Category Archives: Running

Sunday Morning Run on Turkey Mountain

(Photo by Brian Hoover. I hope that he doesn’t sue me.)

I ran the trails of Turkey Mountain with a new group of people this morning. It was dark and cold at 7 am but hey there was a fire waiting for us. We were promised three or four mils but we got five. I like that getting more than what you bargained for. Most of the time anyway.

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Above is Brian checking out a possible homeless camp on the mountain. It was a tipi looking structure with a blue tarp. Nobody home he reported.

We stayed pretty much at it the whole run. We ran a short loop of about 0.85 miles on the red trail to begin with and then regrouped in the parking lot and off we went again. I was on the slow group which was about all I could handle.

It was a great workout Running by myself I get a little lazy. A group takes you out of the laziness.

We ran right at 4.99 miles. I cheated and walked around a little bit at the end to make it an even 5. I cheat a lot but you guys already know that if you know me.

Thanksgiving on the Run

Thanksgiving morning my brother Bob, up from Corpus Christi, and I ran in a food run on the Arkansas River Trails. Bob has been running pretty steadily since the big running boom of the 80’s. Me, I’m a poser.

It was the Von Franken Family Food Run. There is no entry fee. They just ask you to bring a sack of non-perishable food items. No tee shirt, no medals, and of course no timing and no closed course but it sure is popular and fun.

I think they filled the truck before the event was over.

There were some dogs out there ready to be rescued. We are full up with our three mutts. I tried to get brother Bob to get a dog but he didn’t want one.

There was lots of selfie action going on. I love to take pictures of people taking pictures. Don’t ask my why.

Here is some more selfie action going on.

I mentioned that this was a low budget, low pressure, run. Well, I didn’t hear a gun to signal the start but Bob said, “Look they are running.” So off we went. It took a while for the starting group to unpack. There were all sorts of runners, walkers, waddlers, dogs, baby strollers on the course but we just ran around them and others ran around me.

Bob gradually pulled away and I was going on at an easy pace. My legs were a little sore so I just loped along enjoying the view. We still have lots of fall color up in the trees. I just love it.

And then I got to wondering just how long was this race. I told Bob that it was about three miles but we just ran and ran and the turnaround wasn’t until 2.7 miles. I caught up with him there. And then he took off again while I stopped and got a drink at the water fountain cuz in this low budget wonderful race there are no water stops with no huge mess of water cups left over by the runner. I was surprised the water fountains were still running this late in the year.

There was a family playing football on the rugby field What a way to spend Thanksgiving morning right? I mean if you don’t feel like running. And anyway I caught up with Bob just before the finish line. We grabbed a cup of coffee and went home to get cleaned up.

We had Thanksgiving over at Nana’s house. I had smoked a couple of turkey’s on Wednesday plus we had all the usual trimmings. It was wonderful. Afterwards Bob and I watched the Dallas Cowboys lose to the Philadelphia Eagles. You can tell that Bob made friends with Nana’s Fiona. Bob should have got one of those rescue dogs is what I think.

I suck at inside Turkey Day photographs. Here is Heather and her mother Nana working in the kitchen.

And here is Heather and Nana working over my son Logan in a cutthroat game of Farkel during the game. They are way past the old let the kid win phase. He can hold his own in Farkel even against his cutthroat Mom and Grandmother.

So, I had a great Thanksgiving. How was yours?

Running and Geocaching

I’ve been kind of quiet on the geocaching scene for a long time. Saturday I joined the monthly confab of the Tulsa Area Geocachers for the first time in years. It was nice seeing some familiar faces and meeting new people. It got me kind of revved up for geocaching again.

A few hours later I dropped Logan off at Clark Youth Theater for rehearsal. Let me diverge a little bit for some bragging. Logan auditioned for and got a small part in Clark’s Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Heather and I are thrilled. OK, back to business. Oh yes, so dropped the kid off and then drove over to Riverside Drive. There were several relatively new geocaches that I hadn’t found yet, plus I wanted to get a run in so I combined them.

