First Annual Poker Run

Here is the idea.....run a 7 mile trail run.  At every mile, draw a card.  The runner with the best 5 card poker hand at the end...WINS!!  Sounds fun couldn't wait.  Unfortunately our dearest running buddy Kris is under the weather and couldn't join us.  We decided to draw her cards for her and text her each time to keep her in the game.  So ready to go!!!

 We put our Yak Trax in our packs, not sure if we wold need them or not.  We started at the Seaman's Parking lot and headed towards the public trail that leads to Veteran's.  At exaclty 0.09 miles in tothe run we had to stop and put our Yak's on.

Our legs felt very heavy. What was going on?  We were feeling like we were in such great shape for our upcoming 20 mile Wilson Creek Race.  Today was a humble stick slapped across our face.  We dragged the first mile!  At mile one we drew our first card.  What did I draw for Kris?

 HAHA how fitting!  We put it away and drew a new one.  Then we trudged along.  Our legs didn't feel normal until probably mile 4.  They were just so heavy and our calves BURNED!!  Each time we stopped to draw a card, we would text a picture to Kris.  She would text and telll me from where on the pile to draw, then she would say I was a cheater, etc.

We finally hit the downhill section of Veteran's and felt some relief in our legs.  I began to feel a weirdness in my foot fall.  It felt as if I was running on a spring, like I was inspector gadget or something.

I suddenly realized what it was.  Darn it!! My Yak Trax broke. Luckily I carry a small leatherman in my pack.  Just a few minutes and it was ready to go!

As we headed up the last hill we had an eerie sight!  Four big black crows on the trail.  Three quickly flew away but on ehung around. He sat on the fence for quite a while.

It was a bit creepy at first.  Then when we got home I googled what it might mean.

"It is said that if you see just one crow it is considered to be unlucky. If you see two black crows it is said to be good luck. If you see three black crows it is said to mean health. If you see four black crows it is said to mean wealth. "

Hey alright!  I could use some wealth!!

We finished by running a total of 7.3 miles.  Our legs were so tired from running in the soft uneven snow.  Our poker hands ended up like this:

Michele

Jodi

Kris

Michele technically won but she said since she was the "game-master"  she couldn't be the winner.  So, YAY I am the winner!!!

After I had to prove to Kris that I did not cheat, it was time for the gift exchange.  We all are so much alike!!  We ALL bought calendars for each other! Too funny!

Climb Every Mountain....

On today's run it was unfortunate that I had the song "Climb Every Mountain" from the Sound of Music in my head.  That did add a whole new level of meaning to the trails today.

We loved our Junk Yard loop last week SO much that we decided to run it again.  The plan was to add a bit more at the end and try to get in 14 miles.  It has been pretty foggy for the past two days, but it made for a beautiful trail run.  We were definitely "Running in a Winter Wonderland" today.

We ran a lot smarter today (if that is ever possible).  We fueled more often and walked the steep hills.  Our 50K training is going pretty well so far.  It was a fun, frosty day!

13.5 miles.  Not too shabby for the morning!

Who knew running JUNK YARD could be so fun!

So since Michele has jumped on the "Let's run Ultra's" train with me, we have been upping our trail mileage.  This run was planned out to be 10-13 miles.  It has been REALLY cold lately here.  Last run we had my hydration pack froze and I couldn't drink.  After gathering advice from other seasoned Ultra runners I got two very great tips....
#1... put the mouth piece and tube in your shirt
#2...blow the water back into the pouch after you drink

With our great advice ready we headed off!

It was a snowy day so we wore our YakTrax, a definite must for winter trail running!  We parked at the Seaman's Trail head and ran the outer loop clockwise.  Then we headed down the canal bank which leads to the trails by Drycreek Cemetery.  I LOVE to run!  So I made a note for everyone to see!

As we ran through Veteran's we decided to drop into the Velodrom.  Didn't think there would be too many bicyclists to contend with and we were right!  It was a great system to run in !  We got onto a trail called Junkyard.  LOVED IT!!  This rail was so awesome!!

Who knew something referring to trash could be so enjoyable...but it was!  We had such a great run today!  We ended up with 12.5 miles and both felt great.  I must say though, all this awesome trail running does make running on the roads worse and worse.  If I could I would trail run EVERYDAY!  But the gas money would bankrupt me.

E.P.I.C.

When thinking of a title of this blog, only one word came to mind...........EPIC.

Michele and I have did a black Friday run for the last three years of so.  We get up really early, hit some sales at her husband's store then hit the trails.  We have also run the same loop.  This year Michele suggested we go different, we go big, we go EPIC.  I'm in!  We tested Kris in Texas to tell her of our plans.  We were yelled at from 1,000s of miles away!  True Kris form!

