Run the Highway, Up the Yuck, Down the Side and through the Reds....... WHAT?

HAPPY BLACK FRIDAY

We spend it running on trails not through stores!

As you run trails with your friends, you tend to give trails your own name.  It can be because of an event that happened there, or simply a way that helps you remember.  Our run today is a perfect example.   Our run today could be described as follows:

From the upper parking lot, run the Highway, instead of going to the lunch box we'll go up the Yuck, a nice easy run down the Side and finish through the Reds, leaving out Chickadee this time.

To anyone else it sounds like jibberish..... but to us..... perfect clarity!

Another run we love is near Veterans.  Some of those trails include; the hill Kris almost died on, Crow Corner and the Forgotten Switch backs,

The only problem we run into is when we find ourselves having to explain a trail to someone else.  It is tough to explain to someone how to get to suicide hill when you forget it's real name.  But usually we can remember.

That is one of the great things about running.  You can be literally in your own world, naming all the trails and turns however you want to!

Our run today started with a bet as to how many cars would be in the parking lot.  Michele won with the guess of 3 cars, 2 dogs.  Amazing that she got that right!  Then she chanted "3 cars - 2 dogs"  for like 10 minutes! Here she is thinking it is funny and Kris thinking it is annoying!

Here we are about to go "up the YUCK!"  It is a really steep motorcycle trail.

A portion of "The Yuck".

Kris running "through the Red".

Michele walking through the Red and announcing that she was not tired....she was DANGEROUS!

It was a great day out there on the trails today, so warm for the end of November!  We all wished we had warn shorts!!  As the run ended Michele was swaying from one side of the trail to another, she was mumbling about how everything we said didn't make sense and that she MUST have a fever!  As I write this I think she is most likely drugged up on cold medicine.  But the good news is a trail run will make your cold last half as long.  Just ask Dr. Ryals!

**P.S.  I was told not to include that Kris peed almost immediately after she got out of the car, causing us to all scream!**

The Ho Ho Ho 'nearly' Half Marathon on the day the world is supposed to end!

Merry Christmas!

 

Most people at this time of the year are busy out doing their last minute shopping and baking and mailing. Others are fearing the Mayans prediction that the world will end today, 12/21/12, and are hunkered down somewhere in a bunker.  WE are hitting the trails!  However today's second annual Ho Ho Ho Half-Marathon had to be a 'nearly' Half because I have been really sick!  I am probably border line pneumonia.  So why would I be out running the trails is the cold December weather?  If you have to ask that then you do not know me very well.

 

 

We started with a gift exchange...always so fun!  Kris brought us the best adornment for our run today!

 DON'T WE LOOK FESTIVE?

 

 



 It was a pretty cold morning.  But we dressed in layers.  The worst part was the wind.  You can run in anything...except the WIND.  It is so draining!  We didn't expect to see any other runners, but were surprised when a group of four ladies passed by.  They LOVED our "Ho-Ho's" and smiled as they went by.  Michele noted that there were four in that group.  "We could never run with a fourth person.  It would upset our balance." Kris piped in, "Oh I would welcome another runner with open arms!"  Yeah right, I think she just wants fresh meat to torture!

We parked at the upper parking lot of camel's back and started right onto The Grove, Owl's Roost and the Kestrel (aka the Highway).  It was getting windier and windier each step we took!  This was not going good!  The wind is NOT a runner's friend.  We had to run slower today too mostly because of me being sick.

We made our way to sidewinder.  It was so terribly windy at this point!  We had gusts hitting us at 40-50 mph!!  It's like the hills didn't want us up there and were trying to blow us off!  We kept hearing a weird noise as we turned onto sidewinder.  Michele yelled, "It's a truck!"  I wish you could see our faces when she suggested that.  A truck?  Up here?  We kept running and the noise continued. Finally Michele yelled, "STOP!"  She froze and said "Listen."  She could not go another step without knowing what that noise was.  We finally decided that it was the wind blowing the power lines around.  Whether that is what it was or not, it satisfied Michele and we were allowed to resume our run.

