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.