....miles to go before I sleep....

Props to Lindsay

2012-01-27T09:42:00.002-06:00

For the past year or so, I have been seeing Lindsay Sager when I need my hair whacked.
Yes, this is Kathy's daughter, and she cuts an amazing head of hair. (
Of course, she had a good subject to work with...;-)
I started going to her when she was at Clary Sage.
The first time--she was so nervous!!!
It took almost an hour to get my hair cut, and she was so careful to not make a mistake.
Little did she know that I would not spazz out if she did--unless of course she cut my ear off!!!
Lindsay worked at Supercuts for a while, and now is at Ross Edward on 41st just east of Peoria.
It's a laid back studio, and I rarely have to wait.

Haircuts now take her around 20 minutes, and this includes shampooing and blow drying.
I can almost get a nap getting my scalp massaged, but I'm sure if I did, I'd get a nose full of water.
In the time I'm in the chair, we talk about running, Aiden, Kathy, Brian, and if you feel your ears burning, we're probably talking about YOU!!
I told her I'd give her props on here, and I'd love it if she picked up some extra business among my our running friends.
918-749-2002 will get you an appointmfnt and a great haircut every time.

Dumping on OUR Playground !!!

2012-01-26T16:25:00.010-06:00

Anyone who knows me knows I hate controversy. And also that I hate litter and dumping. But I really think some controversy needs to be stirred up a bit to get the dumping problem fixed on Turkey Mountain.

A year ago, a large group of volunteers cleaned up a lot--almost all of the dumped trash on the west side of our playground. This is where the gas-line has an easement so they can maintain their pipeline. Some lowlife losers had been using that road to dump their garbage. We got the gas people to agree to barricade the road, and they did so a few weeks later with large rocks. But that was not before two more piles of garbage was dumped--the two above pictures to be exact.

Since that time, more of these stupid clods have taken their pick-em-up trucks and made new roads into the woods just feet away from the rock barricades. And now, there are LOTS of roads, nooks and crannies to dump more trash. We just as well put up a free dumping sign, because that is what is happening.
Welcome to the westside trailz of Turkey Mountain. This is our newest batch of trash.
An old mattress so nasty I would want protective clothing and a mask to even STAND close to it.
Lots of splintered furniture, a smashed TV, and lots of papers. And yes, I did rummage through the papers looking for names. The top two pics are from the latest pile of garbage. The bottom three pics are from last years batch. Can these people be questioned? Of course they might not be the ones who dumped the trash, but they surely have an idea who did!! (Double click on the picture to enlarge them. Let me know if you know these people.)

I asked on Facebook if pursuing this crime was worth doing, and the overwhelming advice was to blow the whistle for what its worth. (Double click to enlarge the Facebook conversation.)

If this trash were being dumped at LaFortune Park, Woodward Park, even Mohawk Park, the Police and Sheriff's department would be all over it. They should be all over this area too. The Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness is a major attraction for Tulsa.This area has several trail races and mountain bike races and a LOT of out of town and out of state people come to these events. For the most part, they are amazed at our little slice of wilderness right in the middle of the city. But I am saddened that they have to see this. We should all be saddened.

What can be done? Already a clean up day is being organized, and I am confident that in a month, every morsel of trash will be gone. But how do we keep this from happening again?
1. Catching the idiots who do this would be AWESOME!!! I wish it were a priority for the TPD, or someone to do this.
2. Put up NO DUMPING sings with posted fines. Kinda sad that we have to do that, and even the signs would look trashy.
3. Put up a fence--chain link, barbed wire, more big rocks? Whatever is done, needs to go the whole length of 61st Street--especially if it looks like a truck could bushwhack through.
A hot-line where these low life people could be reported--and maybe even a reward for ratting them out. That's a stretch, I know. But I'd sure turn them in.

I intend to send this, along with a letter and pics to the TPD, Sheriff Dept, RiverParks, YMCA, and possibly the TV stations. I may be alone in this, but I doubt it. Let's all do what we can to fix this problem forever.

Looking for 100

2012-01-25T19:24:00.005-06:00

Probably my second favorite outdoor past time is geocaching. Usually, no athletic ability is needed, although there are a few hidden caches that require some scrambling and bushwhacking. I started this hobby about a year ago, and after last Sunday, I knew I was nearing 100 finds. but first, watch this video for a brief explanation of what geocaching is. If it's boring, just skip it.

I use the iPhone app. It cost $9.99 to download from iTunes, and is the best $10.00 I've ever spent. Well, the best $9.99. Anytime I have a bit of downtime between appointments, I will do a search and find a cache or two. Last Sunday, Russell and I found nine. Yesterday, I found another nine. So I was sitting at 98. I asked my friend Yogi what a fun/good/interesting cache would be for my 100th, and he provided me coordinates for a couple. One was in Bixby, and that worked out for me. In Washington Irving Park, there are three geocaches. One of those is a virtual cache, where you just have to find it and take a picture of it--and in this case, you have to email the pic to the person who hid the cache to claim it. These virtual caches are usually super easy, and I wanted #99 and #100 to be a bit more challenging. I found #99 fairly easily, scrambling down an embankment and after a brief search, I spied it. Open, rummage through the trinkets, sign the log, and I was off to find my 100th.
The sun was setting as I neared the old railroad trusses which was where I was sure the cache would be. The video below is 23 seconds--not long enough to be boring, so give it a look.
Somewhere in this series of timbers was a hidden container. The hider, M5, is reputed to be a tough character, hiding his caches in such a way that they are nearly impossible to find. I have only searched for one other of his creations and came up empty. My iPhone brought me within 5 feet of it, and then it would say I was 34 feet away in another direction. I'd move that way, and it would jump again. I KNEW I was within 8-10 feet of it, and put my phone in my pocket and started looking. Climbing up these diagonal timbers looking on ledges in the top, in hollowed out posts, between a brace and a post--I came up empty-handed. My street shoes skidded on the slick wood planks like they were ice. I failed to find this hide, and I was actually not surprised. I am sure my friend Yogi is snickering as he reads this.

So, I COULD have opted to just take a picture of that virtual cache for my 100th, or find an easy park-n-grab on the way home, but I think I'll give this one another go. Or, I may find one of Yogi's hides. His are usually fun.

Finally, I found the video below on YouTube. It's kind of dorky--you'll be doing good to last through it, but I like it. The nerds on the video are a lot like me. And they are having fun. That's what it is all about.

Where Crawlers Crawl

2012-01-24T20:05:00.008-06:00

It's just fun--this running thing. Especially at night with crazy friends.AND--especially if you have NEW SHOES!!! Susan was sporting some new Saucony Razors with the built in gaiters.
Her and Roman got in a leg pulling contest before we got off on our run, but it didn't turn into anything real serious. No injuries involved and we did not have to call the law.

The air was clean, the temps warm, and the lights of Tulsa brilliant. It was a great night.
Can I get an AMEN??

Osage Hills State Park with the TOTs. Trail running, eating, and geocaching.

2012-01-23T21:57:00.027-06:00

Sunday, Stormy and the TOTs and I meandered northwestward to Osage Hills State Park. Why??? To run trailz, of course!! I counted 19 of us. There was the person behind the camera, and her husband, who didn't feel like they were a part of the group (pish posh!) and volunteered to take the picture.

We had not made it a half mile before there was a scenic stop--the observation tower which is really a concrete platform with a rock wall around it atop the highest point in the park. Had the sun been in the right part of the sky, there could have been some impressive pics.
Stormy took the opportunity to make this his stage for a lesson on proper trail running form. Seriously, he should write an article for Runners World Magazine as his advice is dead-on.

A coldish day with a warmer but windier forecast actually panned out great. It was a perfect day for shuffling trailz.

About every mile or so, the train of runners would stop to let the caboose (me) catch up. I was going slow because 1.I AM slow. 2.I am tapering for Rocky Raccoon in less than 2 weeks. 3.I stop often to take pictures 4.I am also nursing a knee problem.

Next we passed through the car graveyard. I found out later in the day that there was a geocache near here, although I left it unfound.

The trail runs right above Lookout Lake. This is my favorite part of the trail.
Such a scenic place--would be a great place for a picnic, although one might pick up a tick or two in certain times of the year.

There are some interesting structures in the next half mile. One sign warned of blasting caps stored in these buildings.

Another sign warned of skinny stick people with canes. (Not me!! Although I felt like I needed a cane.)

I had lagged way behind the group--too many picture stops. So I picked it up a little and a mile later, I caught up. The clouds had all but vanished, the sky was a deep blue. Sometimes, I tweak pictures, but there was no need to. Besides, Osage State Park is beautiful.

There was not a lot of water running over the falls, so the group skimmed right on by what is usually one of the highlights of the loop.

These bluffs are cool. Many a daredevil has dived off these bluffs. Not me. I'm a skeerdy cat.

Stormy lead the group along the edge, thinking the trail led that way. I just hung back and took pictures, knowing they would have to double back.

The last mile or so of the loop is through some bottom lands. This trail started out as a brush-hogged road, but each year, it seems more like a trail. It's pancake flat, and not at all rocky or rooty. A good trail runner can really pick up the pace here. I found the only root sticking up, and took a rolling fall. It's not truly a good trail run unless you fall.

Our run was done. We had about 5.6 miles. Had we ran an out-and-back down to a flat called the ball fields (where there is always deer grazing), we would have had six.

It was time to eat. We debated a little as to our dining choice. Bartlesville has a couple of great choices--Murphy's Steakhouse (which is actually a family restaurant with burgers, fries, breakfast, and HOT HAMBURGERS) and Dink's (a world famous barbecue joint.)

We decided on Murphy's.. We arrived 5 minutes before they opened, and they seemed surprised at the wave of patrons as we invaded their parking lot. The Sunday lunch hour usually brings in the church crowd, but half the restaurant was filled with sweaty trail runners--but they did not seem to mind.
And yes, I got the hot hamburger. It is an 8 oz burger on toast, covered with french fries, and smothered with brown gravy. It is a major chore to finish it. I did my best but came up short. This dish is what the diner is famous for--at least half of the customers order it. Thanks to Russell for the pic of me seconds before my feeding frenzy.

Russell and I went back after lunch to hunt for some geocaches. We quickly found our first one, an army ammo box hidden in a bluff. The second cache was called Bugle Bird. The coordinates took us right to a grove of trees, and after not finding it in the larger trees, I noticed this fowl in a small cedar. When it did not spook and fly away, I discovered it was a clue in finding the cache.

Next we hunted for Medusa's Head. This involved a water crossing, a steep uphill scramble, some bush whacking, and an unsuccessful search. This critter offered no clue to finding it either. I did find a small clump of what I think was Medusa's hair. I am thinking the cache has been consumed by a wild animal.

Russell and I found our next eight caches. He would find one, I would find one. He has an uncanny eye for finding things that are out-of-the-ordinary in the woods. Our next to the last cache took us across the dam at Lookout Lake.
It's somewhere down in those rocks--are you kidding me?!?!?
Atop the bluff looking down. A picture never illustrates the seriousness of the fall--if one were to slip and fall. It was a good 40 foot drop.

Eagle-eye Russell found this one, although I was closing in on it fast. These nifty glasses were in the ammo box--stuff to take, leave, or swap. We just took a picture.

We found one more cache for the day and ended up with nine. We also covered about nine miles for the day.

Our next TOT trip is in 4 weeks--we're going back to Pumpkin Holler to explore some new trailz!!! Join us!!!

Trailz, geocaches, bridges, trains, and ticks

2012-01-18T18:55:00.009-06:00

After a Sapulpa appointment was short and done, I took advantage of about 45 minutes of remaining daylight to hunt for a geocache. This excellent time wasting activity often takes me places I'd never go, and sometimes spills over into new semi-trail-like places that lend themselves to further adventures. This day was one of those days. I suppose it is a bit misleading top show this picture, because this is where I parked. However, the geocache was on the other side of the road. Still, this could be another adventure. Google maps show this dirt-ish road winding around for about 2 miles. Can you say "out-and-back?"
Down an embankment, over some rail road tracks, and down another embankment, through a creek, over a fallen tree, through a barbed wire fence, and WALLA!! I was within 7 feet of the geocache!!

Ahhh--there it is!!! I wrote the date and my name in the log, along with a TFTC. This old dead tree was right beside a TRAIL!! Of course, there WAS an easier way to get to the cache than the way I came.
The trail called, and of course I followed.
I'd love to tell you the trail meandered along the stream, winding over hill and hollow--but it just led to a bigger creek, and under an old railroad bridge.
An old it was. This bridge is older than Betty White!! This bridge looked like it might have been drinking headquarters to some of the locals, and no doubt they were the trail groomers. And quite an artistic bunch too. I took a few pictures of some of the graffiti, but decided against posting them as I don't want a "graphic material warning" on my blog.

But wait--do I hear something? Could it be?? YESS!!! A TRAIN!!! I edited out most of the video as it was a looooong train. I headed under the bridge, and climbed the embankment on the other side to the road and walked back to my car. This journey of ~1/4 mile was done in street clothes, and Rockport Loafers. What do you think? Log the mileage, or not?

In a sick yet exciting way, the best part of the trip was when I got back to my car. I had a couple of stickers on my jeans, and noticed one of them was crawling. WOW!!!! The tick-o-meter has started. On January 18, I have my first tick of the year!!!!

Saying good bye to Rocky

2012-01-16T13:30:00.002-06:00

This post is not meant to be a downer, but instead a celebration. We said our goodbye to Rocky Sunday afternoon. Dana and I took his ashes to Turkey Mountain and set him free on the trailz where he loved to run. The highlight of Rocky's life was trail running--and I regret not taking him more. Our first stop always was the pond on the blue trail. This was his first swim of the day, and his favorite place for a swim or a soak. Rocky loved the yellow trail, all the ups and downs. We'll never run through here without thinking of him. Good times. This is the Sitting Rock. We have always called it this. After running the lower yellow trail north, there is a short steep climb to this point which overlooks downtown Tulsa. This rock is a great place to rest for a bit, which meant Rocky usually received some ear scratching. It seemed fitting for a part of him to rest here too. This is my favorite picture of Rocky and I from 2004 or 2005. I am a new trail runner in this picture, and Rocky felt like he was my guide. Dana and I were glad we were able to do this for Rocky, and I know he'll have all the best trailz scouted out when we meet him again.

TOTs run

2012-01-15T23:07:00.006-06:00

It was barely cold enough to wear a jacket on our run Sunday morning. I actually could have gone in shorts, but at 7:30 I opted for warmer garb. I met the TOT group for some Sunday AM miles, and it had been so long since I'd been out to run with the TOTs, I wondered if anyone would remember me. My gimpy IT Band plagued knee has kept off the trailz for the past several Sundays, but it's getting better. Stormy was gone, as was Cole and Tim, but I still had Jeff to lead the fast group--and John could have as well. I made some quick announcements and we split into two groups. Edward has been leading the six cylinder group, but let lead the group while he kept watch over the back of the train. Running the Snake Trail, we moved along at a 11-12 minute pace plus a few stops. At the above stop, Edward was run up a tree.
We did coax him down for a group pic. Near (before) Rock City, we took a new trail that went down down down, and took us to Pepsi Pond in about 45 seconds flat. I am not sure if this was an old seldom used trail that has been groomed, or a fire break trail that was more or less plowed during the fires last year, or a trail cut by the mountain bikers. Either way, it was a fun downhiller, and enables you to get across the mountain to different parts quickly. I could not talk anyone into hill repeats though. Passing Pepsi Pond, we pink-trailed it for a while, and then took another seldom used trail south paralleling the Powerline Trail. Some of our running for the next mile was on newer trailz, and some old, but it was a newish route that skirted two different ponds. We covered quite a few dips and climbs over sometimes technical sections.
While it looks like the sun is just coming up, we are just down behind the hill across the way.
Our gang stayed together for about 4 miles, and then we split off, sending a few back who needed to wind things up, and the rest got another couple of miles in. The fast group finished minutes ahead of us, and we had nearly as many miles as they did. Maybe we're better than we think.

Next week, we'll go to Osage Hills State Park to run the awesome trailz there. MAKE PLANS to join us.

