Tag Archives: Running

Hope even for Slow, Old, Fat Guys

We are in the downtime of Summer right now. We took our family vacation a few weeks ago and many of Logan’s activities like his Improv Comedy workshop is out for the summer and his ankle sprain is precluding his horseback riding. So Friday night I had a thought. Hey, I should run a race!! Pre-Logan I used to run them at least once a month. Most of them local 5K’s. I have since gravitated to a few big races a year plus I really love trail races.

So I found the only local race was about 30 miles south in the town of Okmulgee. A 5K sponsored by the Muskogee Creek Nation. So early Saturday morning I dragged myself out of bed and headed down Highway 75 and found the place.

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I got registered and got my bib and t shirt and wandered around a little bit.

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They had some nice sculptures including this one of Ernest Childers, a Muscogee Creek Nation Tribe member who won the Congressional Medal of Honor in World War II. Check the link on his name. Quite a story behind this hero.

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As it got close to race time everybody migrated over to the starting line. I thought it strange how much space people put between each other. But we bunched up before the gun started. I started in the very back. Psychologically it is better for me to pass people from the start to the finish.

Muskogee Creek Nation 5K Run - Topaz Glow Squiggly LInes I 50pct

Most of the race was out in the countryside and was very nice. The weather sunny and cool and no wind and I ran a pretty even pace only stopping to take the above photo and walking through the two water stops.

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At the finish line. The Nation’s tribal court building is earth banked so I walked up almost to the roof of the structure to get this angle. I stuck around until the awards ceremony and found out that I won first place in the Men’s age 60 to 64 category.

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I got this nice coffee mug as a prize. Of course I have to tell you that there was only one other person in this category in the race. The way I look at it is that there were thousands more who stayed in bed and didn’t go to the race. This is the only award I have ever won in a sporting category  in 48 years since I won first prize in a free throw shooting contest at a summer camp in Clear Creek, Utah. I have run I guess over two hundred races over the years and have never even come close to placing. So make fun of me if you wish, and I understand if you do, but I’m very happy anyway.

So there is hope out there for old fat slow guys. I’m really proud of my little coffee mug.

Hot Weather Run on the River

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Hot weather means less people running and cycling on the Trails.

While we were in Hawaii the weather here in Tulsa got hot. We are now approaching full blown summer weather. Last Wednesday I went for a run after work in the 96F heat. I know how to run in the heat. Run slow, which comes naturally to me, carry water, take lots of breaks and listen to your body is what I do.

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With the construction of a gathering place going on, running is limited on the east side so I cross over to the west side of the river. With all the rain we have had the river is up and there are lots more fishermen that what I normally see. I don’t know what they are fishing for but they are hard at it.

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I found a little cross stuck in the ground. A memorial to somebody obviously. I don’t know who and there were no names. I say a little prayer for peace to whoever put it there and move on.

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The main function of Tulsa Power Station is to bolster the rate base. I think it is the last unit on and the first one off during the summertime heat loads. It sure seems to fire up during smog alerts in the summer.

I only went about a mile and a half down the river to the PSO Tulsa Power Station and went down to the long forgotten kayak run (now visited only by geocachers I think) to where you can right down on the river.

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180 degree panorma

The river is up several feet and was pretty wild. It would be easy to drown in this water if you were not careful.

A 12 second video of the water. Loud and fast. Thank goodness and the Corps of Engineers for Keystone Dam upstream of Tulsa or things could really be interesting. Tulsa used to have bad flooding way back when before the dam was put in.

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Running back I got this subtle reflection of the river of a condo across the way. You can tell why we call northeast Oklahoma “Green Country.” Everything is greening up this year with all the rain we have had.

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The shadows are longer. Time to go home, shower, eat dinner and down a cold one ( or two.)

Have you gone any adventures yet?

Weekend Reflections – Turkey Mountain

I celebrated the news of Simon Property Group abandoning their “Premium Outlet Mall” on Turkey Mountain by going for a run on the mountain. (What the heck is a Premium Outlet Mall anyway?)

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We’ve had lots of rain here in Oklahoma and although we had two dry days there were patches of soggy trails here and there that slowed me down. It wasn’t too bad though. I started out on the blue trail, then did some of the pink trail, then just did my own thing, and then the yellow for a good distance and then did some more of my own thing.

