A Week of Hills

So here we are, another week of running in the books and we tried to keep this week vertical for the most part. During the week I was able to get my runs in but I had my first college test in 11 years, so I was understandably distracted for most of the week. I did however have a great run at the Botanical Gardens with Philip, Sarah, Brynna, and Kathy Hoover. Kathy would be running the Rocky Raccoon 100 miler in Texas that weekend, and I have to admit I was super jealous. Rocky Raccoon is one of my favorite races and the people down there are just the best. Kathy looked very strong and unsurprisingly killed it at Rocky. But she was not alone, we had a whole group from Oklahoma and Arkansas down there and for the most part everyone did great. A good old running buddy Russell the Iron Horse even came through with a crushing sub-24 run. Great job Iron Horse, I don’t know what magic training program you are using, but you need to share that stuff. All the excitement around Rocky helped to really boost my spirits about my upcoming race, which is just what I needed this week.

Kathy on the Rocky Course

Oh, and running legend Gordy was on course

I would have killed someone for one of these cookies

The Iron Horse with the coveted Painted Sub-24 buckle

As the week wrapped up, on Friday my plan was to already have my Calculus test done and just leave work to get my run in. However, things got in the way and I really felt like I needed the extra day to prepare for the test so I used Thursday as an extra study day and left work on Friday for the test center downtown. Man I was nervous, this is my first ever online class so I was not sure what to expect. Plus this would be a big weekend for me so I didn’t want to start it off with a bust. I walked into the test center and started the exam, of course I found that the test was nothing like the practice exams and most of the notes I had worked up were of no use to me. The test was on a computer so it was a little nerve racking, with that system there is no credit from the work out of the problem it is all about the answer here. So, after checking everything a dozen times I pressed the button to submit my exam and to my surprise got the results back immediately, 100%. BOOM! What a weight off my chest. I know this was the first exam and the others would be much harder but I walked out of the test center on cloud nine. I was in knots over this test, which on the good side really provided a good distraction from the crazy 50k trail run I had signed up for on Saturday. I hit the house and started my run for the day even getting in a bonus mile before getting to the Executive Club Meeting (FYI the Executive Club is at McNellies each Friday and open to all). And there I found Wes as always ready to discuss the problems of the world.

At the meeting Wes, Jenn, Allyson, and I needed to discuss our plan for the trip to the White Rock Classic 50k in Arkansas the next morning. It was about a 2 and a half hour drive, and the race start is 9am so we selected to make it a day trip. Well I say we, it was Wes and I because Allyson and Jenn were no shows. From there we made it over to Chimera for dinner (guys this is one of the best food spots downtown and if you haven’t made it over remedy that problem immediately). After dinner we tried to hit Antoinette Bakery for pie day, only to find they had sold out of all the pies. Which begs the questions: why are they sold out of pies at 7pm and if they are sold out why are they still open. “Forget it” I said and decided to head back home to get some sleep before the race tomorrow. I needed to use this race as a training run, but decided I did want to push it a little bit to see where I am at. Also this course with it’s almost 5.5k of climbing and 5.5k of descending offers something that I can’t easily get in our area, very long downhill sections.

Sweet Salad From Chimera

I woke up that morning feeling really good, but got some bad news right away. In a text from Wes, he woke up with a fever and sore throat so he was out for the race. What a bummer, at this point I was just hoping that Jenn and Allyson would show. They did and Allyson even agreed to drive us, which was awesome. We made our way to the race, and left in plenty of time to not be in a rush. I tried a little different pre-race plan for this as opposed to Switchback and ate a lot more food which seemed to work out but I was nervous about it at the time. A wrong move with your stomach can end a race faster than almost anything. There are not a lot of sights on the drive in the dark to Arkansas but the moon was out and we could see Venus which was cool, and of course there was plenty of pointless conversation about race plans (other races, not strategy), what we would eat, and a lot of talk about music from the 90s. When we got close to the race start we stopped at a little gas station that was being swarmed with the runners and bikers about to take part in the race (there is a 50k mountain bike race on the same course that starts 30 minutes after the runners) this was a great deal for us as we had never been to the race and they gave us the final directions on how to get to the start. It seemed really cold out at that point (and it was 25 degrees) but somehow it magically got a lot warmer before the start.