First snow

2012-01-11T23:50:00.003-06:00

Tuesday Night at the Botanicals

2012-01-10T23:14:00.004-06:00

Tuesday Night, the Night Crawlers migrated north to soil near the Botanical Gardens. Eight of us--Nine, including Stormy who met up with us around 6:15, got in mileage ranging from 4.2 to 6.2. Cloudy skies did not dampen our weekly outing--actually, it was great running weather.
Mitch, Wes, and I started a little early and got in almost 2 miles before meeting the rest of the gang at 5:30.
Michelle, Laurie, Troy, and Kathy joined us and we decided to take an alternate route. We did stick to gravel roads, and as always, did an out-and-back. I had mentioned on Facebook that everyone needed to bring a headlamp or flashlight. Everyone did--except for me. As the sun set, the lights came out.
A slight variation from our usual route involved a little hill work.
Wes is on top of the world. My video taken here was less than desirable, since my heavy breathing was recorded and it sounded like a heavy petting scene.
With a bit of photo-editing, I was able to salvage a couple of pics. 6.2 miles agreed with me and my knee--I am well on the road to better.

We'll do Botanical Gardens for another two or three weeks. Come join us!

Night running

2012-01-10T00:02:00.006-06:00

Some of the best runs are at night.Some are great with friends, but some are great alone.
Nothing but the sounds of the night to make you feel alive....
....and the light of the moon and the beat of your heart to keep you going.

Geocaching with Jake

2012-01-09T00:16:00.004-06:00

Saturday afternoon, I was feeling like a bum--having not ran in the morning due to a ran down battery from the night before. See, I got home Friday afternoon, and had about an hour of daylight and thought I'd find a new geocache on Turkey Mountain. My iPhone was dead, so I turned on the instrument panel in my Prius and charged the phone while I changed clothes. Jake quickly noticed I was running, so I decided to take him. I grabbed my phone and headed toward the trailz, but forgot to turn off the instrument panel, leaving the normal battery, and the big batteries dead by morning. So, I missed the Saturday morning run with my friends. I spent the morning with my car on the battery charger, and it powered up and is now fine.

Jake and I were zero for two Friday afternoon, but daylight was fleeting. So after my car was charged, we decided to hunt caches again.
Jake is excited to go--but he is not really sure why in the heck I STOP and stand in the woods looking around. The first search was for a cache called Big Mouth, which could be named for a rock formation near the cache's location, or maybe there is another explanation for the title. We has also searched for the Oklahoma Rock geocache on Friday. SO now I have two strikes in this search. Jake was frustrated with tramping slowly around in the woods, and did not understand why we were not running on the trailz--was that not why I brought him in the first place??
Jake is more of a wader than a swimmer--kind of odd for a lab. I thought sure he would chase these ducks, but just got his feet wet (and muddy.)
It was a weird day for picture taking. The sky was mostly blue, but most of the sky looked white in my pics.
Running with Jake makes hills easy. I hang on and shuffle my feet, and away we go. After 2 consecutive days and almost 7 miles, my leash arm is sore.

I am still running just a little. I have not had a long run since Mitch and I ran 25 on new years eve. I do need to get at least one good long run in before Rocky--two would be better. I also need to have my knee (IT band) to be 100% in four weeks. Makes geocaching seem more enticing.

New Shoe Innovations

2012-01-07T19:10:00.028-06:00

A few years ago, I read an article--and WHEN I read it made it particularly interesting. We had just finished the 2009 Turkey and TATURs, and it was a mudfest. I know "mud runs" are fun--but when you have ran for HOURS, and are at mile 23 and still have 8 more miles to go in some of the slickest yet stickiest mud imaginable, mud is no fun. A Dr. Yuying Yan was pioneering technology in farming equipment, devising ways to eliminate the problem of mud sticking to farming equipment. If you care to read the article (with some TZ comments and hints about integrating this technology into trail shoes, click here.)

Fast forward to today. Another group of scientists led by Dr Torres who has teamed up with Paul Luckham, Professor of Particle Technology at Imperial College London, has created Fabrican, which consists of cotton fibres, polymers (the plastics which hold them together) and solvents which keep it in liquid form. Click here to read about this amazing breakthrough in sports clothing. But the Fabricon technology is only the beginning. This breakthrough is filtering over into minimalist footwear.

This is amazing, and so so new there is not yet a lot to read on this, the future of minimalist shoes and barefoot running. A new company T-Rex is making a SPRAY ON SHOE!! For years, T-REX has been a minor player in the spray-on bed liners for pick ups. These spray-on liners renew old pick up beds and make them virtually indestructible. But would that process work on human feet? The developers think so. By blending Kevlar with tri-polymer elasticon fibers, T-REX has introduced a product that makes your feet bomb-proof. As an option, they provice custom silicone toe caps, and advise installing these on all five toes. Besides providing independant movement for the toes, I think the toe caps may be a good call as they will help with bumping roots and rocks, minimizing blisters, and making it easier to remove the coating after a good run. My questions are about the technique and practibility of applying the coating, the drying time, and of course the ease of removing them. T-REX does include with each spray applicator, a can of shoe remover solvent as well.

15 minutes to kill

2012-01-04T20:11:00.008-06:00

Charles Estes

2012-01-02T16:05:00.006-06:00

Charles kicked off the mud from his worn boots, sending about as much semi-dried mud indoors as out, and while Sara wasn’t looking scooted it under the door mat. A northern wind was howling, and the door while shut still whistled through the cracks. A kettle began to whistle seemingly in harmony, but was pulled off the stove-top and placed on the wood stove for the time, waiting for coffee and then bathwater. It was Saturday night, and Sara had made a dress from scraps given to her by her sister, remnantss of the cuttings were still on the table. She had wanted a new dress before Easter, but money was too tight given the drought of the previous summer. Seeing Charles come through the door, she quickly cleared the table them and set two dinner plates.

“When’s supper ready”, Charles asked. “I ain’t ate nuttin since early this morning.”

“It’ll be shortly. I had a time catching that hen. We only have two more that aren’t laying. I hope you’re able to bring home a deer in the next day or so.” Sara was never one to complain, having worked hard practically raising her younger sisters after her mom died right up until the day she and Charles Estes wed. Growing food was a passion, and it fed the family well. Someday, she hoped to impart the passion of seeing things grow to her daughter or son, if the lord was willing.

“Dang, I need to drop a nice doe up at the salt lick--up yonder way hopefully so I ain’t gotta tote it so far outa the woods.” Charles laid his rifle against the mantle and sat down to rest his back. Riding lately seemed to jar his already weakened back. Charles had dismounted from his horse to inspect some flickering lights above a bluff overlooking the Arkansas River a year ago, lost his footing and slid down nearly to the railroad tracks, a 40-50 foot drop. He came to a stop just before going over an edge that would have surely been his demise. By then, the disturbance above was the least of his concerns, and the disturbances never happened in his subsequent trips down that trail. He winced in pain when getting up, mounting and dismounting his horse, but never let on since he got his new job as game warden for Tulsa County. Had the powers that be known he was not able to handle the rigorous duties set before him, there were two other hands vying for the job. Working for the county meant he and Sara might be able to buy land south of Red Fork and raise a few cattle, which would provide the livelihood a young married couple so deserved.

“Chester came by this afternoon,” Sara remembered. “Said there were some shots going off up on Turkey Mountain last Sunday. Lester Mackey said he saw a couple heading up there—thought they were duck hunters going over to Blue Pond.”

Ain’t no harm in duck hunting, if they’re just putting food on the table. That whole business about not huntin on Sunday—hell, people gotta eat on Sunday too. Why’s he making a deal out of that?”

“Well, Lester swears he heard rifle shots, and found one of his calves remains just east of the pond. Someone gutted it, and didn’t leave much more than the hooves and head.”

“Damn poachers. They was a problem a few years back, but I ain’t heard nuttin about them for quite a while. Guess I’ll go check it out tomorrow.”
“You be careful, Charles Estes. You go get you some help before you go out there trying to roust those men out. If they’re poaching, they’re just as likely to shoot you.”

“Aw woman, you worry too much. Hurry up with that chicken. Or gimme a slab of that bread there. I’m gonna cave in.” Charles reached for a thick slice of bread, and stabbed a chunk of churned butter. Maybe he wouldn’t starve after all.

Early the next morning, Charles saddled up and headed north to the base of Turkey Mountain, and proceeded up the steep climb towards Blue Pond. He had fished there as a kid, never catching much more than perch and catfish, and an occasional snapping turtle. Many a meal was yielded from this pond, and despite the murkiness of the water, it was also a swimming hole to a few brave boys in the area who didn’t mind the staining stench of rotting leaves and stagnant water. Charles looked across the pond and wondered why he ever swam there—Sara would never let him hear the end of it if he came home with mud saturated clothes with the rank smell of that pond.
While deep in thought of boyhood adventures, Charles heard the neigh of a horse eastward from the pond. Freezing for a moment, knowing this could be merely a duck hunter, or the poachers he had heard of. He unbuckled the snap on his Colt, and took his rifle out of the sling, and nudged his horse towards the trail leading east. He felt his heart thumping, but pushed his anxiety aside. This was his job after all—what he was hired on to do. Around a couple of bends in the trail, Charles noticed some wagon ruts and tracks of two horses. The ruts were deep, and one wheel was obviously near falling off, its tracks zigged, zagged, and wobbled.

Near the crest of the mountain, where the trail turns north, Charles saw the unattended buckboard wagon and team tied to a tree. He dismounted, and crept quietly closer to investigate. On the flatbed wagon was a trunk covered by a dusty linen tarp. Charles nosed up the edge of the tarp with the barrel of his rifle to see a rusty iron lock safeguarding the contents. The trunk looked heavy, and it seemed odd to Charles that one would travel so far deep into the woods with a chest. Bringing the wagon in to tote out a deer—maybe. All the more reason to bring these guys in. Charles saddled back up and thought about heading back, not knowing if he should have back-up and guidance from authorities, but instead headed north on the ridge trail.

He had not gone 200 yards when he heard a rifle cock, and “Ya better git down off that horse there, mister.” Charles froze, and turned to see the barrel of two guns pointing at him from over a boulder. “Whatcha business here?”

“I’m the game warden and I’m checking to see what the shootin has been at. Been reports of some hunters up here on Sundays You know y’ain’t supposed to do yer huntin on Sunday, now don’t ya?”

“We ain’t doin no huntin! What you snooping around our wagon? Ain’t nuttin belongs to you up there!”

Charles felt his hands turning to ice, a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead. Should he back off, make a run for it? He WAS the law here. He had every right to arrest these men. “OK, I need you to lower your guns, and let’s talk this thing out.”
“Ain’t nuttin we need to say—not to you anyway. You’ve seen too much. Drop your gun, Game Warden! Git down off that horse. Now!”

Charles had a plan. He tossed his rifle to the ground, and slid off the side of his horse, taking his Colt in his hand in the brief second he was shielded by his horse. But the outlaws had either seen him or anticipated his move because as he walked around to face the men, shots rang out and a hot stinging wretched pang crumpled Charles to the ground.

“Well now ya gone and did it. I told you we shouldn’t a come up here,” one gunner yelled at the other. They climbed over the boulder they cowardly hid behind and walked over and nudged Charles in the ribs. Charles turned to look them in the eye. He knew the older one immediately. John Black. Wanted in three states, yet assumed dead since there had been no reports of his whereabouts in 5 years since he himself was shot in the gut in Coffeeville back in 1905.

“He ain’t dead, but he’s gonna be soon. Lets just get on outa here, and we’ll mess with finding that other trunk later.” The two gunmen ran for their wagon and rode it back west toward the pond and beyond, as Charles deliriously watched the February wind blow the clouds overhead. Paralyzed, he could only lay and relive moments of his life, He thought of Sara, probably still at church, or hurrying home to fix lunch-—fried chicken no doubt. Thought of the the fence than needed mending, the door that didn’t lock right, the dress he didn’t let Sara buy, his father-in-law who was against their 23 year old daughter marrying someone 15 years older than her. One by one, memories played through his mind, blurring, fading as life ebbed from his chest.

Charles Estes was killed by unknown gunmen on February 26, 1911. The killers were never found, and during the race riots in March of 1911, records of the pending investigation were destroyed.

But two men--duck hunters hunting illegally on this very Sunday, were also hiding in the woods, knowing full well they were breaking the law, and knowing full well that Charles Estes was just the one to arrest them. “Richard—what are we gonna do? Those guys just kilt Charles in cold blood. They can’t get away wit that!”

Richard took the last swig of whiskey, shook his head, and said “I dunno, Eldridge. They gotta pay though. We gotta make them pay.”

PBP 2012

2012-01-02T01:11:00.025-06:00

Each year on January 1st, TATUR has helped put on the Polar Bear Plunge--a dive into icy cold water to start the new year out right.This year, i did not participate in the submersion--WHY????
A. An embarrassing rash
B. The bikini I wanted to wear made me look fat
C. I was scared of getting wet
D. I wanted to try out my new 16G SD card I just put in my camera
E. Some of the above
F. None of the above
Answers later.

But I did do the spectatur thing--and took over 300 pictures. I hobbled from the car (parked illegally but close) and took a few pictures and headed for the first swimming pool these poor saps had to dive into. My buddy Russell posted a few pics from the starting area, and I borrowed a few from him. At first I thought Tom was showing Russell that he did not gain weight from having seconds and thirds of that possum casserole thing his aunt makes, but upon a closer look, he had some body art to show.
Edward actually looks a little too good in this glittery skirt. His legs are some of the sexiest I saw out there today.
Stormy was supposed to be a disco dude, but looks more like Daniel LaRusso from Karate Kid.
Another sexy dude(ette)--Roman just owns it!! Poor Laurie is upset that her camera lens in now cracked. Shoulda known better than to risk taking a picture like that!
This years route included a brief wade in the Arkansas before the first of three dips in swimming pools.
I parked my hiney at pool #1, hoping to capture the terror in the eyes of the plungers. The water was pristine and calm--but only for a while. Rumor has it that the water temp was 36°.
The first runner comes through, and wasted no time in diving in and quickly getting out.
You'da thought it was an unpleasant thing, the way they barreled out of the pool screaming and sometimes cursing.
But some took their time, and actually seemed to relish the idea of a January swim.
I was quick on the button and captured a lot of jumpers in mid-air.
Here's the best hang-time of the day.
My Tuesday Night Crawler buddy Wes trots out of the pool full of life, and heads off to another colder pool.
Next came Kate Perry and 3 Lady Gagas. While I am intrigued by these hot female singers, I was less enthused at the sight of these impersonators. (Can you guess which one was Mitch? I did not know until later.)
AT times the pool was packed--with 15-20 swimmers at a time.
And sometimes, there was but one swimmer at a time. Nacho Libre believes he can fly.

Roman takes to the air, while his date Kathy ponders whether she is gonna dive or do a cannonball.
She did a can-opener, and lost her mustache. :-{( Racing to get out of the pool are Spidergirl, and Captain A-Hole.
Aww--look at those pearly whites. Nice job, Capt A-hole. (aka Tim E.) :-)
It's a big splash a-coming.
William again this year dons his Frankenfurter get-up. His make-up was just too perfect before the dive. Looks like he has way too much practice. Notice the man behind him. What is he saying?
Another friend, Larry makes his/her way out of the pool. Larry is sporting a designer line of the latest fall fashion, with a nice matching handbag.
And then there was team smurf. You would never know they were cold--since they're always blue.
I had a blast taking pics, and posted over 200 on Facebook. Yes, I kind of missed not diving in, and will resume the craziness next year possibly as part of a team.

Oh, and if you were wondering about the answer-- it's B.

New Years Eve Eve Long Run, with Mitch

2011-12-31T10:58:00.020-06:00

My friend Mitch told me at the TATUR Christmas party he was debating making a push to meet his yearly running mileage goal of 1,200 miles. He was a little short--"How short is short?" I asked. "Um, around 100 miles." (It was December 13) This sounded doable to me, but I asked for a little clarification--"How close to 100?" thinking it might be 90-something. "Well--115 miles." And so the challenge began. "We better start early then," I said.

Mitch has been whittling away at his total, stretching the weekday and weeknight runs by a few miles here and there, and we have tacked on a few extras on out Saturday runs. Last Tuesday with the Night Crawlers, he was in the upper 40s to go, and our plan was to get a few miles in Friday (yesterday) as we were both off work.

