Downed Trees

Many of you know that I often run after work at the Gilruth Center, JSC’s on-site gym and rec center. As long as you’re a NASA employee or contractor (or family member), you can get the code that lets you in the gate that separates Gilruth from the rest of the space center. There’s a nice running trail beyond that gate that I’ve covered countless miles on over the past six years. The first half mile is on asphalt and goes through the woods before opening up into a field. (Space Center Boulevard is the scenery in the other direction, but c’est la vie.) The last 1.5 miles used to run along the road through JSC, but earlier this year they added a new crushed granite portion that is set back off the road and behind a few buildings.

As I drove down Space Center Boulevard on my way to class on Monday night, I noted sadly that there were many, many trees down in the wooded half mile at the beginning of the trail, and several large tree trunks now blocked the path. When I drove up after work tonight, there were signs on the door saying the jogging trail was closed. But undeterred, I changed clothes and headed out to follow the trail in reverse. I was happy to find that it’s really only that first half mile that’s out of commission at the moment. (One of my runner friends that I saw there confirmed that it was impassable — he tried.) So I was able to run in reverse along the loop for just over a mile and a half before turning around and heading back.

It was my first run in more than two weeks and it felt so good to get back out there. Between moving, the program book and of course Hurricane Ike, exercising had fallen by the wayside. I got plenty of exercise moving all my crap from one apartment to another, and I took a few walks while we were holed up in Conroe, but it was definitely time to get back out there running. Hopefully I didn’t lose too much fitness.

I will now be jumping back into my training schedule for the Hi-Fi Tri at the end of October. It is scheduled for Moody Gardens in Galveston, so no one is totally sure whether the race will actually happen. Registration has been put on hold at the moment while the race directors assess whether the city and the venue will be recovered enough from Ike to proceed. I’m crossing my fingers that it will happen, because I was looking forward to it, but I will certainly understand if it’s not meant to be this year.