It’s Sunday, November 9. We put off the dishes, delay doing the laundry. Work that needs to be done for Monday’s classes will have to wait.

Because it’s 4 p.m. on Sunday, November 9. In Minnesota. And it’s relatively nice, nearly 37 degrees. The relentless northwest wind of the past few days has finally receded.

But it’s 4 p.m. If we want to run, we better do it now, because in an hour it will dark.

And it’s November 9. We go out, put off work, because on November 10, the trail will be covered in snow. Likely at least 4 inches, maybe 6, probably not 8, but who knows?

So we go out full well knowing it might be our last chance of the season. We’ve run and biked the trail since May. In the heat of summer you think this day will never come. But here it is, much earlier than it normally arrives.

It should be a holiday: The Last Trail Run of the Season.

Work can wait. That can be done indoors, day or night. The trail run–well, we know those will end. So we make the best of it, make sure that we get out there one last time.