Running and Longview Disc Golf Course

PT for my hamstring issues has started to work. They don't hurt much when I'm simply as they did for the past seven months.  I still experience pretty good pain when I run and stretch, but it slowly subsides to manageable levels once I've passed a mile or two.

Last week was an excellent time to put in some miles. While it happens to be snowing as I type this, the last seven days were mainly warm, with runs on Sat and Sun taking place in 70F+ temps. 

After seeing my first copperhead of the season on the Clinton trails two weeks ago, I passed my first garter snake on the River Trails on Saturday. It was good a good size critter. I tried to get it to move off the trail by squirting it with beet juice from my hand-held water bottle. I didn't want it to be crushed by a mountain or cross bike. It is odd that I've only ever seen garters and black snakes on the River Trails, and only copperheads at Clinton. You think there'd be some crossover. But I've never seen it. 

Anyway, week complete. 33 miles.

Gregory Thomas driving at Longview

After Saturday's long run, I popped out to Perry Lake with my disc golf buddies, Chris Ford, Mathew Faulk, and Greg Thomas. We normally play courses in Lawrence, but wanted to try out the Longview course at Perry Lake. And what a great idea that turned out to be. The course is challenging and one of the best-marked I've seen (in my limited experience). The pads and baskets are also perfectly maintained. It has some of the most extreme holes - in terms of shooting through canopies uphill for successive shots - that one can imagine on a course. The layout among the boulders, ponds, and trees also makes for one of the prettiest settings imaginable. Another big plus for Longview is that the pars are correct. Birdies and eagles can be had, but shots have to be well-played for those to occur. Due to the extreme terrain, plan to spend around 3 hours per 18 holes. This is not a course like Centennial - which, while challenging - is a course that can be run in about and hour and twenty minutes. At Longview, you will finish feeling as if you had a real workout from tromping up and down hills, over ravines and streams, and around ponds and boulders.

Based on the fact that I can't wait to get back to Perry to play the course again, I'd have to give it an A+ rating.

Now, I think I'm going to go and do my last run in the snow for the season. . .