SimpleSoleProject

Okay, so if there is one thing that people who run in Lincoln, NE have in common it is the following stretch of pavement:The Rock Island Trail.  This is the connection that binds Lincoln, both physically and metaphorically.  Any given morning on the weekend, or evenings during the bulk of the year, you can find folks running, biking, walking, commuting.  Outside of the soft trails at the edge of town, this might be the best training trail in Lincoln.  Very few traffic crossings, marked miles, shade, even a dirt singletrack that has been worn in next to it.

Following an old rail graded path (like most trails in Lincoln), it runs from about 22nd and O streets all the way to the Cooper YMCA in south Lincoln.  It is possible to connect to about any trail in Lincoln via Rock Island.  It is by far my favorite place to train, mostly due to convenience.  But it is also THE place to run in Lincoln.  Granted, it can get crowded on a nice evening, but that is just company to keep you motivated.

Check it out folks.  If you have any submissions of your own, comment on the page or Holler At Your Boy.

Why? This is a question that I ask myself constantly through training (albeit mostly hard workouts) and even during my non-running times of marathon training.  Why do I subject myself to going to be before most 85 year olds on a nightly basis?  Why do I get up to run 13 miles before going to work at 8 AM? If my coach gives me a range of times to hit in a work out, why do I always shoot for the fast end, and then am pissed off if I don’t hit it (even if I’m w/in the range)?  Why do I continuously execute workouts that leave me visiting the bathroom for the next 14 hours? Why do I put up with the people that constantly yell things like: “Nice shorts” or “Run Forest Run”? Why can’t they be more creative?   When I ran cross country, why did I kill myself all week, just to have my hardest run on Saturday morning? Why is it that I dedicate three months each year to train for one marathon?  Why is the only thing I can do when a non runner asks me specifics about marathon training, and they question my sanity, all I can do is offer them an awkward smile? Why do I do this?  The best answer I could come up with is that the only thing worse than going through the previously mentioned situations, is NOT being able to go through them.  Whether it’s hitting that split, beating your high school rival, winning your age group in a local race, or pushing through the times when it’s soooo much easier to slow down – those feelings are why this sport is so addictive.  This is why we do it. If you don’t run, you probably won’t understand; and you probably won’t be on this site.  If you do run, continue to smile awkwardly when you explain to someone you did an 8 mile tempo run 3 hours before they woke up, and when those thoughts of negativity creep into your mind – just remember how lucky each of us truly are to be able to run.

–Scott Wandzilak

I was cleaning out one of the rooms in our upstairs over the weekend.  This room is actually a dedicated running room in our household.  The shoes, the drying racks, the pictures, finishers medals, the gear, all that stuff.  On the back of my door I have one of those shoe organizers that hangs from the door.  I realized the damn thing is full of shoes that I currently use for training.  So despite the name of this site, I have chosen to buy myself at least 10 different styles of shoes for my current quiver.

Now thinking back, this number was likely around six or seven for awhile.  But ten seems high to me.  Each shoe has its purpose though.  Everything from long, slow runs on Rock Island to singletrack at Platte River or Wilderness to ripping 1000s at Pioneers to splashing through creeks at Living History, I literally use all of them on a fairly regular basis.

But for a sport that I, and many others, claim is “simple”. . . Well that seems to be less and less true.  Despite this wave of minimalism in running, there is more gear available than ever.  Go to your local trail head or running route someday and take a look around.  How much money have people put into stuff?  I am all about being as prepared for the elements as possible.  Despite my desire to be as basic as possible, I am obviously guilty of gear/shoe/technical tee whoring.  I can’t help it. Maybe as I grow older and devote my income to other things.  But I know I use this stuff and everyone has their “thing” so why shouldn’t I enjoy being not simple on some occasions?

Pun intended.  Slowly but surely figuring this webdev stuff out.  Definitely learning as I go and like most people, only so much time in my day.  But here are some highlights to look to on this site that have recently been updated:

+ Contributors page- people who have something to say about running.  A brief profile of them.
+ Endurance page- a way to pass along my stories of endurance related topics, that may or may not deal with running.
+ Photography- one of my goals is to use this site as a motivator to improve my photography hobby.  Between this page and the slide show to the right, I hope to share that with you
+ Ones to Run- my favorite running routes, with some photos thrown in, hopefully.

Check out these pages at the links above.  If you have questions, please let me know, bwandzilak@gmail.com

Hard to believe I have been at this job, in some capacity, for over eight years now.  For those that don’t know, in addition to my high school teaching, I am a Cross Country and Track coach.  Currently I am an assistant at Lincoln North Star in Lincoln, NE (after bouncing around middle and high schools in NE and CO).

But I love the fall.  Bottom line is that it is the best time of the year to be outside.  Which means the best time of the year to be running.  Races every weekend, but even more importantly it is the beginning of the high school cross country season, maybe the purest of all sport.  We can get some athletes, we get some random kids, we get other sport’s rejects, we get some people looking for friends or something to do, we occasionally get some legit runners.  It is the sport that most people enjoy and many regret not doing.  It is a sport where you can truly measure individual improvement and still be part of something bigger than just yourself.  It is you, your team, one hundred opposing runners, the hills, the dirt, the grass, and a fall afternoon.  Perfect