Tag Archives: Running

Getting Schooled on Hill Repeats

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This week instead of doing my weekly run on Wednesday, I did it on Thursday and I did it earlier on Thursday than what I normally run. The wind was howling and the air was full of smoke from all the wild fires due to the dry conditions. You can see how hazy the air is. I decided to run on Turkey Mountain. The trees stop the wind cold up there. I ran into Ken (aka Trail Zombie) and Clint,  a facebook friend who I have never met before, Ken asked if I wanted to go do some hill repeats, so I said sure and so we three along with a lady named Lea went off to do hill repeats.

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TZ, Lea, and Clint headed toward the lower yellow trail.

After a warmup loop on the red trail we went up what TZ calls Leadville. It is about 300 feet in a quarter mile and it is brutal. I’d like to say I ran up all the way. I didn’t run any of the way but my heart was pounding by the time we got up on top.

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TZ and Lea headed down “I Want My Mommy” Clint is already out of sight and I was carefully picking my way down.

I Want My Mommy is pretty darn steep. You can see TZ and Lea way ahead of me. Then we went a few feet and came back up to the top of the mountain on another trail. Clint and TZ are both on a Strava climbing challenge and they hitting the hills hard and they are good at it.

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Finally we headed back to the parking lot. Running hills is hard work but fun with you are doing it with people. I had an excellent workout.

Back to Turkey Mountain

Turkey Mountain Trail - Topaz Textures - Color Blast

Saturday I ran on Turkey Mountain for the first time since I messed my knee up there back on Labor Day. You can bet I was watching where I was putting my feet this time! It was a cold, breezy day in Tulsa and so running up on the mountain is better than plodding it out on the trail fighting the wind.

Anyways, I didn’t set any speed records. But I had a great time, and then drove back to pick up the kid.

How was your Saturday?

LInking with Pippa!

Weekend Reflections – Snowy Day

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I love a good puddle reflection

Well it was kind of a snowy day last Saturday. I dropped the kid off at his Improv Comedy class and then went over to the river to plod a few miles. It had snowed a little earlier that morning but had quit. Just the kind of snow I like.

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I used Topaz Glow – Whisker Wires effect on this photo – true confessions

So I did my thing, stopping and taking pictures every now and then.

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This sculpture is “Crossing the Prairie” by Glenna Goodacre. I happen to love this work. More true confessions I used Topaz on this photo also.

I don’t like cold weather that much but I don’t mind it when I’m running. I have the right kind of clothes for running in cold wet weather and my movement keeps me warm. I’m just hoping that we don’t get any ice. I hate ice. Except in my scotch, I like it a lot there.

Linking with Weekend Reflections

Skywatch Friday – Evening Run

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No filter, no software, no nothing, right out of the camera.

The weather was perfect for my Wednesday night run on the river: temperature in the mid 40’s and no wind. It felt almost warm. I got to the Arkansas River just as the sun was going down. My Nikon AW110 point and shoot has a night landscape mode so I tried it out and it wasn’t too bad. This was from the east side of the river. 

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When I went across to the west side of the river, the sun was long gone but I took a shot east across the river to downtown Tulsa. I cropped the photo and it has a little fuzzy wuzzy about it but not too bad. Mainly I like the reflection of the buildings in the river.

I am still in recovery from my injury in September and I have my good days and my not so good days. Wednesday night was one of the not so good runs. Both legs were aching and I decided to cut things short at three miles instead of my planned five  but at about the 1.5 mile point things started coming together and feeling better and I finished my shortened run strong.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday

 

Commitment Day 5K Road Race

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My new cell phone has a “cut in” feature where it puts a selfie in the pic. I love it and almost nobody else does. I love the goofy look on my face.

My first race of 2016 was the Commitment Day 5K in the Tulsa suburb of Bixby at Lifetime Fitness. It was a fun race for several reasons. First it started at 10 am instead of the crack of dawn which made it more doable for us old farts party animals who like to sleep in stay up late with our wild and crazy friends. Second we had a Zumba warmup. That was unexpected! My beautiful wife became a Zumba instructor and I have been wanting to crash one of her classes and video a couple of her routines. Something about the way she looks at me when I talk about it makes me think that she is not near as excited about it as I am. 

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Well we had Leslie who led us in the warmup. She really did have more than a half dozen people she was leading.

See!! I’d of participated but I was doing my blogging journalistic duty of documenting the event. Really. Actually I did try a few moves. I think i have lots of potential. In the engineering sense in that a rock at the base of a mountain has a lot of potential energy to gain by somehow getting to the top, not that it has any chance of getting there.