So I headed south, running with my GPSr and then stopping to look. They were very challenging and I found them. I’m not showing the any of the caches or the locations where they were hid because it would kind of spoil the fun for others.

My favorite was one called Jingle. It is by M5. He is notorious for very sneaky, very challenging, and creative hides. At first I was a little disappointed as “This is too lame, too easy.” Yeah, well shame on me. I had the container in my hands but the problem was that I had to solve a puzzle to get to the log to sign it. The geocacher’s credo is that if you don’t sign the log then you don’t get credit for the cache. I sat down on a nearby bench and messed it for a long time. I had two basic methods. Figeting with it, and fooling with it. I alternatively fidgeted and fooled with it until it just kind of came apart in my hands. I signed the log and then I had to put it together again which was almost as hard. Tell you what though. Anytime you find an M5 cache is a good day.

If you clink on the link above and hit the little arrow down at the bottom you can see that my northbound return trip to the car went a lot faster than my southbound trip.

Anyways it was combination running and geocaching trip

Snow Run on Turkey Mountain

Saturday, with a forecast of snow on Sunday, Brian of Tulsa’s Runners World, and one of the leaders of Tulsa’s active running community, put out a call on Facebook for a Snow Run on Sunday on Turkey Mountain followed by a lunch somewhere. There was a huge response. So a bunch of people of all ages and abilities showed up. I had never run in the snow before on Turkey Mountain so I hey I put aside my concerns about bad streets and all that showed up myself. We had Trail Zombie, the mayor of Turkey Mountain as our guide. He did a great job. Check the link for his post on the run.

It was just a dusting of snow but it was beautiful.

The trails were beautiful. I actually ran in my hiking boots cuz I like my feet to stay warm and I didn’t know how wet it would be. The running in the boots went fine. They are well broken in.

It was beautiful. Oh, I already said that? Well it bears repeating.

Everybody kind of shuffled along the Snake trail for 3.5 miles. Nobody was in a big hurry. We waited at the trail forks for the stragglers to come in and off we went again.

Afterward some of went to Cracker Barrel to eat and enjoyed some great company and conversation.

Afterward I went home. LJ the cat was not interested in my Snow Run. A belly rub was more what he was looking for.

This was our route. 3.5 miles the scenic way.

Linking with Our World Tuesday

Installing Update

I’ve changed my routine a slight bit on my Wednesday night running after work routine.

Before I go run I drive out to far west Tulsa, out past the refineries, over the tracks, and across the levee to the Brewery to refill my growler before I go running. They actually put up little tiny signs up. That’s it! It’s ruined now. Boring guys like me will be saying “Oh, yeah I used to go out there before that had signs up.” It was a lot better back then.

I got delayed on my way back.

I managed to get back to the river before it got dark.

While I was walking a little before my run here came some skateboarders. Some of these guys are quite good, They add a little pizzazz to the River Parks scene.

It was time to start running and my watch told me no, not now, it was too busy “Installing Update.” And then it hit me, when do I get an update? Everything gets an update these days, phones, computers, ipads. How come I don’t get one? What about you, do get an update?

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Well, my watch got updated and then it graciously allowed me to start running. I soon forgot my latest obsession and waddled down the trail.

And off I went.

Do you have a watch that gets updated? I didn’t think I did until the other day.

2014 Tulsa Run 15K Race Report

This past Saturday I ran my 21st Tulsa Run 15K in a row. I’m kind of proud of that but I’m also thinking, “What did I get myself into?” Where do I go from here. This year’s race was special also. I’ll tell you about that in a little bit. So, I ‘ll get into the race day.

There is always some joker who thinks that the whole race course situation doesn’t apply to them.

What was special this year was that my sister, Ellen, was in the 5K race of the Tulsa Run. We didn’t make arrangements to meet before the race. I was wandering around but didn’t see here beforehand. She hasn’t been running very long but she is running and racing a lot.

And then the gun went off and off the police motorcycles went.

Followed by the skinny fast people. As you can tell it was unseasonably warm. We runners are never happy with the weather, it is always too hot or too warm on race day.

