Marathons and the art of a calculated risk
Toeing the line for a marathon is no sure bet. The runner will dutifully plug in miles of training, enduring sweaty mornings and achy legs. Yet months of work can be suddenly negated 20+ miles into a 26 mile race. A cramped muscle, popped blister, or simple overwhelming fatigue can...
Chasing PRs on Browns Creek
Last week, we put on our first road race: The Brown’s Creek Breeze. Formal planning started back in December, but the idea for it came before we even opened the store. A training partner and I had envisioned the trail as the perfect place to have a blazing-fast time trial:...
Signs of spring
It used to be the robins. The reliable, spunky neighborhood migrant would appear in my backyard one morning, a harbinger of things to come. Hearty Robins have since become more of a common sight in winter here these days, demoting them to year-round status rather than the first in a...
The hidden trails of Stillwater
If you’ve gone for a run in Stillwater, chances are you’ve enjoyed the views of the “Loop”, crossing the St. Croix on the old and new bridges into Wisconsin. Equally as popular is the Brown’s Creek bike trail; a DNR state bike trail connecting Downtown Stillwater to the Gateway bike...
What are your goals for the new year?
Years ago, I had a running acquaintance who did an annual New Year’s Eve “reflection” on the previous year’s training. He’d pick through the highs and lows he experienced and used them to set goals for the upcoming year. I’m not a big New Year’s Resolution guy, but this tradition...
Stories from the St. Croix: Erika Albano and the quest for a new track in Turtle Lake, WI
“We moved to Turtle Lake in 2022. I went to my kids’ track and field meet (elementary school) the first year they were in school, and I saw what the track looked like. I had also gone there to work out and I was like, oh, this is bad. It’s...
Face the North Wind: a guide to surviving the winter months
Winter is challenging for runners. There are few races on the calendar, cold winds, low light, and lonely paths to tread on. So how to get through it? We’ll be in this state for the next 3 months or so. What are the secrets that keep die-hards getting out the...
Stories from the St. Croix: Clark Weyrauch
“I started running the summer before my senior year of college. I was like, I’m gonna try this for the millionth time and then it just kind of stuck. I trained for a 10k that fall of my senior year of college and after that, decided to train for a...
Stories from the St. Croix: Mary Croft, Participant of all 42 Twin Cities Marathons
“I had a friend who was running Grandmas about 43 years ago, and I went to watch her. To be truthful, I never actually saw her finish, but I saw a lot of women kind of my age finish and in under 4:30, because that was the cutoff. It’s seven...
The magic of blazing new trails
We approached another intersection, unsure of the path forward. Even our 4.5 year-old Border Collie, Dash, normally chomping at the bit to see what lies around the next bend patiently waited for us to assess the map again to chart our way back to the car. We weren’t lost, exactly....
Stories from the St. Croix: Scott Christensen, former Stillwater HS cross country coach
“I got involved in (USATF) Coaches Ed, and of course was concentrating on endurance. But then I went to Level 2 also in sprints and hurdles, which definitely helped my endurance background. But it was there, I kind of got noticed. It’s like, this guy’s a distance coach, but he’s…....
How did we get here?
It was a challenging start to the school year. The most, perhaps, in my 13 years of teaching. Without getting into the weeds too much on the current politics of education, suffice to say, teachers and schools are being asked to do too much. Kate and I both loved teaching...
