Merry Christmas Everyone.

Diggin the Snow

Holly crap the season have changed from a mild fall to weekly snow storms. I'm really digg'in the snow, but it's change my approach to working out. Mainly running. It takes a little more motivation to get me outside these days.

I've learned two new tricks this year both involve my feet. Number one. If you drive a small half inch sheet metal screw into the tread of your shoe it works like a low cost running spike. I swear by this and it gives you enough traction to keep you upright and you'll never worry about sliding down an icy frozen surface. You might ask. Does the screw ever poke through to your foot......and that would be a "hell no". They don't fall out. They don't rip or shred your shoe. I've got a few twenty mile runs on these and they are still working well.

The other thing I've learned to keep your feet warm. Did you know that if you slather a thin layer of Vaseline on your feet then sprinkle Cyan Chili Pepper over your feet they will stay nice and tingly warm. It feels a little strange but it works. Cyan Chili Pepper has the same active ingredient as in a over the counter pain reliever called Zostrix. Some people use this instead of Using Chili Powder, but back in the old mountaineering days they used to Chili Powder. Word to the wise. Don't get it on your hands. If you rub your eyes or your sack, you will hate yourself. After your run. Wash you feet well. Soap and water. Then use hand lotion on your feet after you dry off. That will de-activate the pepper. And what the hell put the lotion on your sack too. YOU JUST NEVER KNOW.

One last thought. Are your feet cold. Well are your shoes too tight. Loose shoe = warm feet.

This is Hanks Dirty Harry look.

Do you feel lucky PUNK...Well do ya?

Da Da Daaa! I'm super dog.

Ready for the Holidays

Took me all week but the tree is up!

November

It seems I've been away from Blog world for some time now. About three weeks ago my computer got sick. It caught nasty little virus called the "Black Door Virus" No I didn't say, back door. Anyway it took some time to work through the problem and some serious help from a friend that knows a hell of a lot more about computers than I do.

On the up-side of not having a computer, I had a lot of time to other things like blog.

#1. I've been able to visit my new favorite trail system. Fontinell Forest. I worked in a weekly 18 mile training run and a hand full of shorter 10 mile runs.

#2. I got re-acquainted with the pool. I can't say I'm swimming well, but you have to start somewhere. Aneta and I both joined LifeTime Fitness health cub. It's such a nice place. I've been going to the pool a few times a week and Aneta has been a little work-out animal and going to aerobic kick-boxing and strength training classes four times a week.
#3. I had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I'm in the retail business so my workload has been outrageous with Black-Friday weekend. So it was nice to get a day off from work.
#4. I got to go hunting with my Lil-buddy Rob the first part of November. We haven't had a trip like that for more than a decade and it was nice. We had a successful hunt and we got to act like boys for a weekend. Great trip.

Well I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays and starting to think ahead to next season. Iron Man is just around the corner. Happy Holidays everyone.

This is one of my favorite sections of trail along Missouri River at Fontenell Forest.

Our hunting adventure in McCook Nebraska. We got four deer. This is my deer. I got the small one this year. But my freezer is full.

One Sexy Gun

I would like everyone to meet the newest addition to our family. This is Eleanor and she is one Sexy Bitch!. Eleanor is a 22-250. Free floating sniper grade barrel. One pound hair trigger. And a 6.5x20x50 scope. Oh yes just the way I like'em.....Thick and black. Sir-mix-alot would be jealous, Because this baby got back.

Well this weekend should prove to be fun. Blink and I will be venturing out to western Nebraska to my family farm for some White Tail hunting. This farm is a fruit and produce farm so it offers a lot of tasty snacks for the deer. I've seen my share of wall-hangers out there. We'll probably have to do a little Pheasant hunting too. Wish us luck and we'll see you in week.

Omaha Trail Tour

Really a fella couldn't ask for a better week. I called it "Greg's trail run week. The weather has been up and down. One day raining the other day sunny, but never the less.....It's fall. And I'm talking a nice fall. So my goal was to get out and run as many trails as time will allow. The leaves are changing.....It's cool. The air is crisp. Perfecto.



I've ran a good portion of the Omaha trails but my lil buddy Blink turned me onto a mountain biking web-sit called, THOR. It's a nation wide search of mountain bike trails and well HELL! why not run those trails.



I was able to run Platte River State Park, Lewis and Clark Monument, Wabash Trace, Choco Hill's, and Fontanel Forest.