Anyway there they went, I didn’t see Ellen, Am I a lousy brother or what? Please don’t answer.

There she is headed hard for the finish. Sorry for the blurry pic but she was moving fast.

And here she is! Luckily for her, we don’t look anything alike. Tell you what though, what was going through our parent’s head? Ellen and Alan, you don’t think that caused some confusion later on? As little kids though we were called Susie and Buddy. Why? I never did figure that out. I remember before first grade Mom told me that my name was Alan not Buddy. Talk about disorienting, especially when you have a teacher in the 50th year or so of a teaching career that started before Arizona was a State? I still haven’t recovered. Poor me! You can tell I’m a runner. Runners and Harley Davidson motorcycle riders specialize in self pity. Along with Democrats. Is there anything more pitiful than a Democrat nowdays? Well Republicans, Republicans are more pitiful than Democrats.

And then my race was close to getting started. Lots of people milling around beforehand. About 4500 finished the race.

Orpha’s was open and ready for business. Sometimes there are guys passed out on the sidewalk outside at lunch. I guess it was too early for that. It was also too early for me. I’ve never been in the place. Don’t plan to go either. For those of you who think that the wild west is over, there was gun fight between the Tulsa Police and bank robber in front of Orphas back in the early 90’s. The robber lived in one of the apartments above the bar.

Runner fashion is always interesting. Like the compression socks thing. What is up with that? I do love that one of these ladies is not into sock symmetry. I’ve worn mismatched socks to work occasionally. Usually nobody notices but why do each sock have to be the same? If you figure out let me know because I don’t know the answer to that.

And then the race was off. The Tulsa Run always has lots of bands on the route. I love these guys, and the two little girls.

I wasn’t really trained for this race so I was running and walking at intervals early. Plus it was warm. Notice I’m a true runner, I have loads of excuses why I didn’t win. I should join the Tea Party!!

The new course is a lot hillier than the old course. Lots of people complained about that. I don’t get that. I mean we all run the same course right! So what difference does it make. There is nothing more boring than an out and back race on the same flat street. At least in my opinion.

We turned south and headed down Peoria. I liked this part of the course because you could see the guys and gals running back and every once in a while say Go Steve!! But you know, only if their name is Steve. Otherwise, I call them their name.

Go Steve!!

What really fascinates me about races is the mess we runners make at the water stops. I mean cmon guys!! What would your mothers think?

Toward the end these guys put in an unofficial beer stop. I never miss beer stops. In fact I grabbed two cups. I could have used Orpha’s at this point. Later on the River Parks guys had a beer stop. Good job guys putting the beer stops toward the end of the race. Notice the girl with the white tutu? What an outfit. My favorite part is the little ribbons on her socks. Its the details that make the difference. Kind of reminds me of a Van Halen song. But I’ll spare you. Really, you’ll thank me for not explaining it to you. Really.. And that kind of reminds me a ZZ Top song but I’m not explaining that either.

Where did this hill come from? You ever hear about Pop Up Stores that go in temporarily? Well this was a pop up hill. I don’t ever remember seeing it before? Of course I’ve never run it before either. I’m proud to say that the last half of the race I walked up all the hills.

Anyway that was it for pictures. I was plum tired. At the end of the race they had a half a banana for us, which was fine. The bagels though, the volunteers were pinching off bite size pieces and handing them to us as we went by. At least they had water. The beer was not that great either. One guy attending the Coors Light truck and the line was way long. My dear sister Ellen waited two long hours for me to finish. Is she great or what. I wanted a beer but not bad enough to take my sister into Orpha’s. I went home and had a cup of coffee. Heather, my great wife had a couple of Snickers bars for me. Heather is awesome.

So, I liked the course. It was tough and I loved it. The difficulty that I had with it was due to my lack of training. But, there were not quite enough water stops on the race and the post race amenities for the runners were not great. More water, more food, and get your act together ont he beer. And hey, the Expo and the packet pickup was nice. Lets work on it guys!! I’m coming back next year for my 22nd year in a row. Hopefully Ellen will be back also.

