Running Around Town

There was some good sports watching last weekend -- Quarters 1, 2, and 4 of the Vikes-Packers, Innings 4, 7, and 8 of the Phils-Yankees, and the entire Eagles-Giants match-up. But it wasn’t those games that had me glued to my TV. I became mildly obsessed with watching the New York City Marathon. Honestly, I could watch marathons all day. Aren’t I fun?

My friend, Chris, ran the NYC Marathon this year. He was gunning for my time so I tracked him on the computer along the way to see if he could beat me. He pulled out a 3:33:55. Phew! I’m still 19 seconds faster.



Chris starting struggling around mile 22, but said he kicked it back into high gear with a sprint at the finish. He wanted to join the 3:33 Gang. Congrats, my friend. You rocked it. You’re in the Club. And, if I’m really going to be honest, Chris is probably faster than the 3:33 Gang. With all of those bridges, NYC is arguably tougher than Twin Cities and he’d likely beat me in a fair fight. I’m just going to go ahead and call this one a draw. Woo-hoo!

Mom... don’t read this next part... but Chris inspired me to starting thinking about running NYC next year. Then, the thought of Joy Johnson made me sign up for the lottery this morning.

I met Joy two years ago when I did a story about Dick Beardsley’s Marathon Camp up in Northern Minnesota. She was 80 years old at the time and training for her 20th NYC marathon. No offense to the other campers, but Joy was my favorite. She was full of spunk, quick with the one-liners and could run a mean 26 miles. She’s what I aspire to be to 40, much less 80.


Well, on Monday morning, I saw Joy in the crowd at the Today Show. She told Al Roker that she had run her 22nd marathon at age 82. She was the same Joy I remember from two years ago -- those same legs, that wide smile, the contagious laugh. I thought, heck, if Joy can run 22 marathons at 82, I can certainly run another one at 33. So, watch out, Big Apple, here I come! I hope.

Yes, Karen, I did just write this blog. Are you with me?

I try not to mix work and play (ok, that’s kind of a lie) when it comes to serious things.  But, when I met my friend, Lindsay, for coffee on Monday, I knew we had to tell her story.  It was quite clear my normally calm, cool and collected friend was struggling.  She’s nine months pregnant and her 5-year-old came down with H1N1 on Saturday night.

Ugh.

Now, I’ve never had a baby.  But I know enough moms to know it’s one thing to want to burst.  It’s another to do it with two kids running around.  It’s a third when one of those kids could give you a virus that could really hurt you.  I felt badly talking with Lindsay because there really wasn’t anything I could do.  Except offer my errand-running and baby-sitting services -- for the daughter without the flu, of course.

Lindsay and her husband are quite smart, so they’d already consulted tons of doctors and friends.   They decided to follow her OB’s advice and take Tamiflu, even though she wasn’t totally comfortable with taking medication while she’s pregnant.  She actually wasn’t even comfortable with taking the vaccine, but went ahead and did it anyway.  Everyone she’d turned to told her the risk of complications from the flu is much worse than any complications from the medications or vaccine.

It’s a tough time to be pregnant.  You not only have to think of you and your baby, now you have to be concerned for your husband, your caregivers and your other kids.  In fact, one of my friends has already told me she’s putting off trying for her second child until the threat of the H1N1 flu is over.  I didn’t know this, but Dr. Jan Strathy over at Park Nicollet told me pregnant women are more likely to get the flu because their immune systems are down.  She also said if pregnant women get the virus, it has the potential to be pretty bad because the growing baby inside of them makes it harder to clear out their lungs.  According to one study, Dr. Strathy said pregnant women who end up in the ICU with H1N1 are four times more likely to die.



I know it’s easy to get tired of H1N1 stories.  I do.  My managers do.  Even the experts we interview wish it would go away.  But I still think they are important to tell.  I really hate to ask my friends to do interviews because I’m afraid they’ll never tell me anything out of fear I can’t keep it to myself.  But this one was too important to pass up.  And Lindsay is very cool.  I knew she’d understand.  Thanks my friend!  Good luck over these next few days.  Call me anytime... even if it’s in the middle of the night.  I’ll pick up hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes for you guys anytime.

I think we all know I LOVE the Minneapolis Parks -- the lakes, the running paths, the cross-country trails -- I could go on and on and on.