SO Yesterday around noon, we took off from the Bixby YMCA with plans to run to Lake Bixhoma and back. We started with a little jaunt around Washington Irvington Park--a half mile loop on some nice soft chat trailz.
We saw some running friends Amelia and Rachel, who were squeezing in a 4 mile lunch hour run. We were about a mile into our run, and I realized I had forgot my hat and/or bandanna back at the car, so we made a quick diversion back to the car and began our run again, but at least I would not sunburn the top on my head. Just after crossing the Arkansas River on the old iron bridge, we followed as newish paved bike path that runs for about a mile eastward and dead-ends by some baseball fields.
From there, we followed rural roads south and east to hook up with a short section of HW 64 which runs from Bixby to Haskell. That stretch of highway has wide shoulders to run on, but the cars and trucks whizzed by at 70 mph, and was not the most run part of the run. I had plotted the route on MapMyRun.com for the best way with shortest amount of busy roads, and the route was semi-scenic--enjoyable to run, but not a course to plan a trip around.
Lake Bixhoma, on the other hand, is an awesome place to visit. The fishing is good, there are a few picnic areas, a lot of geocaches, and a few miles of gravel and dirt roads for trail-running sorts like me.
We had climbed a mile long hill from the Leonard community, and the decent to the lake was steep--enough-so that I really took it easy going down so-as to not make my knee any grumpier than it had to be. Mitch let gravity take over, and easily beat me to the bottom.
We were in no hurry this day though, as our distance was 25 miles, and Mitch needed to have some gas in the tank for his remaining miles the next day--and I was testing my achy knee.
It's easy to take good pictures at Bixhoma. Just aim the camera and push the button. The scenery does the rest.
We ran the perimeter clockwise first, which is about a half mile out and then back. This picture looked like a loser when I viewed it on my camera screen, but after loading it on my PC, I like it.
Through here, we are about 50 feet above the lake shore. Years ago I climbed down the rocks and fished with some cut shad for catfish. This lake is super deep--maybe 80' or so, and I hooked onto a HUGE cat--took me 10 minutes to bring him up. I don't know what he weighed, but was as long as my leg. I am not usually a catch and release guy--I love to EAT fish--but I let this big guy go.
We hit the turn-around and headed back the other way. I mentioned to Mitch that it would be so awesome if the road/trail went completely around the lake. I had bushwhacked my way around the lake a few years ago, over hills and rocks, fallen trees, and briers, and cutting a trail would be a huge task, but worth it--if we could get permission.
And to my surprise, when we reached the turn-around on the other side of the lake, we saw where someone was starting a trail!! It looked like they took a box blade and plowed through the scrub trees and rocks. What was left was a very rough jeep road, if you could even call it that. It went about 1/4 mile upward and dead-ended in a rock field on the side of a steep slope, and I don't know how they could plow from there. Looks like WORK, but at least I know that I'm not the only one who wants to see a trail around the lake.
On the way back, I told Mitch of another time when I had followed a faint trail up a hill and into the woods and found a camp site with some furniture constructed of huge rocks, and how someone had commented that it looked more like an altar. I suggested we try to find it. I'm not sure if Mitch really wanted to climb and hunt for it, but he agreed. I suspect he thinks a lot of my stories are tall tails (and a lot of them are) but proving that this one was true adds (temporarily) to my credibility.
As we were leaving the lake, we got to talking about the time, the distance, and our pace. Simple mathematics suggested that we were not going to get back to the car before dark--not even close. And neither of us had a light.
I was not really worried about it though. As long as we got off the busy highway while the sun was still up, I felt safe. We had stashed an ice chest at the base of the Bixhoma Lake hill, which re reached at mile 9 and again at mile 14. Peanut butter pretzels--YUM!! We picked it up a little, and easily made it off HW 64 before dark. The remaining miles were unlit--no street lights, but we still could see well enough. Hey, it was roads.
We have had some awesome sunsets in NE Okla lately. No exception last night. We made it back around 7:00, and still had the task of driving back to Leonard to get the cooler. The drive seemed long, but we had ran a lot further.

Mitch now stands at 8 miles, and seeing that it is now noon on Saturday, I am sure he has got his job done and is kicking back with a cold one. Congrats, my friend.

2011-12-29T10:15:00.004-06:00

I read all the time--few books, but lots of magazines and online articles--mostly about running, but sometimes about photography (and of course for me, photography is strongly related to trail running. :-P) Trail running is growing incredibly--no surprise, as it's just so darn fun! One thing I read often though, is the lament that "There are no trailz close to where we live." But I say, trailz are where you find them. I have a trail radar, and while I'm about town and country in my job, I have my sniffer on alert for new places to run. Yesterday, between Bixby and Jenks, I saw this dirt road leading off toward the west bank of the Arkansas River. There were no "Posted" signs, although I have certainly been known to ignore such signage.
Deep blue skies and barren trees were on display. A day like this yields crisp clear pix.
Dirt (or muddy) roads like this are as good as single track trailz--call them "double track."
A headache in the making. This was a fun half mile hike. This is not a destination outing here, but now I know. Sometimes places like this turn out to be such awesome places to run and explore.
The highlight of the trip was this small structure--a hobbit's house, I'd say. The door was locked, and I knocked but no one answered.

Good news, and a TNC report

2011-12-28T10:46:00.003-06:00

My first post-holidays run was a great success--successful for multiple reasons. 1. my knee injury is improved. I went to see my massage torture-ist today, and she says it if not a bone or joint problem--if it were, it would be a deeper and continuous pain. She thought it was an IT band problem, and treated it accordingly. IT HURT!!!!
But after an hour, I feel 95% better, and ran pain-free. I also am so relieved that it is not anything dangerously serious, and I ran with confidence over rocks and roots.
2. After being down in the dumps--bummed about not running, not being able to run, and gaining weight from overindulgence in holiday yummies and stress-eating, I feel like I took control of that calorie in/calories burned ratio. 3. The Rocky Raccoon training can resume!!!

There were seven joining me tonight for the Tuesday Night Crawlers run. We opted to run easier trailz on the east side of the mountain, and I ended up with 4.5 miles. Mitch got close to 10 miles in his quest to reach 1200 for the year. He is down to 44-45 miles to go, and I promised to run an ultra with him Saturday if needed.

A quick video of the congregating crawlers just before we slithered off into the night.

New Songs on my Playlist

2011-12-28T08:49:00.003-06:00

I have been asked repeatedly as to WHAT SONGS DID I ADD TO MY PLAYLIST. I have over 300, but I can easily share the songs I recently added. The ones with asterisks denote songs that were suggested by this friends from the contest--and again, THANK YOU ALL.

Options--by Gomez
Airstream Driver--by Gomez
Little Pieces--by Gomez
I Might--by Wilco
Rapture--by Blondie ***
Hella Good--by No Doubt
Big Wheel--by Tori Amos ***
Stranglehold--by Ted Nugent ***
Flirtin' With Disaster--by Molly Hatchet
Midnight Rider--by Greg Allman ***
Blue Wind--by Jeff Beck
Gallows Pole--by Led Zepplin
Love Reign O'er Me--by The Who
The Crunge--by Led Zepplin
D'yer Maker--by Led Zepplin
Angel Dance--by Robert Plant
If It Wasn't For Bad--by Elton and Leon
Oh Well--by Bob Welch
Hypnotised--by Bob Welch
Crazy Little Thing Called Love--by Dwight Yoakum
Fast as You--by Dwight Yoakum ***
Guitars, Cadillacs--by Dwight Yoakum
Without Me--by Eminem
Dad Life--by Church on the Move ***
Truckin'--by Grateful Dead ***
Touch of Gray--by Grateful Dead ***
Friend of the Devil--by Grateful Dead ***
Uncle John's Band--by Grateful Dead
Shakedown Street--by Grateful Dead
Casey Jones--by Grateful Dead
What id Life--by George Harrison
Got My Mind Set On You--by George Harrison ***
Any Road--by George Harrison
Brainwashed--by George Harrison
Run So Far--by George Harrison
Looking For My Life--by George Harrison
Whatever Gets You Through The Night--by John Lennon
It Don't Come Easy--by Ringo Starr
Venus and Mars/Rock Show--by Paul McCartney
Ride My Seesaw--by the Moody Blues
Steppin' in a Slide Zone--by the Moody Blues
Sing the Changes--by the Fireman
1985--by Paul McCartney
You Wreck Me--by Tom Petty]Saving Grace--by Tom Petty ***
I Won't back Down--by Tom Petty ***
You Don't Know How It Feels--by Tom Petty
Tangled Up In Blue--by Bob Dylan
Coconut--by Harry Nillson
Daybreak--by Harry Nillson
Spaceman--by Harry Nillson
Avenging Annie--by Andy Pratt
The Road Goes on Forever--by Robert Earl Keen ***
Til I Collapse--Eminem ***

I now have over 300 songs, and I'm not typing them all--takes too long!!

Contest Results

2011-12-27T15:24:00.018-06:00

Results of the drawing for the $25 iTunes gift card:
I had all the guessers on an excel spreadsheet, and contestants got one entry for suggesting up to three good songs. They got an extra entry if I liked any of the three songs. And finally, the big bonus, they were allowed up to three guesses as to what was already on my iPad--for a total of five chances. Actually, Terrie Broomhall and Cheryl Issacs had 5 entries into the drawing. Kate Ellisor and Arena had four entries. There was a total of 30 people who participated in the contest, and a total of 65 entries. I already had everyone numbered, and cut the numbers into small tabs. I gave thought to drawing one, but decided to take another approach.
I dropped the tabs and let them fall where they may.
It made quite the mess! I removed the ones landed number side down, and gathered the others and tossed them again. After 7 tosses, there was one number left--number 19. I then checked my excel list, and the winner is----Kate Ellisor. Congrats!!!
This contest was fun. I loaded around 20 new songs to my list--many that I would not have thought about. While I don't run all the time with music, long runs by myself may go a little easier with some good toonz.

Me and Jake--banished from the kitchen.

2011-12-24T15:00:00.013-06:00

It was Christmas Eve afternoon. Dana was cooking, I was in the way sampling (I call it taste-testing.) Jake was my assistant, and despite our zealous efforts, we were both FIRED!! Jake had his own Christmas celebration last night, having found a huge platter of fresh Artisan rolls from Sam's, and seeing as they had no one else's name on them, he ate them. I was antsy about not getting to run. Jake needed to burn some calories. So, I decided to take Jake for a walk. Fortunately, I brought my camera. The skies were an amazing deep blue, the air was clean and clear--a perfect day for a walk and for pictures.

Cotton candy clouds danced about the sky, begging us to come play.

But I behaved and walked--not running a step. My knee is 1% better. But at least it's not worse.

After a run down the street and a brief trail loop, we were at the Turkey Mountain parking lot. Jake did a little butt sniffing with a couple of dogs, and we went for some more pictures.

This one and the one above are taken through Turkey Mountain's own ~~natural~~ fake rock arch.

Not far from the arch is a tall outcropping that many climbing enthusiasts enjoy. Look at the team who are almost at the summit.

A view to the east....

A view toward heaven....

A view of a good looking dog.

My usual pic-into-the-sun pic. We ended up with about two miles. Jake is really getting good on the leash, which means the resistance training I was getting on my right (leash) arm is over.

2011-12-23T00:46:00.000-06:00

I had 30ish minutes to kill this morning, so I checked out an old railroad bridge a few miles from my job site. It has been maybe 20 years since a locomotive ran the Union Pacific rails between Bixby and Haskell, and much of the levee has been leveled and reclaimed by landowners. Another bridge closer to Bixby (Snake Creek, I believe) was demolished several years ago, but this one near the Tulsa/Wagoner County line is still standing. Of course, the steel rails are gone, but the trusses are still in fair shape. Not at all sure what the name of this creek is--it's not even on Google Maps. I doubt I'll do a session of bridge repeats here any time soon, unless I have a death wish! This was about a 30 inch step--nothing that was not doable, but careful footing was employed none-the-less. My Canon has a strap that I ALWAYS have around my wrist. I did not have my camera though, and my iPhone has no strap. Careful footing, and handling!!! This was a 6' jump--of course I walked across on the steel beam. Once across, I continued down the "trail" for around a 1/4 mile +/-. This would be an awesome run, if the trail continued on for a few miles, but it enters private land a little further up as in passes through the Stone Bluff area. I turned back, having blown my 30 minutes pleasurably. I'll go back soon to see exactly how far I can go with an out-and-back. 4 miles and it'd be worth the drive. Remembering my friend Yogi's pic of the sky taken below some playground equipment , I took one from a similar vantage point. These old bridges were built to last forever. It's the wood in them that decays. The have strength but in an artistic sort of way--does that make sense? I heard years and years ago that there was a movement to make this a pedestrian/bike trail. Merle haggard, the country western singer, had something to do with it as I recall. Nothing was ever done though. Oklahoma messed up by not developing these trailz, and the abandoned railway that runs from Skiatook to Barnsdall. These could have been fantastic trail systems. And finally, a peek at the mighty Arkansas River. It actually has water flowing, which is unusual considering the drought we've had for the last year. So, I burned my ~~30ish~~ 45ish minutes, and got a junk mile with pics in the books.

A CONTEST !!!!!!

2011-12-20T21:15:00.010-06:00

I recently got an iPod Nano, and have been slowly filling the 8G with tunes to make me go. I like all kinds of music, but feel I need suggestions for good running songs. So, I propose a contest. Give me three good running songs--or just good songs that you like to listen to on a run. Give me three suggestions, and you get your name in the hat. If I LIKE any of your suggested tunes, you'll get an extra entry into the drawing. And then as a bonus, if you can guess up to three songs that I already have on my iPod, you'll get one more entry per correct guess--for a total of up to FIVE chances in the drawing.

What do you win???
I'll put all the entries in a hat, and next Monday, I'll draw a winner who will receive a $25 iTunes gift card.
So, send me your responses.
I'll take entries from comments to this blog post, and from comments to the facebook post.
Looking forward to giving away this gift card, and to filling up my list of running songs!!

Night running on Turkey Mt

2011-12-20T19:28:00.006-06:00

There's something so amazing about night running. Especially on trailz. Especially when it's cold. Especially when it's foggy and misting, with an oppressing north breeze and a threat of gloom in the forecast. Especially on Turkey Mountain. My headlamp was on it's last legs. It needed batteries changed out several night runs ago.
Water is always more eerie at night. A boring nondescript pond has mysteries of old wafting from the depths on a cold December night.
Finding my way back to where I was to meet friends for a group run, wondering if anyone was for sure coming out. Running alone is not at all out of the question, but things do move about at night--things that you try to not wonder what they are....
Not everything that moves about at night on the mountain is wild, but many are.

A bit of excitement for my morning

2011-12-20T11:29:00.007-06:00

I felt something in my shoe this morning and took it right back off thinking it might be a pebble from the trailz. Nothing new there. I shook my shoe out and nothing. I was about to put my shoe back on then I saw a black fuzzy on my toe. Thinking it was dome wadded up sock threads, I picked it off with my FINGERS, and it was WET. I very quickly put it down.

I picked it up with a couple of pencils, put it on the bathroom counter, and rolled it around til I saw the orange marking that affirmed it was in fact a black widow. Of course then I played with my camera settings and got the best zoomed in shot I could. Scary stuff.

Two good things: 1. I wear thick socks. 2. I have calluses on my toes.

Sunday morning recovery

2011-12-18T12:11:00.011-06:00

Recovery--in that I did 15.2 yesterday, and the last couple were with my left knee giving me cause for concern. I had told a bunch of my trail friends I'd be running with them on trailz at Turkey at 7:30 am, and hated to not make it. My plans were to A. Just show up, say hi, and go home. B. Walk some with the walkers. C. Run/walk, but not lead a group. I did C. My buddy Edward led the group, and took off on the easiest trail up the mountain. I walked over anything with rocks or uneven terrain. I was lagging pretty far behind, and eventually told everyone to go on. Mitch, who ran the 15 with me yesterday, was not feeling like speed work as her is needing 90+ miles by the end of the year to meet his mileage goals. It was nice to have company on my run.
We went left.
I picked our route, opting for easier routes. We ended up at the Westside Y. No trick photography here--except for the fact that one is right-side up and one is upside down.
The water was calm, the breeze non-existent.
Found this creature along the way on a newish mountain bike trail.
The hills have eyes--suffice to say it's Sunday afternoon now, and I am bored. The knee is sore--seems like sitting around is worse for it than running.

dreams

2011-12-15T21:56:00.005-06:00

There is a place where I run in my dreams where the trailz go on forever.I run without worry--from one adventure to another.There's never a thought of turning back.Darkness falls, yet I run on into the night.And I never reach the end as the reality of morning ends my elusive quest.

after work pics with my iPhone

2011-12-15T10:27:00.000-06:00

TATUR Christmas Party, 2011

2011-12-14T09:27:00.023-06:00

The season is crashing upon us, and the TATUR Christmas party has blazed by. Last night, we were graciously allowed to use the Westport Apts clubhouse again this year. We must have not trashed it too bad last year, or maybe they just like us?
As always is the case, there was a full spread of food. Cheese and crackers, sliced sausages, dips, finger foods, cookies and pies, a few casseroles (including Dana's tater casserole which is mmmm good) and a couple of hams from the Hamlet.
The turnout was good. There was elbow room, but barely as we all packed in for the awards, and a movie later. I am always amazed by the people who come from out of town. OKC was represented by 5 travelers: Nels and Donna Bentson, John Hargrove, Katy Kramer, and Jason Tipton. I wish we could get together more.

