Making Right Turns On the Track!

This week has been a bit hectic....I've felt a bit rushed and confused at times....like making right turns on the track.

There's been a bit of sensory overload as I want to read race reports from Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon and from Leadville. Lots of excellent reports to read and lessons learned! Friends like George Zack and Brandon Fuller's reports but then podcasts with Leadville's winner, Rob Krar, or 2nd place finisher, Mike Aisch. There's just not enough time what with NIACC XC Camp and all.

I spent yesterday marking the trail for the afternoon practice at Pilot Knob.

I was able to include a full loop of the park and the varied terrain. It was a great workout for me in the morning and seems that the athletes enjoyed the run in the afternoon. It's a great park for a hill workout and only 30 minutes drive from Mason City.

In addition to the practices, I've been trying to introduce the team to our followers of the NIACC Track and Field / XC Facebook page. By using 5 questions, I've been posting a different individual each day. Lots of fun and a chance to reuse "off the wall" questions that I've heard on some of the podcasts that I subscribe to.

Traffic

By virtue of logging my miles on the Lime Creek Trails nearly every day, I tend to see patterns in frequency of use.

Sunday afternoon was a day that the NIACC Cross Country teams chose to use the trails for a longer run. The new dog park for Mason City is currently nearing completion of a building phase, so additional parking is available at the trailhead on Elm Drive. I've never seen so many cars parked there, at once. And only a couple were for the dog park. The rest were out using the trail system. WOW!

Zerble Trail entrance to the Lime Creek system

Whereas I usually run to the trail, today I needed to have my Jeep available

Out on the trails was hot and humid today but enough shade to be tolerable. Every year it's amazing to see a few clumps of Surprise Lilies erupt beside the trail!

I spent a fair amount of time on Saturday and Sunday on the computer using live-tracking to follow friends and acquaintances who were running Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon and some at the Leadville 100. Some great performances and brought back lots of memories for me.

Nothing Stays "the Same"

Looked at how long ago I last posted....it's been a while.

Sure I have lots of excuses, but plenty of busy guys like Hypoxic Marmot, still get their daily post out.

I've always noticed that the running blogs I follow seem to drop off while they rehab from injury. I've been struggling with actual running for quite some time. Sure I get in an occasional long race where walking actually is good strategy, but I've been missing the pain-free, easy-going, smooth runs of my past.  

A month ago, I tried a new therapy for my left knee, PRP injection, and after some initial improvement on stairs, the running has been a bit less fruitful. I'm still holding out for improvement though.

The NIACC XC season has begun and it's been a blast to help get our athletes headed for another successful season.

As far as Lime Creek Trails go, the wind and weather has caused a bit of change to the view of things.

June 19, 2014

July 28, 2014

My reference tree has succumbed to the wind.

So the trails have changed, the NIACC team has changed, and my knees have changed....hopefully all for the better!