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I made it over to Pepsi Lake and it was great to see it full of water again. It was about to turn into a meadow a few months ago but it is full to the brim now.

There was even some water running over the spillway. It has been a long time since I have seen running water on the mountain.

This is the route I took. For some reason my watch didn’t start when I wanted it to but that’s okay. Life is good up on the mountain. I am very glad they outlet mall threat is gone.

Linking with Weekend Reflections

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Weekend Reflections – Morning Pond

Lafortune Park Pond Reflections Impressions Watercolor vi 46pct

I love it when the weather warms up enough to go running in the morning outside rather than the gerbil activity on a treadmill in a gym. This time of year the sun is just barely rising when I pass the ponds on one of my routes. I love how quiet and peaceful it is very early. It is like every day is born with new hope. Of course, other days I just want to sit, read the paper, and browse the blogs I follow.

Linking with Weekend Reflections

(Bad) Judgement Day on Turkey Mountain

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Last Tuesday night I went over to Turkey Mountain and did a little (darned little) trail running and geocaching. I started out on the Red Trail to go find some caches. I passed a couple that was walking along really slowly looking at their GPSr and I asked if they were geocaching. The guy put the GPSr behind his back and said, “What’s that.” Newbies, why are they so embarrassed? Cuz they should be is the answer.

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It took a while for my GPSr to lock on so I kind of wibble wobbled as you might see from the Garmin Connect map at the end of this post but it finally synched with the satellites (thank you my fellow American taxpayers for those satellites I’ll add here.) My first cache was difficult. It required a double backward flip off this fallen tree and a clean landing. Believe it or not I did it and so claimed the cache. Proof, you say? Well I told you that I did it didn’t I?

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Then the next one not too far away. All I had to do was stick my hand somewhere I didn’t want to. Nothing bit me, this time.

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And I climbed out of the Red Tail area via the Fro Flo trail. I love going the wrong way is all I can say. I went uphill on the Fro Flo guys. Gasps from the Turkey Mountain free riders.

There are several videos on Youtube of the Fro Flo by riders using their Go Pro cameras. This one had some good views of the jumps.

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I’m trying to figure out what this is for.

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This one looks fun. Would you ride your bike up this ramp and then down the length of the log. Yeah, well me neither.

So anyway I got back to the parking lot and started up the blue trail to the top of Lipbuster and looked for a cache (and didn’t find it) near the water tanks and then I noticed another cache on my GPSr about a quarter mile away. I thought, maybe I could bushwhack it over there.

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Not a good idea. One thing led to another. Thorns, tall grass, thickets, scratches, blood, insects. No snakes though. That I could see anyway. Fortunately I had used deet before my run so no ticks or chiggers.

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I finally found a clearing. Where I could make some headway.

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And then out in the middle of nowhere I found Little Miss Blue Eyes. Kind of cute don’t you think. Kind of spooky is what I think. Eventually I found a trail and made it to the cache site and found it and then I kind of took a wrong turn.

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You see there were some new trails up there and I didn’t know how they ran so I just went with it and took quite a tour of the southwestern side of the mountain before I made it back to the Snake Trail. By then it was pitch dark and I didn’t do a whole lot of running.

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I passed a cop car with its lights on. I think they were looking for the old fat guy going up the wrong way on Fro Flo.

Here is my route. Slow and sloppy was the mode.

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Running and Geocaching along the Turnpike

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Yesterday evening I didn’t make it out to Turkey Mountain after work to run with the TATUR group. I was on the wrong side of town you see because it is almost tax time and I had to go pick up the return and see how much extra damage I was having to pay over and above what we’ve already paid.

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You see I just get totally confused on who to vote for because well you know Obama likes to give my money to his friends, the poor people and almost all Republicans like to give my money to their friends, the rick people. Now Hillary, she’s different, she doesn’t have any friends so she’ll just keep my money. Stuff like that makes life a lot simpler is what I say. Besides if she gets elected she’ll have to buy a new email server. I think a President who can set up their own server is pretty cool. What do you think.

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Well, I’m sorry I hadn’t even begun my post and I’m already off topic, way off topic. So since I couldn’t make it in time to run Turkey Mountain I went to Tulsa’s Hunter Park and started off trying to find a few caches there and then since it is connected to the Creek Turnpike trail I took off on that trying to find a few. I think I looked for about a half dozen or so and found about two.