A shot from the White Rock course

When we got to the race we heard from our good friend (and the a-hole that talked us into this race) Shannon, he and his wife Jody (the Queen of the Road) would be taking on the mountain as well. I was very excited about the whole start and felt cautiously optimistic that I was in for a good day. These free races on crazy courses are some of the best around. Everyone out there is just in it for the love of running and could care less about who wins or whatever; they are just out there with one goal “Good Times Running”.  The race (if you are not familiar) starts with a two and a half mile climb of 1000 feet, you know to get the lungs warmed up, and then you descend back down the other side go over a smaller climb and then turn yourself in for the major climb up White Rock. This whole race takes place on very good condition forest service roads, and let me tell you it has some of the most beautiful views that you can see on a race. With the exception of the controlled burn that they were doing at the very start (which even that was not that bad) there was nothing to complain about. The temp was just about right, it was sunny, and the aid station at the top of the mountain had homemade hummus pre loaded in tortillas, it doesn’t get better than that folks.

50k Profile

View at Turn Around

At the start of the race Shannon and I ran together for a while, but somewhere along the way got separated. At this point I feel I should tell you that Shannon was a little under the weather, and by little under that weather I mean that he was in the minor emergency room the day before due to some sinus issues. But, Shannon is an incredible runner and very strong on the downhill running (and area where I am very weak) so I figured it was just a matter of time before he passed me. The race for the most part was lonely, which was fine and gave me plenty of opportunity to check out my surroundings and think about how lucky I was to be having such a great day out here. Also it was warm enough to rock my Runner’s World Tulsa trucker’s hat, rather than the beanie I had to use at the Switchbacks. To think I almost skipped this race, thank God for Shannon twisting my arm about it and Jenn and Allyson signing up right away. When I reached the turnaround I was surprised to find myself in 5^th place overall, I didn’t plan to do anything about it but it was nice to know that the training was paying off. After the turn I crossed paths with Shannon who was coming into the turnaround, he yelled to me that he was coming to catch me and I yelled to him that they have hummus at the top. We all have our priorities. The trip back would be a lot of downhill running, until the final major climb, so I tried to just keep an easy pace and not blow myself up. During this section I found myself move into third by the bottom of the finial climb. As I made my way up the climb I got within sight of Chris in Second place but the second the road turned back down he was gone and that was ok by me. I came into the finish feeling great, with a PR 50k time of 4:42:40 (beating my 2010 Lake McMurtry time of 4:48 on a much easier course) and third place overall. I didn’t have to wait long for Shannon to come in, and he swore revenge at Western. It was good times for sure and it is always nice to run on a course with enough climbing that you can beat most of the mountain bikes while running, lol.

The white on my hat is salt.

The fast ladies

Allyson had opted for the 25k, but I think she has her eye on the 50 for next year, and Jenn was signed up for the 25k but was shamed into the 50k and had a great race despite getting into a fight with a thorn bush while trying to use the bathroom in the woods; the bush won. Right before we needed to leave to get to Scott’s house for a painting party for Erin’s birthday we got to see Jody finish, so the whole thing worked out just perfect. Upon leaving we decided that we would all die if we did not get food soon, with the only issue being that we were in the middle of nowhere. I told the ladies that the only highly rated place on Yelp that was within an hour (and not a BBQ joint, not good for no-meat options) was a place called Kountry Xpress an Indian food place. When we got there, it was a gas station with a sign out front that said “India Food”, not sure what that means but at this point we were committed and needed to get something. Amazingly, either because of level of hunger, low expectations, or just sheer luck, the food was great. I mean some legit India Food and we were fueled up to hit Scott’s party. The gas station also had 35 flavors of Soft Serve ice-cream which the girls got in on, but I said no way I will save my treats for the cake at Erin’s party. When we got to the party (after showers and what not) we found Bob Ross painting fun, way too much pizza, and no cake! It was still a great time and I am happy that Scott let us ruin his house with paint.

India Food complete with Gambling

Really pretty good

He makes it look easy

The next morning we met for a shakeout run at Chandler Park with the dogs, and ran into several other running buddies on that trails which is always a welcome surprise. The legs felt good and even if the pace was slow I was happy to be out there. After the run we went our separate ways only to have a group of us descend on my parent’s home to watch the Super Bowl that night. I always enjoy having people out to my parent’s house, not just because my mom is one of the best people in the world, but it is so peaceful out there; and a fantastic place for some gravel road running by the way. It was fun and we brought way too much food as a result of a miscommunication between my mother and I. One would think that if she says that she is worried they might not have enough food for everyone that bringing food would be a good idea. But, when they cook for an army all the time there is always enough food. Jeff, Ame, Sarah, Pip, Wes, Brynna, and I lasted until about half-time before we decided that we did not know anything about football and we had work in the morning, so we went ahead and called the weekend a wrap; a pretty successful few days, if you ask me.

