As I mentioned in my post last week, this spring has been challenging for me. There is a lot of things I could focus on that tend to bring me down instead of lift me up. That said, I fully recognize that happiness is a choice. There are some tough things I can focus on (like the 36-40% pass rate for the CFA), or I can try to de-emphasize (is that a word?) those aspects and instead focus on the good things in my life. Like the fact that I live in a city that I truly love and adore.
I sometimes lose sight of the fact that I am blessed to live where I live - so I am borrowing a post series that Kelly started, titled the "I Love Boston" project, and have decided to do a series of posts about why I love Minneapolis. I figure it will force me to focus on the positive - and probably try some new things! And maybe it will make you want to come and visit! :)
I love Minneapolis because it is a wonderful city for running.
For my inaugural post, I thought I'd start with something that has been on my mind even more lately now that my running club season has started: running. Minneapolis is a wonderful city to run in! You don't have to take my world for it, though, as Forbes magazine chose it as one of the "10 Best Cities for Runners"! We have miles upon miles of running trails, an active running community, and runner-friendly weather. Yes, it gets cold and snowy in the winter, but if you have the will to run, you can make winter running work.
I thought I'd share some photos of the areas that I love to run, all taken by Amber on her trip to visit me last summer!
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| Amber is standing on an area of a running path that is about 1.5 miles from my condo. I run this loop a couple of times a week - it's so peaceful running next to the Mississippi River, and I love running back towards the Minneapolis skyline! |
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| That first bridge in this photo is called the Stone Arch Bridge. It's a pedestrian bridge located right by my condo. Most of the runs in my neighborhood start and end by this bridge. |
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| Lastly, this is the running path by my favorite lake, Lake Harriet. I prefer to run by water as I find it so calming. so I have logged countless miles running around this lake when training for the various marathons and half-marathons I've done. |
Finding a running club (with no kilt-wearing runners) has also made me appreciate the Minneapolis running community!
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| On Saturday our club had a water stop by the famous bunny statue, so some of us stopped to snap a quick picture! |
For me, it is so important for a city to be running-friendly. If I ever had to move, I would definitely take that into consideration as through my travels I have definitely come to find that some cities are more runner-friendly than others (like Chicago! One of the best cities for runners in my opinion!)
What is one thing you love about the city you live in? Is your city runner-friendly?
22 comments:
Yay, I'm so glad you are doing this to! :) Those pictures are gorgeous- I definitely want to visit at some point.
Boston is a good running city and it made that list, which seems pretty obvious because of the big marathon :) We have a lot of places to run and a running community as well- not that I am part of it haha but it exists.
I'm excited about this series! And this post *almost* makes me want to be a runner. (Almost).
I guess something I love about my city is while there is crazy traffic, I'm pretty close to everything - Target is about 7 minutes away, I have my choice of four different grocery stores (all within 15 minutes), two libraries, etc.
My current city (Pittsburgh) is not very runner friendly, which is super hard for me to adjust to. Especially since I moved from Chicago and am from Austin originally. Those are probably two of the most runner-friendly cities ever!
New Orleans has resources for runners - City Park is one of the largest municipal parks in the nation, Audubon Park is a beautiful vehicle-free running path, and the levee provides miles of running and biking surface - but it's not really runner-friendly. Drivers simply don't respect pedestrians, and every time I venture onto St Charles Ave I take my life into my hands!
I love this series, I might have to do this too!
What I love about Des Moines is how easy it is to get to everything. There's rarely traffic and it still feels like a big city - sorta. ;)
This post made me a little more excited about running my three miles today. Thank you for that!
That is a really good outlook. I could use a dose of positivity like that today. I love the 10 mile loop from my house to the capital building and back.
I realized during my 9-month stint in Connecticut just HOW important this is. It's awesome to have great running routes and other people around that share your interests.
Great series!