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I am not very good about finding micro caches and some of these hides are pretty darn clever. I have come to terms with myself about not finding many of the clever hides. The point is getting out and about and trying.

So I had a pretty good run. If you click on the thingy above and get it going you can see how I was searching in places and then moving on. At the end I forgot tot turn off my watch so that is what the last mile or so is fast.

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Do you have fitbit? One of those little devices that tracks your steps. This is my fitbit reading for yesterday. I got in about 15,000 steps which is over seven miles. You can see that I have a pretty sedentary job and then I go walking at lunch and then how I got moving once I got out caching and then how slow I was when I got home and plopped myself down in front of the television.

What about you? What was your big adventure yesterday (or whenever?)

TATUR Snake Run on Turkey Mountain

It was a great day for a trail race on Saturday morning. Cool, humid, and very little wind. It was very early spring like.

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The sun was trying to burn through the clouds and never did quite make it.

Here is a mini video of the walk from the parking lot to the race start.

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I got up to the old parking lot and checked out all the mud.

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And checked out the race bling. This is as close as I’ll ever get.

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And inspected this bad boy. I think I need one of these to mow my yard. I think it would do a pretty decent job. Anybody want to float me a loan?

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The Race Director, Ken, aka Trail Zombie gave the runners some instructions. Follow the pink ribbons, don’t cross the yellow ribbons. Have a good time.

And the Six Hour Runners were off.

And then the Three Hour Runners, including moi. The races are a little different. Most races are a fixed length and whoever has the least time wins. In the Snake Races, the time is constant and whoever runs the longest wins. So there were two loops. A big loop of about 3.7 miles. We run that over and over, and if you don’t think you can finish another big loop before the time is up then there is another half mile loop that you can run over and over until the time is up. It is really very clever. I like it because I can always tell people that I had the same time as the winner.

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Even though it was spring there wasn’t much color out on the mountain. The whitebuds blooming was about it.

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There was one aid station out on the course that we hit twice each loop because of the way that the route folds in on itself. It was full service though, water, gatorade, baked potatoes rolled in salt, cookies, pickles, bananas, oranges, beer.

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Nope, not for me. Actually I think it was a joke. I think. Although if you had an urgent need it may not be much of a joke.

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And the course had a beer stop. This was my favorite. I hit it twice each loop. Going and coming. This guy had everything: All sorts of nice craft beers, and shots of various liquors including some home brew. Soft drinks for the kiddies.

I fell twice during the race. About six weeks ago I fell during a night run on the mountain and had a pain that still endures. That was on my left side. I was carrying my camera in left hand today and so I made sure that I fell on my right side. We bloggers know that ribs will heal but cameras won’t. I was telling that story to somebody at the end of the race and she said “You fell twice? You must have been one of those people hitting the beer stop pretty hard.” She had that “I got you look.” She must have been a school principal. The truth hurts sometimes. Now my left and my right sides hurt besides.

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I wish that I had read this sign earlier. Maybe I would do better if I ran faster. I’ll have to check into the math and physics of that concept.

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Here is the beer tent again on another stop. Lots of good stuff here. And no I didn’t stagger into the table to get this shot. Well, I didn’t mean to anyway.

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And here is Brian Hoover, the force behind Tatur Racing and Chip Timing. I think that I had asked him if I run the race or something.

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Brian and Ken started handing out the awards after the Three Hour Race.

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No, I didn’t place. I don’t think that any of the people that placed took any pics out on the course or sampled any of the beer. You know beer doesn’t drink itself. I might have won the race if I hadn’t been fulfilling my journalistic duties. Hey you don’t know.

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Or maybe I need a cool headband. I think it cuts the wind resistance or something. Or maybe it diverts blood supply to the legs. Something like that I’m sure.

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And here is a guy taking a selfie. Sorry, if I see you taking a selfie, I’m going to get a pic of you.

And here is the record of my race. My strategy was to run for a quarter mile and walk for a minute. I did that through the whole race and it worked. Plus I drank lots of water and some Gatorade at the food stops along with the salted baked potato segments. I got pretty sore still which is not surprising because the longest distance I have run in the last several months is only six miles.

I’ll be back next year. This is a fun race.

Official Race Results

Trail Zombie’s blog post of the race.

Here are my reports from the 2011 and 2012 Snake Runs.

