The Day is about to Bloom

Resting today. Getting ready for the big first race of my new running life this Sunday. I'm definitely more concerned about the expected human mass than I am about the actual run.

I think I might write a poem:

It's almost Bloomsday,
a road race - not dirt,
but I'll still run hard,
unless the other fifty thousand people are just way too much and I go find a little cocooning area near the parking garage way way way over there where no one will be able to see me and I can live the rest of my life in peace and especially not have to worry about getting into a fist fight with Ms. Spokane's great-aunt Loni for dibs on the last "I just ran 7.46 miles for a damn Bloomsday shirt" t-shirt.

© 2007 IKeepRunning.blogspot.com

for those who run - and like maps of the places they just ran

mapmyrun.com

Super cool tool for tracking distance and elevation gains/losses on a run.

Breakfast on a Butte

Today was going to be a rest day - instead (with the persuasion of Jeanie and the dogs) we went on a nice, easy, relaxing, Sunday morning hike up Kamiak Butte just north of Pullman. The loop from the parking lot is 3.5 miles. A wonderful hike - and if you get there early enough you can have it all to yourself.

looking east into Idaho

Steptoe Butte on the horizon


Jeanie and the pups walking the ridge

dueling banjos

No running compares to trail running. I have to say that sometimes when I'm running on the roads or bike paths I feel like I'm just exercising. But when I'm out on the trails there is something different. No cars. No concrete. No intersections. No need for leashes. It is nice to have such a dedicated running partner as Sadie and I love seeing her run off the leash.

But today's run may not have happened/may not have ended so wonderfully if I didn't make a quick decision...

I went driving to another part of Moscow Mountain looking for a trailhead that accesses trails I've never been on. The directions I got were a bit shady:

turn right on this road that says no trespassing but don't worry about that because it's okay and then up a ways on the left you'll see a log just past a bird sitting on a limb (don't worry, this is the bird's favorite place to sit so it will probably be there) - go past the log about fifteen seconds and then move away some brush. you'll notice what looks like the skeletal remains of some very large animal that seems too big to have died in such a violent way, but don't worry, it's already dead. plug your nose and continue rather blindly until there are enough leaves crunching under your feet to make it sounds like you're walking on a sheet of leaves. then simply turn right and you'll see the trail to this secluded runner's paradise.

and roads aren't really marked on this part of Moscow Mountain. But I continued until I thought I was in the general area and I stopped next to a couple other cars that I pulled off on the side of the road. Sure enough, there was a no trespassing sign and a path leading up - so I let Sadie out and headed up.

Then I saw this sign:

(click to enlarge and read)

There was something that didn't sit right with me about this sign. Maybe it's because I re-watched the movie "Deliverance" recently, but it just seemed like the guy who wrote this sign was a bit...off - just look at the color combinations. And I think he was lying about something. Either he didn't really have any grandchildren or he really did like stepping in dog feces. Either way, I thought it would be best if we headed back to the car (I think it is definitely because I watched "Deliverance" so recently.)

I headed back to the other side of the mountain to our regular trails and had a wonderfully safe run on the Headwaters Loop. And Sadie was a happy pup too.

$2 run

very tired. must go to sleep.

late night jog from $2 thursday night movie (tonight - grindhouse. see it!) to home - uh, 1-mile...ish?

Grocery Run

-from RW's "101 Kicks in the Butt"

#75
"Run an errand -- literally. Run to get cash at the ATM, buy that lottery ticket for the mega-million-dollar prize, or return the DVD to the rental store."

----

#75 is Jeanie's favorite by far. Do the dishes - RUN! Take the trash out - RUN! I tell her there is a difference between chores and errands. She tells me to prove it - without a dictionary. Uhhh.... So, the dishes are getting done much faster now even though I'm just running in place.

For reals, though. I ran to get groceries, kind of. Jeanie and Shasta drove ahead to do the grocery shopping and Sadie and I followed. My run was finishing up just as she was finishing at the grocery store. Ba da bing. Nice run and a ride home. (We do our grocery shopping in Moscow, ID.)

Home to grocery store - 9.5 miles.

And we got some chocolate chip cookies. For reals.

Doggin' it

Nice day today. We had a "dogs at the park" meeting with another dog at 6:15. So, Sadie and I decided to run there to meet everyone. I took a new route and saw some nice views of Pullman that I usually don't get to see. Yes, I said nice views. Contrary to an unnamed reader's opinion that my making fun of Pullman rain meant I was making fun of Pullman, the whole area has really grown on us. Most of the run was uphill, and into the wind, and through quicksand like ashpalt, but I survived, and Sadie still had energy to play frisbee and fetch at the park with the other dogs.

I measured the distance of my route on the drive home - 3.5 miles.

Bloomsday 12k - aka "Uh, where did all these people come from?"

