Ever since starting this crazy (stupid?) goal of running fifty half marathons, I figured that there would come a time when I would need to run one while pregnant.

It’s just simple math: if I plan to run two races a year and finish running in all states by the time I am 50, then there will inevitably be some nine-month pregnancy stretches in there.

However, it’s one thing to logically know that it will happen and another to actually complete said race. First, you really have to time it right. During the first trimester, I was EXHAUSTED. There was some nausea as well, but mostly what got me was just how freaking tired I was all the time. I have never taken so many naps in my life. Probably not the best time to run a half marathon. So I aimed for early on in the second trimester (which may or may not have been a smart decision).

Second, you really need to consider your fitness level. Contrary to popular belief, pregnant women are not disabled and can continue exercising throughout their pregnancy. However, pregnancy is really not the time to start something new. Sooo for someone like me who just doesn’t train (I really need to step up my running game), maybe running a half while pregnant is not the best idea.

But since when have I listened to common sense? I figured that if I didn’t train for my last race, why would that be any different for this race even if I was pregnant?

Well.

Not to spoil the ending or anything, but the motto of this race was, “At least it wasn’t as bad as Seattle!”

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One of my common-in-law sisters, Fran, recently moved to Minneapolis. Fran is one of the few people that will actually run with me (and not judge me when I am a slow poke). So as soon as Fran told me she was moving, I knew I would be going at some point to visit her and run a half. I was thinking more of a spring/summer race given the whole “Minnesota-is-super-north-and-I-have-horrible-weather-luck” thing, but when I found out about the pregnancy, I decided to push the race up.

Minneapolis in the fall here we come!

After landing on Friday, October 18th and picking up our race packets, I took a stroll around downtown Minneapolis while I waited for Fran to get off of work.

Some general thoughts on Minneapolis:

• Downtown Minneapolis is SMALL. I went to the Visitor’s Center to pick up a map and hear any of their recommendations on what I should see/do while in town. While I was given a long list of potential things to do, it became evident that the true center of “downtown” Minneapolis is like a three by three block square.
• Minneapolis has some public transportation, but I would recommend renting a bike if you plan on visiting the city. It would make it a lot easier to get around in a quick fashion. Without a bike, I was relegated to my two feet. On the bright side, I got a lot of steps in (15,000+)!
• Can we PLEASE give a shout out to Minneapolis for this amazing bathroom project that they have?? I was floored when I stopped at a crosswalk, looked down and saw images on the sidewalk that states where the closest public bathrooms were and how long it would take to reach them by walking. As someone who is married to a man that uses the bathroom every hour (minimum I swear!), I truly appreciated signage. DC, you trying to get on board?

After some exploration, I headed over to the Mill City Museum. The Mill City Museum is housed one of the former mills of Washburn-Crosby. Never heard of Washburn-Crosby? Yeah, me either. But then I learned that in 1928, Washburn-Crosby changed their named to General Mills. Suddenly the museum became a lot more interesting when I realized it was basically the very beginning of Reese’s Puffs aka the best cereal ever. 😍😍😍

The museum offers a guided tour which I highly recommend. Apparently, way back in the day, – think late 1800s – Minneapolis was a big deal for flour production and was nicknamed “Mill City”. (Yes, for you clever readers this would be why the museum is named so aptly.) While there were several mills in the city, the mill where the museum is housed was the flagship mill of Washburn-Crosby. In May 1878, the mill exploded from rapidly burning flour dust and 18 people lost their life. The mill was ruined and had to be completely rebuilt. I think the museum must be used to people not believing that flour could have created such an explosion, so they had a demonstration set up to reenact the explosion.

That demo was no joke. Who knew that flour dust could cause explosions and massive amounts of damage?!?

The mill was rebuilt in 1880. At the time of opening, the mill was the largest mill in the world. During the tour we went up to the top of the mill tower and learned all about how flour was made. I’m going to be honest, this is more Andy’s domain than mine and I’m sure he is aghast that I don’t actually know how the mill operated. BUT…I did learn that at fullest capacity the mill could make enough flour in 24 hours to make 2 million loaves of bread! Also, the views from the top were very pretty amazing as well if that counts for anything 🙂

Besides the tour, the museum was actually very kid friendly. They had several exhibits and many of them were interactive and meant for school-aged children.

A few of the interesting facts I learned:

• Betty Crocker is not real! She was made up by Washburn-Crosby in 1921. Interestingly, in 1945 she was ranked second in a list of the best known woman in America. Who was first? Eleanor Roosevelt! I can’t decide if I’m impressed or extremely concerned that our country ranked an imaginary woman as one of the top two best known women in the country…
• The “poppin fresh” can that Pillsbury still uses for their refrigerated buttermilk biscuit was invented and patented in 1931. Almost 100 years later and the poppin fresh can is still kicking!
• United States has the fourth highest consumption of cereal per capital (behind Ireland, England and Australia). I was pretty shocked we weren’t first and I’m hoping the cereal in the other english-speaking countries is at least a bit healthier than what we have here in the states!

After touring the museum, I met up with Fran and we hung out with some of her friends. Since we had our race the next day we decided to take it easy…aka we all know that I need as much energy as possible to try and make it through that torturous 13 miles.

Saturday morning comes and guess what? IT’S RAINING!!! 😭😭

To be fair, it was more like sprinkling, but when you have to stand outside in the cold, rain while you wait to start your race, sprinkling feels like a downpour. Alas, after what felt like forever, it was finally time to start the race.

Race thoughts:

• The race swag was pretty nice. I enjoyed the pullover that came with the race. Although, I would say that packet pickup was a total mess. I had to take an uber to packet pickup because it was outside of the city and there were incredibly long lines.
• Beautiful scenery! It was wonderful fall weather (once the rain stopped). I couldn’t help but to stop and take pictures throughout. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that taking pictures gives me an excuse to stop and rest haha
• Fran was, per usual, a great running buddy! She kept us on pace, but also didn’t get upset when I died and needed to walk for a bit. Which happened around mile 10…apparently ten miles is about as far as my body wants to go without training haha. We finished the race at 2 hours 41 minutes.

To celebrate surviving the race, Fran and I went to brunch at Eggy’s. Just go there. Please. #Heaven

For the rest of my time in Minneapolis, Fran and I spent time exploring and walking around the city. I was weirdly excited to cross the bridge and go to the other side of the river. I know I’m an oddball, but the river and the bridge are just so pretty!

We rented bikes and went bike riding around the lake. I was very impressed that my body was able to operate after that grueling half-marathon. The weather was just too good to pass up on!

We also went to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

I feel like a horrible person when I say that I do not think I am meant for art. I just don’t think I appreciate it. It’s almost like when you had to read that book for English class and the teacher is explaining the symbolism and importance of the literature and all I can think about is that this book wouldn’t even be good as a movie.

But I will admit that the art in the sculpture garden did put a smile on my face even if I didn’t quite understand it.

For example: Spoonbridge and Cherry

Or: The Blue Cock

Or my favorite: The Living Series

Of course, this blog post would be incomplete without mentioning that by visiting Fran I got to have an awesome experience…I met her boyfriend, Scott, for the first time!!! Fran bravely let me go to dinner with the two of them. I did my best to only slightly interrogate him and ask his intentions with my common-law sister. 😁 Just kidding, Scott was a trooper and I’m glad I got to meet him!

I could never live in Minneapolis for the sole fact that it is WAY too cold there for me most of the year. But minus the weather, Minneapolis was a wonderful city and I could absolutely see myself going back there for a vacation. Thanks for hosting me Fran!