I loved all five trails. Each have there own unique qualities and I recommend trying them if you are in the Omaha area. (Blink.....don't be a pussy.....try them) That's right, I'm calling you out.



1. Platte River State Park. This network of trails is tough. All up! and All down. Not much flat ground and absolutely beautiful. It boarders the Platte River. If you want a challenge. Do It!



2. Lewis and Clark Monument. This park sits on a cliff overlooking the Missouri River. This trail was a blast. The first mile of trails runs the edge of a bluff with breathtaking views. Take a straight down plunge into a network of trails. All cover by a canopy of trees and remember to save a little bit for the climb back out of the valley because it WILL kick yo ass.



3. Wabash Trace. Good trail. Long flat straight and tree covered. The surface is crushed limestone surface so it's soft on the feet. Pick your distance. This trail runs 62 mile long. Just plan your "out and back.



4. Choco Hills. It's a local lake with a paved looped trail around lake Wierspan. Very nice.



5. Fontanel Forest. I have nothing but good to say about this park. It offers 26 miles of trails in an absolutely beautiful forest. There are a lot of crazy hills and Lot's of flats to run. It has more scenery then you could imagine with ton's of wild life. You haven't experience a trail run till you ran at Fontanel. And who ever said Nebraska is flat is "full of shit" My legs are still screaming. One thing about Fontanel. They charge a entry fee to use the park, but I liked it so much I bought into a yearly membership. Cost $45. It's worth it.




Platte River State Park.

Now tell me....Who wouldn't want to run this. NICE!

OK I didn't see this I couldn't resist.








I've seen this on more than one trail in Nebraska.










Lewis and Clark Cliff Trails

Choco Hills trail. Lot's of ducks.

M R Ducks O S A R Ducks

Fontanel Forest Trails. I wish I could show you more Pic's. This pic. doesn't do the park justice. I had the chance to run this trail with Bob Murphy, a ultra running maniac who has eighteen 100 mile ultra's and countless short distance ultra's and marathons. His resume includes HURT in Hawaii, HARD ROCK, WESTERN STATES, LEANHORSE and many more. Bob is a very humble ultra runner who refuses to brag but is quick to share advise and direction. It was great experience to run with him and plan to hit the trails with him again. We banged out a 20 mile run this day. OUCH!

OK I didn't go to this place. I just liked the picture. I Dickerd with the idea of not posting this picture. It was Hard do decide, but I was Nuts about this photo. No Bones about it. It is a great photo. You just can't Beat it. I just hope no one gets Testy because I'm not sure where it Came from.

GOING FISH'IN? YEP! GOT WORMS? YEP! BUT I'M GOING ANYHOW!

This week I had a chance to go fishing for Paddle Fish with the fellas from Cabela's (some call them Spoon Bill). If you are not familiar with Paddle Fish. They are a prehistoric fish that only gather in a few places in the US. We caught these fish at Gavins Point Dam located on the Missouri River near Yankton South Dakota. These crazy fish are plankton eaters . They use their large paddle noses to stir up the sediment on the bottom of the river then ingest the water with their large mouth. The water enters their mouth. The plankton is consumed and the water leaves by way of their enormous gills.

Sense these are not attracted to bait or other fish life, the only way to catch them is by snagging them with large trebble hooks. This is done by throwing a line out with a heavy weight and large trebble hooks. When you real the line back to the boat your goal is to (by chance) drag a hook acrossed fish snag'em. And let me tell you what, when you lay into a 30lb fish, the fight is on.


A Paddle Fish lives up to 60 years of age. They've been known to grow over 6 feet long.
This fish is 20 to 30 years of age and weighs 32lbs. It measured 41 inches long.

We fished all day Wednesday and landed about 45 fish total. Let me tell you, I was beat. It's sad when you are too tired to fish. I know, I'm a pussy.

We kept one fish for dinner that night. We stayed in a local log cabin one night and fried our fish over an open fire, drank whiskey, smoked cigars. A total boys weekend.

Well it's been a great week-end. Number one....I've been building up my miles again. I've taken way too much time off and the build up has been a challenge. It's just good to hit the trail again.

Number two.....Traveled down to Lincoln to watch the Huskers stomp Iowa. Number three BBQ. What else could a fella ask for?

Hope everyone is having a great week.

