What is Stormy Talking about Now?: 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!