This is hockey right?

This last weekend was just what I needed to recharge my running. I got to see so many of my friends complete their first or whatever number 100 miler. I could really see White Rock fire up both Jenn and Allyson about trail running again, and I even got to run with Rush the wonder dog out on the trails. These moments out there running have to be held on to. It is easy to get down on your running this time of year, with it still being dark in the mornings or after work which can make getting runs done depressing. And the weather is so all over the place you can hardly know how to dress or even what temp you will encounter after the run starts. But good friends and a positive attitude can lead you right to where you need to be, “Good Times Running” have fun my friends and GO RUN. 

P.S. Foster pup Zoë joins the herd as an offical member of the house. 

Better Late than Never

Well I have just been buried at work, and because I have so much free time I decided why not go back to school. So I am taking some classes and my first big test is this Friday. So the blog has been on the back burner. But I did have some thoughts I wanted to share about last week.

The training during the week was pretty uneventful, and with the exception of Tuesday’s run I did most of my training solo. On Tuesday I had a great run with Philip and Sarah out at the Botanical Gardens. This is becoming a regular part of my training rotation and I am really happy about that. The course is shortish (3 miles) but challenging enough to make it not boring for the 6-9 miles I get out there during the week. And everyone that I have taken out there seems to have the same feeling. There is an extra bonus too when running out there this time of year. At the top of the big climb every lap, because the sun is always already down, you get this awesome view of downtown Tulsa. Very cool, and it is super quite out there too. In fact that night we were running and these coyotes started barking all around us, which understandably is something you just don’t get running in town.

While doing some of my solo runs this past week I was thinking about how individual a sport running is. This is an activity that you have to battle with all on your own. When you are out there, you have to rely on whatever you can pull out of yourself to complete each run either training or racing. And, while we tend to do it in group it is a profoundly personal effort every time. And that is what makes it so amazing. You get this solo triumph each run but at the same time you get to share that with a group of people that have an understanding about what you are going though that no one else can, or even wants to, compute. And this deep connection is what brings us together and while running is far from a team sport I feel a stronger connection to many runners than I ever felt in more traditional sports.

Proper Pre-trip Parking

That brings me to the weekend and an adventure with my running family. This past weekend we spent Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday running and running-around in one of the most magical places on earth, Eureka Springs Arkansas. If you have not been to this sleepy mountain town you need to go there right now. And if you live in Tulsa, what are you waiting for it is only like 2 and a half hours away. On this occasion we made the trip to celebrate Jenny and Chris’ birthdays. We ended up with a crew of 13 people, in two different houses, and we all got a chance to do what we love the most, run! Well except Jonathan he rode his mountain bike (BTW Eureka is a mountain bike Mecca as well) but the rest of us ran. We came in Friday night after a dinner stop in Rogers Arkansas to eat with Shannon and Jody. They would be coming out to ES Saturday afternoon, but we could wait and need to see them right away. In my car we had seven peeps, so Shannon made reservations at a cool spot called Hammontree’s Grilled Cheese, a place all cheese lovers should check out. After we all ate too much we made it into Eureka to drop some of the folks (Wes, Jenn O, and Allyson) off at the downtown house and talk with Jenny, Chris, Rachel, and Jonathan who were all already there, then we (Brynna, Pip, Sarah, and I) made our way out to the Lake Leatherwood cabin with the plan that we would all meet out there at day break for running on the Leatherwood trails.

Some Wisdom

Not a Local brew but a good one

Food shot from Pip

Lake Leatherwood is one of the best trail running spots around and almost no one has ever heard of it. There was in the past a great race out there (a 15k called the Freakin Eurekaen) but it has long since disappeared. The trails are magnificent and there is some very serious climbing. When everyone arrived we made our way out. It was quickly decided that staying together as one big group would not be a good plan so we broke up. Which at the time seemed like a good idea, but ended up meaning that Chris and I were the only ones to make the full loop around the lake, plus some bonus to make a 10 miles day, Pip and his group ended up doing the hardest climb twice and never making it to the far side of the lake getting 8 miles, and Brynna and Allyson ended up taking the trail to Eureka before heading back to the cabin. You would think that all this misdirection would lead to some annoyance, but everyone had a blast and no major drama came out of it. So we decided to wrap this thing up and everyone shower then meet at the bigger house in town for breakfast. We had a plan for breakfast but it turned into a lot of grazing on various fruits and veggies then sweet potatoes (with some eating bacon) and finally huevos rancheros. But the time our 100 hour breakfast was done Shannon and Jody showed up and we decided to quite literally descend on Downtown Eureka.

