Over and Out

Well it's the last day of my first year at trying this blog thing.  There were some fun times and some real dog day drags but we're here!

Today was not a good day for me out on the trails (although still better than staying in all day).  My knees really hurt from the start of the run.  So I kept it short and headed home to enjoy some beer and Iowa State football.

3 miles for a 3033 total on this year.

Snow Bikes

Great day outside today.  It's staying cold enough that we aren't losing a lot of snow to the sun and today was calm enough that it was pleasant even when temps were below 20 degrees F.

I looked up from my route along the quarry pond to see a winter biker.  Something that has been increasing each winter recently is the appearance of snow-bike tire tracks on the quarry and Wild Turkey trails.  This turned out to be Seth Bell, with whom I formerly worked when I was a part-time employee at Wayne's Ski and Cycle.

One of Seth's winter arsenal

Seth  enjoying the sun and refreshment during his afternoon ride.

I was able to get in 6 miles today, mostly at an easy pace.  This brought me to only 17 for this week but up to 3030 for the year with one more day to go.

Four Days Lost

Christmas Eve afternoon, I got out for a walk with Piper for the final time for this dog-sitting stretch.  She heads home with Cory after Christmas.

Piper got a new coat for Christmas.

No sooner do I boast about hitting my most miles in a year, than I contract a stomach flu and end up losing 4 days.  I missed xmas day by needing to stay in bed and near the restroom.  I needed a day to recover from that then relapsed when I began to eat solid food again.  Took another day to recover and finally, today, was able to get out on the snowshoes to pack down yesterday's fresh snow.

So while packing the new snow along a portion of mountain bike trail, I levered the tail of my snowshoe against a log and cracked the frame at the toe bar.  The tension from the lacing pulled the bar up into the frame's crack but not enough to force me to need to remove the shoe.

Once home, I used some vice-grips and force to put the toe bar back into position and close the cracks.  Then with shoe goo and a simple stainless band clamp, I held everything back into the original construction location.  Hope it holds up!

6 miles today, much of it in soft, new snow.

Hitting the Target

Approaching the end of a year in which I was able to stay rather consistent at spending time out on the trails, and training for a 50-miler to boot, the past weeks have been devoted to maintaining a mileage that would allow me to hit 3000 miles for the year.  That moment occurred before the end of this week.  In fact, it occurred while I was running on snowshoes...something that hasn't been possible very often the past couple winters.

Holiday guests arrived on Saturday so training and posting has been haphazard, but I bagged 7 miles on Saturday and 6 more yesterday for a 51 mile week. 

I spent a fair amount of time last night attempting to convert my Audible book files of Born to Run (.aa) to mp3 or simply an audio cd series so my son could listen to it while driving!  Turned out to be quite a project...but accomplished.

Yell Out Loud

While running snowshoes today, I began wondering about what makes you "yell out loud" when watching TV.  I know what makes my son's dog bark out loud...other dogs or sometimes any four-legged animals on the screen!

For me it seems that it is usually a college football game, however, I do seem to get excited enough to cheer when watching track meets too!  In particular, I remember the 1-2 finish of Mo Farrah and Galen Rupp in the Olympic 10,000.  I remember my Dad getting so involved with a Pro Football game, once, that he stood up and smashed the chair he had been sitting in.

The trails around the quarry were great today.  I was correct about the drifting and there were plenty of stretches that required repacking.  I wore my wooden Iverson runners today because they do a great job of trail setting and allows for better running on subsequent days. There were also a few open areas of exposed rock and I was glad I didn't have to worry about any cleats today.

6 miles on the snowshoes and another couple of hiking with the dog.

First Tracks

The snow finally arrived and I headed out to the quarry trails for some true snowshoe running.  I used the ice/rock cleats with the Dions and was glad I did because there were several spots where I could hear the cleats hitting rock.  The wind was picking up so there were drifts and some bare spots but overall the snow depth was pretty good for running.

Mason City Globe-Gazette photo from previous article

I was pleased with my cardio-vascular fitness and able to stay at a running pace for the first half of the loops but soon learned that breaking the trail by being first tracks ended up sapping more strength than I was willing to expend on this initial time out on the shoes.  I walked some stretches in order to pack the snow for faster runs in the coming days.  However, with the wind closing the footprints behind me, I may need to repeat the break-in tomorrow.

It's really calming to be in the woods and making fresh tracks with no sign of walkers or skiers...only an occasional deer using the trail or perhaps a few rabbits tracks.

5 miles on the snowshoes and a couple more walking with Piper. 

Fiscal Cliff or the Mayans

With the continued threat of some winter weather finally arriving (in the shape of snow and blizzard), the day was surprisingly mild.  The trail was a bit soft due to melting of yesterday's dusting of snow and I didn't notice much wind yet.

Fiscal Cliff

As we passed some of the limestone bluffs beside the trail, I couldn't help but think of how much we're hearing about the "fiscal cliff".  This, along with a lot more talk about the Mayan apocalypse, made for a more depressing outing than you'd want at Christmas!

I truly hope that we get some nice snow for snowshoeing but not in a way that interferes with peoples holiday travel plans.

Did the 6 mile loop today.