 minutes after that my shoes stopped slogging and I was no worse off! Time to keep pounding the pavement. I had crossed the half at 1:24, but I knew that I would positive split based on my fast first 5K. I knew that 2:50 was still in sight, but that would be a stretch even keeping my pace consistent.

At 21 I was still feeling great, but I was quickly and immediately struck by the need to stop for a particular reason. Unfortunately I lost 90 seconds to that stop. But I jumped back on the course and was back to some pretty consistent miles and felt great (actually, felt better!)

About 23 the wheels started to become wobbly, really wobbly. My brain started shutting down and all those doubts crept back in. But I knew I had some people waiting for me at 24, and an even larger contingent at 25, and finally an even bigger group at 26. So I struggled for a couple miles, but still kept things at 7:00 pace or slightly better. When I saw that Cathedral and raced down the hill, I felt so great! I knew I had accomplished 2 goals: PR (by over 5 minutes) and I went under 2:55. That last 1.5 miles I was a little emotional. I was in a great deal of pain, but I knew that I was going to do it. And seeing my friends, family and fiance along that stretch just made it even more emotional.

After reloading on food in the corporate tent, I walked out to be greeted by my fiance (seriously, that word sounds too pretentious. I'd rather say wife-to-be.) We (slowly walked up the hill to watch the rest of the race. I got to see a lot of good friends finish, and finish well. I am SOOO happy and proud of my friends who finished their first marathons. Seeing them was even more emotional for me than my own accomplishment.

That night our running club had a celebration. It truly was an emotional one. Everyone seemed so happy, and some of the PRs that people dropped were just mind-boggling. Even those that didn't PR had good days and good runs, and were happy as well! Everyone should feel so proud for finishing and gutting out the rain. Running 26.2 is not easy (for most of us), no matter the conditions. Major props to everyone who made this accomplishment yesterday! And good luck to everyone racing later this fall at Chicago, Whistlestop or whatever marathon may come!

I'm an engineer and therefore a numbers guy. Here are some numbers for those who want to see them:

1 6:11
2 6:26
3 6:08
4 6:44
5 6:21
6 6:27
7 6:30
8 6:25
9 6:30
10 6:30
11 6:26
12 6:38
13 6:26
14 6:31
15 6:31
16 6:49
17 6:28
18 6:32
19 6:28
20 6:29
21 7:44 (6:14 without the 90 second break)
22 6:49
23 6:49
24 6:45
25 7:00
26 6:59
26.2 1:25
Final Time - 2:53:02!!!!

INSPIRATION

A lot of friends have told me that they were impressed with my race and that I inspired them. That is so touching. But first, I have to say that those friends who braved the cold and cheered me in multiple spots provided me with a lot of inspiration. Knowing that the MDRA group would be at Mile 25 made me run that mile when my legs said stop. And once I was up that hill at 25, I just HAD to keep on going to the finish!

But there's someone else that gave me some inspiration on Sunday. A coworker's brother was recently diagnosed with cancer and is battling bravely. I don't know him aside from his name, but I know his story, and I know how he is holding his head up through all the chemo and pain and hospital stays. I cannot even begin to imagine what he is going through. So when I saw that runners could wear a sticker to show their support of someone with cancer, I knew I had to "Run for" Chris. I put the sticker on and ran. I thought about him and prayed for him early in the race, but I forgot about the sticker for a good chunk in the middle. Around 21-22 I was starting to hurt and I heard someone say, "Go Chris Go!" They were looking at the sticker. I got a little choked up (like I'm getting as I type this). I remembered Chris and thought about how laughable it was that I was even thinking about my own momentary discomfort. I said a few more prayers for Chris and charged up Summit Avenue. I finished the race, and my "battle" was done for the day. Finishing the cancer battle is not exactly a luxury Chris has yet, but I pray he will beat it soon. Thanks, Chris, for providing me with extra motivation yesterday.

PHOTOS: (some people who inspired me by cheering or running THEIR first marathon)

Family and soon to be family provided phenomenal cheering and support!

Sorry ladies, we're both taken. Wait, you don't care? Well, fine then. :)

2 of my best friends, and 2 first-time marathon finishers! You guys rock!

Who needs more inspiration than this? Post-race grub!

Restaurant Review - Corner Table

Last night I had a phenomenal dinner at the Corner Table, a local food restaurant at 43rd and Nicollet. This is the same intersection that boasts Anodyne, which is one of my favorite coffee shops/breakfast stops in all of Minneapolis. So it's odd that I hadn't yet tried the locally-themed restaurant across the street!

This was the perfect time of year to go, since the chefs had the most local ingredients. When I went to Heartland several months ago, local veggies were in short supply. Pretty much beets only (still quite delicious!)

