2016 Minnesota Report for the Last 10 Days:
Thursday: Drove to Minnesota. Stopped at Trumble's in Albert Lea for a good breakfast/lunch. Good family restaurant we always stop at every year. 8 year old son threw a minnow off the dock and caught a 30" northern pike - about 7-8 pounds.
Friday: Woke up and took the whole family fishing. The goal for the day was to catch some fish for our fish fry. My 10 year old son usually gets bored by fishing, but he was on fire. Caught 4 bass (one of them was a 3 pound bass) and a 30" northern - his biggest fish ever. We threw back the northern and kept three of the bass for dinner. The smile on his face and his comments: "Looks like I'm in charge of feeding the family tonight."
Just to show him up I caught a 21" bass (4 pounds).
Saturday: Woke up and ran 5 miles. 10:13 Pace, HR was 157. Spent the rest of the day fishing for bass using floating frogs on lily pads. Then drank some beer and welcomed the rest of my extended family (brothers, niece, nephew, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc)
Sunday: Rained most of the day, so we caught up with everyone. Caught a few pike off the dock, drank some beer, and played our guitars.
Monday: Fished most of the day so we could have enough fish for our traditional Tuesday fish fry. Drank some beer and sat around the bonfire just relaxing and seeing the stars.
Tuesday: Fished most of the morning so try and secure a few more bass for the fish fry. Cooked fish for 27 people using my secret recipe. So freaking good. Drank some more beer and played washers before settling around the bonfire the rest of the night.
Wednesday: Did some more fishing, and started catching more pike. We were going for bigger fish at this point. Caught a 30" northern myself, so I at least was on par with my two sons. My daughter, as usual, did not care about the fishing. Drank some more beer and just hung out by the fire.
Thursday: Started feeling guilty about running, so took off on a 6 mile run. Pace was 9:47 with a HR of 157. Felt good to get out and stretch the legs after being a lazy turd all week. At noon we had our 2nd annual fishing tournament that is organized by my 8 year old son. Last year we got the idea to build lures for everyone and have a fishing tournament where the only lure you can use is the one we give you. Buy-in is $2, and the one who catches the biggest fish wins the pot. We made up a traveling trophy and everything. So this year, we made another lure, and now you can use either this years or last years. Had a great time, and my nephew won for the second straight year. Drank beer and talked stories around the fire til the wee hours.
Friday: Took my 8 year old for a final day of fishing, but after about an hour I noticed a huge, scary looking front moving in. We were on a lake where we were in a row boat, so I got some good core work done hoofing it back to the dock before the lightning and thunder moved in. Made it just in time, and spent the rest of the day reading a book about Leo Messi and fishing off the dock. Caught 6 northern and drank a few more beers. A bonfire ended the week.
Saturday: Spent 10 hours in the car driving home. Stepped out of car into 93 degree heat and huge humidity. Awesome after a week in the 70's.
Sunday: Woke up and gutted out 7.4 Miles in a 154 suck index. HR was high as to be expected: 166, and a pace of 10:45. Survival run. Most of my runs this week will be the same: brutal heat and humidity this week. Gonna try and get up tomorrow morning and get on that cycle for awhile.
Anyway, another great week. As usual, body and mind are pretty refreshed, and I actually maintained my weight (155) while gone. So I'm pleased about that. Could have run more I guess, but I love this week to give my family all that I can. They need it and so do I.
Now, back on the saddle.