Can anyone tell me where the year went?

OK so I start the year off running some routes through a local neighborhood where there aren't many houses. Just a newly developed streets with new lots for future homes. One day someone started digging a basement and everyday you could see major progress on the construction of the house. It was fun to run by everyday to see what was done to this house.





Well now the house is built with a family settled in and they have neighbors. And I mean a lot of neighbors. In one summer my peaceful quiet running ground has turned into a full blown neighborhood. There are at least a dozen new houses and more are being built. So I have to ask this question. Were in the hell has the time gone? My quiet peaceful running sanctuary has turned from wide open spaces, to closed in neighborhoods with "blue haired old ladies and old dudes with orthopedic socks, and white assed legs bent over in their flowers beds showing the world wwwwaaay toooooo much.





So I sit here and I says to myself......"self" has time passed me by or was this a fast year? I started this year with one goal and that goal was to complete my first 100 mile ultra marathon. Well the end result of that was a big "DNF" So how do I fix that? What do I do next year to make sure that doesn't happen again? Do I consult a coach? Do I read some motivational books or DVD's?Iin some of my past jobs my bosses have hung motivational posters to boost moral and productivity. That was their solution for motivation. So what the Hell! Let's get a poster. But the question is........which one?








Will it be Ingenuity?











VAGINA?

BEER?

Diplomacy?

Fatherhood?

Flexibility?

Fail?

Stupidity? I know too many who have already claimed this one.

Carpet Muncher?

Dumb...Word to live by.

Conformism?

Or just having to deal with Retards?

Bohemian Alps Ultra Weekend

Well this won't be an official race report. That's Blinks job.

Saturday I had an opportunity to go watch Blink run in the Bohemian Alps 50k Ultra Marathon. It was cool to watch an Ultra from a different prospective. Most Ultras are not crew/spectator friendly courses, but this race is ran on 90% gravel roads. So if a spectator chooses to drive the course and work as a Mobile crew, you can see the entire race.


This of course was the start of the race. There was 29 athletes.


We caught up with Blink at mile 5/6 and thought maybe he went out too fast. But after watching him for a few miles we realized he was just running his pace as planned.



He settled into a pace early in the day......and kept that pace. The other top five runners were all over the board. I guess the lesson learned here was. Pick a pace and stick with it.









This is Loma Nebraska. It had one bar, one church, 4 houses and 13 dogs.





Mile 28 to 30 took you through an area called Timber ridge. It's single track, trail running with lots of hills, and valleys. It's the most challenging portion of the race course.

Brainard Nebraska High Cross Country won State Track last year. This is where they train. I can see why they took state.





Well we've said once... and I'll say it again. Blink and I do things a little different from most endurance athletes.

Put a cooler of beer and a can of chew at the finish line. That seems to be the only motivation needed to get us to the end.

Blink finished this race at forth overall, but first to the cooler.
Blink you did a great job and ran a strong race. Congratulations on a nice finish.

What's the next best thing to running...."Crewing"

The question is......What's the next best thing to running......The answer is..."crewing". I'm really looking forward to this weekend. My buddy Rob is running in the Bohemian Alps Ultra next Saturday. This is a 50k on rolling hills and gravel roads. The last 10 miles of this race is a combination of off-road trails and aggressive hills. I think that's what's makes this a crazy race, when you think the race is almost over. Then they throw in this section of the race and it can be an demoralizing experience. It's tough. All's you want to do is get home, and you find yourself jumping roots and running across ed cornrows. Ouch!

I have high hopes for Blink this week. He has been low-keyed about how he will do this week. I already know he'll do well. So I'm calling him out on this race. He will finish in the top 20. OK well there usually isn't more than 20 people that compete in this race. I think he will be in the top three.


This is a photo of Blinks crew two years ago. He is lucky enough to have Mrs. Blink and the two squirrel girls again this year. I'll be hitching a ride with them this year.

Blink I only ask one favor.......Please don't put any Doctor Seuss books in the van. If you do I'll give-em a Redbull before I send em home with you.

Good luck this week Brutha!

After the race the race we will be smoking some ribs and watching some Nebraska Football.

I already know where we'll be shopping.

You know you can't beat "Dicks Meat"

Oh yes Monday night football is here. And guess what this Monday is? Double hitter. Bangles and Ravens, on the first game and 49rs and Cardnels on the late game. How lucky are we.