Tag: 33 Hole Scenic Overlook

Return to Roadrunner

Well, I thought I was prepared for the outcome of my MRI results. Truth is… I wasn’t. It wasn’t the revelation that my ankle was “not right”. That I was quite aware of based on what I’ve been dealing with since about 5:28am on October 12th last year (link here). Since then I’ve gone through a litany of issues – a major struggle being able to convince the medical community there were issues beyond their rosier assessments. I’ve covered that in the past, no need to rehash that. I finally got an orthopedic surgeon that understood my plight which has lifted my spirits tremendously, then he interpreted the findings in the MRI and my heart sank. The situation is bad, very bad. The tibia breaks have healed, but there is “missing” cartilage, tendon and ligament tears and spurs on the fibula from the trauma. That news was not the only proverbial kick in the groin. The treatment schedule was even more devastating. Surgery mid July, followed by 6 weeks NO WEIGHT, then 4 weeks of boot followed by 4 week of brace with heavy therapy involved in that last 2 months. Running done for the foreseeable future, 2025 racing season lost, impact on 2026 ultra levels concerning. My head was a mess playing those schedules out and I remember looking at Linda as we both came to the realization that our annual haunted trail party was in serious jeopardy. Three of my four passions were just pulled out from under me with one mighty pull. Linda and I are still running the timelines and getting prepared the best we can. The sickening thing is I could have been past all this had we started back in December.

I was scrolling through my queue for something to feature today and then the obvious choice came up.

Greater Roadrunner found at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, Blue Diamond, NV in January 2024

Hit the jump to see more pictures of my early running icon.

Continue reading Return to Roadrunner

A Tale of Two Caps

Welcome to the month that usually makes me take a hard swallow after flipping the page. June is ramp up month for the ultra season and the calendar is full of two-a-days each consisting of 10+ mile runs intermixed with 25+ mile endurance runs all to round off the preparation for the 30 mile Cry Me a River that has officially dropped me twice now, most recently last year (link here). My hopes of a quick redemption have been curtailed and the calendar has been wiped clean to be replaced with medical appointments starting with the ankle MRI this week. I did get a good 8 mile run in this morning to put a likely cap on the season. In light of the fast approaching downtime, I’ve also been trying to hit the birding hard. This last weekend was quite awesome on the feather front. My brother Ron came down on Friday and we got a good start on some local field birding before another Intrigued birding event on Saturday. Ron, Brad, Jan, myself and the rest of the Intrigued staff got a chance to spend a great day in the field – except the Legal Department who are still on probation from their last little stunt. Suspect there will be a write-up coming on that outing in the future. Bookended the weekend with another outing with Ron down at Emiquon NWR. My Average Year count now sits at a shocking 382+3 (previous record was 340) and Ron managed to add ~35 birds to his tally. Brad/Jan and Ron are also now up in the top 40 county birders and neither of them live in this county ha.

To make up for the loss of the double run schedule in June, let’s go with a twofer for today’s featured feathered friend(s) post.

Western Grebe found at 33 Hole Overlook at Lake Meade National Recreational Area, Las Vegas, NV in January 2024

Hit the jump to read more about this species of waterfowl and a very similar looking family member.

Continue reading A Tale of Two Caps