But what a lot of us probably don't know is anything about the people who run the parks -- the nine members of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. They are an independently elected, relatively independent group that has pretty much flown under the radar for the past few years.

This year, though, all nine seats are up for grabs and it's going to be a tight race. Not only because there are plenty of competitive candidates and talk of a new superintendent, but under the new Minneapolis voting system, voters will get to rank the candidates.

Check out the story I did two weeks ago about the new ranked choice voting system. Either it will help or confuse you more. Sorry if it's the latter.

So, I'm writing today with the hope that you will make it to the voting booth tomorrow. (YES, TOMORROW IS ELECTION DAY!!) Obviously, I'm not going to endorse anyone. In fact, I'm still trying to decide who I want to vote for in all the races.

I'll admit, it's a lot to digest, but I've found the candidate's questionnaires and voter's guides from the Star Tribune and Downtown Journal to be quite helpful in helping me sort it out.

Bottom line -- if you care about the parks and their future, vote tomorrow. This is a big race. There won't be long lines. And, if you don't vote, it makes it a whole heck of a lot harder to complain about your path not being paved, the location of any new Tin Fish Grill or a park-user tax you never saw coming.

Happy Election Day!

Hey Gang! Sorry I’ve been out of action for a bit. I just returned from a glorious trip back east. I got to spend a little QT with my wonderful grandma, my beautiful sisters and all my old cronies from college and beyond. I don’t want to bore you with too many pics, but I can’t resist these two:





Given my gluttony over the past week, it was imperative I ran this morning... even if it was dark. I strapped on the old sneaks around 6:30 a.m. and headed out the door. I was totally unprepared for what I could encounter. It was pitch black outside! 6:30 a.m.!!!!!!

Now, it was my first run in the dark this season, so I didn’t have the right reflective/light gear. I noticed a lot of people around me didn’t either. (I came this close to taking out a lady all dressed in black.) I also forgot how few and far between those street lights can seem when you get to the trails. And without that white snow to brighten things up, it it’s hard to see where the paths begin and end.

So, I thought it would be appropriate to use this blog to discuss ways to run in the dark. Fortunately for you guys, Kaity over at the GEAR Running Store in Edina thought so too. As a habitual early morning runner, she had lots of good ideas.

• A head lamp. I know, I know. Annoying, right? No! Kaity says if you wear it over ear warmers or a ball cap, you hardly notice it’s there. I can’t do anything about the dorky part except to say, "Embrace it!" GEAR sells a good lamp with a rechargeable battery for about 80 bucks. You can get cheaper ones closer to $20, but they’ll eat right through the batteries.

• Blinking lights. These guys will run you about $6. You can put them on your front, back and arms. Kaity says she sees lots of people attach them to their dog leashes.

• Light clothes. Kaity and I were surprised at the how ineffective those bright yellow stripes can be when it’s really dark outside. How about a bright yellow vest or a white shirt or reflective arms bands? Trust me people, all-black doesn’t fly in the dark. Please refer to my earlier story about the woman who’s lucky she was spared my elbows.

• Pepper Spray. Ok, I don’t know how I feel about this one because I’m a firm believer our parks and trails are quite safe. But, if it’s dark, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

And, that’s just it. Use common sense. Be smart. If you run the streets, please do it on the correct side of the road. Wear bright colors. Consider investing in some lights. The run just isn’t worth it if you don’t come out OK on the other side.

It appears drinking fountains have been bursting all over our parks. Don’t get too excited. Nobody was hurt, but I imagine a few plumbers probably got sprayed. According to eyewitnesses, it looks like a bottle of champagne being uncorked.

This doesn’t usually happen because it’s not usually this cold this early in the year. According to my friends at the Minneapolis Parks, the pipes can’t handle anything below 25 degrees for more than 10 hours. So far, at least eight pipes have burst in Minneapolis and four in St. Paul.  It’s not a huge deal, except that it does cost money and time to fix those pipes.

This is the “most time consuming part of the year,” according to the two Park plumbers in St. Paul.  At the beginning of October, they started winterizing the irrigation systems, fountains and bathrooms. Essentially, that means they turn off the water and shut them down. The seasonal restrooms closed on Oct. 3 in the small parks, Oct. 10 in the large ones.  They want to have everything shut down by the beginning of November.