Special recognition was given for folks who have been awesome volunteers during the year. Mitch is Mr. Everything. He is INVALUABLE, with his help in timing the Snake Run, serving waffles and hot chocolate at the secret aid station at Pumpkin Holler, being the first volunteer to show up and the last to leave at every rave and nearly every training run with TATUR and RunnersWorld. WOW! Thank you my friend!
Lynna gets a special thanks for her help with Turkey and TATURs. She spent hours marking the course the day before, then ran the 25K, and spent a few days afterward removing course markings. Makes my job so much easier.
John Parris and Ramona Tallbear are another couple of valuable volunteers. They were worth their weight in in silver at Pumpkin Holler, working here and there at aid stations, and they brought a pickup load of firewood which kept weary finishers warm during the night.
Susan Westmoreland is one who helps in so many ways. She is a encourager, a selfless helper, and she ran her 1st 50K too at Pumpkin too--and then helped at the start/finish for hours later.

We (Brian and I) dropped the ball by failing to give public kudos to a few others. My sweetie Dana is behind the scenes at every TATUR event organising aid station stuff, and also crewing during races. She runs crew and sag for a lot of us on some of our long night training runs, and she also put another notch on her 50K belt this year at Pumpkin Holler. Bobby and Susan Michaels are also an amazing asset to our volunteer corps. They always man an aid station at Turkey and TATURs, and helped Bill Ford at the Savannah Corner aid station at PH100 this year. They are the first to arrive and the last to leave on most of the RW training runs, always pitching to help without being asked. Besides, they are some of the best friends I have ever had. They deserved a big pat on the back, ands so much more. Our scattered brains overlooked them, but we shouldn't have.
TATUR gave $21,000 to the Burn Camp from proceeds from the TATUR Mud Run. It's an honor to be able to help out kids who are in need.

On to the Silver Spud awards!! These are awarded to our TATUR friends who have had outstanding years, a great race(s), or who just deserve recognition for being an inspiration to the trail running world.

Tim Eraker earned Rookie of the Year. Tim is a regular with the TOTs, and usually leads the fast group. Tim ran 17.9 miles at the 3-hour Snake Run, ran a 2:28 at the Lake McMurtry 25K, a 10:17 at the Midnight Madness 50 mile, a 5:51 at the Full Moon 50K in Arkansas, and then a 25:10 in the Pumpkin Holler Hunnerd Invitational. Not bad for a first year of ultra running.
Russell Bennett received the Overachiever of the Year award. Russell is famous for NOT TRAINING, and then showing up at a 50K, and running it like he had been running 50-60 miles per week. I could never get by with this, but he pulls it off every time. Russell is also one of those who pitches in and helps with race set-up and tear down--even when he HAS to be wiped out. Thanks, buddy!
Aaron Ochoa received the Most Improved TATUR. Aaron has always been fast, but recently, he has turned into a monster. There's not an ounce of body fat on him, he looks like a body builder, and he runs like an antelope. His marathon and 50K times just keep getting quicker and quicker, and while he only made it 67 miles in his first 100 attempt, I know he'll ace his next 100 mile test. Aaron finished 3rd male at Midnight Madness with a time of 8:48, and a 3:24 at the Rock and Roll Savannah Marathon. He races a lot, and more googling could no doubt find scads of ever-increasingly fast times.
Speaking of fast times, Cole Starkey got the award for Best Performance in a Race. To preface, Cole was first male in the Midnight Madness 50 Mile, and also first male in the Pumpkin Holler 50K. The asterisk beside these finishes denotes a lady won these races. (Personally, I love it when a female wins. Trail running is a sport where sometimes the women are the best athletes on a particular day.) Cole rights the ship at Turkey and TATURs 50K, where he led from the start and increased his margin of victory all day long. It's so awesome to have one of our own group who runs like an elite runner.
One of the most fun awards to give out is the Most Inspirational TATUR. Amelia Elbert earned this award this year for being such a cheerleader. First off, she never misses a TOT run. She is prolific on Facebook, and describes her runs and bike rides with a vocabulary unknown to many. Where I might describe a "great" run, to her it is a "FABOO" run. My "awesome" trailz, are "awesome possum" trailz to her. She's a hoot. After an injury sidelined her early in the year, she has steadily increased her speed and endurance, and ran her first 50K at Pumpkin Holler in a respectable 6:16.

My great friend Bill Ford was awarded Male TATUR of the Year. Bill is another one of those guys who is so nice. He is a cut-up, but also a great encourager. Bill started the year with his debut 100 miler, running a sub-24 at Rocky Raccoon. Then, Bil tackled the Rouge/Orleans 126.2, a run from Baton Rouge to New Orleans atop the Mississippi River Levee. He and Kathy Hoover ran together, and were the first two to cross the finish line. Later, because the race was started in waves, he was bested by another male runner, but still aced this trying test of running not long, but incredibly long. He is so deserving of this honor of TATUR of the Year.

Polly Choate was awarded Female TATUR of the Year. Polly has steadily improved over the past year--due in part (I think) to that crazy boyfriend of hers: King Eric Steele. I don't know what he has done, but he has coached her into a serious ultra runner. Here's Polly's year: 25.1 miles in the 6-Hour Snake Run, 3:21 in the 25K at Lake McMurtry, 7:10 and a win at the Do Wacka Do 50K, 6:41 at Pumpkin Holler 50K, and 7:52 at Turkey and TATURs. This, coupled with doing a superb job with the monthly TATUR Newsletter, makes her so deserving of this honor.

Finally, the Most Beat-Up Feet award went to Lyle Robertson. Lyle has only been running seriously for about two years, but in the past year, he has ran marathons almost every week, often doing doubles in his quest for Marathon Maniac mortality. Lyle has 64 marathons or beyond to his credit, 39 states, and most impressively, he is at TEN STARS in the Marathon Maniacs Insane Asylum, something only 2% of the listed Maniacs have achieved. Weird thing is, Lyle never seems tired.. Before coming to the party last night, he ran 6 miles up and down Golf Ball Hill. He's an amazing guy.

After the awards shindig, ~50 of us migrated over to the next room to watch a private screening of Unbreakable, an account of four runners in the 2010 Western States 100.
There was lots of beautiful footage, eye candy for the ladies (Anton Krupicka) and ultra-running wisdom imparted by the founder of ultra-running Gordy Ansleigh.
My favorite quote from Gordy way that mile 85 during his first running, he "just didn't want to get passed by any horses."
Words for life, I'd say.
I'm re-posting the trailer for the movie--catch it if you can.
It's amazing!

Isle du Bois 50K--done and fun

2011-12-11T19:11:00.029-06:00

It's another 50K in the books for the Zombie/Hoover team. We made the trip to Denton, TX, stayed in an awesome Holiday Inn Express, and woke early to head out to Lake Ray Roberts for this first-year event-- the Isle du Bois 50K. Our friend David Hanenburg of Endurance Buzz cut his race-directing teeth on this 50K, and did an A+ job.
The weather forecast said 30°, partly cloudy skies, and light winds. It WAS 30°, there was a dense cloud cover and 20-30 MPH winds as we shivered together before the race start.
David goes over some course directions just before the race. It was 10 mile loops that traversed several connecting mountain bike trailz. Our 2nd and 3rd loops were a bit different (longer) than the first, to make the distance a full 31 miles. It sounded a little complicated, but it never was. Every turn was well marked and while at times, I wondered where I was on the course, I never felt lost.
Bundled up seconds before the start, we both peeled clothes throughout the day.
David uttered the word "go", and pedaled out to make sure we made a critical turn off a paved trail onto the first of many miles of single track.
The first mile was on an 8' wide concrete sidewalk, which allowed the runners to get spread out a little. There were ~65 50Kers, and over 100 10-milers who started a half hour later.
Kathy and I ran together for maybe 100 yards. I was experiencing that not-yet-really-into-it feeling--the one that takes about 3 miles to shake, and this was the last I saw of her, save a couple of glimpses where the winding twisty trailz doubled back on themselves.
By the time I reached the single track, I was the caboose. Nothing new here. I ran relaxed and enjoyed the trip.
There were a few rocky sections, but they never were long. I was cautious through the rocky areas since I had strained my right ankle the day before.
Most of the trailz were nice narrow soft dirt tracks....
....or leaf covered. I popped my gimpy ankle in a leaf covered area like this around mile 3. After saying a few rated pg-13 words, I walked a bit and eventually felt like running.
There were two different sections that ran along the shores of the lake. This is at mile 4, and this dude ahead from the 10 mile race blew by me like I was standing still.
The one manned aid station on the course (other than the start/finish) was manned by elves from the North Pole.
It had warmed into the low 40s by this time--perfect for runners, but a bit chilly for aid station volunteers, even elves.
The next five miles had multiple switchbacks, and I was clueless to which way was north/south, and where the finish line was. But again, every turn was so well marked that I never was worried. I liked this tree. Four or five steps after taking this picture, I rolled my ankle very badly. I was around a mile +/- from the finish where I had my neoprene ankle brace in my car. I should have started the race with it on.
Brian was parked in a comfy chair taking pictures of all the runners as they came through. I have snagged a few of them for this blog post. His are the ones with colors that pop, thanks to a big-dog camera, and obviously the ones where I am pictured.

I ditched my jacket, peeled off my Pumpkin Holler shirt and the Icebreaker tee, and put the PH 100 shirt back on--didn't want to mess with re-pinning my number. I also changed out of the tights into my shorts, and put my braces on both ankles. I was good to go, but burned a good 20 minutes changing and visiting the porta-potty. But I was not in racing mode.
This loop went a different way bypassing much of the mile long sidewalk we had on the first loop. This extra dirt trail seemed like a LOT more mileage, but I may have been letting fatigue influence my distance perception.
I paused briefly several times for pictures. No shortage of scenic trailz here--and of course my shot-into-the-sun pic.
This stretch of trail reminded my a lot of Lake McMurtry--in fact, most of this course was like McMurtry....
....but this was a much bigger lake. Through here, the north breeze lapped waves along the rocky shores. Pleasing to the eyes and ears.
Second time through the Fire Road aid stop, I caught up with Deborah. Deb ran Pumpkin Holler, and had to show off her shirt. I was surprised I actually had caught someone, but she told me she had started early and was just taking it easy.

From here, I tried to pick it up a little. My ankle was behaving, and I kept my average pace around 15 minutes per mile. I blew through the start/finish as quickly as possible. I ran my 1st loop in 2:30, and my second in 2:52 (that included my clothes change and bathroom break. I had 2:48 to finish, and I had to make the Fire Road aid station by 3:00 or I would be pulled. So, I pushed the pace as much as I could. Again--not racing, but less loafing and less pictures. Coming into Fire road for the 3rd time, I was 6 minutes over the time limit.
They were on the phone talking about whether or not to pull me. I was asked how I felt, and truly, I felt great. They checked my name and number, and gave the the green light to go. From here, it looked like I'd come in maybe 15-20 minutes over the 8:30 time limit. I pushed (read that, shuffled slightly faster) and I began to see runners ahead. About a mile from the end, I caught one, and passed. A couple of girls were in sight, but when I thought I was close, I was seeing them where I was a couple of switchbacks behind. When I hit the 1/4 mile of sidewalk near the end, I let it all out and ran at 99% effort. There was a bit of cheering at the end, and Kathy took a few pictures of me chugging along. (If I get a look at these pix and if they are either flattering, or editable, I'll post one. I finished in 8:34, and I'm ok with that. If I leave my camera, I finish at least 20 minutes earlier. If I started with my ankle brace, I finish another 20 minutes earlier. My friend Julie Dolph said that her Garmin read 33 miles, and I bet that's right. My Garmin got bumped off on one of my falls, and later ran out of juice, so I don't have an accurate measure.

Speaking of Julie, she also fell three times, and then on her 4th fall at mile 29, she busted her bottom lip on a rock and crossed the finish line looking like a zombie after a feeding frenzy. Check out her blog for a couple of nice grizzly pictures. She is a honey badger of a trail runner.

Kathy finished in 8:05, and said she had a so-so run. But we both liked the course and again, David did a great job. The race shirt is a real keeper. It's an organic cotton/bamboo blend, and is so comfy. The horse and horseshoe art in the top pic is the front of the shirt. Look for David's race report on Endurance Buzz.

Isle du Bois 50K Preview

2011-12-09T11:26:00.004-06:00

Saturday, I'll be heading south, crossing the Red River into Texas to run the inaugural Isle du Bois 50K This race runs along the shores of Lake Ray Roberts, near Denton. My buddy David Hanenburg, creator of Endurance Buzz, an online magazine that reports on trail and ultra races in the TALON area (Texas, Arkansas, Louisanna, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.) EB also reviews trail shoes and lots of nifty gear that we ultra-freaks like. If you can't get enough trail reading, bookmark this site. It's one of my favorite trail-running sites. The above pix as well as the one below are borrowed from his prolific wedsite.

Making the trip with me: Kathy and Brian. Dana may go, but may stay to babysit grandkids, which she understandably finds much more rewarding than waiting on me to shuffle along for 7-8 hours, let alone the drive to and from. Kathy and I are running, and Brian will take pictures and sleep. For sure, a juicy race report will follow.

KRMG--always gives both sides of the story

2011-12-08T16:27:00.007-06:00

Funny times we live in. (I know, I ended a sentence with a preposition, but I don't care.) Are we fit, or are we fat? Tulsa is always in the top 10 for fattest, least fit, and most recently, according to news reported on KRMG radio, we are #7!!-- America's 7th most artery clogging city. This should come as no surprise--just look around. I am not talking about looking at people, although the "People of Wal-Mart" emails could easily have been taken locally, but I am talking about the proliferation of fast food restaurants, "biggie-size" for a discount, all-you-can-eat buffets, jumbo candy bars, what was once a "big gulp" drink is now a medium, etc. TV watching is at an all time high--American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, the Sing-Off, America's got Talent, and scads of other shows programmed to burn brain cells but not fat cells.

KRMG also ran this story--within a few minutes. Marathon Running is Bad for the Heart. REALLY??? Morning radio personality Joe Kelley, har-hared at this, saying "that" was reason enough for him to NEVER run a marathon. HAHA! The healthiest people I have ever met are marathon and ultra runners!! Way to go, Joe. Talk people out of something that saves lives.

Then a few minutes later, they were back to talking about exercising and new trails being built in Tulsa. One of the persons interviewed said Tulsa was greatly lacking in trails, yet another said we already had enough and there were trails in every park in Tulsa. (Maybe they are calling any sidewalk they see a trail.) A third person interviewed said that was money that would be better spent elsewhere--that if they built the trails, no one would use them.

In my mind, the nay-sayers probably could be featured in "People of Wal-Mart."

Memories of Rocky

2011-12-07T09:19:00.029-06:00

Rocky came into our life in the spring of 2000. He was born on Valentines Day, and we got him when he was 8 weeks old. We already had Cloey, a female lab puppy who was a week or so younger than Rocky, and she needed a playmate. They were best friends, and made a happy family.
Rocky was the man of their household, as long as Cloey was ok with that.
We had them on the leash early, and they loved to go for walks, and later runs.
Our son Jason loved Rocky, and I HAD to post this pic. Hope it doesn't get censured!
Rocky and Cloey were water dogs. Our pool was laden with dog hair.
Rocky is resting up. At this point, he had retrieved the rubber chicken at least 20 times.
The coolest dog in the world.
There was never a better trail dog. He lived to run trailz. Sometimes I kept him on leash, and he would pick the way. We had some of the most interesting runs, and I'm sure he knew every trail on Turkey Mountain as well as I did.
He was a great duathlete. Always had to get a few swims in.
He also was a big ham--just like his dad.
Didn't take much to make him happy. Rocky always had a smile.
Mile 5 in a run. He'd lie down in the water and rest a bit.
A quick shake, and he was ready to go for more.
When he was younger, I tried to take him out once a week. At first, 3-4 miles was the most I'd take him. But for a while, we were going 10, 15, and once 25 miles--almost always on trailz. We'd make road trips. We ran the big loop at Devil's Den, 12 miles at Greanleaf (he HATED the swinging bridge--I had to carry him across it),we ran in the Ouachitas, and once on the 25 miler, got off course, and decided to climb a power-line easement up a huge mountain. It ended up being way harder than I ever imagined. We ran out of water but found a stream and refilled bottles and drank liberally from it. After 2 hours of scrambling, we made it to the top, and the road that I thought we'd find WAS NOT THERE!!! But, after bush whacking another 1/2 mile, we eventually came to it. We were so tired, I flagged a pick up down, and we got a ride back to my truck. Rocky had never rode in the back of a pickup, and must of thought God had rescued us. He was not happy to have to get OUT of the truck, but relieved that we loaded back up in his truck and were headed home. He was instantly asleep in my lap, but the smell of a drive-thru hamburger woke him--his usual treat after a trail run.
Turkey Mountain in the snow is a paradise. Well, any trail was a joy for Rocky.
Shin deep snow. This snow was so deep, his belly must have froze, but he loved our time out there.
A goofy pic of a great dog.
And yes, even in the cold of winter, he still had to swim. We were on the west bank of Pepsi Pond one winter when it was partially frozen, running. I had no idea he'd plow right out into the ice, but he did--broke right through the thin ice, swam around a bit, climbed out, and shook water all over me--as usual.
Not our last run, but one of our last. This is Jake with him, Rocky's son. He is very dear to me, as I see so much of Rocky in him.
Dana and I are at Lake Bixhoma, and we got an easy three in. Happy times.

