Weekly Summary: Nov. 14-20

11-14-11
Mon-PM: 10 mi (1:41)
Greenway (GW) to Mississippi trail (MT). Legs are feeling the mileage from last week, but it's that good kind of tired. Fewer and fewer leaves are floating through the air, but #31-32 nonetheless.

11-15-11
Tue-AM: 5 mi (:50)
Downtown Minneapolis--Nicollet Island, Stone Arch Bridge. With Glen, Steve, Marcus and Benaiah. A little chilly at 32 deg, but warm with the company.

11-16-11
Wed-AM: 13 mi (2:03)
GW to MT. A surprising 27 degrees of warmth and sunshine. #33 too.

11-17-11
Thu: OFF
Classes.

11-18-11
Fri-AM: 15 mi (2:21)
GW to MT. The off day yesterday (= fresher legs) and the threat of snow tomorrow (= the possible end to the Minneapolis trail running season) conspired to make a long run today altogether irresistible. Can the soft, single-track trail whispering "one more mile" ever be told no?

11-19-11
Sat-AM: 8 mi (1:21)
GW to MT. Early morning moonlight run, except minus the moon and minus the light. I think the clouds conspired to sequester the moon until they released their first few inches of snow on the season later this afternoon. The weatherman is confidently saying that there is a 100% "chance" this will definitely, certainly, without a doubt, happen.
PM: 4.5 mi (:47)
Along the MT, with Ashley! First snow of the year. Also the scene of the most memorable leaf grab of the fall (#34). It's hard to remember exactly how it all happened, but there was long-distance targeting, a leaf that defied the laws of gravity, sprinting, sliding, a one-handed snag, and eyebrows raised in amazement. If that's the last one of the season, it was representative of an amazing autumn and a fitting transition into the winter months.

11-20-11
Sun-AM: 6 mi (:58)
GW to MT. After the 3 inches of snow yesterday, today's outing was mostly a cognitive exercise in trying remember what I learned about running last winter, the summation being "don't fall". Still very much loving the weekly Sunday morning "shake-out" run--even with the cold, it's difficult to suppress the smiles that come out while dancing on the fresh powder.

Totals: 61.5 mi (10:01)