A Trail Tale and new Tech

I fell in love over the weekend. Not with a person, but with the Salt Marsh Trail. It doesn't have a pretty-sounding name, nor do the smaller trails inside it (Longhead, Panorama, Jack Rabbit) but it is beautiful. I took my dog peanut for short 5-6km runs so I could explore and enjoy the forest and the soft trail ground.
I was thrilled after running there last week that my bad leg wasn't screaming in protest so I went back for more on Saturday and then again on Sunday. The micro spikes I used for the blotches of ice worked great and I was happy to be maneuvering around trees and rocks again. I found a great route that circles the perimeter of that section of the trail and it treated me to beautiful inlet vistas and cozy snow-covered trees. The paths were a mixture of snow, ice and slush. With the micro spikes on the ice wasn't an issue and the rest of the trail gave me soft under footing. That must have helped with the load on my knee because I didn't have the slightest hint of the iron bone or the stabbing pain I'm so accustomed to on streets and sidewalks. To me this was a huge revelation as I thought the unstable ground would cause me more pain than running on the stable surface of sidewalks. To be proven wrong was a great surprise. Now, don't get me wrong, I still had to ice my knee after my runs but I'm also not as hobbled by them as I usually am with road runs. It's progress, of sorts.
Once the weekend was over, so was my trail running fun. A massive blizzard hit the area and now my new-to-me trail is under 30 cm of snow. Boo. So back to the now snow covered sidewalks I go, at least until the next rain storm or heat wave can melt the trail routes again.
On a totally other note, Spring Loaded technology is releasing its first bionic knee brace today. I can purchase this thing for the low, low price of $1200 or I can pay the full price of $2300 if I am not one of the first 65 lucky people to buy one. This thing is supposed to be quite the improvement over standard knee braces. It is supposed to store your kinetic energy so it can be released when you need it, say when you get up from a chair. It sounds awesome but there's no way I'll be able to afford this brace unless I have a doctor specifically prescribe it. But for those that can shell out the cash, their mobility should improve drastically. It is encouraging to see new advances being made outside the drug therapy and surgery areas.