Getting the Air Out

The winter's in North Iowa have been nothing close to what I remember as "normal."  This year's cold spells have been a challenge and I'm happy to be getting out even in the sub-zero temps.  Unfortunately, the cold makes for atypical snow...light, fluffy, and with a lot of air in it.  It takes more work to get some nicely groomed running trails.

A change that is slowly occurring, is that "snow bikes" are out in force and really help get the trails packed.  I've been pleasantly surprised at the width the snow bikes create and have been able to run comfortably stable along the paths.

Seth Bell's bike on Lime Creek trails.

I forgot my camera today so will use some shots from winter's past.  Yesterday was a bit of a struggle with my traditional built Iverson wooden frames.  

Iverson snowshoes (with last year' Pearl Izumi running shoes)

This was my first attempt on the Iversons with my Hoka shoes and I slipped a lot in the bindings.  I had no such issues with the Dion 121s today!  

Dion 121s

A great day out and good miles.  Got in 7 and most were running...I was struggling with a very stiff/sore knee all morning after slipping on ice while walking Cory's dog, but it felt fine when out on the snowshoe trails.

New Year's Revelations

I've definitely been on a bit of a blogging sabbatical.  A lot of the blogs that I've followed seem to take a break when they are injured and not able to remain on a normal training regimen.  Fortunately, I haven't been any more injured than the knee issues I've been dealing with for 7 years.  It's simply been a break from routine blogging while I've continued to train with no specific goal.

Recent time on the trail has resulted in a few thoughts coming together in a sort of series revelations.  I acknowledge that I've had difficulty dealing with not running as I have in the past.  I've been spending some time this fall trying to accept where I'm at and what I "can" do.

This year-end revelations:

• Accountability...I've continued to keep a log, however, without the blog or training partners I lost a bit of accountability.  There seems to be some positive influence to regular training when you share with others.
• Coaching...the time and energy devoted to coaching others does draw time and energy away from my own training.
• Adaptability...it is taking time but I need to accept my aging and learn to adapt new ideas and training techniques.  I can no longer hammer away as I did with old-school training that got me through the 80's and 90's.
• Surprise...I had a soft goal of putting in 2013 miles in 2013 and was pleasantly surprised with 2207.
• Snowshoeing...I've always felt more comfortable with my snowshoe racing in winter than any of my summer training.  I now believe it may have something to do with a more neutral footplant. It's very unlikely that you do much heal-striking when running snowshoes!

So the indoor track and field season is about to begin and at the same time we've been getting enough snow to allow me to train regularly on the snow.  I'm hoping to keep up with my current fitness level and actually do some snowshoe competitions this winter.

Later....

Patagonia Shoe Review

New Shoe

http://www.youtube.com/embed/qIo38SLZpvk?feature=player_embedded

What better way to recommence writing in this blog than to attempt to win a new pair of shoes!

A lot has happened during my vacation from daily writing...perhaps I can attempt a short review and get back up in the saddle.

And Again Cross Country Begins

As much as I intended to post to my blog each day, I just plain blew it off.  NIACC XC began with a camp meeting last Sunday the 4th and I feel as if I've been hustling every day since, including getting around to riding my bike again!

I spent time on Monday, the 5th, marking a one mile course for a baseline time trial for our teams.  Also took the opportunity to run it myself for some faster paced stuff, in fact, I'm learning that running with the teams helps me get in the faster stuff and some sustained runs with Curtis Vais.  It's kicking my butt and I like feeling like this again...guess my daily Lime Creek excursions were pretty tame as I gave in too soon to feeling tired.

Some of the NIACC XC training on campus.

• Monday the 5th, 8 miles; 
• Tuesday the 6th, 11 miles...some of this was on the Park to Park race course in Cedar Falls where we took the XC teams for a field trip.
• Wednesday the 7th, 10 miles.

  

  Found a nice cluster of edible Sulfur Cap Mushrooms !

• Thursday the 8th, a 10 mile road bike ride to get my bike computer re-calibrated and 3 mile hike.
• Friday the 9th, 7 miles squeezed into a busy day.
• Saturday the 10th,  a 22 mile bike ride with friends in Cedar Falls and more reconnaissance of the Park to Park course and a 3 mile recovery hike in the evening.
• Sunday the 11th, 9 miles including a 4 mile run with the XC teams on Lime Creek.  This gave me a total of 51 miles and 32 miles on the bike.

Today ended up being some good mileage for me as I drove early to Pilot Knob State Park to mark the loop for the XC teams to follow.  The workout concluded with a series of hill repeats to the tower on the knob (2nd highest point in the state of Iowa).

Dangling

I haven't posted since Monday in order to give Monday's blog plenty of time for the link to Ben Greenfield's article to be noticed...  It must have worked because I ended up winning one of the free watches he was promoting for such links from people's blogs, articles, etc.  I had hoped for a GPS or heart rate model but they were already spoken for, so have a Timex Ironman 250-lap sports watch coming!

Each day this week I've been more encouraged by my progress towards more sustained running.  The miles are coming back and paces coming down.  A speed workout on Thursday, as prescribed by Scott Gall of The Runner's Flat in Cedar Falls, helped me realize that I can run the shorter intervals (200s this week) because of the short breaks between hard efforts.

I experimented with short breaks during my longer runs and found that I don't lose a lot of time with short walk breaks inserted into each mile.  Perhaps my overall time is as good or better than what would result if I tried to push through the entire distance without the short hiking breaks.  Something to think about and leave dangling out there as a possibility for longer races this fall.

Dangling vines from the cliffs along the river trails.

Also noticed a cicada on the path during the run on Friday.  I had learned a lot about the periodic cicada emergence's (17 year and 13 year) in a museum on Staten Island while we visited New York in May.  Turns out the cicada I saw this week is simply of the annual variety...Iowa can expect the periodic emergence's next year and in 2015.

Annual variety of Cicada

Entrance to the display in the Staten Island Museum featuring the periodic emergence of the 17-year Cicada

13 miles Tuesday, 10 miles Wednesday, 8 on Thursday, 10 miles Friday, 10 on Saturday, 9 today for a 70 mile week...whoo-hoo!

It's A Beautiful Day

Great day out on the trails...woods then prairie.  Not pushing too hard today as I'm looking for some better workouts later this week.  I've been noting a touch of digestive tract issues lately and wonder about the cause.  Good reading in a recent Ben Greenfield article!  I listen to Ben's podcasts every week and have gained tons of fitness and nutrition knowledge. In fact, my daily eating habits have changed immensely during the past year, partly as a result of the information I've gained through his podcasts and articles. 

Unusual siting while in the prairie loops was a mink.  I've seen mink before while along the river bluffs but this was a surprise in the middle of the prairie.

A 10 mile day today.

Gold

Last week I was complaining about heat and humidity and today was already so chilly that I can't believe it's July in Iowa!  Beautiful morning for running and I embraced the chance to get in a relaxed run.

Surprised to see a Fox Snake getting out in the cooler weather but it was still spry enough to bluff a few strikes at my hand when I picked it up to observe. 

Fox Snake

Also enjoyed seeing some Goldfinches flitting around in the thistles.

With today's total of 9 miles, I reached 62 for this week.  Some runs are feeling easier now so I'm hoping to continue sustained runs in prep for a September race.