Bell's Two-Hearted Ale

Today's workout was delayed by a NIACC coaches lunch bunch meal at 11:30 AM. It was cloudy and a bit colder but the bonus of the outing was securing another 3 dozen black walnuts on the trail.

Tonight's highlight, on the other hand, was the fund-raising social for the North Iowa Nordic crew to generate some funds for grooming the ski trails.

Bell's Two-Hearted Ale on tap and lots of hors d'oeurves with great friends and conversation. A truly enjoyable evening!

8 miles today.

Eager Beaver

Surprise opportunity today.  A quick trip to the suburbs of Minneapolis for some special holiday shopping and I discovered some trails there were new to me.  In the Minnesota National Wildlife Refuge, I took off to check out the Carver Creek loop of the Rapids Lake Unit.  Flat and fast with excellent trail conditions for running!  Came across a lot of beaver activity.

(borrowed photo)

Even though the river was low, note the high water line on the trees.

Along the creek where the beaver were most busy.

Beautiful wetlands.

Wide smooth trails in the river bottom.

4 miles in the time I had available.  The drive had started in a cold rain in Iowa so the mild, sunny weather in Minnesota was much appreciated.

Enhancement

So on today's run I noticed that someone decided to enhance the rock bench on the Badlands Loop.  It now has arm rests!

I have mentioned how I like to enhance the trails by picking up the trash and recyclables.  What is interesting about the colder weather is that there are fewer users and the ones that are out are the regulars.  The amount of trash and recyclables that are cast off along the trail has drastically reduced.  In fact, I did not spot a single returnable container today and ran the standard 7 mile loop without a break!  Maybe the fact that I'm actually running also lends to being less likely to spot a candy wrapper or pop can!

Ownership

When you use the same trail for your daily workout (for the most part), you begin to feel some ownership of that trail.  You see the minute changes each day and even become accustomed to noting footprints, underbrush, etc.  But what I failed to remember was that these trails are multi-use...running, hiking, biking, birding, and even hunting in a restricted area of the site.

Today, we were in the trails where hunting is allowed and before turning for home I spotted some "hunter's orange" on a person ahead of us.

Turned out to be a guy with a gun.  As I passed he said  "There's someone ahead that's shooting!"  I told him I'd be turning towards the quarry soon and continued.  Once I'd returned to the other side of the railroad tracks, I heard another blast from the the hunter.

That reminded me of a time when running on a trail in a national forest in Colorado.  There were three of us running late in the day and we could hear someone apparently target shooting.  This wasn't a concern until we could hear the sound of the bullets whizzing past us after each shot. Luckily, the terrain was such that the shots were above our heads,

10 miles today.

I usually wear orange now when in the hunting area!

North Iowa Touring Club

Just realized that yesterday's post was never published!  It was a another full day...run with Piper on the Lime Creek Trails, then volunteered at the LC Nature Center all afternoon (used the time to crack about 3 dozen black walnuts), followed by the North Iowa Touring Club's annual potluck dinner (also in the nature center).  New board members were approved for the next year...I'll be taking a turn as president.

6 miles on the day Sunday for a 55 mile week.

The weather today was incredibly mild.  It was wet and humid this morning but with no wind and warm temps, it sure didn't seem like December.  Took a brisk trip around our standard 7 mile loop then headed out to take over a track practice for Coach Vais as he needs to be out-of-town for a couple days.  It was a  workout of repeat 1000 meter runs that we were able to conduct outdoors. A real exception when training for  the indoor track season.

Dog Tired

7 miles today.  At one point we passed a couple out on the trail that were carrying grocery bags.  Later, while we were returning I saw them picking up black walnuts.  I've had a pretty good haul of black walnuts myself this year.  I visited with the folks for a while and directed them to an area where I'd picked up some good quality nuts.

Perhaps the push to get my daily mileage is beginning to have an effect on Piper.  I've often heard the statement "dog tired" but never really thought about it.  After we return each day, Piper grabs a drink of water and some food then takes a healthy siesta. She usually gets quite energetic in the evening and begs for a good game of fetch.  But tonight she seemed a bit more tired and simply collapsed on the footstool while I watched some football and college wrestling (Iowa vs. Iowa State) on TV!

Wrestling To Keep Up

I didn't get my post finished yesterday as planned.  Instead, I attended the local high school wrestling meet.  The meet reminded me that part of the problem I'm dealing with in my knees is likely due to trauma dealt to them when I wrestled in high school.  I recall at least 3 incidents when a knee was popped "out-of-joint"  back then.

My father helped start my interest in wrestling when I was in junior high.  I continued through high school and even a bit of intramural while at ISU.  I also thought of my father when hiking the trails yesterday.  Piper and I passed a large, flat rock that sits high above the river.  I recall sitting on this rock and talking with my Dad back when I was in grade school.  The land was privately owned back then but Dad obtained permission to hike back along the river to look for the old Krieger homestead.

Got in 7 miles on Thursday.

Today was warmer than yesterday but somehow seemed colder because there was more wind.  It was a good day to put in some more time so we went 10 miles.  Even spooked a Barred Owl at one point in the woods and it landed very close after a short flight.

(borrowed photo)