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Enough of the dancing, this is racing. We moved over to the start line. I did my usual start at the very back. Sure I have to weave through walkers and baby strollers but I like passing people from start to finish and it is not like there is anything on the line anyway.

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This is the finish. I love seeing young people kicking hard at the end. And see the group of three ladies behind him? Lots of people just jog along a chat with their friends. Usually that breeze pass me like I’m standing still.

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We had the gym to relax in after the race. Lots better than huddling behind cars and trailers like most winter races. The facilities were first rate.

The race was an out and back type arrangement with hills and dips near the turnaround.

I finished fourth in my age group. I don’t know how many were in my age group but I suspect the answer is approximately four.

It was a fun, family, oriented race and I’ll probably be back next year.

Rudolph Run 5K – Broken Arrow, OK

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They had a cool and very engaged Santa at the race. He was giving out high fives, especially to the kids. I like active and engaged Santas. I still have a bone to pick with him about the ever increasing amounts of coal I get in my stocking every year.

Saturday I ran in the first ever Rudolph 5K in Broken Arrow. It was only my second race since I screwed up knee on a trail race on Labor Day and the first race where I was going to try and run the whole way.

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People dressed up with reindeer antlers and red noses and all sorts of costumes.

I went through a couple months of rehab on my knee and about a month on my own doing the stretches and exercises that the Physical Therapists taught me.

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So I pretty pleased, I was able to run the entire way though pretty slowly. My knee felt fine before, during, and after the race so getting faster is now a matter of training and conditioning. I never was very fast. My motto has always been to start slow and then taper off.

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I could say that I was fast enough to place third in my age group, which would be true. The whole truth is that there were only three men in my age group, not counting the thousands of guys in northeast Oklahoma who slept in and didn’t enter the race. So I’m booking it as third in my age group.

I appreciate the organizer of the race, Fleet Feet Sports, and all the other people including volunteers that it takes to put on an event like this.

Packing it All In – A Very Full and Busy Day Off

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I had a day off today. I had it all to myself because Heather went off to an Autism Conference in Norman, Oklahoma and Logan had to go to school. So I kissed Heather goodbye at 6 am and made the kid breakfast and made sure that he was dressed and ready to go and off we went to his school. After I dropped him off I headed up to Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center. Turkey Mountain gets all the press, and the people, but Oxley is a gem also and its North Woods Loop Trail is wonderful and deserted. In all the years I have been going there I have seen somebody else there once. I love Turkey Mountain, but the problem is so does everybody else.

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And this was my first trail run since my injury on Turkey Mountain back in September. I wanted somewhere that was flat with no rocks. Oxley fits the bill. Plus it is just flat out beautiful. Turkey Mountain will always be my favorite but Oxley is my go to place when I don’t want to deal with rocks and and hills, and lots of people.

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I got there about eight in the morning and I have to tell you that I saw lots of deer. I didn’t get a single photo of them. I saw them running through the brush, swimming across lakes and bounding around all over the place. You will just have to take my word for it.

Here is the data on my so called run. I ran quite a bit and walked quite a bit. I went looking for two geocaches and found one.  After my jaunt at Oxley I went home, cleaned up, and headed up to Tulsa’s Philbrook Museum. They have an Andy Warhol exhibit going on and I felt ah, well, so what until I actually looked at it and saw a bunch of art that I had only seen in magazines. Warhol’s screen prints of Marilyn Monroe, Mao Tse Tung, and John Wayne plus a bunch of other works. It was amazing. I always thought of Warhol has a lightweight celebrity artist but I’ve changed my mind. They didn’t allow any photography of the exhibit so you will just have to check out the link to see for yourself.

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After Warhol, I checked out the gardens of Philbrook. I don’t know what I like better, the gardens of Philbrook or its art.  Don’t make me choose is all I can say. The Tempietto above is the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.

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Villa Philbrook, the heart of the museum, used to be a house. Not for me is what I say.

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Eric Baker’s glass and steel installation, Oklahoma Autumn, is my favorite work in the gardens.

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I was also taken by Theordore Van Soelen and his Tesuque (Dark Houses). You see my folks were living at the Tesuque Ranger Station when I was born. That was in the day before health insurance so Dad called the hospital’s in Santa Fe and Espanola, New Mexico and got bids on getting a baby birthed. Espanola won. It cost like $95 or something like that. I’m not like Ben Carson who is running for president so just take my word for it.