For drinks they had a small but impressive list of beers and wines. Considering that Corner Table prides itself on local food, it was odd that there was only one local beer option and ZERO local wine options (Note to Corner Table: There are some good wines and lots of great beers you could highlight from Minnesota). I had two delicious beers, an Oktoberfest beer from Hacker-Pschorr that was the best Oktoberfest beer I've ever had, better than even Paulaner. Then I polished dinner off with a Belgian Kwak. My only gripe with that was that I was given the wrong kind of glass. They gave me an oddly shaped "hour-glass"-shaped glass, but not the traditional Kwak glass with wooden stand as seen here (and as served at Busters on 28th). Drinks: A- (lack of local options).

For an appetizer we split a cold app, Grilled Vegetable (see menu here) medley. For the price, I was a little surprised that it was so tiny, but the presentation (chopped up zucchini, squash, etc) in a cylindrical shape was great, and the taste was fantastic and did the job of whetting our appetite for more. Appetizer: A- (size outweighed by taste and delicious bread, probably from Rustica???)

The meal came and wow, it was superb. My date had the Vegetable En Croute, which was basically a meat pie without the meat. The crust was flaky and looked delicious, and the ingredients were local and fresh. I had the lamb. It was the first lamb I'd had in probably 7 years and it was worth the wait. It was juicy and flavorful. The orzo/corn mix was great, although a lot of the orzo stuck together. But really, it's hard to find anything wrong with this. Main Course: A++!!

The atmosphere: I got there a bit ahead of my date, and there was a nice small bar to sit at and enjoy a beer while I waited. Not much else for waiting room, but the bar was a perfect spot for that. Thumbs up! While I waited I checked out the dining options. The place had a nice, romantic, but not stuffy feel. The outdoor seating looked good, even with the busy traffic of Nicollet Avenue. While the main dining room had a great feel, we were placed in a back room that jutted off the main dining room. It was a small room with only 4 tables. When I first sat down, only 1 table was occupied by a loud and annoying couple on probably a first date. I didn't really enjoy the feeling that I was sitting at their table and in their conversation. But once the other tables filled with diners, the room became uniformly noisy and the conversations canceled each other out. Grade: B+ (A+ for the main room, C+ for the back room)

Service: Impeccable, friendly, just what I would expect for the price. Great job!

All in all, in the categories that matter most: 1) Would I recommend this place and 2) Would I return, the answer to both is a resounding YES!

I'd love to return in winter and see what local food they have.

The Key Lime Yogurt Challenge

I often wonder about the subtle differences in food and beverage. This interest previously inspired my "Coke Challenge", where I had folks try 4 different types of Coke and Diet Coke to see if anyone could discern the difference.

In addition to drinking a lot of Diet Coke, I also eat a lot of yogurt. Lately I've been eating a lot of Key Lime-flavored yogurt for some reason. While shopping for yogurt the other day, I saw 4 different types of no- or low-fat Key Lime yogurt. So I bought all of them. And ate them. And now I'm here to blog about 2 of them: The Archer Farms Target Key Lime Yogurts.

When shopping, look for the colored bar! They look so similar.

Not only does Target make a low-fat Key Lime yogurt, they also make a NO-fat Key Lime yogurt. I ate both at the same time to compare. The results are interesting:

I'll start out with the essential 3 C's of yogurt-grading:

Consistency: Surprisingly, the low-fat had a slightly runnier consistency than the no-fat version. I was expecting the no-fat version to be runnier like the Light and Fit yogurt, which is basically like water. Winner = No-Fat

Low-fat sticks to the spoon...

But not like No-fat does!

Color: Both are a shade of green, but the low-fat is a more Key Lime shade of green. Winner = Low-Fat


Calories: No-fat has far fewer calories. 80 vs 180. Winner = no fat.

Ingredients: Well, since the low-fat version doesn't have ingredients that give lab rats cancer, I'll give the nod to low-fat.

Low-Fat's key to taste victory = real sugar and lime juice. But 100 more calories? (click on the photo to zoom in on the ingredients)

And most importantly, TASTE: No contest here. While both are quite tasty, low-fat has that traditional tart lime taste. And somehow it's a little sweeter too.

So the clear winner is Low-Fat Key Lime. HOWEVER, when consumed BY ITSELF, No-Fat Key Lime tastes good too. Let's call it the Diet Coke principle. Diet Coke is pretty good until it is consumed side-by-side with Coke or Coke Zero. Then Diet Coke starts to taste like a$$.

So what will I buy? Probably a little of both, tending towards the no-fat. I like massive quantities of yogurt, and the lower calorie option allows me to eat twice as much!

George McCain or John Bush?

Now the question can be answered definitively. Thanks Tom Ridge.




And thank you Daily Show. It was a great 2 weeks of convention episodes. Looking forward to the homestretch this campaign season.

Tale of Two Races

The title of this blog has two meanings as will become apparent. This morning I ran two 5Ks. I first ran a free 5K sponsored by LifeTime Fitness and the Mayor's Office at Minnehaha Falls (obviously I had to run that, look at the title of my blog!) Then after chatting with some folks at the race, I ran home, jumped in the car and drove up to North Minneapolis for the Victory 5K.

