Girls Gone Wildwood

Amazing blue sky and autumn colors When I first started running in Portland, I was lucky to find an amazing group of people who became my friends and running crew. We logged miles, trained for marathons, cheered each other on, and have run countless events together. Although most of them don't want to run quite as far as I do recently-- and I don't want to get up quite as early as some of them do!-- we still run together on a regular basis. Sunbeams cut through the fog Friday was Kevin's birthday, so Saturday morning Gretchen, Travis, Bob, Kevin, his wife Chris, his daughter Cat and I all met up at the Leif Erikson trailhead at the end of NW Thurman, and ran a 5 mile out-and-back. Then we met at St Honore for coffee-- I ran and the others drove. After hanging out, chatting and enjoying our beverages, I set off back up hill. Pickle tower sculpture, seen on NW Thurman Whew, what a slog! Going up Thurman felt tough, and I wasn't sure I was good for...

The last few weeks I have been traveling more than normal for work. I was in San Francisco on 2 different occasions, once by the airport and the other time downtown. When I found out my conference was at a airport hotel I had resided to the fact that I was going to be running on a treadmill. Which is almost enough to make me not want to run, but 4 days without working out would make me very cranky which my co-workers would not appreciate. Pedestrian bridge on the path I ran by SFO  One of things I have learned about traveling for work is to ask the hotel concierge if they can suggest running routes, a lot of the time they even have maps. When I arrived at the airport hotel it was dark so I had no idea of my surroundings, even though I fly into SFO several times a year, but I never stay at the airport. I was pleasantly surprised when the guy at the front desk told me there was a biking and running path behind the hotel that "went for miles". I was even more surprised ...

On Saturday, November 1, Ann's dad, Fred, turned 70 and we celebrated with a big party in Hood River. Many of us stayed the night or weekend in town, including Ann's stepsister Gretchen and stepbrother Noel-- both of whom traveled from Texas and both of whom are runners.  Bridge to rocks to bridge Noel is injured, but Gretchen, Fred, Ann and I all wanted to go for a run on Sunday morning (Made possible by my dad hanging out with my son. Thanks, Dad!). Ann looked for trails that weren't too hilly for our flat-land visitors, with enough miles to keep us all happy. After some waffling we settled on Post Canyon, even though there wasn't much information or detailed maps available. Look how long this bike balance beam keeps going! It's primarily a park for mountain biking, but with so many well-kept, wandering, interconnected trails in a lovely forest setting, it made a great place for a timed run. We just drove up Post Canyon Dr until we found a goo...

See that tiny rainbow, and where it ends? Ann & I have run the Columbia Gorge half marathon since its start in 2009. Every year there's terrible weather up til the start (and sometimes for the first few miles). But every year it clears up and we thank our lucky stars for the beauty of the course and the fun of running fast (for us) through the colorful, autumnal landscape. More rainbows and autumn color In 2011 we finally dropped under two hours, and every year since we've improved by a little bit. This year I wasn't sure if we would be any faster. Although we had been doing a speed workout once a week for months, we stopped after our race at the beginning of September and haven't been back since. And I forgot my watch to time our splits. Our friend Sally joined us-- her first-ever race! She was nervous, but when she runs with us on the trails she often pushes the pace. My dad also came out for the race (his fourth time, I think) from the east coast, w...

Susan at the top of Saltzman Susan said to me don't you think we should taper for our 50k next week? I think I said something like sure we can run 24 miles instead of 26 miles. After running 50 miles 3 different times this year I really wasn't worried about tapering for a 50k. I also knew in the weeks after the 50k I would be traveling a lot for work and would miss several weekends of long runs, so I wanted to get in runs when I could.    We have been reusing routes in our blogs in the previous weeks and when I looked up 24 mile routes, I was uninspired. So I came up with a new route, besides running down Firelane 4 and getting soaked by all the plants covering the trail, I really enjoyed the variety of the route. I am not sure Susan enjoyed running 3 miles up Saltzman, but I secretly enjoyed making her do it.  Route:  birch - ww : .22 ww - chestnut (7.5 - 12.33) : 4.83  chestnut - leif : .49 leif - maple : .79 maple - fl4 : ....

Downtown view from Pittock Mansion Looking for 22 miles, we followed this route  from the summer. Last time we did Firelane 4, it was massively overgrown. This time it was a little bit more groomed, but the overhanging leaves and greenery were heavy with rain and dew, so we still got drenched (again). This is a great route for some climbing and descending. I'm sure we'll revisit it soon. Fungus swirl Good ol' FL4

Pamelia Lake After Susan and I ran the Three Sisters Loop , Susan asked me if there was a loop around Mt. Jefferson. I told her I didn't think there was, but of course once I got home I pulled out my Mt. Jefferson map to verify. There isn't, but looking at the map it jogged my memory of previous Mt. Jefferson backpacking trips I have done in the past. Knowing that I was going to have a low key Labor day weekend, I thought if by chance I could get an overnight pass to Pamelia Lake , I would go camp and do a run and head back to Portland.  By some luck I was able to secure a camping permit for Friday night. I originally thought that I could run the Hunt's Cove loop  but come to find out the trail is closed due to a forest fire. However the PCT North and South were open, so I thought I could run to Jefferson Park and back which is ~15 miles. I emailed Karrla and asked if she wanted to join me on this short trip, we backpacked Hunt's Cove years ago, but we have...