In Minneapolis, this process takes a little longer simply because they have more parks. The five plumbers there start there right after Labor Day. They shut down the least used spots first, leaving the Chain of Lakes for last. Everything should be winterized in Minneapolis by Nov. 15.  A few Port-O-Potties will stay open for the diehards.

I do wonder why we can’t leave some of the most popular water fountains and bathrooms open during the winter.  I mean, the coolest thing about the parks in the winter is the huge number of people who use them.  According to Dawn Sommers, PR Extraordinaire for Minneapolis Parks, you can’t just heat the pipes. You have to heat the whole place. She says lots of these bathroom buildings and fountains were built in the early 1900s and don’t have the infrastructure to support a heating system. She also wonders, in this day of shrinking city budgets, should we install heaters in the bathrooms and fountains?

So, for all of you runners, walkers and bikers, get your drink on now. Or just go buy a water bottle.

Earlier this afternoon, I heard a few cheers go up the newsroom when the Colorado balloon landed. People were yelling at their TV screens, as if their shouts would help to bring the boy in safely.  After a couple of minutes, I started to hear, “Where is he? Is he in there?”  A few minutes after that my colleagues would periodically ask, “Did they find him yet?  I’ll bet he’s hiding out in a closet.” 

It was almost like I didn’t have to watch CNN. I got the story from the gasps of fellow co-workers. A few minutes ago, I heard, “Oh my god, he was in a box in the attic.”

I can’t remember the last time we had a story like this … a story that captured our attention on the cable networks for most of the afternoon. Sure, we were all glued to the Twins division title game or President Obama’s inaugural address, but this was different.  This had more of a strange, car chase feel. It just made you sick to think what could have happened.

First, I have to say thank goodness he’s alive. This is great news. This could have had a terrible ending. I know every single parent in this newsroom was thinking about their own kids as they watched that balloon fly through the air.

But, now that’s he’s found, there are important questions to be asked and I have no doubt they will come fast and furious from the reporters out in Denver.  How did this happen?  How much money did taxpayers spend on the search? Why did it take so long to find the boy?  Was this homemade aircraft a good idea?  Most of questions will be good, important and justified. Some of them will not. My guess is this family will be picked apart, hounded and criticized for days, even weeks.

We’ll give the update at 10pm, but it won’t be the top story. There are many more important things for us to report. That said, we’ll probably still be talking about the balloon kid tomorrow morning. Jason and I are filling in on the anchor desk for Mike and Angela.  If you’re up from 5 to 7 am, check us out.  It should be informational and slightly humorous. The last time we appeared together on Jasoncam, I choked him by mistake.

I figure if I blog about a goal then I have to do it.  That’s why I haven’t told you about my New Year’s resolution to do 50 push-ups in one sitting.   We’ll save that one for another time.  Today is Tracy Perlman’s day.

Tracy is my 10 p.m. rockstar producer.  She’s also a big Twins fan, former cheerleader and all-around cheery person. 

I’m blogging about Tracy because I want her to accomplish her goals.  After watching our friend Angela crush the TC marathon with a smile on her face, Tracy decided to run her own half-marathon next year.  I consider that a pretty big deal considering she’s admittedly never run before.  (Don’t let this scare you, girl, you’re going to be just fine.)

She’s going to do the new Twin Cities July 4th Marathon and I’m going to be her coach.  I cannot even begin to tell you how pumped I am about this development!!  We’re going to start out easy with a walk/run three times a week.  She has an 8-week schedule that now hangs over my desk.  I have my pink highlighter ready to go to cross off the days.  I will be strict, but gentle.  I will be firm, but caring.  You won’t get the pink x unless you do the run.  This is tough love, my friend.

You can follow Tracy’s progress on her blog, but I’ll be sure to update you too. Her blog is funny. You’ll like it.

Now I just have to get on my buddy, Reg Chapman, to join in on the half-marathon fun.

One more thing before we head into a big Twins weekend…

My nails are finally starting to grow back. I had bitten them all off between the 8th and 12th innings. I’ve also read everything I can about the best baseball game I’ve ever seen.

So, I wanted to share with you one of the coolest things I’ve read so far. Besides hitting sweet triples, Cuddy is a pretty good writer. (I hope he writes this thing.) Check out his post-season blog.  Apparently, the guys didn’t get to sleep until 5 a.m. Wednesday morning. Ugh.

