Chasing Tail

It's been a week since I've had a chance to post...busy times with a lot going on.  

The NIACC track meet scheduled for last Thursday was moved up to Wednesday because the weather forecast was for cold and rain. Wednesday, by chance, turned out warm but windy as hell! Any event other than than one that only used the home stretch was at a disadvantage. Upside...our 110 m. hurdler and 100 m. sprinter both saw drastic improvements in time (NJCAA doesn't adjust for wind-aided!). 

We added a couple of national qualifying performances and several 1st place finishes against the 4-year colleges.

Thursday was spent getting back to Onslow, Iowa so I could help my Mom get through some appointments in prep for a knee replacement. This was interesting to me because my doctor has suggested that I may need a knee replacement and my younger brother has already undergone the surgery. The process of helping Mom gave me a lot of info regarding what the capabilities of the current state of knee replacement can achieve. Bottom line for me is, keep running with what I have and hope that better therapies are developed in the future.

Once back to Mason City, we were faced with Easter and drove to Cathy's sister's house in Forest City. That gave me a chance to run at Pilot Knob State Park again and it was a good day. The woods are beginning to evolve from winter to spring and wild flowers are emerging.

Bloodroot

Yesterday was spent with a morning watching the webcast of a very inspirational Boston Marathon. I ran Boston in 1983 (the last previous US citizen winner, Greg Meyer) with several others from Mason City and Clear Lake, Iowa. A daughter of one of those Mason Citians from 1983 ran yesterday and did very well...in fact a few minutes faster than her mother. The daughter just happened to also be a former NIACC XC and track runner that I had the privilege of  helping coach!

The current weather conditions have left the woods particularly transparent and I've had a good run at cleaning up recyclables and trash. It felt good to collect a couple bags of redeemables and even more trash to take off the trails on Earth Day. I've been turning in cans and bottles for deposit at the rate of $15 a week and the scrap aluminum from flat cans will likely add an additional $10 yet this week! 

Today's run took me past what has now become my checkpoint for comparison...and as I passed there were a couple Canada Geese visiting.

Noticed at the base of a storm damaged tree today, was some honey-comb...makes me believe that there had been an active hive that likely held some local, raw honey.

Then, while running through the Badlands Loop. I saw that someone had repaired the damaged rock cairn and I took time to build some surrounding cairns. These cairns have taken on an interesting "life of their own" since the small beginnings that I started years ago. 

Last week ended a bit lower in mileage because of the meet and travel to Onslow but I'm feeling pretty good and a step back probably doesn't hurt once in a while when building up. 37 miles on the week.  5 yesterday and 7 today.

It looks like I've been a bit more chatty today but that's likely the result of a week off the blog and also the Ten Fidy from Oskar Blues that I relaxed with before sitting down to write.

So that brings me up-to-date for now but with the Drake Relays , my Mom's operation, and then Regionals, I may not be very routine with the blog.