A few days ago, Rocky acted like he was zapped of energy, and was not greeting us, wagging his tail, and when he got up to walk around, he was wobbly on his feet. He has had a bit of hip displasia, and after out recent short run/walks, he would hobble around a couple of days like a beat up ultra runner. Our trips were greatly curtailed due to this. But this was different. He was not eating, and it really seemed like he was going downhill. We took him to the vet, hoping for the best, but fearing the worst. The vet felt around on his belly, and told us she thought he had a tumor, or maybe was bleeding in. His color on his underside and in his mouth was very pale, and his temperature was down. He felt abnormally cold. We asked that they x-ray him, and the x-ray showed a large cancerous mass in his abdomen wrapping around his liver. It was so hard to make a decision. Surgery in his weekend condition was not a good option, and had no guarantee of success. We could bring him home to suffer and die, or have him put down. I have not cried so hard since I was was a kid.
My last picture of my best buddy. He went peacefully.,It hurts so bad, but he is finding new trailz in dog heaven.

I am deeply sad, but I'm also choosing to be joyous remembering the best of times we had. He had a great run, this trail dog.

2011-12-05T23:59:00.006-06:00

Since my contest from a few days back is slipping further down the blog page--due to me being a blogger-hound lately--I decided to have the drawing!!! Up for grabs is a ;limited edition Clif Bar Frisbee, one that is engineered for distance, not unlike Clif Bars.
I printed out name tabs for the seven contestants, and cut them into equal sizes and folded them over.
I had to substitute my sweaty ZombieRunner hat instead of my RunnersWorld hat, since I think my RW hat is in the trunk of my car and it's c-c-cold out.
Vanna White was unavailable, so I employed the talents of one Dana Childress to do the drawing. I blindfolded her, spun her in circles, and let her draw a name. And the winner is.....
Deborah can pick up the prize at RunnersWorld anytime this week. I'll drop it by the store tomorrow.

This was fun. There might be another contest in a week or so!!!

2011-12-05T13:24:00.000-06:00

You all know I am a shoe ho. I do try a lot of different ones, and try to be open minded about new things, but still I am very picky on what I'll wear in longer races. Something that bugs you a little on a short run will give you fits on a long run. From time to time, I find a shoe I REALLY like. I have wore Asics Trabucos in the past. For me, they are a good shoe for every day trail running, and can work well on shorter road runs. But wearing them much beyond 50K, I felt they were possibly lacking in stability and cushioning. The new Asics Trabuco 12s seem to be the shoe that I can count on to get me through the later miles of a hundred. They have enough cushion--not a lot, but enough--to keep the bottoms of my feet happy after 60-70 miles of running on rocks. I am not sure if they have a "rock plate", but suffice to say that they keep the pointy-side-up rocks from harpooning the soles of my feet. While they are limber enough for road running (I have wore them on the river trails for several 4-10 mile runs) they are stiff enough in the heels to keep my feet from wallowing when on uneven terrain like stepping on the sides of big rocks, and sloshing through that slick side-hill section of trail that I didn't mean to go through. How will they be after 400 miles? I will find out in a month or so, but right now, I say they are keepers. In the stylish black/cement/army color combination, they look good (and you know how important that is.) Throw in a little mud and dirt and they fit right in with my other shoes. Plus, with the black and green, they'll make great lawn mowing shoes when I retire them,.

2011-12-04T18:35:00.004-06:00

If you dream of running 100 miles some day, or are fascinated with the thought of it, or if you run ultras and your dream-race is Western States, come to the TATUR Christmas party Tuesday December 13th at 7:00, and stay around to watch a private screening of the movie "Unbreakable - The Western States 100 Story".

The cost to watch the movie is $8 per person.

Four of the greatest undefeated mountain runners on earth toed the starting line at the Western States 100-mile endurance run, the oldest and most prestigious 100-mile foot race in the world

'Unbreakable: The Western States 100' follows the four lead men on this amazing journey. Hal Koerner, two time defending Western States champion, and running store entrepreneur from Ashland, Oregon. Geoff Roes, undefeated at the 100-mile distance, an organic chef from Juneau, Alaska. Anton Krupicka, undefeated in every ultramarathon he has ever started, a graduate student living in Boulder, Colorado. Kilian Jornet, the young mountain runner and two time Ultra-trail du Mont-Blanc champion, from Spain.

The ultimate award, bling beyond compare, is the silver buckle at WS100. All finishers under 30 hours get a buckle, but finishers coming in under 24 hours get the silver. In 2006, this was on my radar. I toed the line at WS100, and started with a sinus infection and a fever. That, coupled with me being a middle-age under-trained slightly overweight fart, netted me a DNF at mile 16. I was the first one pulled, but was ahead of a couple of runners who were later also pulled at mile 16. Still, I dream of going back. This is what dreams are made of.

YouSnoozeYouLose, New Plans, and a CONTEST

2011-12-02T22:32:00.002-06:00

December is the beginning of a LOT of new things. For two years, I have talked about starting a new "trail running society" that one would have to EARN their way into. This was a great idea that I believed many of my friends and people of like minds would be delighted to be a part of; and while there would have been a very modest monetary benefit, it would have been rewarding in so many more important ways. It would have, but I sat on it, and talked about it from time to time, and even shared my dream with a few close friends. Well, a few weeks ago, someone ELSE in another part of the country started a very similar club, and launched it beautifully. No hard feelings--I should have got off the fence a year ago and ran with it.

For the last few months, I have been trying to spruce up my blog, tweaking the layout, trying to throw in a little variety here and there, although it's still 98% running related. Any blogger, if he/she is honest, wants more readers, and I am right there with them. My desire is to have my blog more like a daily magazine, something like minded people would read every day over their morning coffee, or at their desk when they should be working, or at home during Leno. Eventually, I MIGHT allow a little advertising and possibly realize some income from it. (I did dabble with AdSense offered through Google, and was not at all happy with ads from business colleges, various mud races, and other things that at times to conflict with my personality--and I pulled the ads.)

But the news I want to share: A good friend of mine and I are collaborating on a new website--a "trail running social network" of sorts. The site is in it's infancy, and I have a lot of crash-course learning in order to edit and contribute content, but I am attacking the challenge. I'll have a LOT more to share about this in a few days. This site is not replacing the TZ blog--that is my baby and I love it. But if things work the way we think they will, it'll be trail-running central for folks in Oklahoma, the mid states, and beyond. Is there room for another site like this? You bet there is. We want to support and promote all other trail running sites, clubs, and races. There is room for all of us, in our wonderful sport of running trailz.

The point of this post?? Well, besides airing out my brain, I want to pick yours. What would you like to see in a daily blog? And in a growing and frequently updated website? As you know, I LIKE pictures. I am thinking more videos, and better quality videos. And then interviews with runners, shoe reviews, more nuts and bolts stuff about gear and training. We plan to have this set up to where folks who join can contribute content--race reports, pictures, comments, bios, etc.

So my question for you is this: What do you think? What would you like to see? What in a website pushes your buttons--brings you back the next day? What do you see in blogs and websites that gives you that ho-hum feeling and bores you to where you don't come back? Do you like contests? Well, here's a contest: Post your comments and suggestions in the box below. Pee on my campfire, pat me on the back, give me your super idea, or just say HI! I'll take the comments and put your names in my sweaty RunnersWorld hat and draw the winner. The picture below of the Clif Bar Frisbee (held by a very handsome trail-runner-model-dude) is the prize up for grabs. Thanks to Clif Bar for donating the Frisbee, along with a couple of new flavors of their product which will be eaten and reviewed soon. Comment away, friends!!

Around Jenks

2011-12-02T13:52:00.007-06:00

All of these are taken with my iPhone, uploaded to facebook, then downloaded to my computer ~~at work~~, and posted here. The pix are almost black and white. The skies were colorless, the leaves mostly gone.
No wind at all today. What little water is left in the Arkansas River lays still--not a ripple.
As if there weren't enough clouds today, PSO is cranking out more.
Polecat Creek is full and muddy. An adventure awaits down this creek--another day.

Tuesday Night Crawlers, week 4

2011-11-29T22:27:00.009-06:00

Tuesday night, and the Tuesday Night Crawlers enjoyed a relatively flat run around Yahola. There is a 100% chance of a good sunset, provided it is not totally cloudy, and tonight was no exception. Wes and I got there just before 5:00, and did a speedy loop around the reservoir, averaging 9:30 m/m, and got back as the 5:30 arrivers trickled in.
Pictured left to right: Wes, Rafael, Lauri, Susan, Rachel, and Christine, with yours truly taking the picture.

Wes and I noticed an old Cadillac parked in the other parking area as we ran through it, with a middle-aged couple enjoying each other I suspect a bit more than the sunset. On our second trip through, they were still there. It was darker, colder, and the windows were steamier. I had ran back to run Susan and Lauri in, and those rascals shined their headlamps over towards the car, and I just KNEW the lovebirds were gonna roll down the windows and yell something. Lauri said she was sure this would end up in my blog, and well, I hate to disappoint.
Now I'll let you all guess--did I have the cojones to sneak back and take a picture? Or did I just find this on Google? I'm not telling!!!!

rebooting

2011-11-28T20:46:00.003-06:00

It's good to take some down-time. At least that's what I'm trying to make myself believe. This past year has not been my best year of running, but it is not at all the worst either. I managed to finish every 100(+) I entered, yet my times are getting progressively slower. I abbreviated Turkey and TATURs stopping at 25K. I ran a non-contested 100 miles at Pumpkin Holler in 31+ hours. No adrenaline of the race to spur me along, and even though I was proud to go the distance, I was a little disappointed in being so slow. In the 15 days since my Pumpkin Holler run, I've ran a mere 27 miles, my lowest streak in years. I feel tired, sluggish, useless, depressed. It's not REAL bad, but I know what I need to do. A one-dimensional self-proclaimed trail zombie needs something on the calendar to train for. So for now, I will remind myself of what is on the short-term calendar.

Isle du Bois Trail Run - Saturday December 10, 2011 – Pilot Point, Texas. This is a 50K near Denton, Texas along the shores of Lake Ray Roberts. My buddy David Hanenburg of Endurance Buzz is the creator and RD of this race, and it looks to be a good time. I will run this for the fun of it, and look for me to earn that "tough as nails" distinction in the EB race report.
Race Into the New Year - Saturday December 31, 2011 11:45 pm - Westside River trails. This is a race where one start one year, and finish the next year. I stand a good chance on NOT being DFL in this one, and even enjoy both of the champagne stops along the way.
Polar Bear Plunge - Sunday January 1, 2012 - Westside River trails near Westport Apartments. I have done this event every year, and each year it gets a little bigger and a little crazier. It started out with a wade into shallow water and dunking yourself if you dared. Then the next year, a submersion was required. Then, they added a river scramble and a swim under a net. The next year, a dive into a pool was thrown into the mix. Last year, the river dip was out, but we had to dive into three pools. This year, three pools are back, and they are promising water at 34°. This surely involved large quantities of ice being added to the pools. That is just cruel!!!
Athens/Big Fork Trail Marathon - Saturday January 7th, 2012 - Big Fork, Arkansas. The hardest marathon I have ever run, and I believe the hardest marathon on the planet. A lofty claim??? Show me a harder one. Pikes Peak? Maybe. Leadville Marathon? Maybe. Anyone done all three? I'd love to hear the comparison.

This gets me into mid January, and time to decide what is next. Rocky Raccoon? Rouge Orleans? AOK 50K? White Rock 50K? Post Oak? Or maybe I need to adopt the race less/run more approach.

Pictures from the way home

2011-11-24T17:48:00.005-06:00

Chef TZ

2011-11-23T21:49:00.014-06:00

My grandmother used to make the most awesome coconut pie. Her recipe was in her head, and in her later years, sometimes it was a little on the salty side, sometimes it was runny, soggy on bottom, but still always soooo good. It took some doing, but for the most part, I got her recipe and I have it on my computer, and also typed and laminated, and saved in a few different locations. It's from semi-scratch, with only cook-and-serve pudding the only shortcut.
Yes, I can separate eggs. (As you can see, a tiny bit of yolk got in the egg whites, but I dipped it out. The yolks are saved and used too.)
What you are seeing here is the makings of homemade pie crust. That, in my opinion, is the secret to knock-out pie.
It's a messy job, but soooo worth it.
Dana came home and saw the finished pies and said "You bought your crust, didn't ya." BWAHAHAHA!! I took PICTURES!!!
Here I am preparing for 45 minutes of stirring. Added to the mix is some sugar, coconut, vanilla, butter, salt, corn starch, and yes--all those egg yolks.
The yummy filling (I almost have a tummy ache from eating all the leftovers!!) Notice the toasted coconut in tin pan. Toasting it keeps the oil from the shavings from messing up the temperamental meringue.
And this is the trickiest part of the pie. Sometimes it sweats, sometimes it weeps. (Not unlike ultra runners)
One more to top, and in the oven they go.
I cook them slow, until they are light brown. Then I let then cool IN THE OVEN, and then on the counter and I'll chill them before I go to bed.
Not blue ribbon material, but OMG they taste so good!!!
A sure fire way to gain the 6 pounds back I've lost this week.

Tuesday Night Crawlers, Week III

2011-11-22T22:37:00.010-06:00

Some would think it was too cold, but actually it was a spectacular night for a run. Our crowd has swelled--up 33% from last weeks attendance, as not one, but two new runners joined us for a jaunt around one of the areas best kept secrets for off-road running. As I have mentioned, Lake Yahola is a great place to view the sunset. The sound of waves lapping against the shores is soothing, something I particularly need after a grueling day at work. It is getting dark EARLY, and by 6:00, it was pitch black, but our LED headlamps lit the way. The route around the lake was soft from the rain, but even with the rain we had, I did not get my shoes muddy. I wore my Asics 2160s, a road shoe, which is just fine for this terrain.

I have seen lots of wildlife around the lake--armadillos, opossums, turtles, cranes, jumping fish, and always deer. Join us next Tuesday!!! This course is perfect for those getting off work. We try to take off around 5:30, but even if someone is running a bit late, there is no way to get off course--just run the path around the shore of the lake and when you run out of trail, cross the gate and follow the edge of the paved road back to where you parked. It's a nice 3.3 mile loop. Facebook me, email me at trailzombie@yahoo.com, or call/text at 918-814-6433.

A weekend in Eureka Springs

2011-11-21T00:48:00.022-06:00

We love Eureka Springs. This is where Dana and I went on our honeymoon 13 years ago, and although we were 3 weeks late celebrating due to running and planning races and such, we blocked off 2 1/2 days for some R&R. Eureka is an amazing town, a slice out of the 19th century. For me, the older the buildings, the better. Provided they are not falling down. You know, an Oklahoma earthquake could do some damage here.
The Basin Hotel, one of many landmarks in Eureka Springs. We've stayed there once, but this time, we were opting for a B&B.
The roads through town are hardly wide enough for two cars. And hills--yep, they got 'em. From what we ate over the weekend, we burned a percentage of those calories off. I'm sure we still have some cardio work to do though. We ate well, having Bubba's Barbecue, KJ’s Caribe Restaurant & Cantina, and the Chicken Coop.

We spent a few bucks here, bringing home candied jalapenos and some killer hot sauce.