Done with our shopping.  Heading to the trails.

Starting elevation : 3285

Last chance bathroom break

Ready to run!!

We started at the second Corral's parking lot.  The "idea" was to run up to the Hard Guy trail, take Hard Guy to Ridge Road, then to Dry Creek which we eventually bring us back down and join Hard Guy.  That was the plan.  A plan that we didn't study out very well.  A plan that was supposed to be 17 miles. A plan that should get us home by noon.  A plan that went terribly wrong and then became EPIC.

This shows Dry Creek way below us

Hard Guy

Great morning!!

Huge bear tracks!

Bear track

 After we saw these bear tracks we were being extra alert. Sometimes being more alert can make you a bit edgy.  A few minutes later a huge flock of quail BURST out from the sage brush and flew away.  Have you ever hear the noise created by a few dozen quail hitting the air.  It is extremely loud.  We both screamed.  This was a first.  I can't remember ever screaming bloody murder on the trails before.  Mission of increasing my heart rate to 5,000 complete.

This hill was TERRIBLE!

Hard Guy definitely lived up to it's name!  We did so much walking.  It was a really tough climb.  My legs were burning!  

Cool dead tree

This was an old burn out site with a lot of cool looking dead trees

Almost to the forest, must be close to Ridge Road!

 When we were finally changing terrain from sage brush to pine trees, we knew that we must be getting close to ridge road.  We had not seen any living things this entire run except the heart attack quail and a few other birds.  There were no other runners, no rodents, snakes, not even any bugs.  Suddenly Michele calls out, "Holy Cow! Look at all of those runners."  I look the direction she is pointing and I see a couple dozen bodies moving very rapidly in a super fluid motion.  "Those are deer!"  I exclaim.  Then I laughed and laughed.  And I teased her about it the entire remainder of our run.  Then FINALLY we pop out to Ridge road and what do we find?

SNOW. SNOW. SNOW!

Ridge road was 2.2 miles of snow, ice, walking, water hazards and just in general having to go really slow!

Good thing I had a Cliff Bar to keep me going!

Neither of us expected this!

Water Hazard

Peak Elevation

Dry Creek Trail

Luckily Michele had remembered that the Dry Creek Trail would appear after 2.2 miles after we left Hard Guy.  Other wise we would have missed it.  This is the turn.  I would have NEVER noticed this!!

We started running down this trail (lots of snow again) and came to a fork in the trail.  Left or right?  To the right was a lot of foot traffic prints and tire marks.  To the left were only deer prints.  "Let's go left."  Michele said.  " I think we go left."

This ended up not looking like a trial at all  We were going through deep snow, brush, etc.  Finally after a mile we decided, maybe we should have gone right....back we go.

Michele is standing on the trail we TOOK pointing to the trail that we SHOULD have taken

This shows the two trails as they split.
We went left.....we are dumb.

Finally we were on the right trail.  Only problem was we had just added 2 miles to our already planned 17.  Uh..Oh.  We checked fuel and water and we were good, so we kept going.  Dry Creek was fun, would have been better with out the icy snow areas, but still fun.  We actually crossed the creek 18 times!  I took a picture every time too!!

This one was scary because we had to walk across the ice.

 Finally we stopped crossing the creek and came out to nice rolling trails.  The discussion began as to where were we and how were we going to find the way back to hard guy.  Eventually came to our second MAJOR fork in the round.  Last time we had picked the wrong way.  This time we had 3 choices.  I thought I knew where we were and had good bearings.  I felt we should go left and it would lead us to back to Hard Guy.  My instinct was correct, we did need to head left, just not left on the trail that we did.  After running for about .6 of a mile we actually saw people.  We stopped and asked them "Where are we?"  I'm sure they thought we were odd for sure.

Turns out we were headed back up to Ridge Road.  NO!  Ugh yet another wrong turn!  This one turned out to be an extra 1.5!!

Here is Michele posing (yet again) showing which trail we SHOULD have taken!

So happy to see the road!!

This 17 miler turned out to be a whopping 20.4 miles!!!  So I learned a few things....

1)   Always study out the trail plan before you head out onto new trails
2)    Let someone back home know where you will be (we had some worried husbands)
3)    Do not use Island Nectars Gu.  It is gross
4)    When it comes to a choice of following human footprints or animal prints, chose to follow humans.
5)    Food is better than Gu's and Beans on long runs
6)    Don't pause your Garmin when you stop to tie your shoe.  Inevitably you will forget to start it again.
7)    I can run for over 5 hours!
8)    Long trail runs?  Doable and I am ready!

Epic?  Yes is was!  I had a blast!