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I love the pottery from Acoma Pueblo.

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And the black on black pottery of Maria Marinez is wonderful.

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And here is something different. A catlinite pipe inlaid with lead. I’m not sure that smoking with that would be good for you. It sure looks like though.

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So a pretty active day for me, so far about 18,800 steps or over nine miles. Not bad for a guy with a bum knee.  Actually they are both sore right now.

Jesus Wept - Pray for Paris

I didn’t hear about the news from Paris until pretty late in the day. How sad. I really don’t know what the answer is to radical Islam. They seem to have no regard for life.

Tulsa Run 5K – 2015

DSCN4578My Big run every year that I look forward to is the Tulsa Run 15K. I have run it every year since 1994 when it was the first race I ever entered. This year I did the 5K version because I am still in rehab on my knee from a fall that I had in early September. I felt bad about it for about five seconds then my motto kicked in. The motto is “If you can’t do what you want, then do what you can.” So I can walk a 5K, better than sitting on your butt is what I say. Sitting is the new smoking is my new motto.

DSCN4581The downside is that the 5K race starts over an hour before the 15K so I had a little bit less time to get ready. You see my office building is right by the start so historically I am able to get to the office. Make some coffee, check my email and update facebook, do some blogging, and then 10 minutes before the race head downstairs. 

Since my leg was sore I had no intention of run/walking. So I made a video of the walk up to the start line. Generally in the 15K it takes about five minutes to get to the start. Psychologically passing people from start to finish. So I started at the back in this race and stayed pretty much in the back. DSCN4582 The music community has historically supported the Tulsa Run and I love hearing them. We generally have bagpipers, rockers, rappers, and sometimes cheerleaders. I guess the Christian bands sleep in late because I hear lots of taped Praise and Worship music but not that many performers.DSCN4585These guys have been here the past several years playing Hispanic music. They are pretty darn good. DSCN4586So we go on down Boulder avenue south from downtown and hang a left and go East down Cherry street and then… Wow, look at all the people way ahead of me! And look at all the people coming back already and I have not even got halfway. Such are the joys of walking.DSCN4587

So I finally get down the hill, and then up the hill and turn around and head back down the hill again. Hey time for a Guiness maybe? No, they were closed.

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Make the turn at the Fertility Clinic on Boston and another rock group.  DSCN4593

Headed up the hill and hey, who are these cheaters coming on the side. I think they are the fun runners. Lots of kids hauling butt is what they were. Nice to seeing kids running is what I say.

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And then here comes the back of the packers in the 5k headed towards to art deco canyon of Boston Avenue.

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So I got a nice technical long sleeve shirt, a bottle of water, and little medal and a care package containing cheese spread, chips, animal crackers,  a tiny twix bar, and a hand wipe.  Uhhhh, thanks, where’s the beer, guys? Where are the snickers bar? Oh well, times change and so does this race.  Hey, I don’t care, I love this race. I’ll be back.

22nd Tulsa Run in the books. I’m looking forward to running the 15K next year.

Thanks to the race sponsors, the race director and his helper, and the army of volunteers that it takes to put something like this on.

One Fall Down – Several Steps Back and Forward

I have had to take some steps back lately. Last week during a trail race on Turkey Mountain I tripped a fell and my knee landed right on a rock. Ouch!! It hurt. I made a stupid decision to go ahead and finish the race and in fact ran a little bit of the way. I just didn’t feel like quitting.

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There are lots of places to trip on Turkey Mountain and I have found most of them by personal experience.

I might have should have gone to some sort of urgent care place, maybe I don’t know. My knee was sore and stiff but I didn’t sense that I was in any sort of crisis situation.

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How do you like my newly pink sock? How about the blue zip ties on my Hokas. The most expensive shoes I have ever owned.

 On Tuesday I went to my employer’s clinic because I couldn’t get in to my doctor in a timely fashion. The doctor looked my knee over, congratulated Heather on her wound cleaning and dressing skills and sent me off for xrays.

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The X Rays were done at a brand spanking new Catholic owned hospital in the burbs here in Tulsa. I’m not a Catholic, I’m not sure what I am at this point, but I like the way the decorate hospitals. You get the sense that they think Jesus is somebody more than your buddy who helps your favorite football team win games.

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Anyways I started seeing things with new eyes and my sore stiff knee. The available parking spots to get in the hospital were some distance away from the entrance. Ouch, ouch, ouch. I mean my pain is temporary  and I’ll get over it and I’ll resume parking farther than I have to in order to get my fitbit step count up but lots and lots of people have to contend with long walks and their pain or stiffness or immobility is just something they will have to live with permanently. And they are not whiney babies about it like I am.

