Tag Archives: Running

A Long Day

This morning I got up and caught a plane to Dallas. What a day to catch a plane to Dallas. In Dallas, the grass was green but the weather was gray and drizzly.

Dallas has the most spectacular intersections I have ever seen. In fact Dallas has more concrete than any city I have ever seen. Concrete is big business in Big D it looks like. I don’t know if you can tell but I’m not a Dallas fan. Except for the Dallas Cowboys, now I like them. I am not a fan of the Dallas Fort Worth Airport though. I have been flying to it or through it for almost forty years and I hate it. The food is awful also. Hey, I like the Dallas Cowboys though.

I’d never seen Dallas so drizzly. Enough on Dallas, okay? We went to see a custoemr and it was a short meeting . Too short. We flew back to Tulsa just in time to…. Go to work!!! Groan. That is okay because I was going to go run on Turkey Mountain afterward with a group of people.

So I went to Turkey Mountain and there were three other people to run the trails with me. Trouble was, there were all fast and I am slow. Actually if I speeded up I would be considered slow. I don’t apologize for it, it is what it is. Anyway when it came to time to go I said I would go run the paved trail instead of going with them. They were nice about it and if I wanted to go with them they would have stopped every now and then to let me catch up but neither they or I would have been too happy with that. So they headed off to the mountain and I headed down the hill to the paved trail.

I didn’t want to run by myself on the mountain at night. I run all they time during daylight by myself and never get turned around but I do get turned around at night on the mountain.

Running on the paved trail on the west bank was pretty eerie. Kind of Blair Witch Project Eerie. Starting with the message on the road above. Why should I keep going.

I ran about a mile and a half up the trail to the poop plant. A city wastewater plant. they have a flare where they burn off the poop gas.

And a big huge spherical tank. I don’t know what is in the tank. I don’t want to find out.

The trail has a railroad crossing. It was kind of spooky at night.

I was glad to get off the trail and back home because I had some research to do after such a long day.

A nice home grown Oklahoma Imperial Stout.

Man, what a long ass day is what I say.

How was your day?

Returning to the River

Wednesday night after work I went to go running on the trails along the Arkansas River here in Tulsa. It was the first time I’ve since I tripped and fell on Turkey Mountain during a night run. It didn’t feel bad at the time but my side hurt and kept getting worse especially when I ran.

I finally did the miracle cure for stuff like that. You want to know what the miracle cure is for almost anything. I bet you already what it is. You make an appointment to go see the doctor about it and you get cured about an hour before your appointment. It works every time!!

Anyway, Wednesday night was kind of cool but there was hardly any wind and the river was very smooth.

I ran past the University Club Tower. Just so you know, it is the eighth tallest building in Tulsa. You never know when a little tidbit of knowledge like will come in handy.

I got up to the far north end of the River Trails and went over to check out “Where East Meets West” a sculpture in honor of Cyrus Avery, the father of route 66. I approached it cautiously because at night I didn’t want to be accosted by homeless people looking for a handout. I got close and I was about to take this photo I saw this guy walking quickly over in my direction with a big smile on his face. I knew what was going to be next. A pitch about some plight he was in and an invitation to help. I’ve been through it a million times and no thanks, I don’t want to go through it again especially in an isolated area in the dark. So I snapped the pic and went back across the street and continued my run.

It was my first run in two weeks and parts of the trail were blocked off for construction so I called it quits after three miles.

So, the question of the day is: Have you ever experienced the miracle cure?

Running under the Hunger Moon on Turkey Mountain

Earlier this week a group of us met after work on Turkey Mountain under a full moon. It is supposed to be called the Snow Moon but there was no snow so I used the alternate name “The Hunger Moon.” So called because the hunting was pretty bad in February way back when.

It got kind of dark but we turned on our headlights and ran for a little over three and a half miles. The group runs for a while and then stops every now and then to let everybody get back together before we head off again. Nobody wants to leave anybody stranded on the mountain at night. Night running can be quite disorienting especially if you are not familiar with the trails.

A good time was had by all and we didn’t lose anybody. Especially the old guy who took the picture.

Linking with Skywatch Friday

Chili Cookoff and a Night Run

We had a chili cookoff at the gas company yesterday. It was a fund raiser and a lot of fun. There were six different team and each team had from four to six crockpots of chili plus the fixin’s and some of them had extra stuff like tamales and such.

Heather made up a batch of one of her beef chili’s and I entered that. I thought hers was the best. I told a bunch of people there that they were in strong contention for the number two spot.

Here is what happens when you turn engineers loose on chili making. They may not have had the best chili but they had the best signage and were the only teams that had the correct personal protective gear.

I love the signs.

You know how you tell somebody is from New Mexico? If you say “green chili” and their heart rate doesn’t bump up then they are not from New Mexico. This chili was another contender for the number two spot.

I don’t really know who won but I had never eaten so much chili in my life. I love chili cookoffs.

After work I burned off some calories with a night run on Turkey Mountain with a group of people. I’m getting more used to running with a headlamp. You sure have to keep your head down and focus on where your feet are going. I only stumbled once but I didn’t fall. Sometimes stumbling is worse than falling.

We did four miles in the dark. It was a fast group but they would stop every now and then and let the slow guys and gals catch up. We did about four miles. I’m loving night running. I’m thinking about planting a night geocache on Turkey Mountain. More to come on that later?

So, what have you been up to lately?

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.

YogisDen.us

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