Onward through the northern section of downtown. Even where we stayed, it was withing walking distance. I guess for ultra runners, most anywhere was within walking distance.
A view of the Crescent Hotel overlooking all of Eureka Springs. I have not stayed there, and I hear it is HAUNTED.
We never made it up the hill to snoop around. Maybe next time.
Seems like I remember in Sunday school, singing a song about how the wise man built his house upon the rock. There must be some real geniuses here.
In Eureka, they build them tall. This house must be 150 years old, and it's still standing and thriving as a business.
We stayed at the Piedmont House, a quaint bed and breakfast cut right out of the early 1900s. This huge house had about a dozen units, each decorated in early American style. Every room had a different theme, and every room had balcony access. I plan on doing another post about the inn and the folks who own it.
Our room was the Magnolia room. It was one of the smaller rooms, but had everything we could want. TV, refrigerator, microwave, NO PHONE (YAY!!!) and a nice shower with great water pressure. There was no jacuzzi in this room, not that I really have used them when we've had 'em. The view from the balcony was one that I could not tire of. A few weeks back, the leaves probably were on fire with color, but still this weekend was more than scenic.

Generally, I am not a die hard country music fan. I like a little here and there, but the over-polished stuff that borders with American Idol-style is what I am not crazy about. A little Waylon, Willie, edgy/rowdy stuff and some good pickin is great. We have been to the Hoedown a few times over the years, but on this trip, I did not recognize any of the players. But let me tell you, they were GOOD!
The George Brothers, who have actually had two songs on the C/W charts, played a 2 hour set that included some well played music and a few original songs. They did several covers and a few parodies and plenty of cornball comedy. They seemed like they truly enjoyed every minute of their time on the stage, which is amazing since they play over 200 gigs a year. Dawayne George has a unique voice and was a quick fingered guitar picker,
Randal George played a great bass and had a Merle Haggard-like voice. These guys are talented and will be big stars if their performance was any indication. Leslie Wright, the group's manager, sang several numbers and should be a star in her own right. Her daffy cheerleader routine was the funniest part of the night. We'll definitely be back to see these guys.

Lake Leatherwood Trailz

2011-11-20T22:27:00.038-06:00

Chapter two of blogging backwards. We ran trailz at Lake Leatherwood just west of Eureka Springs. I have heard of these trailz for years, and have even drove to the trail head once while vacationing there, but it was on the way home and it was cold and raining. (I know, that's actually GREAT conditions!) I had a map I'd printed from the web, but I took a shot of the one posted just in case I lost the paper one. Our plan was to do the Overlook Trail, and connect to the Beacham trail for a 4-5 mile loop. I knew the Overlook Trail had some climbing, so I thought it best to do that part first. I am still recouping from last week, ya know.
In looking at the Beacham trail head, it sure looked like more of a gravel road than single track. Hmmm....
After a short jaunt down a blacktop road, we came to the trail I was looking for. The Mulladay Hollow Trail connects to the Overlook trail. This was looking good.
These arches are supports for a bridge on the access road to the park. A trail that eventually circles the lake on the east side goes right under the bridge. Another day....
I got several repeats up and down a short gravelled incline trying to outrun a 10 second timer, Finally, I set the Canon on 10 seconds, and 3 repeating pics. It worked. Good thing too.
As it looked, our route went up up up. Several switchbacks along the way took most of the steepness out of the beginning miles though. It was runnable, and would be a pleasure to run this trail the other way.
This was the steepest part of our run, and even this was "relatively flat."
It was nice to see confidence markers on the trail. For the most part, it was well marked.
But some of the trail was buried. Arkansas trees have shed their leaves a good week or two earlier than Oklahoma trees have. There actually is a trail through here. We had to stop and really study which way we needed to go in several spots.
The overlook. Of what? It was supposed to be the overlook of the Lake Leatherwood Dam, and you could kinda see it through the trees, but it the view was hardly worthy of the sign. From here, we enjoyed a long downhill and a half mile later, we had descended what we had worked 1.5 miles to climb.
This route has a LOT of nice soft fast trail.
And a lot of roots. Along here, there was a lot of shag carpet grass. It seemed out of place in the brown and gray leaves.
When we hit the Beacham Trail, as I expected, it was a boring gravel road. We headed toward the dam, and found the Fuller Trail which ran right along the western shore of the lake.
This was the best section of the day.
My usual sun shot through the trees. There's one in every post.
It looks like it's getting dark, but actually, I was standing in the shadows taking a lake shot into bright sunlight.
This is taken from the same spot just the other direction.

It was right after we left the edge of the lake that I saw it. In the distance up the trail a ways, I saw a BLACK BEAR!! I told Dana, and she argued that it was NOT A BEAR, but just a dog. But NO, I was sure. We had an option of taking another trail that gave the bear/dog a wide berth, and we passed by un-attacked. But immediately thereafter, we popped back into the campground where we had started. There were several small ~~bear cubs~~ puppies running around chasing each other. And Mama Bear walked out of the woods, and I had another serving of crow. We ended up with 4.5 miles, and despite doubling up on water bottles, hardly even broke a sweat. Fun times!! I plan to come back here for more of these trailz.

Eureka Springs, the last day

2011-11-20T21:37:00.020-06:00

I've got three posts to post--maybe four--but I'll post them in the order they need to be seen on the blog, since the most recent ones go to the top. Maybe there is a way to fix that. But try teaching a trick to an old dog.

Dana and I seized the weekend and went to Eureka Springs--did the bed & breakfast thing, ran some trailz, walked up and down the hills of downtown, went to a country music show, and viewed lots of artsy things and antiques. This post will deal with the latter. Visiting shops in Eureka Springs gets a little redundant. There are lots of t-shirts with old cliched slogans, "I was here" themes, "mine is bigger/better than yours" themes, and pictures of cats. I have to many t-shirts as it is. I take pix to show I was wherever, cats own the house I live in, and bigger/better--well in the words of Popeye, "I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam." Then there's lots of wood carved stuff, fudge, leather shops (where I always ALMOST buy something but don't), shops with ridiculous worthless knick-knacks, and finally, art shops and antique stores. We visited several antique stores that were borderline flea markets, but interesting all the same. One antique mall/flea market had lots of artsy fartsy stuff that was not so high priced that I could not afford it, but instead, I took a picture and it almost seemed like I was stealing. The above metal ant was cool. It might have made a good yard ornament, or something good on top on my mantel. Right beside the red ant was this old car. Again, something I kinda wanted, but it was better to just admire it there. Same artist, most likely. Actually, I regret not buying this. If it's there next time up, it's coming home with me. Santa???? Same theme--crawling critters made out of inanimate materials. I like it. Not saying this is a work of art, but the scrabble thing was glued down and for sale. There were a few extra tiles laying around, so I put my two cents in. I am WAY behind on my WWF right now. On to the antiques, these two old radios were something Ida liked to have brought home--but where to put them? I doubt that they worked worth a flip. Plus, I never listen to anything but Sirius/XM, Spotify, or Pandora. Another antique--something that would be valuable to someone. I thought it was pretty cool. And weird. This was another piece I spent some time looking at before taking a pic and walking on. Pink. I like pink. This is not a masterpiece, but still I felt it had a lot of feeling in it. An old time Jack-in-the-Box. One that did not work, but was very colorful. The flash on my camera seemed to light up the color. Ok--I gotta confess--I am easily freaked out by clowns and dolls. This doll gave me the heebie jeebies. One word--CREEPY!! Mannequins are a little scary, but I had no problems with this one. What's your take--is photographing stuff like this kosher?

2011-11-18T13:37:00.008-06:00

Changing Adresses

2011-11-17T22:24:00.004-06:00

I have a HEADACHE!! I decided to make my life simpler, by taking the underscore out of my email address. It is gotten to be annoying to enter it especially on my iPhone, which requires going to the number screen, and then to the second screen to get the silly _, and then two more clicks back to the letters. (Am I impatient???? Maybe.)

BTW, my new email addie is trailzombie@yahoo.com (Notice the abscence of the underscore. See? You like it better too!)

I have forwarded all trail_zombie@yahoo.com to the new address. I have set up my blog to get notices of comments (I like comments!), and I have also fixed it where I under the new address can post here. (Important stuff!)

I bet even a year from now, I'll still be dealing with complications from this. It is as hard as MOVING!

The Tuesday Night Crawlers run Lake Yahola

2011-11-15T23:08:00.011-06:00

A small group of Tuesday Night Crawlers (and a buncha runners are missing out) ran Lake Yahola Tuesday night. This is a small lake, and according to Garmin, it's 3.36 miles around in some awesome gravel roads.
Looking north across the water, you can see Turley Hill in the distance. I used to roam all over than hill as a kid. I wonder if there are trailz there now--probably deer trailz if any at all. There were a few puddles, and in all the times I have ran here, it has never been too muddy. You can always start and finish with clean shoes. I got out a bit early to try to work a little soreness out of the legs, and to get to the east side of the lake to take some sunset pix. It's always a good place for that. Throw in a few clouds, and it gets really picturesque. Zooming in. The water is ablaze. I hurried back to the parking area, and met Shelley, who saw my car but was not sure where I was. A few minutes later, Laurie got there and the three of us took off and ran the course clockwise. We say lots of deer--six at once, and either they followed us around the lake, or we saw several more.From the north side of the lake, you can see downtown Tulsa, and the lights across the lake at the water treatment plant. If I had my tripod, I would have got a clearer shot. It was a perfect night for a run. I would have liked a double dose, but the 5 miles I ended up with seemed like about all my legs wanted.

We plan on running here next week too. Hope we can get a few more Crawlers to join us.

Crow Report (title credited to Pat McCracken)

2011-11-14T11:44:00.046-06:00

As was mentioned in a previous post, I had a nagging illness of the mind, a yearning sick desire to run the Pumpkin Holler Hunnerd course. Much discussion has been bantered about pertaining to the course description. Described in such lush terms as "relatively flat, rolling hills, dime sized gravel" have been wadded up and thrown at me like rotten tomatoes. I, the sinister-minded villain had taken lightly the urgings of runners to admit that the course was indeed hard, and not exactly as advertised. So the plan was two-fold. I'd get to see the course in all it's splendor, and could aptly make a valid assessment of how the course should be rated and described for next year. Well, some close friends sprang into action offering to crew me while I ~~suffered~~ ran my beloved course. And, as is usually the case, misery loves company and soon not one, not two, but five others joined me for the endeavor. Dana offered to crew, Stormy conned Brynna into crewing as well, and Kathy joined in for the fun offering to pace, crew, cheer, taunt?

This was taken last year on November 5th. The leaves this year were still hanging and looking great.

The duo of Stormy Phillips and Tim Eraker are locked and loaded, ready to roll.

I'm still light on my feet and giddy before the race. The plan was a 7:00 am start, but we started at 7:10 due to emptying of bladders and picture taking.

The runners from left to right: Tim Eraker, Stormy Phillips, Charlotte Lindley, Caroline Glenn, TZ, and Dennis Crosby. Stormy had one 100 mile finish to his credit, Charlotte also had one. Caroline was looking again for her first, me for my 10th, and Dennis--I'm not sure how many finishes he has.

No starting gun, no fighter jets doing a flyover, no national anthem--just a GO. We were off. I jockeyed for position and held a lead for the first half mile or so.

Per my rules as race director, we had aid ONLY at the specified aid station locations. I wanted to experience the course just like the runners did last month. Here, we are approaching the Waffle Stop, but no waffles today. It was just a mobile aid station manned by Dana, Brynna, and Kathy.

By this time, Tim, Charlotte, and Stormy had taken a slight lead.

Dennis was not far behind me, and he passed me around mile 29, but dropped at mile 40. He was mainly looking for a good long run, having finished this race last month.

I'm heading back down the long hill, just as Caroline comes in.

Back to the start/finish, and Kathy was there to cheer us on.

The section at mile three with the bluffs on the right and the river on the left is postcard pretty.

For the most part, the river was up, and I neglected to get a pic. This is from last month when the water level was down. It's awesome either way.

No shortage of beautiful leaves. So gorgeous, I forgot about even considering the hills and larger rocks--on the first lap anyway. And so it was--I ran, listened to tunes, ran quite a bit with Charlotte, a little with Tim and Stormy early on, and with Caroline a bit in the nighttime hours.

Tim and Stormy looking strong and at this time were 4-5 miles ahead of me.

Caroline eventually dropped at mile 52 due to foot issues. Charlotte hung it up at East of Eden with an ache in the back of her knee. I was all alone, but was having a good run and all was very well with the world. At mile 68, I walked out of Last Gasp with a cup of chicken noodle soup, and if I didn't know better, I'd swear there was a sedative in it. My run was a shuffle, and my walk was a half-a-foot length crawl. I was falling asleep on my feet, and tried so hard to snap myself out of it, forcing myself to run only to stumble on a rock or to the edge of the road which at times was right off into the churning river. Somehow even in my sleep-state, I managed to keep scooting the feet ahead. Also, I was starting to find hills that I swear were not there on the first loop. Every rock I stepped on had grown from dime to half dollar size, and this last 5 mile stretch was at least 8 miles long. Even with my trusty Hardrocks and Eric's magic foot goop, my feet were slowly being turned to hamburger.

Stormy had a bit of stomach issues, and Tim had taken off on ahead. Stormy did something I would have LOVED to do--he took a 4 hour nap and waited for me to catch up. I hoped I could quicken my pace, especially after the sun came up again.

When the sun finally came up, I snapped out of my stupor and was able to focus a bit more on the task at hand. The miles seemed to be going soooo slow. I once told people there were really only a couple of hills on this course, but by the third lap, there are hundreds. Seriously, a 50' climb here and there is not a big deal, but on legs with 70 miles on 'em, they demoralize you.

Hard-Up Ahead was buzzing with activity when Stormy and I trudged through. The whole gang was there. It was so good to see friendly encouraging faces.

Well, except for Brian, who said we looked like crap and still had a long way to go. A long way, yes. Nine miles. A significant hill to climb--one that I had powered up twice already today, and I was up for the charge. It was right after Hard Up, that we had 3 miles of blacktop. This is usually a welcome sight as the surface is different and the usual shuffle works well. I always felt like I made up a little bit of time through here. This time, I counted FOUR HILLS on this three mile stretch. Steep hills. Where did they come from???

It had heated up, and I could not resist soaking my head in the bathtub rocks. Then is was up the last big climb.

This is a little out-of order chronologically, but here is Tim as he crossed the finish line.

And Tim loving on his belt buckle. Ran this puppy in 25:10. His first 100. WOW!!!

Back to my place. Stormy and I reached the last aid stop. He told me it's just me, him, and the road. And that stinking watch of his that would not quit ticking. We had a bridge to cross. (For those that don't know, the pic at the top is of the iron bridge across the Illinois River, which you cross to start and finish the race.)

We had company the last 1/4 mile. Somehow I had found another gear, and instead of ambling along at 18 m/m, we sped up to maybe 15 m/m. My finish was just that. A finish. I felt like I worked hard for it, but it worked me hard too. It took me way longer than I ever imagined, and I have the utmost respect for everyone who got their first ultra here.

So, I'll take a leftover buckle out of storage and put it on my shelf. Kathy and I are again tied at 10.

Three guys who ran 304.8 miles between them.

The cold waters of the Illinois River truly seemed like heaven to my sore feet and calves.

As is always the case, I have Dana to thank for keeping me in the game. She shoves food and drink at me, and tends to my racing needs before I need them. There was no nausea issues, no electrolyte probs, and almost no blisters. My tootsies are a bit beat up, but I was in good care the whole way.

Thanks again to Brynna, who has turned into such a great crew babe. Stormy and I are very lucky!!

In a previous post, I said that if I finished this within the time limit and with a smile, that I would feel like the course was easy-to-medium, and if I crashed and burned, I would eat crow.
Well, I DO smile a lot.
As sick as it is, I did enjoy the run for the most part.
This race as a 50K is a very challenging, but doable race.
I still hold that it is a good first-time ultra.
For those doing 100K and ESPECIALLY the whole Hunnerd, it is tough.
I'll vote it harder than Heartland, and harder than Traveller.
It took me 31:40 to finish.
On the way home, I felt the need to google for some recipes. It was actually quite tasty!

PUMPKIN HOLLER INVITATIONAL

2011-11-09T22:55:00.023-06:00

Last month while I was driving around delivering water, generators, Pizza, Gatorade, and checking on runners, I was secretly pouting. Everyone was running on what might be the most scenic 100 miler at least in the central states, and I couldn't run!!!!! That, coupled with the comments on how hilly, mountainous, brutal the course was, made me want to run it all the more. At times, after hearing the accusations that we grossly misdescribed the course, and me maintaining that is really wasn't all that bad, the challenge was issued. "I" was to run the course--the full Monty--the whole hunnerd miles and my crew babe would do her thing. To make it FAIR, she would ONLY crew me at the locations where the aid stations were giving me no advantage that the runners did not have. That is how the PUMPKIN HOLLER INVITATIONAL came into existence. It seems that I was not the only one watching everyone trudge in across the finish line while secretly coveting the awarded belt buckles. So my self-induced challenge became an event. This weekend, a few super-achievers will toe the same line as the October 15th inaugural race, and run 101.6 miles with the out-and-backs, hills, rocks, and mean dogs.