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Dang the open registers are a long ways away. And then I get to walk back this way to get to the exit.

And then I had to go to a Target and run an errand. You know when you are walking at about 1 mph those stores seem a lot bigger than before. And really Target you only have three registers open and they are in the middle. Okay, ouch, ouch, ouch I went. Whine, whine, whine. Again I saw the store with new eyes. I’m having a lot more empathy for people who contend with this stuff every day. Also, I have my choice of medical care available, my employer’s clinic, my primary care physician, urgent care, all for nominal cost. My insurance company even has a nurse available 24/7 if I want to talk to her. (I did talk to her, she kept telling me that knee injuries take time to heal and I would have to be patient with it…) If I was uninsured or under a major medical policy I would have some hard to choices to make, especially if I was on a limited income.

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Plus other people don’t have the world’s greatest wife to take care of them!

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Playing with my new favorite Ipod app “Matter” . Are we Instagram buds yet? Why not I’m YogiAB. Look me up. As long as you are not selling Herbalife or body wraps or are a “life coach” I’ll follow back.

The other thing that is throwing for a loop is a personal attack on me by another blogger. I am the main admin for Skywatch Friday. All I do is set up the page for linking in by other bloggers. It was started by someone who passed away several years ago and I am just one in a chain of people who keep the meme going. I am in my third year doing this and enjoy it and regard it as my way of contributing back to the blogging community. I wont’ get into details but I got an email with somebody who was furious with me for the last Skywatch Friday linkin. I tried reasoning with them but to no avail. I consulted with one of my co admins who counseled wishing the person peace. Getting something like that out of the blue is quite disconcerting. I am not afraid of conflict (the Oklahoma natural gas business is not for the faint of heart I will tell you) but there is usually a reason and there is usually something you can grab onto to make the situation better for the person who is angry.  Anyways, peace everybody. I am gong to be more sensitive to people in the news who inadvertently suffer attacks from the public. These people are real people even though they may have made you and angry for some reason. There is no reason to launch on them.

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I love the Lululemon girls and their signs at the various races that pass their store.

Anyways, my knee is now getting better and I’m going to be pestering my doctor about rehab. This may be my excuse not to do the Tulsa Run 15K this year. I have a streak going of running it 21 years in a row. Streaks like that are okay but get to be a pain in the butt. But then I think. That is six weeks away. Maybe I’ll walk it? Maybe I won’t.

Have you ever had anything throw you for a loop? How did you react?

Not Quite Singing in the Rain – Getting Soaked on Turkey Mountain

During the downpour yesterday #DownTownTulsa

Wednesday nights are my night to go running after work. I have a little routine. I leave work and go to a liquor store and pick up some craft beer and then I head out either to the Arkansas River trails or Turkey Mountain. Last Wednesday it started a downpour just as I was leaving downtown but my good ole Accuweather app on the phone said it was not going to rain for at least two hours so I’m good right?

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So started out on the Yellow Trail taking pics with my Ipod Touch using the Hipstamatic App. I just love blurry photos. My intention was to try and do six miles or so.

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This is my favorite spot on the Yellow Trail. I just tell people to follow the arrow. Nobody listens to me but I say it anyway. I repeat myself a lot that way.

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This is my favorite new landmark on the Yellow Trail. It reminds me of something new I’m reading a little about lately Trail Marker Trees.  Trees that Native Americans shaped as trail markers or other uses. Check the link. I’d love to see a few live. I’m a little skeptical about them personally.

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I stopped a smelled a few roses. Metaphorically.

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And check out some color.

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Just as I got to the north end of the Yellow Trail it started raining, hard. I put away my Ipod and got out my waterproof Nikon. People tell me about how much they love raining in the rain. I don’t like it too much but if you are out in it and wearing tech clothes then it is not so bad. I decided to cut my run short and run the upper Yellow trail back.

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The mud sticks to your shoes and things get a lot slipperier but I eventually got back to my car.

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The only thing worse than running in the rain would be riding a bike. The thunder and lightening was getting pretty bad also. That can ruin your whole day.

If I had it to do over again, I’d do it over again. And no, I didn’t go home and drink the beer I bought earlier. You see we are much more godly people in Oklahoma than where you live because our laws don’t allow us to purchase cold full strength beer. So I drank some of the beer I bought last week!! That is called pre-planning.

I’m linking with Our World Tuesday