Duly Noted

Waiting for the start.  All the photos in this post are credit of my running buddy, Rose. Pre-race smiles in the middle of the pack. Morning sunlight pouring down Summit Ave. Another late race report following another satisfying race!  To my good fortune, I was selected to run in the TC 10 mile, the little sister race to the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon.  Runners are chosen through a lottery system for the TC 10 mile so I always feel pretty lucky when my number gets pulled! This year, I started the race with a speedy running buddy of mine (and talented photographer as you can see from this photos!).  After a summer of hardcore hiking and training, Rose was ready to PR.  I didn't know what to expect although I hoped to beat my time from Women Run The Cities 10 mile race without overdoing it.  (I still had a half marathon trail race and the Monster Dash Half marathon ahead of me!) Some of the most memorable moments of this race were before we even arrived a...

Preface: I wanted to write this race report while it was all still fresh, but with a four month old and my return to work, this post quickly dropped its priority status.  Luckily, I jotted down some key memories immediately after the race to stimulate my writing later.  Those anecdotes are included here! *** Almost two weeks ago, I crossed the YWCA Women's Sprint Triathlon finish line for third year in a row.  As I raised my hands in the air, the announcer cheered me on, "Molly of Minneapolis- This is her first triathlon post baby Misha!  She just had a baby and triathlon!" This shot truly captures the thrill of the finish line.   Last year, Misha completed the race with me and my mom in the "buddy heat."  Only a few weeks pregnant, I kept my mom company as she worked her way through her first 500 yard open water swim, 15 mile bike ride, and 5k run.  This year, we signed up as a "mother-daughter team" with each of us competing in our own age g...

McCarthy 4th of July tradition lives on...DONUTS! Hipster baby.  Bringing brooklyn to MN. New picnic table arrived on the 4th!  Perfect for a potluck. Bruchetta Sleepy Misha We need new landscaping but we are rocking the American flags.

This past weekend was of the toodling variety.  What's toodling, you ask?  Toodling involves doing this and that, following one's whims. Friday was a fairly lazy day.  Mike and I declared Fridays as "M-Cubed Day," a day of adventures with little Misha. We were talking about going to the Landscape Arboretum (our wedding locale) this past Friday, but Misha fell asleep and, consequently, I fell asleep and then motivation drifted along with us to dreamland.  Lucky for us, the day ended on an effortless high note when our dear friends came over and made dinner Nicaraguan style, complete with our favorite tostones (fried plantains!). Saturday morning, I headed out for a longish run with another old friend along river road.  Often, I take Rachel the dog or Misha with me when I run, so running solo feels like a treat.  I love my little home team, but I feel so light with my hands free.  Post run, Misha and I checked out our local farmer's market.  Not...

I'm really having too much fun with picmonkey .  Anywho, the snow is coming down after some initial sleet.  Gotta love the wintry mix.  Luckily, I just got back from a neighborhood stroll with Rachel the Dog so she is peacefully contemplating the snowfall from her perch on our very vintage living room coach.  The sofa is three generations at this point and I can't seem to find one that I like more. I mean, check this puppy out: Her 60's floral print actually matches our leather west elm chairs perfectly.  She can fit four plus adults (and multiple dogs). And, she is really comfortable!  I have napped here on many an occasion. Before I head out the door to work up a sweat at the Macalester gym, here's a run down of this weekend's highlights: Vinyasa + Restorative Yoga with my friend Julia.  It wasn't a pre-natal yoga class, but I've known the instructor for many years so she was sensitive to altering some poses for me.  I was surpri...

This post is a tribute to Miles and Laurel and all other bloggers who participate in the Marvelous Monday phenomenon. 1) The McCarthy parents visit.  In addition to playing cards and drinking Slivovitz , we decided to pack a little entertainment into our presidents' weekend itinerary. Friday: Fame, as performed by my high school students! Saturday: Sherlock Holmes, Part I.  Everyone fell asleep except Dad. Sunday: American Teacher at Bryant Lake Bowl AND Cat On A Tin Roof at the Guthrie Monday: Breakfast with Downton Abbey.  OMG. Each of these showings could really be a post on their own so I will leave it at that for now, but prepare for a critical review in the near future. 2) At Bryant Lake Bowl, a poster advertised Orange Mighty Trio's spin off group, NES.  They are performing this Thursday along with an 8-Bit beer release.  I quite enjoy seeing my husband's photo in the window! 3) Speed workout!  Tried and true running partners, Rebecca...

  These days, Sunday mornings are usually reserved for church or yoga class, but this Sunday called for a long run.  I was going to go running on Saturday, but decided against it due the freezing cold weather.  Sunday, on the other hand, was gorgeous.  The major highlight of the run was discovering some pond hockey rinks along Minnehaha Creek.  I have noticed a few before but these ones were very nicely composed.  If I have children one day, they will be winter sport athletes, and in terms of spectator appeal, ice hockey is at the top of my list. Rachel relaxes for a moment and takes in the hockey rinks.  She is actually a very competent figure skater. Rachel and I napping in the sun post run.

Joan, Anne and I rendezvoused at Minneapolis's Chain of Lakes on a bright but windy January 2, 2012.  We decided that we were getting soft due to the abnormally mild temperatures.  As is our custom, we discussed every manner of things: dinner parties with dear friends, our loyal pets, weddings we plan on attending, drinking too much wine on New Years, relocating to different neighborhoods, the joys of spin class, how long the ferry takes between Croatia and Italy, the dilemma of unused gym memberships, the plight to finish grad school on time, when we can run together again... So understandably, even when the fierce wind hit our faces as we headed north around Lake Calhoun and our threesome became quiet in determination, we all agreed that running in the wintertime is totally worth it.  The camaraderie required to simply get out of our cozy houses keeps us smiling and warm through the run and, at least for me, invigorated for hours later.