These were two very different races. The first race in South Minneapolis is part of More To Tri, a series of races put on by the mayor to highlight Minneapolis' amenities and fitness. The event is timed to coincide with the Republican Convention, and a push was made to get delegates to attend (it didn't look like there were any there as far as I could tell). About 100 people showed up at the beautiful pre-dawn hour and ran the race. It was a fun, but small event, run entirely on bike trails and sidewalks through Minnehaha Park. And of course Mayor Rybak competed as well.

The Victory Races (10K and 5K) are races sponsored by the Minnesota Distance Running Association (disclaimer: I belong to and coach for this running group) benefiting the Folwell and Webber-Camden neighborhoods. This is a long-standing race (26th year) that draws much of the running community and the neighborhood. The course is flat and fast, and follows Victory Memorial Parkway, which is a gorgeous boulevard lined with tall and historic trees. Each tree along the parkway commemorates a fallen Minnesotan from World War I. It is a gem of a location in North Minneapolis, part of the Grand Rounds bike route, and a living part of Minnesota's history. During and after the race, the neighborhood throws a big block party in Webber Park and serves unlimited hot dogs while the tired racers watch 5-year-olds run around in the toddler race. It is a wonderful party and probably one of the best races I've ever been to.

So 2 races, one in South, one in North. But while these races were separated by only a 10-minute car ride, they felt much further apart. The Folwell and Webber-Camden neighborhoods have been at the center of the foreclosure crisis, and are right at the center of the homicide heat map. This is a neighborhood that is hurting. Yet this is a neighborhood that hasn't lost its fight. While a drive up Lyndale from Broadway revealed easily a dozen boarded up or demolished homes, there were so many bright spots in the neighborhood as well: exquisitely-maintained homes and parks full of children. Clearly this is a neighborhood that is fighting back against crime and the economic crisis that has hit harder in North than anywhere else.

But where does Mayor Rybak choose to showcase Minneapolis to our out-of-town guests? Beautifully manicured South Minneapolis. It's hard to argue that Minnehaha Falls is a bad location for a race. Easily a dozen races a year are held at this location, and, obviously, it's my favorite location in the entire Twin Cities and I feel so blessed to live 2 blocks from it.

But the mayor missed a great chance to showcase a wonderful neighborhood, a place that feels as friendly and welcoming as (and probably more so than) any other part of Minneapolis. The real story today was in North Minneapolis. It's a great story for people of Minneapolis to hear. It's a great story for the RNC delegates to take home to their foreclosed neighborhoods. And it's something inspiring for all of us. In spite of the physical and economic pain that North has endured, people live, have fun and throw a great party. There were two parties in town this Labor Day, and I feel so blessed to have been included in the one in North Minneapolis. Mayor Rybak is an energetic mayor with a passion for Minneapolis. His cheerleading does good for our city, but on this day, his cheerleading would have been better placed in North Minneapolis.

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OK, so most of you that read this are probably more concerned about my race report than my non-running ramblings, so here you go!

Race 1: my intention was to run this as a fun run and a warmup for Victory. So I sandbagged the first 2 miles, yet was winning handily. Or so I thought. Some LifeTime Fitness guy caught me with a quarter mile to go. I let him go thinking, "I'm saving myself for Victory 5K". Then I got competitive. I sprinted the last 40 meters or so and almost caught him but he kicked and beat me by half a step. Finishing time: 18:07. I regret not racing this one from the beginning. How many chances will I have again to win a 5K in Minneapolis? Probably not many. I should also be clear that I'm sure the guy that won probably would have beat me on a head-to-head. He really sandbagged the race and only kicked as much as he needed to in order to win. But if I had gone out at a 5:30 pace, I would have won. Oh well.

Race 2: Fun race, fun times with lots and lots of good friends. While the shirt at the first race was better, this race was so much better organized and was just a blast from beginning to end, with great racers in the 10K and 5K (especially the 10K with all those Team USA-MN racers). I placed 6th in the 5K with a 17:43....er...45. They called out 17:43 and my watch said 17:43, but the official time was 17:45. Shouldn't be a big deal but that's the difference between a PR and not. So I'm calling it a PR, but hopefully I'll beat that again and the official time will reflect that. I'm happy with how I raced, but a larger lead pack would have been nice for that extra push.

This was the first time I ran 2 races like this. Obviously not the best way to PR. I would have done better at either one if I hadn't done the other. But I enjoyed both for very different reasons, and it was a good way to spend a Monday morning!

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CORRECTION: The Victory Races are co-sponsored by the Folwell and Webber-Camden neighborhoods, and while the race benefits the neighborhood in many ways, there is no direct monetary benefit for the community from this race. They are partners in the race, not recipients of any assistance.