I'm not sure if this picture captures the wind very well, you have to look at their hair blowing.

The wind got so strong that even walking grew cumbersome.  It took us an hour to go 4 MILES!!!  We were not taking our sweet time either, we were trying to move!  Finally we got to the Fat Tire Trail.  A change in direction and a decline and less wind HOORAY!  Kris had never ran Fat Tire.  I was so happy to share this moment with her!  We were excited to show her "Love Rock".  That is a place on Fat Tire where someone has made a huge heart out of rocks.  All the times we have ran by and I have never taken a picture.  Today I was finally going to.

Although I hadn't run for over a week my legs felt great!  If my darn lungs would just work better!  I decided I wanted to switch out my torso with someone else and keep my legs so I could run better.  Michele and Kris both agreed I couldn't run with their torsos because I wouldn't know what to do with the knew "upper" weight.  Oh they are sooooo funny!

Much to our disappoint as we came upon "love rock" it was no longer as it had once been.  Someone had changed to it read..."Love Biking".  We were so disappointed.  Kris suggested we change it to say "running" but none of had the energy to do so.  The wind was not only blowing, it was also sucking the very energy from our souls!


We came off Fat Tire and headed onto Freestone headed down towards Mountain Cove.  Michele and I have dubbed this portion of the run "suicide hill".  This is because it is really steep downhill and rutted and we had an intense tail wind throwing us down the hill.  It was scary.  Today was much more mild compared to last year.  So, it wasn't much of a suicide hill this time.  Then Michele had to go to the bathroom and POOF she disappeared into the bushes.  We waited, and waited, and waited. "Holy Cow what is taking so long!"  "My hands are stuck." Came a reply from the bushes.

Kris and I exchanged a look that read 'did she just say what I think she said?'  To which Kris yelled.  "We are not helping you with that!"  Haha turns out it was her PANTS that were stuck, not her hands.  That makes a lot more sense.

At this point in our run, our dear Michele began to go delusional and basically lose her mind.  It must have started when she was alone in the bushes going pee.  Because the next thing you know she is babbling about a rhyme that's so funny, "On channel four not last night but the night before..."  and then she burst into uncontrollable laughter.  It took her a good 5 minutes to control herself long enough to tell us that she was making a patty melt for dinner.  Then her hands went numb and she made us promise if she went permanently crippled we would still take her on runs by pushing her in a handicap stroller.  If it had been warm out I would have thought she was hallucinating by dehydration.  It was cold and windy, but not hypothermia cold.  I just can't say what was happening to her.

And then, we see this....

Hmm... that's not a real good sign to see.


We ran into our friend Brian just as we were about to drop onto Mountain Cove.  He turned our run into rated R with a stream of curse words when we told him how windy it was up top.  Gotta love runners!

Finally we reached the trail that was a MUST today, Military Connection.  This was the LAST trail for us to do to complete our resolution to run all the trails in the ridge to rivers system.  When I say us I mean Michele and I.  Kris is not in this club.  She did not endure 5mile Mile, 8th street, #4, and Femrite Patrol.  Those our the worst trails ever created, but you must run them to be in the club.

As we neared the top of the Connector (which yes we were walking because it is so steep!) I whipped out my pocket knife!  I was ready to cut off my trail anklet the second we finished this trail.  We saw a couple runners at the top.  "Hmm," I said, "maybe I should put my knife away."  Then I thought, "Maybe I should run with it and start yelling The World is going to End!"  After much laughter we decided that would definitely NOT be a smart idea!

We made it!  The cutting off of the anklet ceremony began!!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

 

 

It was all downhill from here baby! Kris wanted to run down Redcliff instead of the highway.  "NO!" I decided.  Someone had opened me up and drained all of the energy out of my body.  I was spent.  I knew if I stopped moving I was very likely to fall asleep.  I found myself eyeing each sage brush we passed to see if it looked comfortable or not.  This run needed to be done!