The Lake

Trail Shot

Runners Coming in

The main town of Eureka is mainly an artist community (with some bikers, cowboys, and bars you know like you do) so the place is full of cool little shops. We spent too much time and money in the hat store and a store specializing in crazy spices, but before we knew it the group had congregated at a little bar on the far side of Eureka called the Cathouse and we knew that if we were going to drop all of our spoils off at the house before the Mardi Gras parade, and whatever shenanigans we were going to get into that night, we needed to get a move on. Did I forget to mention that it was Mardi Gras in Eureka? Well it was and the place was busier and crazier than usual. So highlights from that night included a Mardi Gras parade that is exactly what you would expect from this town with the mayor looking like the wizard of Oz and this old guy dressed in all white just dancing up a storm down the street, then a crazy old west photo shoot (which is all Jenny wanted for her birthday) and a great dinner at Local Flavor (one of the best places to eat in town and if you go you need to eat here). The night ended with a little too much drinking and more drama than we would have liked but as we would see in the morning it did not dampen our spirits.

The Cathouse and Brynna with a new hat

Red 11s Must be a running store, right?

Just an everyday scene in Eureka

Ridiculous 

The next morning we decided to run the 10k course from the Victorian Classic. This little race holds a special place in my heart and is one that I am finally coming back to run this year. But since the house we rented in town was on the course we decided that it would be fun to do our own invitational version to close out our weekend. The course starts high in the town and the first 5k runs mostly downhill, and then the next 5k is almost all uphill. So not the easiest run but this time we all stayed together for the most part. About 2 miles into the run Chris and Pip were a little in front of the group when we saw Pip go down on this little downhill. We all had a little laugh at his expense, as it did not look like a serious fall, and we talked about how it was that we could run all day on the trails and not go down but we couldn’t handle the roads. It was assumed that he slipped on some gravel, but as I soon found out that was not the case. As I approached the little downhill I took the high side to avoid the spot where Pip fell only to find that it was oil, not gravel, which he slipped on. At that point I thought it would be a good idea to show Pip how you really fall on a road. So I went rolling down the hill and got my knee good and bloody for the rest of the run. Have to love those roads. After I pealed myself off the ground we continued the run and down the road found some cool caves on the side of the road, some of the group took some time out to explore them. As we got to the bottom of the hill we found a cool little musical park. Not sure what else to call it, just a lot of large random chimes and things to bang on as we went by. Then we reached the turning point and it was a long climb out of the hole we were in. On the way back up the hill Pip decided to show his mastery of the falling skills I demonstrated for him earlier and this time lost a good amount of skin from his hand. Basically we cannot handle the road at all. We eventually made it back to the house without everyone dying and agreed that we would clean up and find a place for breakfast. So we cleaned up, packed everything up, and I called around to see who could handle a party of 13 with no notice. It turns out that one of our favorite places that closed down a few years back (Pancakes) reopened with a new name The Filling Station. So we made our way over there, to find an amazing breakfast buffet that changed as we continued eating and basically we ate way too much.

Going up through Town

Good times and great Pancakes

At this point we all knew that we needed to start heading back to T-Town, but we didn’t want the weekend to be over so we made a last second decision to add the Turpentine Creek big cat rescue to our trip. This is a very large site just outside of town in which they take in old or injured exotic cats to live out their lives. It was a very cool place and to see these animals up close it is a site to behold. If you are in the area this is worth your time. And all the money goes to keeping the rescue open, so you can feel good about handing over the $10 a head. There is a half mile walking tour that is guided by one of the rangers working out there (they made sure to ask us to let them know if the walk was too far and they would bring a car down to get us LOL) and there is a bunch of pens in the top part to walk around. All it all a great end to the weekend. I will try not to blow up this whole blog with all the photos from the rescue but I took a bunch, and I have the feeling that if you go there you will too. It is amazing sometimes when you look back at it, but running can take you some pretty amazing places with some people that I am so grateful to have in my life. I can truly say straight-faced that I love all of this running family. Till the next adventure, go out there and run!

Showoff

Western States is mocking me

Just watching planes go by

Sarah needs that Fish and Shannon will not help