Our World – 2015 Post Oak Lodge Challenge Quarter Marathon

Sunday I ran the Quarter Marathon part of the Post Oak Lodge Challenge which is a bunch of races of varying length from 10K to 50K held over two days at the beautiful Post Oak Lodge north of Tulsa. I generally run the 10K on Saturday but this year elected to run the quarter because it doesn’t change the family schedule very much.

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Getting close to race time everybody started assembling near the start line. Meanwhile…

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I was finishing up my warm-up routine inside the lodge. I’d of been really warmed up but some young whippersnappers, you know people in their 40’s, were taking my spot by the fireplace. Notice my shoes? They are Hokas, specially made for trail running. They are nice but I’m thinking about getting a kickstart campaign going for my next pair. If Heather finds out how much they cost, she might start her own non-financial kickstarter campaign. So far the shoes seem to be working pretty well. They are very cushiony. Yep, cushiony is a word here in Oklahoma. Just so you know.

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Off we went down the road and off into the trails. I was hanging back. Wearing my brand new Hokas on a night run on Turkey Mountain several weeks ago I tripped and fell and I think that I might have cracked a rib. I got xrays Friday but haven’t got the results back yet. Most advice that I’ve seen on the web advises against running with a cracked rib. However, most people don’t think that what I do is actually running either. So off I went. Slowly though. Notice how I make going slowly an option for me. It is an option. I can either go slowly or just stand there.

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The course was really hilly, up and down, and over around. I ran on the level spots and generally walked on the uphill segments. On the downhill spots I ran if there were not many rocks or roots. I didn’t want to trip and fall and then have to go to the doctor and endure their questioning about who goes running with a cracked rib. Followed by “Do you really run.”

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Post Oak Lodge has a zip line course. I was kind of eyeing it to see if I could cut some of the run short. I mean, I doubt the rules actually say that one can’t use the zip line. I decided not to do it. Of course several of my fellow runners didn’t allow me to use it. I wish they would just mind their own business.

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This being Oklahoma we passed oil wells. These might be for sale. At $40 a barrel they should be cheaper than they would have been last summer. You ready? I can probably hook you up.

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Off we go up another hill. Except that this is Holmes Peak. The highest point in Tulsa County. Salud!

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Are you up for another view of downtown Tulsa? Despite what you think Oklahoma doesn’t tilt to the left. It tilts at almost a 45 degree angle to the right. I over corrected. If you are wondering what in tarnation I am talking about then you are not familiar with Oklahoma.

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Here is a little more balanced view.

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Here is my favorite part of the race. Ken Childress (aka “Trail Zombie” ) manning an aid stop. I think that TZ, as he is known, has introduced hundreds, if not thousands, of people to trail running in northeast Oklahoma. He is a great guy. Check out his blog here.

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The Snake Run is a TZ event on Turkey Mountain next week. It is a little different in that everybody runs the same times as everybody else (either a three hour race or a six hour time) the winner runs the most distance. It is fun. I don’t know if I can make it or not. I ran it in 2011 and 2012. It’s about time I do it again. I really don’t know if I can run three hours truthfully.

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Hey, I’ll cut to the chase. I finished the race (upright, with dignity) and got my meal. The thought that struck was that this is an Okie Methodist Seder Dinner. After running six and a half miles I was not really hungry anyway, but I ate it anyway. I did have a couple malted beverages also. In addition to the one TZ gave me out on the course. I’ll do a lot for a beer. Notice the banana? Son Logan does not like bananas. In fact he won’t tolerate them in the house. He doesn’t like the texture, nor does he like how they change color. He is the banana nazi as we call him. I was in banana heaven today, both aid stations had bananas as well as the lunch served at the end.

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And my brand new Hokas. A little muddy, not too bad. Its got some fast zip shoe laces that come in really handy when I’m trying to take them off before I track mud into the house. Tracking mud into the house is a bad bad thing. Take my word for it.

And here is my route map generated in partnership with Garmin and my watch. Complete with heart rates and all that good stuff. So even though I don’t really run, I did get my heart rate up. Plus I didn’t fall although I did stumble once. Garmin is working on an upgrade to show beer consumption also.

So chalk up another good Post Oak Lodge Challenge. I’ve been running this event for some time and it is great to see it grow and develop every year.

Here are my posts for the event for 2014, 2013,  2011, and 2010.

So, come up to Oklahoma and run this race with me next year!

Linking with Our World Tuesday