 

 

We finished, 10 miles. Not a half marathon in distance but definitely in effort.  We had the most wonderful thing awaiting us at the car.....

 



 YUM! YUM! Merry Christmas!!!

 





BLACK FRIDAY!!

So... the second annual Black Friday run is back!!  While most people are out there fighting crowds and traffic and spending money.... we are enjoying the trails!

It was a beautiful, quiet and COLD morning after Thanksgiving.   There were NO other cars in the parking lot and NO other people to be seen!  Those crazy people were out doing stressful things!  We were the smart one!  We debated when we started as to whether or not we would run with headlamps.  Those are so annoying that we decided it was close enough to sunrise.






 In honor of it being BLACK FRIDAY we all wore our blackest running clothes!  Kris took extra time to curl her hair all nice and bouncy for the run also!









Michele said this was going to be a DEATH MARCH run!  This was because we were going to do a much longer and more intense run.  However after all of us being sick and vacationing (ahem...Michele), our death marched was shortened and was less of a Death March and more of an easy, freezing jaunt.  But I still had to wear the socks.  I had saved them specifically for THIS RUN!

 

Mr. Tortoise decided to join us on his bike this time.  Michele made Kris and I "pinkie-promise" that we wouldn't run stupid.  This was supposed to be an enjoyable run and NOT A RACE!  She forgot to tell Mr. Tortoise that because at one point in the run we saw him and he called out, "I'm Winning!" But we later informed him that he did NOT win because he didn't "ding" each post.

 

 

We ran up Crestline until we hit Sidewinder.  I haven't done Sidewinder all year and had forgotten how steep it was!  But it was a good steep and not too tough!  We stopped to enjoy the view and pose for pictures and a bit of silliness.

 

 

Off Sidewinder we did a really dumb thing!  This is where the previously planned Death March was altered.  We went left and ran down a portion of Trail #4 which is a motorcycle trail.  This was a terrible trail.  Steep, rutted, uneven, curving, just gross.  It was not runner friendly AT ALL!  In fact as we descended an old familiar pain in my right ankle returned.  It got sharper and hotter and more painful and hurt almost to the point where it was when I rolled it in the Mesa Falls Marathon.  YUCK!  I could do without EVER running any inch f trail #4 EVER AGAIN!

 

 

This portion of #4 comes out onto Crestline where we could run back towards the parking lot.  But Michele had mentioned that we had to run to The Lunch Box to gather our thoughts.  Those were her EXACT words, "gather our thoughts."  The Lunch Box is a big bridge and area where the trail map is posted that joins lower hulls with crestline.  Here is the bridge:

 

 

 

And here are Kris and Michele gathering their thoughts.  I had no thoughts to gather.

 



 

It is always a great day when you can get out on the trails.  Remember a bad day on the trails is still better than a good day on the roads!

 

Happy Thanksgiving... here's to many more trails to run!

 

 



The Ho-Ho-Ho Half Marathon!

Todays trail run was meant to be an enjoyable pre-Christmas eve run....about 10.9 to be exact.....was the plan.  It was a repeat of the trail we ran on black friday. As I was driving to Michele's house my car thermometer read 8 degrees.  I wondered if I had dressed warm enough...sure.

At Michele's I met our new running partner who has decided to run Robie Creek with us.  His name is Zach (no he is NOT the professor).

Zach's training for today was to drink a cup of coffee while we headed out the door. Then he stood on the front walk way as we drove off.  Oh yeah, he's gonna be ready. NOT!

We were so cold at the start of today's run!  I couldn't feel my fingers or move my face!  We passed two run/walkers and I suddenly realized what we needed! "We need to grow beards!" I yelled back to Michele.  Yes that would keep my chin from freezing stiff.  Michele agreed, but then after a few strides we realized our husbands would not like it so much.

