Day 992 -- Alexandria

In Alexandria, they have a 28-foot tall Viking. I actually first saw him at the web site for the Runestone Museum, but they don't have a very good picture for pasting myself into. So I stole this photo from the City of Alexandria web site. I also checked The World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Version of the World's Largest Things, where, yes, Big Ole is listed as the World's Largest Viking. They don't have any pictures, but it's been so long since I've visited TWLCotWSVotWLT, I thought it was worth the link.

In other things that it's been a long time since I've done, I ran ten miles today. I believe that was my first double-digit run since the marathon on September 20. It felt pretty good, actually. I was tired, but not spent.

Days 990 and 991 -- Brandon

Brandon, Minnesota, has its own history blog. Here you see the construction of the Highway 52 bridge in the early 1930's. I, myself, am running for safety.

I ran yesterday and today. A quick three miles yesterday, and a slow five today. It felt OK.

I have gotten into the habit of walking Maggie after my run. Instead of just walking around the block to cool off, I stop and grab her for her morning stroll. It takes a bit longer, but it gives us a little Daddy and Doggie time. I'm sure we make quite a sight, in my sweaty clothes and funky tights.

Day 989 -- Evansville

A line up of farming equipment in Evansville, Minnesota, waiting to convoy out to Oklahoma, for the 2008 harvest. It's not entirely clear to me why it makes sense to drive this equipment down from Minnesota, rather than getting it from somewhere closer, like, say, Oklahoma. But I'm sure that there's a good reason for it.

I ran a good long seven miles this morning, and composed a memo in my head, which I then typed up when I got to school. It was addressing a proposed policy that I am against, and I wanted to figure out how to lay out my arguments without sounding defensive. We'll see how well that went over. I said to my friend that that's why running is better than racquetball. You can't compose a memo in your head when you are playing racquetball.

Day 988 -- Pomme de Terre Lake

I couldn't resist a stop at Pomme de Terre Lake. Mostly, that's because I love the French words "Pomme de Terre." Literally, they mean "apple of the earth." This is what the French call a potato. Cool.

To clarify, Pomme de Terre Lake is a lake. Elbow Lake, which I visited yesterday, is a town. Well, I guess it's a town and a lake. This photo is from the Army Corps of Engineers. The ranger here seems to be talking to the tots about water safety.

I got in a good 6.5 mile run this morning. That was a little longer than I had planned, partly because I just didn't plan well, and partly because I had a detour. As I was on my way home, I ran into a bunch of people moving a house. So I couldn't run through, and I ended up going about a half a mile out of my way. Which was good. Good exercise.

Day 987 -- Elbow Lake

If you are in Elbow Lake, Minnesota, and need a pharmacy, may I recommend Trumm Drug? They actually have two locations in Elbow Lake. The other one is inside the clinic, and they don't seem to have a picture on-line.

Today was nice. It was the end of Daylight Savings Time, so I set my alarm for 6:00, but still got up at 5:00, and got in an hour and a half run before church. The only problem is that now, it's only 8:00, but I'm already ready for bed.

This morning, I only ran eight miles, but I treated it as a long run. I wore my Fuel Belt(tm) and stopped for brief walks every mile. I'll use that as a base, and start working my way up. Next week: 9 miles.

Day 986 -- Jogger's Progress

	Trip	YTD	Oct
Distance	6124.6	1540.3	106.3
Time	40 days, 22 hrs, 8 min	10 days, 22 hours, 58 mins	18:00
Days	986	229	22
States	21	6	3

Well, it's been kind of a lazy month. I didn't get any long runs in at all, so even though I got in 22 days, I only managed 106 miles, my low month since December. I will have to pick it up in November. The one thing that I accomplished that I have never done before is that I ran in three states in the same month. Of course, that was the result of just cutting the corner of North Dakota.

Today was a great day for running, as long as you were headed east. I could have run east all the way to Beloit. Unfortunately, I had to turn around and run back west, into a steady wind. Nonetheless, I got in almost six miles, which was good.

Day 985 -- Tintah (Maybe)

Tintah is south of Nashua, so I'm somewhat past it. I don't think this photo is from Tintah, though. The students are from Campbell-Tintah School, St. Mary's, and/or Breckinridge Elementary. But the event is at Chahinkapa Park, which, as far as I can tell, is way up in Wahpeton, ND. In any case, it looks like a fun event, except for the sweaty Jogger running through. The photo is from the web page for Wilkin County, MN, which is where one would find Tintah.

Another quick three this morning. I don't have time for a long run on Tuesdays or Thursdays. We'll see if I can get in a longer run tomorrow. I don't have any particular reason to get in early tomorrow, so perhaps I'll just sleep in a little. I admit that I'm tired to the bone.

Right now, I'm still at work, waiting for the last two students to finish the stats exam. It seems to have gone OK. Nobody's head exploded. I hate it when that happens. It's an awful mess. I'll have that to grade this weekend, and a really messy Calc worksheet. I failed to work the problems out in advance, so a couple of them are horribly nasty. No one to blame but myself.