Instagram of the Day: a Long Stroller Run

On Saturday, I posted about dropping my car off in Eagan and running home. Yesterday, I went to pick up my car. So I ran the same route (in the other direction) and took Charlie along for the ride. I posted this on Instagram last night:

Caption: “10+ mile run with Charlie today to pick up my car from the shop. From St. Paul through Mendota/Mendota Heights to Eagan (Pilot Knob and Yankee Doodle). Everything but the first mile was on running paths (not just sidewalks) which is smoother.”

I posted 4 photos in there, but here are 5 from the run, chronologically:

Just south of St. Thomas (less than 1.5 miles in).


Crossing the Mississippi around mile 5. 40 steps down and 40 steps up were a bit tiring with the stroller.


Crossing the 0.8 mile Mendota Bridge (kinda brutal) over Fort Snelling and the Minnesota River.


On Big River’s Trail around mile 7. (Near the Lloyd’s BBQ plant which I got a wiff of.)


Along (BORING) suburban Pilot Knob Rd for the last 2 miles.

I was hoping Charlie would zone out and rest a little. But he never did. He liked looking down as we crossed the bridges. And a mile before that last photo on Pilot Knob, we were sprayed by a city truck that was washing the gutters before a street sweeper went past, and Charlie thought that was kinda funny.

This run last week when I dropped off my car was a bit brutal because I had just pounded some lunch. So I just had a bowl of cereal a bit before my run this time (so I wasn’t too full), but it was still pretty brutal. The wind was out of the south, and I really felt it from mile 3-5, and the Mendota Bridge was rough. I didn’t try to do anything other than “run,” and maybe that made it feel long. Also, I think this idea of doing a long run as “point to point” makes them feel REALLLLLLLY long. I ended up running 10.15 miles in just under 70 minutes (6:52 average pace). And then last night I saw that I got a bit sunburned on my shoulders. Oops. I should know better than to not wear sunscreen before a 12:30 p.m. run.