Minneapolis looks like a great city! Would love to come see it one day :)
One thing I love about Calgary is easy and quick access to the mountains. Less than an hour and you can go for a gorgeous hike in the mountains! Can't beat that
I think this is a great idea! I should do that for our little village but it would take about two sentences! :)
This is a great idea, Lisa. If I were organized enough with my posts (and thoughts!), I'd do a series on Chicago!
Chicago is definitely runner-friendly, sort of. I mean, we also have wonderful running paths, trails, running groups, paths near water, etc. But, Chicago is SUPER FLAT. So, if you just want to run (or are just getting started), it's great. But, if you're looking for a challenge and/or are training for a race in a more hilly terrain, it's not the best place to run.
This is a great post and I can't wait for the rest of the series.
When I was there, it did seem like Minneapolis was a great place to run. I love running near water.
I think San Francisco and New York are my two favorite running cities, but San Francisco wins out -- it has flat places to run (believe it or not), you can run with a beautiful view of the ocean or the golden gate bridge (or on it!) and the weather is perfect for running year round. That is a 10 in my book.
Oooh love your new post series. I LOVED going running with you in Minneapolis, you really do have some great running trails! I wish I'd seen the bunny statue when I was there, I'm intrigued :)
Our city is pretty runner friendly - it's VERY trail runner friendly. Sooo many trails that are easily accessible from the city. There aren't as many paved running paths though which is kind of a bummer when I'm training for a road marathon! I love the weather in my city and I also like that it's a smaller city and my commute is only 5-10 minutes and I can also get ACROSS the city in like 20-30 minutes tops! I don't think I'm cut out for huge city living (though sometimes I think I would like it, like when I visited you and saw your amazing downtown neighbourhood!)
I didn't really need this post to want to visit Minneapolis since I've always heard wonderful things about the city, but this makes me want to visit even more. Can we make that happen one of these days?
I would have to write a novel if I talked about all the things I love about NYC. There are so many other places I love and I've been so blessed to have spent time living in 3 other wonderful cities, but New York is still my favorite place on earth!
I love your city too! So much so :)
I love that Winnipeg, especially my neighbourhood, has the feeling of a big city and the feeling of being at the lake all at the same time. In the summer, so many people go to their cabins that the city is quiet and breezy, there are amazing restaurants everywhere and if I read on the swinging chair in front of my house it feels like I'm somewhere comfy & homey, but far away from the daily grind :)
What a great idea for a post series! Im excited to read them all :)
I am a big fan of Minneapolis. Such a beautiful city. If more winters were like the winter you just had and not so brutal, I would consider moving there. The scenery is beautiful.
I really need to visit Minnesota! I love our many parks and lakes in my area.
This is so fun! I love Minneapolis too. Chain of Lakes is amazing - that summer I lived there was the best! I loved how peaceful it was, but still the great people watching you could do during long runs. I loved that there were water fountains around the lake. Loved all the water! Ahhh
I'm glad you have established yourself in a city you love so! I am really starting to love my community as well. I may have to copy you and do a post like this. I wouldn't do it about Tucson, but Oro Valley instead. I dislike Tucson for the most part.....
I agree with you on having such beautiful scenery for running.
What I love the most is being surrounded by palm trees
What a fun post series!
My city is pretty runner-friendly. We have tons of local races, lots of running groups to choose from, and show up downtown around 7-8AM on a Saturday and it is PACKED with runners. We also have a variety of running paths and I always see people running around the roads where I live. (Personally, I think it's too dangerous for that. I don't like road running!)
What I love most about where I live is how there is ALWAYS something to do. It's impossible to be bored. I'm 30 minutes from two awesome theme parks, an hour from Orlando, minutes away from beaches and museums and parks and zoos. There is SO much to do where I live!
Minneapolis sounds so nice :)
Sacramento is a runner-friendly city, I'd say.... I live close to a park where you see runners all day! I also love that downtown is so walkable. It doesn't really feel like a big city.
I love my city because it has a great music scene.
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