Here is a readout from my GPS watch on the race. You can tell I was taking lots of walking breaks especially on uphills. Everything is on there, even my heart rate. Go ahead and laugh you fast runners.

Many thanks to the army of volunteers, the bands, the many police who helped patrol the course, the residents who were inconvenienced by the race going by their neighborhoods and everybody else associated with the race.

2014 Lederhosen Lauf Three Mile Run at Tulsa’s Oktoberfest

Tulsa’s Oktoberfest is going on this week. I found out Thursday morning that they were having a three mile run, the Lederhosen Lauf Run that night from the Oktoberfest site including a “Non-official” beer stop along with a one liter stein and a free beer afterward. So I had to go sign up is what I think.

And of course my I brought my special “Fraulein Cam” along.

The Fraulein Cam can take other shots as well.

I took this Ferrris Wheel pic with my phone, not my special Fraulein Cam.

So how come some Frauleins have white socks and others have black. Figuring out things like that can lock my brain up for days.

And your typical shots of people milling around before the race. And it turns out that there are more Frauleins to the right. How come I never see them at any other races? And then we were off right at 7 pm.

Here is the Unofficial Beer Stop at about mile 2.25 or so. No beer for you said the beer nazi’s if you didn’t have a white wrist band. I’m not sure it was enforced. I’m a rule follower so you can bet that I had my white wrist band.

And we had a little unofficial music to go with our unofficial beer at the unofficial beer stop.

I finished the race, vertically with dignity. Got my token for my beer and a one liter stein and went to the beer tent. They had an incredible variety of beer there. The token just got me a pint instead of a liter. I was okay with the pint. A liter seemed a bit much and you know I have this thing about cleaning brand new glassware before drinking from it.

There are a bunch of large tents with different bands in each. It is all very cool.

In this tent they were having the most enthusiastic chicken dance session that I’ve ever seen.

Outside the tent, it was pretty much what you see at your local state fair.

I was all instrumented up for the race (after all you wouldn’t take a Ferrari racing with instruments right?) so you can see just painfully slow that I ran the race. It was fun though. Like I said I finished vertically which was my goal.

So, do you have an Oktoberfest where you live? Do you have a Fraulein Cam? I want to hear about it!

Escape From Turkey Mountain Trail Race Report

Early Labor Day morning I ventured over to Turkey Mountain for the Escape From Turkey Mountain trail race. It is five miles long and they claim that it is the oldest trail race in the Tulsa Area. This was the tenth running.

They had everybody begin by walking through the finish line so they know how many people were running and to make sure that they didn’t leave any stragglers on the course.

A little fashion note. A guy wearing an orange shirt with a pink kilt and leggings.

And off we went! I always start at the back and the farther the race went, the backer I went.

The course went this way and that way and up and down and all around. Good thing that they had traffic cops to guide us, prevent any cheating. Not that taking a few short cuts crossed my mind at all.

We looped back to the parking lot where those who were in the two mile fun run peeled off, lucky dogs. The rest of us went right up Lipbuster to the top of Turkey Mountain.

When I got to the top I was pretty much all by myself. I came up on a mother and son team who didn’t want me to pass. Not at all, but I did it anyway and then later came upon somebody else who didn’t want me to pass either and were rude about it. I don’t blame any of them!! They were about to enter Yogi’s Hall of Shame, which are those people younger than me, who are slower than I am!

And here I am toward the finish (photo by Fleet Feet Sports of Tulsa). Notice that I am not one to criticize guys who wear pink kilts but hey, the shirt is by Kohl’s and no, my shorts were not matching. At the finish, I got my obligatory adult malted beverage. At first they said one per person (grown) but later rescinded that (yeah!) and a hamburger.

Anyways, I finished 94th out of 96 men. So only two guys entered the Yogi Hall of Shame!! Actually, I admire and respect anybody that gets out there and tries it. So that makes me special right!! I would do it over again in a minute. Well maybe the day after tomorrow I’d do it again.

