One Dollar Dome Days and St. Paul Fanatics

"When you have the enthusiasm and passion, you end up figuring how to excel." Deena Kastor

On Tuesday evening I experienced my first one dollar dome day, and no, I'm not talking about hot dogs of any kind! On Tuesday and Thursday evenings, the dome is open for indoor running from 5-8pm, sponsored by the MDRA. It was so much better than running on a treadmill, or even an indoor track. 2 1/2 laps equals a mile. So after work I walked to the dome and pumped out 45 minutes. I was impressed with the people there. The people who show up are there to run, and I love it. There is focus, there is determination, there is sweat, there is passion, and I loved being a part of it. I can definitely see how having the dome as a running option as I train for Boston this winter will be a nice option! It'll be great for speed work, and it breaks up the indoor track and treadmill torture sessions.

This morning I had a great opportunity to go for an 11.5 mile run with a group of crazies in St. Paul. Every other Thursday I have to go to St. Paul for a business meeting. On those Thursdays I end up working out at the Lifetime in St. Paul, showering, and going to my meeting from there. That way I bypass the morning traffic. One week, after a treadmill run, I was stretching and heard a couple guys talking about Boston Qualifications, and decided to jump in on the convo. They introduced themselves, and invited me to run with their group. They run multiple times a day, but on Thursday's they run a loop from St. Paul, to the UofM and back, just under 12 miles. This was the first morning I joined them, AND WHAT A BLAST!!! We met at 5:00AM at Lifetime. It was a great morning! The windchill was about 0, but there was very little wind. I bundled with a few layers, and was ready to go. There were five other runners that I got to meet. All of them have run Boston, and have qualified to run next year as well. So they are my caliber runners, and couldn't be more happy to have expanded my running network. The time passed quickly, and I was surprised by how easy the run felt. We hit three large hills, which is great training for me, in preparation for Boston. I think this is a run I'm going to jump in on every Thursday morning!!! Great run, great people, great accomplishment. 11.5 miles and 5 new friends, all before 7:00AM! :)