THE PLAYERS:
Yours truly--one Trail Zombie. Finish within the time limit and with a smile, I'll feel like I was right. The course is easy-to-medium. Crash and burn, and I'll eat crow.

Stormy and Caroline will join me as runners. Stormy will ace his second 100, and Caroline will notch her first finish after a few great efforts fallen short.

All is well with the world, with my crew babe at the helm. Dana will be even more wiped out than we are, going 30+ hours with almost no sleep.

Dana won't be the only crew babe. Brynna will be teaming up with Dana taking care of us grouchy runners.

Tim, a first-time 100 wannabe, is gonna tuck in with us and do what we do and after a day or so, will have ran 100 miles.

You could not possibly think we could do something crazy like this without Kathy being along. Kathy has ten belt buckles to her credit, and I have nine. Possibly I can even the score?? Kathy will run some, pace some, crew some, taunt us, take pictures, and cheer us on.

Charlotte hopes to get another 100 in. I look forward to running with her as we run about the same pace, and she is chatty.

And finally, the only player I hope is a DNS as the mad dog who resides at mile 5 in the loop. Let's hope he is cool this time.

As our cell phones allow, we'll do Facebook updates, and of course, there'll be a big report here.

Tuesday Night Crawlers

2011-11-08T22:41:00.013-06:00

It was a brave few who ignored the threat of rain to attend the kick-off of the Tuesday Night Crawlers.

We ran at a formerly secret location--the long hilly gravel road that leads to the Botanical Gardens.

There are hills here that will get you ready for a hilly trail run--say like--well, I dunno--maybe err....Pumpkin Holler?? Susan and Laurie, who I hope to have pix for soon, joined one Trail Zombie for a bit of night creeping action. We ran around three miles and nearly solved all of the problems in the world. Other than putting a stop to earthquakes, we pretty much have it handled. The charm of this route is the spectacular view of downtown Tulsa, and the lights further east. We'll run here again. It's a mere seven miles from the downtown inner dispersal loop, a safe place to park, and a very cool experience. Thank you, Susan, for your photo!!

Turkey and TATURS--the REAL story.

2011-11-07T08:58:00.009-06:00

It was the 6th running of the Turkey and TATURs trail race, a tough, gnarly jaunt in Tulsa's urban wilderness. 189 runners chose between distances of 10K, 25K, or 50K. With perfect weather on tap, most finished their endeavors, and a couple of course records fell.
I had worked all week marking the course, an hour or two or three in the evenings after work, and all day Saturday. About 25 hours, hundreds of pink ribbons, and hundreds of yards of caution tape, I felt on Saturday evening the course was sufficiently marked. Still, I left out early Sunday morning--4:30 am to be exact--to check to make sure a turn had not been blown through by a biker. And as is always the case, we did find a few places where caution tape was broken. Us?? Oh yeah. I had the company of my running buddy Edward. Not a single pic of Edward showed up--much like another Edward of vampire movie fame. So, I ganked one from his Facebook page.

The going was slow in the dark. I love night running, but running on such technical trailz, and also keeping a close eye out for missing ribbons brought our pace to a walk for the most part.

After a couple of hours, daybreak illuminated the fall foliage. Much of the trailz on Turkey Mountain are rocky and rooty, and this time of year, it was blanketed with freshly fallen leaves.

Still, Turkey has miles and miles of runnable single track.

Did I mention rocks?

After 10 miles, Edward picked up the pace and I ran much of the remainder of my time alone. I was passed by the front-runners in the 50K, and then a few 25Kers blew by me as well.

The leaves were superb in color. Another week, and they'll all be on the ground.

So, while my pace increased a bit with the daylight, it slowed again while I took pictures.

I was slowing down at this point, feeling the lack of rest. I guess there is something to that "taper" thing.

Playing on one of Turkey's wooden bridges.

The Elbert/Eraker aid station--mile 7. I spent a while here--chatting it up and completely ignoring my usual "quick in/quick out" rule. At this point, I was giving thought to whether or not I wanted to run all day.

I decided to just slow it down (as if I weren't going s l o w anyway.) A picture here, a picture there. I was enjoying the run, soaking it in, and taking a lot of time doing it.

Such great color!!

Next was Bobby and Susan's aid station. Despite much lallygagging and a second visit to use the civilized bathrooms, I forgot to take their pic, so this one is from a couple of years back.

Then it was UP Lipbuster and over to the last aid stop on the course. Rachel pours a soda but I got away without drinking it--what was I thinking?

More picture taking. (This one is out of order. I actually took quite a few after I got to the finish and went back out on the course.

So, when I got back to the start/finish, I had over 5 hours on my Garmin. Slow, but I did burn some time checking the course in the dark. The food sounded good, and I was just beat. My string of 5 finishes at the T&T 50K had come to an end. I took a few shots of finishers when they came in. Most were taken with the foliage setting on my Canon and were very blurry. Here, John Hargrove finishes the 25K.

John's friend Nels, who is also the major sponsor for the race, donates some blood to the course.

Trail Goat and Thing 2 scorched the 25K course, blowing by me like I was standing still. (wait, I WAS standing still.)

Having dropped at 25K, having eaten 2 hot dogs and some Gatorade, I decided to go back out on the course to take some more pics. I took several of runners coming down the home stretch.

About $3.00 worth of caution tape.

One of the many wonders of Turkey Mountain--scenic Lake Logan.

Another face in the rocks keeps eyes open for runners.

Cole Starkey led and increased his lead all day (or at least 4 hours and 41 minutes of the day) and won the 50K in 4:41:35. Saraj Henning took the women's crown winning in a time of 7:01:35. WHitney Kerth crossed the finish as first woman in the 25K in a speedy 2:43:05, while Christopher Greenlee was number one for themen running a 2:12:46. For the 10K, some of those runners from that other state just east of here (Arkansas, for the geographically challenged) took home both the male and femal trophies. Christian Moore scorched the trailz in a winning in a mere 42:32. Enough time to even break a sweat? Not far behind him, Jenny Scott clocked a 56:03. We need to add more hills--just for these Arkansas speedsters--no wait--they LOVE hills!!!
Complete results can be found here.
I don't have pix of the winners as I was still plunking along on the course, but I DO have this one. Here, 50K winner Cole Starkey takes a breather, partially and modestly obscured by a convenient trash can.
Bigtime thanks to race-director Kathy for all her hard work, and Brian who worked his butt off with course marking in some of the most crical locations on the course he and did a flawless job in timing the race.

other misc Sunday stuff

2011-10-31T11:07:00.003-05:00

I guess you could call yesterday a rest day. After relocating a raccoon, Dana and I went for an easy run on Turkey. With no mind to pace (although I was wearing my Garmin) we meandered along the Ho-chi and the Millinium Trailz. The colors of the leaves are about as good as they are gonna get this year, and those fortunate enough to be running Turkey and TATURs next Sunday are in for a treat.

There were many stops along the way for me. Some of these stops were for picture taking. I'm usually not a flower person, but these girls were too nice to ignore.

We would up with just under 4 miles, and Dana was the better runner today. My legs, shoulders, and back feels like I have been put through a grinder. I am sore all over, and I don't know why!! Surely 15K on roads Saturday did not do this to me.

On a side note, I had a milestone event yesterday. For years, I have had almost a 100% FAIL rate in plumbing. But Sunday late-afternoon, I changed out our kitchen faucet, and absolutely ACED the test. No probs, no leaks. I am stoked. (Please don't ask me to come fix yours though!!!)

unwanted visitor

2011-10-30T12:23:00.005-05:00

Living where we do, near Turkey Mountain with deep woods beginning right across the street, and miles of wilderness trailz a mere 2 blocks away, we have lots of critters visit us--squirrels, opossums, skunks, deer, even coyotes, and recently, raccoons. The opossums frequently crawl under our garage door and have their way with the contents of our garage. We have caught and relocated many of these enlarged rats to nearby Turkey Mountain. Recently, something has been removing the hinged lid of a large wooden box where we keep our dry dog food, and my theory was that it was the work of a masked bandit. So, I set the trap last night and sure enough, we caught the guilty party. He/she looked so ashamed, and maybe a little scared. But when I lifted the cage it let out a loud squall and a hiss that gave me cause to change my shorts.

So here we are, loaded and rteady for a ride.

Over the mountain, at the trailhead by the pepsi plant--seemed like a good place. There is a good water supply there, and it's far enough away that it should not be able to find it's way back to our house.

Mr. Raccoon wasted no time scampering to freedom. Not a look back, not a thank you, not a snarl. Have a good life, Raccoon.

Tulsa Run

2011-10-29T16:01:00.005-05:00

Today was the 34th running of the Tulsa Run--Tulsa's premiere race. The 15K showcases a revitalized downtown Tulsa, Trendy Cherry Street, a glimpse of Woodward Park and some of the beautiful homes in the Mapleridge area, a tour of Riverside Drive alongside the lazy Arkansas River before turning up Denver Avenue and the testy hill, and finally finishes in front of the BOK Center. Over 10,000 runners do this 15K along with the 5K making it Tulsa's largest race and possibly the second largest run in the state. Some come to run hard--there are not many 15Ks around, but this course is a good one for a PR. My 15K PR is here (I have only run one other--the Muskogee Run) and in 2003 and 2005, I ran 1:14:xx. Since then, I have had a couple of 1:25s, and some slower times when I was goofing off wearing costumes and such. This year, I was running it for time. I wore my Asics Speedstars, which was a good choice since my feet were still a little tender from pounding rocks last Tuesday in my NB Minimus shoes.

I got there in plenty of time and actually found a super close parking place. :-) I met up with my friends from RunnersWorld and hung out, took pictures, and shot the breeze. The crowd gathered for a group pic, and rather than try to stitch some photos together, I just videoed a pan shot. It's a 21 second film clip--not really Oscar material, but give it a look.

Soon enough at 9:00 sharp, the gun was fired signalling the start of the 15K. It was heel to toe, elbow to elbow for the first mile or so, but such a thrill none-the-less. Seeing blocks ahead at a sea of bobbing heads and feeling the energy of thousands of runners thrilled about running on a cool crisp autumn morning is like no other experience on Earth. The runner's buzz starts early, and hours after the race, I am still all grins.

I was running for time, not expecting a PR or anything, but wanted to blow out the cobwebs, so to speak. I did take a second or two here and there for a quick pic. Hayley, home from college for the first time since August, was running with her mom Meg. Hayley would have been a contender to win the women's 15K, but was doing the pacer thing. Today was RARE time when I actually passed her. (OK, a secret here--once Hayley gets through college where she is a cross-country superstar, I'd love to see here come over to ultras. She could win nearly every trail race she entered if you ask me.)

Making the turn on 15th Street, and the downhill continues--until the little hill up to Cherry Street.

A nifty part of the race, the ramp onto Riverside. This is so cool--it's over the river, and it's banked. You can really lean into the turn and pick up speed. I heard a couple of different people who were new to the area comment on how cool it was.

I took a pic of the dudes taking the race pics and told him I'd swap out with him, but I don't think he saw what a bargain I was offering him. From here, it was about 2 miles, and I put the camera away and focused on not fading/blowing up before the finish line. I finished in 1:25:10 by my Garmin, so I am thinking my chip time will be close to that. Not a PR, but it could be my 3rd best time--or my 5th best time depending on the seconds. I felt like I ran at a 98% effort, running every step except a few steps through two water stops. From talking to folks after the race, it was agreed that it was a great year, spectacular weather, and most everyone was happy with their times, including me.

Call to action

2011-10-24T21:41:00.006-05:00

Today I was reading the Runner's World Online Forums and found this thread about states with the best trailz. I knew no one would consider Oklahoma among the best although we do have some cool trail systems here and around. Colorado, Oregon, California, Utah, Virginia--and a few other states were mentioned repeatedly. Do you like mountains, even with the technical rocky sections and nose-bleed altitude? Trailz graced with miles of lush green? The solitude of the open prairie? A postcard pretty view of a lake or a river or a canyon? All of the above?

If I were to move to a different part of the states, having great trailz to run on would be a major part of my decision. I might even relocate based mostly on the proximity of miles of sweet single-track. But don't think I am dissatisfied with my dirt and rocks here in Oklahoma. I LOVE IT here. My trail radar is keyed up, and every week or so I find or hear of another trail just begging for me to run it. Pumpkin Holler, while not technically a trail, is such a great place to run. So much so, that I plan to submit myself to a 101.5 mile beating in a few weeks. (Whip me, baby!!!) Now that tick and chigger season is past, I will explore a few possible gems that I have marked for exploration. I am in a good place.

But tonight, I found something that turns makes my head boil. Running on the west side of Turkey, I found something that I knew would probably happen all too soon. After Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness got the gas utility company to barricade off the access road they have for their pipeline maintenance, some low life plowed their 4-wheel drive pick up into the woods making another road for ignorant stupid inconsiderate slobs to drive in and dump their trash--AGAIN!!! To the right you can see the large rocks that were placed to barricade the road where too many imbeciles were dumping. A few months back, a group of volunteers spent a long Saturday afternoon cleaning up tons of their dumpage, and before the gas company could put the large rocks in (they said they were going to install an iron gate), some billybob dumped a load of rubbish the day before the rocks were placed. That pile of garbage has been there ever since--right by a major trail where Turkey and TATURS runs by, and several mountain bike races ride by. What a great thing for out-of-towners to see. In the above picture, to the left is the new road Bubba cut for his trash buddies. and here is Bubba's new pile of trash. Know this--one riled TZ is gonna bug the crap out of the Tulsa Police, the sheriff's dept, the gas company, The Tulsa World, Channel 2, 6, and 8. I'll rally the Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness group, TATUR, the mountain bike groups, and anyone else I can find/bug. I am SICK of idiots thinking it's ok to dump trash in our playground. And another thing--the mile between HW 75 and Elwood along 61st Street is where a lot of soulless people drive by and toss trash out their windows. Hurricane Malt Liquor cans, Bud cans, McDonald's sacks full of junk food trash, diapers, QT cups, plastic bottles, meth labs, and more misc kinds of trash than you could imagine. Several times a year, either friends of RiverParks, mt bike groups, trail runners, prison inmates walk the road and pick up several bags of trash--I'm talking 20-30 large bags. I walked the mile once all by myself and picked up over 10 bags. How long does this last? Only a day or two. A week later, the mile is litter strewn.

This is NOT ACCEPTABLE. If this were happening at a "more prestigious" area, say around Woodward Park or along the river parks along the east side, there would be a huge police movement to catch the slobs who litter, and the trash would be immediately cleaned up. These slobs who litter and dump--if someone threw trash out in front of their house, or dumped garbage in their front yard would they not be furious? Anyone would be livid, no doubt.

Turkey Mountain is one of Tulsa's treasures. It has the best trailz in the area, and is truly a draw bring in lots of out-of town visitors to run, hike, and bike. Trash laying around makes Tulsa look bad.

Odd happenings, strange cravings

2011-10-23T23:46:00.007-05:00

Usually a great literary work ends with a main character dying. Sometimes it's the bad guy who gets it in the end. Other novels have the heroine dying for a great cause. This story starts with death, or just after it. My first remembrance was vague. I knew I was dead, yet I was regaining a foggy sort of consciousness. My whole body felt jumbled--like a cross between the worst case ever of the flu, and complete numbness. I seem to remember hearing voices, and smelling something. I was sooo hungry. Ever have a strange craving for something you would never dream you'd like?? Well, I just had to have BRAINS!!!!!!