I officially signed up to run in Spokane's Bloomsday 12k in two weeks. I am pretty excited because this will be my first real race and I've been telling everyone about it. But remember - I'm new to running and new-ish to this area so I don't know much about the big races around the country. So, most responses I get are something like this:

Them - "Good for you." Smile and pat on my back.
Me - "Thank you." Smile and pat on my own back.
Them - "Good luck."
Me - "Oh, thanks. I'll be okay, though. It's just a 12k (puff of my chest). I've been running about that distance already."
Them - (chuckle) "No no no. I mean with all the people."
Me - (bad imitation of their happy chuckle) "What do you mean the people?"
Them - "The (readjustment in their chair/position) 50,000 people."
Me - "Could you spell that out for me?"
Them - "Fifty-thousand."
Me - "But this is Spokane. Washington."
Them - "I know. I don't think anyone's figured it out yet."
Me - "Well, any idea where I can park?"

Pullman "Rain"

From RW's 101 Kicks in the Butt:

#31
"Run through a spring storm. With rain hitting you sideways and the wind whipping your face, you'll feel alive. Just make sure you have a dry pair of shoes for tomorrow."

--

Being from Houston, we always laugh (behind their backs) at what people call rain in Pullman. The hardest it has rained in Pullman since we've lived here (over 3 years now!) is like a Wednesday afternoon drizzle in Houston. (Note: we aren't laughing during the winter)

But today it was "raining" in Pullman, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to try out #31. I liked it - like running with my own sideline misting fan you see at NFL games. Sweet.

*6.5 - 7 mile loop from my front door.

101 Kicks in the Butt

Here's a link to the Runner's World article that inspired me to start this blog. 101 kicks in the butt to get you out of the house and into your running shoes.

Return to Moscow Mt.

Three weeks ago I went on a 3hr run/hike on Moscow Mt. and ended up with a bum knee. So, I've basically taken these past three weeks off from running (with short runs here and there) to give the knee a rest. It's been feeling much better so I decided to make my much anticipated return to the mountain this afternoon. I took it easy, though, and kept it to my favorite 5-mile loop (view a map of Headwaters trail with Google Earth or Google Maps). Sadie was glad to be back also. Shasta doesn't enjoy runs longer than 3 or 4 miles - though she can hike with us to the edge of the world (unless we're more than 10 miles away from the edge).

Running (and the things in between)

I tried out a new pair of shorts on my run today. Negative. Stretching was fine. Warm-up lunges - ok. Running -- YAHOOEEE! Let's just say that my shorts took me for a ride. I had to run bowlegged just to keep them in proper running formation. A-nnoy-ing. People were pulling their cars over to see if I needed help. "Nope, I'm good." Sadie and Shasta (our dogs) were a bit confused at what I was trying to do, too. "Fetch." Hey, if I wanted shorts to ride up on my that much I would have bought a $5 ticket at the Lewiston Fair - (I have no idea what that was supposed to mean.) Long story short - big negative on the new shorts.

-

I was behind a group of guys waiting for a walk sign at an intersection and they were playing some weird game. It was like from a baseball or football telecast, except without the baseball or football - they were laughing trying to sneak up on each other so slap each other's backsides. Okay (I guess - who am I to judge) for grown men in tight pants to do it in front of millions of people because they just got a big hit - but five guys carrying bags of chips at a Pullman intersection? But who am I to judge... They looked at me with the two dogs on a leash and I looked away real quick like I was trying to tell time by the positioning of the sun. I hope I didn't give them the wrong impression. I thought of telling Sadie "sick 'em" but she's too nice of a girl.

-

Oh, and I ran about 2.5 / 3 miles. It was a Shasta run.

Images from Moscow Mt.

These photos were taken on our hike last Sunday up Moscow Mt. They're meant to give you a reference for the dogs and some of my favorite trails and views.

Sadie is the Border Collie trying to lick my face and Shasta is the Pomeranian trying to figure out how the heck she got on top of the rock. This photo was taken last Sunday on our hike up Moscow Mt.

Retro Post from other Blog - texas boy meet idaho moose

(this was originally posted on my other blog wordingwhy.blogspot.com before i started this blog)

i was running one of my favorite trails on moscow mountain yesterday when what to my wondering eyes did appear, but a big moose cow - with luckily no calf near. i said my hellos and she blinked back. i said "move on" and she looked at me like "are you telling me what to do? oh no you di'nt." finally she trudged off the trail far enough to make me comfortable to pass. this particular trail is a loop - and my run was feeling good (see the last post about my new shoes) so i decided to do the loop twice. sure enough, i saw her again on the second loop just chillin' next to a tree on the other side of a clearing. word up.

this is not my photo - but it is the closest i could find online to what it looked like yesterday on the moscow mountain trail.

Welcome

This new blog is designed to track (and motivate me to track) my running progress as I train for my first marathon - the Portland (OR) Marathon on Oct 7th. I've been "running" for the past 10 years - you know, five miles this week twelve miles the next kind of stuff. I decided in February to do the Portland Marathon and have made some decent progress since then. But I may have hit a wall and need an extra push...