trailing off

There's a big honking snowstorm coming this way. Saturday morning might be our last chance to run the trails before xc skiers take over. So, join the Polar Bear runners at Hyland Park in Bloomington for one last snow-free blast. If the snow gets here early, plan B is meeting at the Nokomis Community Center.

It won't be long before everything looks like this:

i wussed out this morning

I was planning on biking to work this morning. Then I checked the weather & saw this:

4 degrees? Huh? Wasn't it supposed to be 18 overnight? Not to mention the strong wind out of the North West (the direction of my ride to work). So, I wussed out. Maybe I'll man-up and ride tomorrow...just as soon as I find every piece of wool & wind-block clothing I own.

On a related note, here are my all time top three essential items for winter running survival:

Craft Thermal Lobster Glove These suckers will keep your hands warm when the temp is well below zero.

Wind Stop Underwear I just happened to link to a pair from Craft, but I can also vouch for Swix, Helly Hansen & Patagonia. If you are a man who runs in winter, you need these...especially if you plan on having kids.

Smartwool Adrenaline Socks These are warmer & taller than regular Smartwool running socks, but not as bulky as their hiking socks. Everything from Smartwool is money. Buy as much of their clothing as you can. It rules.

29 hour marathon

Most people would scoff at a 29 hour marathon... but not this one.

Zoe Koplowitz is tougher than hell.

bad air day

If you were looking for an excuse to skip your evening run, you've got one. An air pollution health alert was issued from Marshall to Minneapolis. I ran over lunch & it sucked, and air quality has declined since then. Hopefully the wind will pick up tomorrow.

winter-ish stuff

There's a 30% chance of snow tomorrow for the metro, and there's already snow on the ground up north. Your options for the next few months are:

1. Join the MDRA Polar Bear run group & brave the elements.

-or-

2. Stay indoors for MDRA Dome Running, starting this Tuesday, November 20.

Inside or outside, MDRA has got you covered baby.

odds and ends

Chad Austin interviews Jason Lemkuhle about the marathon trials & getting back to the track.

Proof that the whole damn world has lost it's mind; Santas in Australia have to say "Ha Ha Ha" instead of "Ho Ho Ho" because "Ho" is american slang for a woman of ill repute. Except they're in Australia, so why does it matter?

Also, today is the Great American Smokeout. I'm guessing not many readers of a runblog are smokers. If you are, put the Parliments down for today. The ACS has a cool anti-smoking poster gallery on their website. My dad had the 1969 one hanging in our garage. I was about 12 before I figured out that was a woman & not a man in the photo. I've been scarred ever since.

greener goo

Here's a reason to hang on to your empty Gu packets.

The good folks at GU Sports have a totally sweet program called "Stash Your Trash." You download their coupon, and send it in along with 50 empty wrappers. In return, they'll send you 5 free packets of Gu. How kick ass is that!? Send in more than 200 empties & you'll get some free schwag.

Help keep the environment clean & get free stuff. Can't beat that.

Go Norse!

Time for a blatant plug. NCAA D3 regionals are this weekend, and my alma mater is looking good! The latest poll has the Luther Women ranked 2nd in the Central region, and the Luther Men are 4th.

Here's a virtual L-U for you Norse. Go get 'em!

big weekend

A lot happened last weekend, the men's marathon trials, MN State cross country, Mankato State qualified for D2 nationals... my wife & I got a little kitten... so there's lots going on.

Rather than link to a zillion different articles, I'm sending you to Down the Backstretch. They do a killer job of covering Minnesota running.

However, I have the market totally cornered when it comes to new kitten coverage.

Behold the new cuteness:



Also last weekend was the Rocky's Run 5K and 8K cross country extraveganza at the U of M golf course. Holy crap, was that race hard! I bonked at 5K. It sucked. I'm blaming the cold I had all week - I hadn't run since the previous Monday.

I noticed a lot of people with fancy cameras taking pictures, but I haven't seen any online. So, if you were one of the folks shooting the race, throw those pics on skinnyski.com or flickr or something so we can all see how bad we looked after 8 hilly Ks on the golf course.

men's marathon trials preview in the Star Tribune

Jason Lehmkuhle and Chris Lundstrom made some ink in the Star Tribune this morning.

Jason has pretty much the greatest plan ever for running a marathon; "My experience in marathons shows me I need to run my own race. I'm going to be less interested in if there are a lot of big moves being made up front than I am in doing what's best for me." Right on.

Rip it up on Saturday, boys!!!