This race actually happened BEFORE the monster dash half marathon.  It was a really unique race for a number of reasons.  First off, the race was organized by a Macalester student (a Somali student who graduated from Minneapolis South High School) with support from American Refugee Committee (an organization I feel a special connection to thanks to my inspiring good friend who enacts her passion for refugee rights everyday at ARC). Appropriately, the race was a 5k run/walk to raise money for hunger relief in Somalia.  Local organizations and high schools were involved so I saw many a familiar face at the start line on the windy Sunday October morning. Joan and I decided to run a couple warm up miles over to the University of Minnesota flats on east river parkway.  The course was gorgeous; it covered trails and floating walkways along the river road that I had never run on before.  Judging from the relatively small number of racers (350 as compared to the t...

Dad and I visited the Walker Art Museum   before he left town today.  After doing our best to appreciate some of the more controversial exhibitions (namely, Midnight Party (an investigation of our dreams and nightmares through art), we were about to make a break for the gift shop when a gallery on graphics caught our eye.  We decided we better check it out as we both like graphic art and I recently learned that "op" (as in op-art) is a word all by itself (thank you scrabble).  The exhibition was hands-on, relevant, and a reminder of all the inventive art that digital media has exposed to audiences.  So cool!  I jotted down a bunch of ideas for my classroom.   Here is one video that I've seen before but could always see again: I also really liked Doyle's Identity Guidelines.  He created a standard self.  Here, he is showing two variations on his standard outfit.  As a ni...

Photo from twin cities business mag. Yesterday night I took my new tricked up road bike (okay, road bike is used but it is now full of new tricks thanks to Grand Performance) on a 10 mile journey to Wirth Park for my trail running club. The bike ride was glorious as the heat has broken and my bum no longer hurts due to the awful men's bike seat. Our trail workout was also a blast: 1.5 mile warm up, 9x1 minute hill repeats with abs and arm exercises between sets, and 1.5 mile cool down. I love hills. I am weird. The bike ride home was equally delightful. My trail club coach was heading in the same direction so we biked together as she gave me tips for an upcoming triathlon (she is an ironwoman). After she broke off, I finished the ride and crossed the bike bride in the photo above. I really wanted to take a photo like this one as I was crossing the bridge but I was also dreaming about dinner at the time...But, nevertheless, the evening air was just magical and I f...

(via The Sartorialist ) The Twin Cites are apparently the top bicycling city(ies) in the United States. This label likely stems from our extensive bike trail network connecting the suburbs to urban centers, our hardcore winter riders, and our anarchist do-it-yourself-ers with bike powered pig roasts (no joke, witnessed it myself). Yet, there is something missing in our bike culture. I feel like the nytimes article, "The Dutch Way: Bicycles and Fresh Bread," gets close to the heart of it. Author, Russell Shorto writes, "The coexistence of different modes of travel is hard-wired into the (Dutch) culture. This in turns relates to lots of other things- such as bread. How? Cyclists can't carry six bags of groceries; bulk buying is almost nonexistent. Instead of shopping for a week, people stop at the market daily. So the need for processed loaves that will last for days is gone. A result: good bread." Now this article continues with many good points about g...

I mentioned in my boyfriend-away event run-down that I finished a half marathon with the help of some of the women from Women's Running Collective. It's too bad the number on my friend on the left isn't showing in this picture. Somehow, this crazy girl got "69." I mean, really, how did she manage that??? We asked her if she requested it, but she claimed that she hadn't. Incredible. To update ya'll, the WRC is going strong! We've been doing great at monthly run/brunch, but our weekly night runs have yet to truly blossom. For example, last Thursday, I was the only one on time. Returning my solo run, I realized that my cell had a missed call from a couple stragglers...Soooo, we enjoyed a refreshing post-run DQ. Hey, if you can't run with em', you might as well enjoy the benefits of some major calories someone burned, right?! Still, the WRC has encouraged some small group running on a spontaneous basis. In fact, that brings me to describe ...

I'm pretty lucky to have some fit, athletic lady friends that need some running buddies as much as I do. This morning, we had our first collective meeting (although, truth be told we did more running, eating, and chatting than "meeting" but that's the point right?!). It was very relaxed; we did manage to pull together some suggestions for the future of the collective however. Ideas included night runs, races (in which we would sponsor a women's health non-profit, girls' sports causes, etc), and once a month run and brunch. So a very successful first meeting. Best of all, the women who came to the meeting are totally inspiring individuals and amazing friends. That's really the best news of all. Also, if you read this, are female, and like to run...and live in the twin cities. Shoot me an email and I will get you on the list serv. Future running goals: -TC Marathon 2009 -Urban Wildland Half Marathon: Aug. 1st -Some kind of trail race...I am IN LOVE ...

Yesterday, Mike and I celebrated two years together in the Twin Cities. Two years ago, I took the red-eye from San Francisco to Minneapolis to Mike's home. To tell the truth, there haven't been any journeys or transitions that have felt more natural to me than that one. We shared a beautiful, sunny day together drinking coffee (the new french press Mike bought me as a "treaaasure" for finishing the Cleveland marathon), buying fresh food at the coop, and taking Rachel to the Minnehaha dog park. Last night, we went out to dinner at a cozy Italian place and walked around the St. Paul neighborhood. To our amazement, we came across quite a menagerie of new life! Quite the omen for a wonderful future together! Dear love, you make my days so happy.