Like a fallen toddler getting back to their feet to continue walking, I managed to get upright and walk--well, more of a shuffle. My left leg had no movement, but I could drag it and edge toward food. People were everywhere, and even a long bite of flesh sounded good. I was not quite sure how to crack a skull open to get to BRAINS, but maybe a large rock would break a head open.
I was at Turkey Mountain--a strange place to wake up dead, and there were hundreds of people ambling around, and despite my hunger pains, I figures I would be restrained and not get to enjoy a meal--even a fast bite. So I discreetly snuck over into the woods to hopefully ambush some wandering trail runner. Where is a good flesh eating contest when you need one? I was puzzled at the sight of skulls along the trail. Seems someone had beaten me to the punch as there were several small skulls along the way--children's skulls no less. I picked one up, and whoever ate here left not a morsel of flesh. Curses!!
Another adult skull--and no BRAINS!! Whoever placed it here had the sickest sense of humor, leaving their dinner napkin draped around it. I was hoping they would get full soon, and maybe leave me a bone or something.
I found out later that this cowboy and cowgirl were dead--and walking around, eating BRAINS no less. Gross--but it strangely sounded sooo tasty! This dead cowgirl, Amelia I hear, even took pictures of their feeding frenzy, as well as the last three pictures.
After seeing this redhead skull and you guessed it--not even a lick of flesh left, I collapsed in a low spot somewhere on the red trail. But I heard feet running behind me, and voices, and the smell of live meat--and BRAINS!!! But try as I may, I could not get a good hold on any of them. I decided to lay real still so they might not notice me, or just think I was a collapsed runner and stop to help me, then I could grab them and get a bite!! I did scare a few of these folks running through in the night, but I went hungry. Curses!!!
So, I managed to drag myself up, and drug my leg down the paved trail all the while thinking of where I could hide to have a good chance of overpowering somebody so I could tear away at their arm, or neck. Ah--just ahead I could see people moving about in the dark. They were women, and they were not runners--at least they were not moving any faster than I was. (Dang this bad leg!!)They were nurses--odd to see nurses in uniform out on Turkey Mountain on the trailz at night. I thought they were concerned about my bad leg, but instead grabbed my arms and started feeding like piranhas. I wanted to bite them, but they --well--they were DEAD!! As hungry as I was, I really wanted fresh flesh. Do you ever order food and have them give you old food? A McDonalds hamburger that has sat under a heat lamp all day, or 5 hour old movie popcorn? You want it fresh--and warm red blood, and nice chewable muscle tissue sounded so good. Medium rare--no make it raw!!! And for dessert--BRAINS!! One of them, Susan Martinac--the one chewing on my left arm, took my picture as I staggered down the trail.
This pasty white lady, came up and for a second I thought my food was just waking right onto my plate, but nope--turns out she was a vampire!! Just did not sound good to me, plus if she bit back, she had pretty wicked teeth. And being dead, and a vampire at the same time?? Not a good combo. Her name was Susan, and like me, a few days ago, was among the living, with warm red blood flowing through her veins. What was happening??? She did take a few pictures (like any good vampire should) and the last 4 pix in this story are from her camera. (I'm not sure how she showed up in her picture--since DUH, everyone knows you can't photograph a vampire!!
And finally!! I managed to get a few good bites on this tart. I did not get filled up, and still wanted BRAINS!!! But at least I had an appetizer. Very shortly thereafter, she turned an ashen gray, and was hungry for BRAINS herself. Hmmm.... What was going on?? I wandered north a while, and collapsed in the middle of the trail. I could not move. A storm had moved from the northwest to the northeast, with thunder and cloud-to-ground lightening. A perfect night. Soon rain began to hit me in the face, and I did manage to get back on my feet and shuffled south--just to go anywhere. I found myself under a small tent as the wind howled and the rain flew sideways. I actually was not too hungry now, and was afraid as the grim reaper was there, and a wild-eyed guy with a meat cleaver. He had chopped off several human arms, and could split my head right open. (Hmmm--wonder if he could just crack open just ONE skull for me???) I did manage to sneak a severed hand off the table and nibbled on it trying to be unnoticed.
Earlier, back up at the parking lot, hundreds of people converged on Turkey Mountain. There were witches, monsters, super heroes--weird. I even heard there were (gulp) zombies. Could it be true? Something had happened to Dana. She had met this guy--Frankenstein, and was getting MARRIED to Him?!?!?!? And at the wedding party, the best man opts for a bite rather than a kiss. Somehow I don't think I'll have to worry about her biting me though.
By the time I made it back to the parking lot, The hundreds had diminished to tens. RunnersWorld's Witch and Moan/Zombie Chase had a great showing. The torrential rain kinda messed things up, but it did help out by washing all the rotted flesh and dried blood from my decaying body.

2011-10-23T17:15:00.005-05:00

On a foggy Sunday morning, I stumbled out of bed and headed for the trailz. It had rained a lot the night before, it was foggy, and it even seemed a heavy dew had settled onto everything. This survivor lay in waiting for a morning delivery of food. From the looks of it, it has been a good eating season.
Since I was a bit winded from running a 1/4 mile uphill, I disguised a breather as a picture op. My little friend didn't seem to mind a closeup shot.
A setting change on the Canon, and the lens a half inch from the fur on his back, this arachnid held its pose. Maybe it was waiting and hoping--"If this idiot comes just a little closer--I can eat for a year!!"

I am sorting through pics of the Witch and Moan run, and the Zombie Chase. Hopefully a post later tonight.

The Hills Have Eyes

2011-10-20T23:48:00.015-05:00

Have you ever been alone and had the feeling someone was watching you? I love running alone, but I often have that feeling on Turkey Mountain. Sometimes I stop and look long and hard--closely, listening, wondering.Sometimes I find the eyes following me as I run by. They are there--mostly unnoticed, but recently I have been more in tune to these silent voyeurs. For the most part, they just observe, seeming to approve of my running through their domain.
Some, like the one above, seem puzzled that I take the time to observe it.
Some seem almost human, but some seem like animal eyes. This one and the one below seem to be feline.

Lots of people know the turtle rock.

This fellow is right around the corner from the turtle.

This guy seemed a little testy of my finding him. I backed off and gave him his space.

This guy was laid back--didn't seem to mind me taking his picture and probably had a lot of stories to tell, but was a little shy about speaking.
This seems to be the likeness of an alien, or what we assume an alien life-form would look like.
This one creeped me out.seeing faces in rocks is one thing. Seeing their teeth is a bit more unnerving.
I noticed this one right after finding a geocache not far from the turtle rock. He was guarding the cache, and did not seem happy at all that I had found it. I turned to go north and found another face glaring at me from the other side of the trail.
Two unfriendly faces was enough. I finished my run via the powerline trail, and saw no faces there at all. Just hills.

Come Run Turkey and TATURS!!!! Nov 6th

2011-10-18T21:59:00.013-05:00

Years ago, when trail running was new to me, I began to meet people of like minds. The best friends I have ever had in the world are my running friends. Upon forming TATUR (Tulsa Area Trail/Ultra Runners) one of the first things we did together as a group was put on Turkey and TATURs, a trail race on Turkey Mountain. This race is a 50K, a 25K, and a 10K on the best trailz in the Tulsa area. Over the past 5 years, we have had rainy weather, dry weather but muddy trailz, hot weather, and outstandingly nice weather. It has always been fantastic to at least bearable for the runners.
This year, the race has been moved from mid-September to the first weekend in November. The leaves should be spectacular in the peak of their fall color. While it might be a bit cool for aid station workers, it should be perfect for the runners.
I've ran all five 50Ks. It's my favorite 50K--mostly because I have so many friends running with me. Come run with me--as always, the race shirt is awesome, the TATUR aid stations are the best, and you'll get more trailz for your money than you'll get in the average boring flat-and-fast marathon. Trail running is where you'll find the meaning of life. 50K is the new marathon. TZ says so!!

Pumpkin Holler Hunnerd

2011-10-18T02:01:00.038-05:00

The first running of the Pumpkin Holler Hunnerd is past, although I am still reeling from it. It's 2:30 early Tuesday morning, and I am sleep deprived (still) and worn out from the weekend and yesterdays chores of unpacking and tieing up loose ends, but the point of this post is not to give a rundown of how tired I am but rather to waste 20 minutes of your time whilst reading my race report. Thursday, Brian and I began packing, renting box trucks, motor homes, Dana had bought and packed supplies for seven aid stations, and we finally ended up at Eagle Bluff to camp for the night. Right at sunup, Brian and I (with the help of my nephews Kody and John, and the superlative assistance of Bill Ford) headed out to mark the course. Since it is a huge gravel relatively flat loop, the trail marking was actually pretty easy. It did require miles of driving, but by 4:00 pm, our chore was done. A pasta dinner in Tahlequah, a brief meeting with the runners, and then it was time for some shut-eye.

Even before I had some coffee, I was mingling around visiting with friends--some that I see often, and some I seldom see. Here, Randy and Kathy make an Arnold sandwich. There's a LOT of 100 mile finishes between the three of them.

Another trio of friends--Amelia and Jeff, along with Corey, were all tackling their first ultra this day.

As 8:00 am neared, I mounted my bike and prepared to ride the way to the first intersection, and then on to the first turn that the hunnerd milers had to make. This was great fun!!!

This picture was borrowed from the Facebook page of Deborah Sexton, who ran the 50K with us.

Somewhere on the web page, the course was described as relatively flat--and it is!! (Compared to say--well--Pikes Peak??) While there were no climbs more than 280 feet in the loop, and the 2 mile 500' climb that only the hunnerd milers had to do is over early in the race.

After seeing all the hunnerd milers into their first climb, I pedaled back to the starting area and drove out to the first aid station (Mad Dog) to make sure a certain BAD dog was behaving. Turns out it was being nice this day, but the owners did not pen their dogs up like they were asked to do. The front runners were flying, and the aid stations were scrambling to handle the rush.
I had misplaced my trusty Canon, and took pics with my iPhone. Aaron Ochoa was also taking pics with a big time high dollar camera, and I managed to steal his camera chip, and swiped several pics for this post.

Eric Steele--good friend and RD of FlatRock was seemingly moving along pretty good. I normally have a few cutting remarks to toss his way, but since I have been knighted and he is King, I am working on showing a little bit more respect. It's no fun.

Rachel, doing her first ultra, rests for a short while at Mad Dog. I borrowed this pic from her FB wall as well as the one of me below at the East of Eden aid stop.

The way my day was from early on--drive the course, check on things, answer missed calls whenever I had a good cell signal, and deliver more supplies, water, food, ice, generators, gas, and sag runners in.

It was an honor to haveDavid Hanenburg, the man behind Endurance Buzz, come up from Texas to run with us. David smoked the 50K, and then hung around well into the next day helping out with the timing, and did live Twitter updates on the race. Thank you, my friend!

Runners stack up at the Out-N-Back aid station. From there, they ran 1.5 miles out and then back before continuing on the loop. This was necessary so that the course would be an exact 50K.

Two more runners drop down to Savannah Corner. There, crew was waiting for a few of them.

Bill Ford was the aid station captain here. Aaron Ochoa stopped to pose for a pic during his 975 photo-shots.

Kristi Perryman screams down the hill into Savannah.

Another runner tops the hill just before Savannah Corner.

A nice descent making for an electrifying entrance into aid station #3.

Food, water, and Gatorade just ahead.

From there, the course turned south. Most of the route was shaded throughout the day. High temps were in the mid 90s, but few people complained. about the heat. They did complain about the hills though.

One last pic at Savannah, and I needed to go. Turns out the next stop--East of Eden needed their generator, and I needed to get it there.

Cassy storms down the hill, running her 2nd time out here. She really made this race look easy.

RockStar Ed totes the generator from the truck. He and Kate cooked up beans and cornbread and hot soup all through the night. Yum.

Dana was also having a rough day--with severe back spasms. She toughed it out though, and got her finish but not the PR she had hoped for.

Along Pumpkin Holler road, there are several horses. Some stay as far away as possible, but a few are quite friendly. I motored on along, and all day and all night, I drove--around and around the loop. Burned two tanks of gas, and had 2 flat tires.

My friend K2 decided that 100 miles was just not in the cards. He stopped at mile 70 and called it a tough day. I finally stopped the continual drive and slept for about 3 hours early Sunday morning before resuming my duties as course marshal/delivery boy,/sag wagon. Upon waking, I again drove the course and took inventory of the runners still on the course. One by one, they made their way in.

Crossing the big iron bridge for the final time must have been a glorious thing. The view from here is always postcard pretty.

My friend Dennis Crosby was the final finisher, finishing with 20 minutes to spare before the final cutoff. Dennis took the liberty of SMASHING the Pumpkin.

189 folks signed up for our inaugural event. 166 toed the line. I was elated to have such a good turnout for the first year! 57 started the hunnerd mile--31 finished. I guess I have to admit that it's sort of a tough course. I thought it was cool that a woman won the 50K--and even more amazed that she ran it in 3:57!! See, it must be a relatively flat and fast course! course results can be found here.

I had the awesome help of over 60 volunteers. Aid station captains Kevin Lemaster, Joel Everett, Bill Ford, RockStar Ed, Chuck Streit, Terrie Broomhall, and Stormy Phillipd stayed all day and all night and all day manning their posts.Others who put in close to 30 hours were Janine Robertson, Derek England, Brynna Schelbar, Kody Wilder, John Childress, Kate Ellisor, and Laurie Whitesel. That's not to slight the several others who worked 4-12 hours helping out, or spent hours beforehand buying supplies and doing preliminary work--like my sweetie Dana, and Brian and Kathy Hoover. You all are so valuable to me. More about Brian. Besides building a great looking website, he is a slave-bot setting up all of the start/finish area, receiving all the race entries, doing all the timing, a lot of the loud-mouth work, emceeing the pre-race dinner (one out-of-towner said he was FUNNY??) hauling stuff down and back, loading and unloading truckfulls of race stuff, writing checks--you name it, he probably did it.

Dana finished her 50K despite having severe back spasms. I was quite proud of her for toughing it out. Susan Westmoreland was a great help as well. She made the signs with arrows on the course, which was a great help especially for the crew cars. She ran her pace and her race, TZ style--enjoying the scenery along the way and taking LOTS of very good pix. If you are her Facebook friend, check them out.

All in all, it was a super race. No one got lost but there were a couple of 100K runners who went out the wrong direction on their second loop. Most folks who complained that it wasn't flat also said they'd be back to run it again.

Sunday morning--breakfast with the TOTs

2011-10-09T11:39:00.008-05:00

It was a different sort of TOT run this morning--for me anyway. There was a good crowd--maybe 25-30 out for some fun on the trailz. Stormy divided the runners into two groups--the insane speed posse, and the rest of us. What was different for me, was that I did not lead a group. Stormy led the larger mid-speed group. I usually am a destination runner--meaning that I like to have a destination in mind, and get on a particular trail and follow it to where I'm going, and then take another trail back. Yes, I'll sometimes string a couple of trailz together, but it's usually a journey from one end of the mountain to the other, and back.
Stormy, on the other hand, will run a route similar to how a moth flies. A short jaunt right, then left for a couple hundred yards, then zigzag back to where we started, and then off in another direction and so on. True, we did eventually end up on the far side of the wilderness, but we racked up some decent mileage in the process. It was a refreshing change, both being a follower, and running a different type of route.
We had a few stops along the way to wait for everyone to catch up, and Stormy takes that time to impart some trail running tips, where I would usually tell a string of half-true tales about the mysteries of the mountain. It's all good. All in all, most of the group ended up with 6.75 miles. I had an extra mile +/- as I doubled back to check on a couple who dropped off to walk it in. I never did find them, which worried me a little, but they cam walking out of the woods not long after I got to the parking lot. The above pic was taken from my gigantic camera stand in Rock City (you guessed it--a big rock.)

And sorry for the fuzzy pix. When I changed from the wide view setting from yhesterday, I must have selected the micro-pic setting. It'll be better for the next post.

2011-10-08T19:22:00.016-05:00

Just a few miles south and east of Bixby, there is a small lake that is one of the most scenic places to run within short driving distance of Tulsa. I had thought it was three miles around the lake, and mabe it would be if there were roads/trailz all the way, but I parked near the outhouses and boat ramp and did two out-and-backs--one starting counter clockwise, and then clockwise. After both legs were done, I had a perfect 5K on my Garmin. There is a sign pointing toward the Ichabod Crane Trail, which goes STRAIGHT UP a rugged rocky hill, and fizzles into overgrowth. If time were spent cutting trailz around the south side to make a big loop--WOW!

a short run squeezed in

2011-10-06T22:08:00.006-05:00

I took a quick "spur-of-the-moment" run in the wildwood beyond Chandler Park tonight. As a variation, I accessed my enchanted playground from the TCC west campus, on a hidden trailhead. I guess my trusty Canon was at home, but at home I had guessed it was in my car?!?!? So, these are the best of 28 pictures taken with my CP Pro app in my iPhone.
It had to be a short run. I had time for maybe 4 miles before dark. The intent was to run the Powerline Trail, which is LONG LONG LONG with more hills--longer and steeper hills than the trail of the same name on Turkey Mt. After the first climb, I stopped to take pics. No surprise here, eh?
Two climbs, and I decided to turn back. Yes, there was a good moon out, but the last half mile climb to my car was heavily shaded and blessed with rockus plentius.
Pictures can appear to present a faulty timeline. Looking into the sun, you can see the night staking it's claim, but a eastern snapshot shows a lighter sky.
One last look from the top of my last hill under the highlines. The waning orange orb is framed by branches of old oaks.

And I did find my Canon--in my car on the floor almost under the console.