Good luck tonight, my friends. 

I got up early to watch the NASA rocket hit the moon. (It was a little anti-climactic for me, but sounds like it was a success for science. Nice.)  As I was waiting for the plume, I rummaged around in my closet looking for my running hat and gloves. I put those things away in April. I didn’t think I’d have to bring them out so soon.

Turns out, I really didn’t need them for a little run this morning. That 34 degrees had a little more bark than bite. By the time I hit the trails, I was feeling OK. It’s amazing what a some sun and no wind will do for you. It was such a pretty morning. I should have taken a picture but ultimately decided breakfast was more important.

While I nixed the gloves and hat this a.m., I have been wearing pants and a fleece sweatshirt all week. I don’t mind it. I actually kind of like the colder weather because I sweat a lot. It’s gross. I think 30s, 40, and 50s are just fine. It’s the 10s, 0s, -10s that really bum me out.

I decided last winter that 10 degrees (with the wind chill) was my outer limit for working out outside. That’s insane. I never would have said that two years ago. But desperate times call for desperate measures. First, it keeps me sane to have that hour or so outside every day. Second, I can’t have a repeat of the 10 pounds I gained last winter. That’s not a joke. I did gain 10 pounds last winter. It wasn’t pretty.

One of my esteemed colleagues, Tom Aviles (pictured below on the left during the Republican National Convention), gains 15 pounds every winter. He starts packing it on right about now, hits his peak in the spring and then loses it all during the summer.  He says it keeps him warmer. He also says it’s easy, that he doesn’t have to work on because it just happens depending on how much he bikes. Man, I sometimes wish I were a dude.



So, with that, I will head to Target tonight for Winter 2009-10 hat and gloves.  As long as the wind doesn't whip in my face, I'll be good. It's all about layers. Remember, it's not the cold. It's how you dress for it.

I'm stretching my heel. It's not because I ran the TC 10-mile, it's because I didn't. I went all the way downtown this morning, but decided against it at the last-minute. My heel was so hurting much it just wasn't worth making it worse.

So, I decided to be the best spectator I could be. And I think I did a pretty good job. It's so much easier to cheer people on if you have a scooter. Trust me.

I've never been a spectator at a marathon before. Fortunately, I was with a vet, so we zipped in at 6 miles, 8.5 miles, 18 miles, 19 miles and 22 miles. It was amazing to watch how different most people look at mile 6 (happy, smiles, chatting, a kick in their step) and mile 22 (not happy, no smiles, not chatting, kick: not so much).



At first, my spectating skills were subpar. I was watching out for seven people. At mile 6, I saw only one and it was because he yelled at me! Go Chris -- you looked great! But, at 8.5, it was nice and narrow. We saw Angela rocking out there and figured out a better way to watch: Call the WCCO assignment desk and get them to track the runners for me. That's the only way we would ever have spotted Lauritsen smoking it at mile 18. He was stuck in there with all the 4:30 runners making him difficult to pick out.

Here's a little advice if you want your friends to find you easily. First, be really, really tall. Second, wear a T-shirt like this guy. He won my own personal best T-shirt contest.



I like spectating. I could get used to it. Each stop had its own vibe. At mile 6, I met a mom and kids just looking for a fun family activity. Mile 18 was a serious place for family and friends to catch their runners. Mile 22 was simply a par-tay! Watching the whole thing certainly made me appreciate the time and effort my friends and family have put in the over the years watching me race. Especially in last year's tsunami. (THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THAT!) It also let me see some of the inspirational stories out there on the course. This guy is a Marine who put 50 pounds in his field pack to raise money for Toys for Tots.



This guy was a crowd favorite for obvious reasons. Not just for the Spam T-shirt, but for the big smile I saw at Mile 6 and Mile 22.



By noon, we were so freezing and starving (Geez, you'd think we had run the marathon), we thought it only appropriate to have a large brunch at Town Talk. Now, I'm curled up on the couch in my warmest blanket watching Jason Kubel and Delmon Young take us to Tuesday!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is a good day. A very good day.

I'm pretty sure Lauritsen ("Today was fun, but I'm paying for it now. Legs are stiff!"), Angela ("You're right, it's like nothing else. I feel great and am ready for fries and a beer!") and the thousands of others out there feel the same way. Go Runners!