Have you run in a race lately?

Added Content – Video by Fleet Feet Tulsa

Post by Fleet Feet Sports Tulsa.

Idaho Falls M.A.D. 4.5K Road Race Report

Logan and I spent a long weekend in Idaho Falls, Idaho visiting my Dad. My sister Ellen, and her husband Irv, and their grandson Mr. Beans also showed up. Ellen is quite the runner these days and she convinced us to sign up for a race, the MAD. Marathon, Half Marathon, and 5K. So we rolled out of bed early Saturday morning and made our way over to the starting line.

Mr. Bean’s first experience with a running gel. I’m not sure he liked it.

The race started and took off through the neighborhoods of south Idaho Falls. I had been wondering if the race was a beer run or not but I got my answer when I saw these guys doing the traffic control. They are Mormon missionaries. So no beer I thought, but that is alright, these guys above and the other guys and gals on the route did a great job keeping the runners from getting run over. Notice Logan to the right, keeping his head in the run and not getting distracted like his old man.

We made our way over and irrigation canal.

And by a patriotic Christmas tree, or something. I am not sure what it was.

Here is another missionary and that is Irv waving bye. We were not that close to him. He was headed out of the park to the left and we had to head in.

And then this is where we cheated by a half a klick. I could have sworn that the course markings sent us down this route. See the blue shirts ahead of us? They were fellow runners so we were not cheating. See Logan to the right? He still has half a step on the old man.

We made it out of the park and started running a busy street. Time for a shadow selfie. See who’s shadow is longer than mine?

Here comes Irv. He finished the race and came running back to take my camera to get the finishing pic.

And look who finished ahead of his old man.

And the little (not so little) was gloating about it. Wait till the next race kid! By the way, do you have a ride home?

So, have you run a 4.5K race lately?

Running a New Trail on Turkey Mountain

It was Wednesday night and I took advantage of my weekly kitchen pass to go to Turkey Mountain to run a few miles. It has been a few weeks since I had been there and I was missing it. Check out this anchor, if you need tourism related information.

I took off on the well known trails. There were less people than usual on the mountain even though the weather was very mild.

Turkey Mountain has several marked trails, some with nice neat official looking markers. This marker is on the blue trail. People that go to Turkey Mountain a lot know that the official marked trails are just a framework. There are a multitude of unmarked trails. The unmarked trails are what makes the mountain fun. I think I have been on almost all of them. Or so I thought.

The pink trail is a semiofficial trail on the west side of the mountain. It is probably the least traveled and known of the trails but also the longest and most complex.

I like to go “off the reservation” to the seldom used trail on the other side of Elwood. I hardly ever see people there. I have seen a lot of deer there in the last year or so. I used to see lots of deer on main part of the mountain but as the park has gotten busier the deer have got scarcer.

The trail is a single loop and it is very difficult to get lost.

But on Wednesday night, I noticed a new trail with a new marker. Zoi? What is that. What does it mean. Anyway I took off down that trail. It was brand new. I had heard reference on facebook to somebody running several miles of brand new trail on Turkey Mountain and I wondered where it was. Well, I think I found it. The only thing was that it went on and on.

And it was marked with pink ribbons. It was quite long and I got to wondering what the deal was. Does it loop back on itself or does it fizzle out or just what. I ran into some bikers that were dismounted and were clearing what they called a “cutoff” to bypass a real bad section just ahead. I bid them adieu and headed off to find the “bad section.” I kind of like bad sections.

I got passed by a bunch of bikers going pretty fast.

Later on I found the bad section and discovered that the fricking frackers had been there ahead of me. I’m actually a fan of fricking frackers, they put food on the table in my house. Seriously though this well looked like it still had tubing in it and a sucker rod string. What’s up with that? The tubing looks open to atmosphere and so there is probably no harm done, probably.

I finally found my way back to the connection to the existing trails. I was pretty happy. Not too many days when you can find new trails in an area where I thought I knew it all.

It is no fun being a know it all is what I say. What about you? What do you say

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