North and South

Today I am grateful for the beauty of fall, for a good school trip with 60 seventh graders, and for my fellow chaperones: Kathy, Kelly, Tim, and Trevor. 

The only full day of our 3-day, 2-night trip was a picture-perfect fall day in northern Minnesota on Thursday. This scene welcomed us in the morning,

And this one, viewed from a 60-foot high tower, helped us bid adieu to the ending daylight.

The trip was both exhausting and invigorating. Thank you to the staff and instructors at Deep Portage. It was a nice break from the regular workday, and what a classroom we had. I love fall and I appreciated getting paid to be outside for a couple of days.

Today we head to southern Minnesota for our 14th marathon tomorrow. The starting line of the Mankato Marathon awaits us. It hasn't been the smoothest year in terms of how our bodies and our minds are feeling about this run, but Darcy and I are both as ready as we can be.

Our last long training runs went well, and we are so grateful to be able to continue running this distance. It is a great way to see a city, and Mankato will provide some beautiful fall scenery. There will be some hills, but what's a marathon, and life, without a few of those?

We will proceed as always--simply one step at a time.