We had to make a quick stop at the bathrooms (Michele's needs).  It seems like whenever we run together my Garmin is always behind hers.  It really annoys me!  Nothing is worse than when she shouts out her mileage and I am behind....especially when I am running in the front!  So, because it was cold and I wanted to keep moving, but mostly because I was sick of having my watch behind, I started running laps around the bathroom.  Michele heard me and yelled "Stop IT!"  So, I stopped my watch, but kept moving to stay warm.  (This part of our trail run is funny later on. Trust me.)

Another notable mention here. THE FLASH HAS ARRIVED ON THE TRAILS!

That's right. My "flashy" new running tights had their first run in the hills today. (Although this pose looks unnatural)

This run today involved the "sidewinder" trail, which is TERRIBLE.  But once again the amazing running sisters conquered it.  However at one point Michele began talking, no yelling to Santa Claus.  We had been running uphill steadily for at least  5 miles (and not easy uphills).  So from behind me I hear... "Oh Santa, All I want for Christmas is a downhill.  Just put it in a box, wrap it with a bow.  All I want is one downhill PLEASE!"  Of course she lied.  That wasn't all that she wanted.  When we hit "love" rock she wished Steve was there with a big lunch for us.  Alas he was not.

Eventually we hit some downhills.  It was so wonderful!  Michele commented that she felt she had super powers!  At a water stop I noticed how dirty and gross her shoes were.  "Do you drag your feet when you run?"  I asked.  She said it was because she had to run behind me and I kicked up a ton of dust.  Then as I resumed our run she called out "Pick up your feet high stepper!"

We ended up climbing to 4,000 feet today. It was a beautiful view! This is a shot after we had gone down a ways.  We were actually up by the power pole!

Since we were so high,  the descent, at times was drastic.  One hill was so dangerously steep we nicknamed it Suicide Hill.  Rule number one in trail running; you are not allowed to talk or laugh or make any noises while cruising down Suicide Hill!  Michele was yelling, screaming, and making all kinds of noises.  It was making me laugh and I thought for sure I was going to lose my footing and eat rocks.  I had to jump off the trail into a sage brush to stop because she had me laughing so hard.  Michele, you must follow rule number one!
Now we come to a crucial moment in the run.  A fork in the road.  To the right will take us on our pre-arranged course making our Christmas Eve Eve run a nice 10.9 miles.  Mostly downhill as well. To the left....well let's just say not mostly downhill.  Michele, still feeling like a super hero suggests, "Let's go left up this hill and loop back around.  Shouldn't be too much further."  And of course I was in.  I'm ALWAYS in remember?

Thus began the absolute longest run of my LIFE!  Not only was it all uphill another bazillion miles,  but my legs had decided they did not want to function normally any more.  And then it appeared that nothing else could be wrong, I had to use the bathroom, BADLY.  I knew there was one coming so I focused and just ran.  At this point rocks began to rise up from the trail as I ran.  They would suddenly pop up and try to trip me.  I kicked one and yelled and stumbled and was oh so close to falling.  Michele, laughing, began to realize that my watch was ahead of hers, .15 miles to be exact.  When we arrived at the bathroom (Hallelujah) she mentioned this.  I told her to run laps around the parking lot.  To my utter and complete amazement, she did it!!!!  Now if you knew her, you would realize how remarkable this was! So finally, our watches matched.

Stopping at the bathroom was a BAD idea.  Our legs were DONE.  They did not want to run anymore.  It felt like I was running in place or on a moving sidewalk the wrong direction.  Michele put it best. "I feel like a sumo wrestler, with a big belt on, pulling a semi."  Yes, I'm sure other runners out there know exactly what we experienced.

But, we made it.  An unplanned half marathon on Christmas Eve Eve.  I learned a few more things today like I do on every run with my sister. I learned what hypothermia feels like including the urge to crawl under sagebrush and just sleep.  I learned that my sister is secretly competitive.  I learned that Santa Claus is real and answers wishes, we got our downhills after all.  And I learned that always being "IN" when my sister suggests something, might just kill me after all.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

p.s. on the drive home Michele said she thought she might have pneumonia! Hahaha