Girls Gone Wildwood

After Ann's little surprise for me-- my least favorite uphill trail at the end of 23 miles-- I decided to return the favor. Ann tries to kick BPA away  Ann's least favorite trail is BPA, and it's easy to see why. From Wildwood it plummets in gravel and nearly-running water right down to Highway 30. And then you have to get back up the hill!  Surveying what's to come Luckily Newton intersects right there, so it's a loop. A scenic, painful, slow loop. Strangely, we saw more people coming up BPA than anywhere else on our entire run. Proving once again that runners are a crazy bunch. View and reflections from BPA Still, it was worth it when Ann asked me at the start of the run how far we were going on Wildwood, and I said "To BPA." Then she asked how far on BPA, and I got to laugh a long, loud, evil laugh, followed by "The whole way!" Priceless! Finishing the downhill For some reason I don't remember Newton from Highway 30 bac

Snowy, icy and sunny!   I was in Bend for the weekend with friends for one of our annual Mt. Bachelor ski and snowboard trips, unfortunately it was too windy and a lot of the lifts were shut down. Fortunately, I brought my running shoes and gear (of course) and decided to try and reach Benham Falls  on the Deschutes River Trail, which Susan and I didn't have time to reach last year . I decided to start a little closer this year at the Lava Island Falls trailhead, since John was with me and he was going to hike while I ran. I told him that I was going run an hour or so out and turn around. What I didn't expect was how much snow and ice there was going to be, which slowed me down a lot. I didn't make it to the falls, I was probably a mile and half away when I turned around, but I was still able to get a decent 11-12 mile run in. I guess the falls will have to wait for the next time Susan and I are in Bend together.   Deschutes River Mt Bachelor peaking out

Ann called this "Surprise for you at the end." I call it mean. After 23 extremely muddy, slippery miles of rolling hills, a steep uphill climb on Holman Lane. I think Holman is my BPA. Frozen spillway falls It was much warmer than last week, but many of the small streams through Forest Park were so hard frozen that they were still mostly ice. Luckily for us, the trail itself wasn't icy, except in a few small patches. Frozen creek newtown rd - ww .60 ww - fl5 (26.5-16.5) 10 fl5 - leif .23 leif - maple .15 maple - ww 3.17 ww (14.25) - ww (5.5) 8.75 ww - holman (5.5-6) .5 holman - 53rd .76  total: 24.16

blowing snow When we started our 22 mile run, the temperature outside was 22℉.  It didn't take long  for the tubes on our water bladders to freeze and for Susan to slip and fall.  I used an old trick that I use to use snowshoeing before I got an insulated tube to unthaw the tubes, put the tube inside of your shirt so warmth of your body keeps the water above freezing. Another trick is to try and blow back into the tube to remove any excess water, but it wasn't working very well for us.  Trying not to fall was a little more difficult since the ice was hiding under the dirt. Luckily we could see where people before has had slid, which made avoiding the ice a little easier. We did our part and left enough "warning" marks for the people behind us.  I think this was one of the first runs where we ran up to the Pittock Mansion and Susan didn't complain about the hills, but only because they were keeping her warm. Unfortunately once we reached the Pittock we

We needed 18 miles, and I enjoyed the far north end of the park the previous week on my own. So I mixed in just about the only two little loops you can do up there without adding extra mileage. The best part was throwing the infamous BPA trail into the mix. We only did a quarter of a mile of it, but it's fun to be able to throw the name in there. 99  Luftballons... okay, just one It's a fire lane bonanza! Hello, BPA. Can't resist another one showing Ann's love for this trail FL 7 to Ridge-- .32mi Ridge to WW (20.86)-- .4mi (.72 total) WW (20.86) to end (ww 30. 16 )-- 9.3mi (10.02 total) WW (30.16) to FL 15 (ww 28.63)-- 1.53mi (11.55 total) FL15 to FL12-- .37mi (11.92 total) FL12 to BPA-- .51mi (12.43 total) BPA to WW (27.45) -- .25mi (12.68 total) WW (27.45) to Newton Rd (ww 26.30)-- 1.15mi (13.83 total) Newton Rd to Parking lot/ FL 10-- .60mi (14.43 total) Parking lot/ FL10 to WW (25.43)-- .15mi (14.58 total) WW (25.43) to Hard

It's been a while since I've been out on Wildwood north of Germantown Road (since there aren't many loops up there), so I decided to venture up there for a shorter solo run (while Ann spent the weekend in Hood River for her birthday). My plan was to start at the Waterline trailhead off of Skyline Blvd, but there was nowhere to park. "REDO H2O" on the way up Waterline So I circled back and parked at the Germantown trailhead of Wildwood, ran down to Waterline, and up it to Skyline and then back to Wildwood and out all the way to the end at Newberry before turning around back to the car. A new one for me-- Waterline trailhead at Skyline Blvd That northern section of Wildwood was amazing. Recently groomed, free of leaves, mud puddles, virtually spotless. There were a few sections of ice in the shade, but it wasn't slick at all. There were lots of people out, especially with dogs, enjoying the rare November sun and peerless blue sky. Heavenly! Hel

We ran on Sunday do to spousal schedule conflicts, which meant that we got to go longer. Twenty miles! Our friend Sally-- the monster who had never run more than 9 miles but joined us once for 15-- ran the first 10 with us. It was a gorgeously clear, sunny day. Clear view of St Johns Bridge. More impressive in person. One end of Maple-- we did all of it Tallest mushroom stems ever. Who picked them?! Saltzman - Leif 1.62 Leif - ridge 2.25 Ridge - wildwood .44 Ww - Saltzman 5 - total 9.32 Sally runs Saltzman back to car 1.12 for a total of 10.44 Ann and Susan 2nd half Saltzman - Leif .50 Leif - maple .23 Maple - ww 3.07 Ww - birch 6 Birch - 53rd .23 - total 10.03 Grand total 19.35

"wedding cake toppers" that Susan made It's my wedding weekend, and how do I entertain my out of town family? By running of course (and drinking beer). My step-sister, Gretchen and step-brother Noel had never been to Portland, so I was excited to show them where I spend most of my time running, especially Noel since he is a trail / ultra runner too. The first day everyone but Noel and I stuck to Leif, but he ventured off Leif with me for a few good climbs up to Wildwood and on Wildwood. Noel is from Texas, so Forest Park is pretty hilly for him, but he was able to keep his pace up. Dad, Gretchen and Stepanee on Leif Erickson Gretchen and Stepahnee Noel and me 1st day of family running On my actually wedding day the only one from the family who would get up and run with Susan and me was Noel. And since I wouldn't let Susan plan a bachelorette party and I didn't have any bridesmaids, we somehow ended up calling the run the "bridesmaid

While Ann glammed it up at the Nike San Francisco Women's Half Marathon  I experienced the foggiest run of my life. The fog was so dense that I kept having to wipe off my face and squeegee my eyelashes-- something foreign to me because my hat usually keeps my face dry from the elements. Driving on the Fremont Bridge... where's the bridge? The moisture in the air also imparted a very slick surface to the dry, packed dirt and leaf-covered rocks. It was so slick and difficult to see through fog and fallen leaves that I ran a bit funny on Maple Trail, trying not to slide on the narrow, banked sections. Lifting my feet higher and placing them more carefully took a big toll and I had some nasty sharp hip pain. It was also exhausting. Dense fog adds mystery It made me worry about the  Columbia Gorge Half  the next weekend, which is our one fast (for us) road race of the year. And then the potentially bodacious Silver Falls Marathon the next weekend... A log full of br