The Mystic Trail

I've been barely moving this week (something about my race schedule's caught up to me), but I have managed a few 1/2 hour runs, one of which was epic - I found the Mystic Trail.

St. Paul, being an old city with a lot of nooks and crannies, has a number of areas that most people never see. I believe in microtourism and have traveled the entire length of every street in the city. I know it well, perhaps as well as anyone. Yet, there are a few places that have eluded me, like the lost colony in Pig's Eye Park south of the sewage treatment plant; the only way to get there legally is by boat and it's a long row on a busy river. One other, is a trail that is known by about 200 people... and none of them will say where it is, which perhaps is why it's known as the Mystic Trail.

So, now I've found it. And I love it. And I, too, won't say where it is, except to say that there is one point from which one can see both downtown St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis - at the same time! The trail's longest stretch is just over a mile long and the various spurs add another mile or so. The terrain is pretty rough, so if I disappear off a cliff, no one will fnd me for a long time.

Otherwise, looking forward to Chippewa. I'm hoping to run just faster than my last year's time, which should put me about 50th this time.

I'm starting to worry about my plans to do the Kettle Moraine 100. It has more climb than Zumbro (12000 vs. 10000 feet) and the cut-off is 30 hrs., less than what it took me to finish Zumbro. And I'll have done 5 ultras, rather than being fresh.