Haulin' Aspen 2007 report

The toughest, but most beautiful marathon course! Haulin’ Aspen starts at Shevlin Park in Bend, OR, and loops around on trails and jeep roads in beautiful Ponderosa pine and juniper forest. The race started just 3 years ago – we did the ½ marathon the first year, and I’ve done the full for 2 years now. It makes a great slow training run for Portland, even if it is half up then half down!

The morning started off feeling cold – about 45F after a summer of lows in the 50s, it was chilly! But the forecast high for the day was 81, and in that central Oregon country, it warms up fast once the sun comes up. Reggie dropped me off at the park entrance, for they shuttle drivers from the high school parking lot. I was going to get a bag to put my sweatshirt and pre-race stuff in, but Reg found off-road parking about .3 from the park, up the next hill, so he walked back to get his number and see me off (and take my sweatshirt till closer to when the ½ marathon started).

We met Juan, whom we met last summer, when he was on the Runners World forums, and talked for awhile, but I needed to keep walking to feel more warmed up before the start of the run. Many Marathon Maniacs, with their bright yellow shirts on – they did the marathon at Crater Lake on Saturday, and drove up for Haulin’ Aspen on Sunday. I didn’t see Larry, who we’ve met the last 2 years, but he was there somewhere, for another couple that I passed, I asked about him. We did see him at the finish, he’s amazing!

I started out waaaaayyyy at the back of the marathon pack – there were 131 marathoners, lots more people run the ½ -- both courses are hard. I carried my camera with me, just like last year. It is so pretty up there, the camera doesn’t really show it, because we see so much more with our eyes. We see and we hear the birds and chipmunks. We see and we feel the sun and the breezes (and eat the dust when we fall – fortunately I was able to catch myself from falling many times, till just once, more later). And the Ponderosa forest smell – I love it!

The course description from the website:

The marathon has 2500 feet in elevation gain and the half marathon has 1300 feet of elevation gain. The race is entering its 3rd year so we have the course pretty dialed in. All of the elevation gain for both races is in the first half of the race. Both course are fun, scenic and challenging. The well marked course will have mile markers at each aid station.

My plan was to run the first 2.5 miles or so, relatively flat in the park. Then walk the first hill (steep) to where it joined a jeep road. Then 4/2 run/walks after that to mile 14, the highest point on the course. That’s about 3400’ at the park, to almost 6000’ just before mile 14. I’d used the 4/2s on hard, hot long runs before, but even though this was hard, I found the 2 minutes to be too long. I switched to 1:20 for the walk breaks, and stayed with that both up and down. With the camera, I took pics almost every walk break. I’d take them looking ahead on the trail, and often looking back. And whenever I saw something to point the camera at! This year I didn’t hook up with any runner(s) in particular, as I often do, but met lots of new runner friends out there.

There was Bobby, a dentist from MS, who has been to Newberg several times, for he buys his cabinets and equipment from A-Dec. And Lisa, from southern CA, who was running Haulin’ Aspen as her first marathon – preferring trails to the roads at LA Marathon. And Marvin, from Tulsa, who read my Philippians 4:13 shirt, and told me a story about coaching a teen from his Sunday school class to run a ½ marathon. There were Nancy and Kathy, both from Bend, both wearing Peterson Ridge Rumble caps – that’s one I’d like to run/hike someday.

They had water, Heed, Gu, Hammergels, bananas – well-stocked aid stations (and more of them this year), except the last 2 on the up half of the marathon had run out of water, and just had Heed. I don’t usually drink Heed, just not my favorite, but after 3 miles of steep up to mile 14, I even did my Gu and washed it down with Heed. The mile 17 station, did have water, that tasted so good out there!

Going down, winding around the trees and switchbacks on the dusty trail, the theme song from “Little House on the Prairie” got stuck in my head. Remember how at the program start, that Mary then Laura, then Carrie are running down the hill with their arms opened and going back and forth? And how Carrie falls in the long grass and gets up and keeps going? That’s what the downhill trail often felt like. I stumbled several times, but didn’t have a complete fall (thankfully) till just before the mile 24 aid station. Where of course there was an audience! It was a thumb stump, oops! Very dusty landing, but kept the camera safe, that was my goal.

There was a steeper section of downhill before that, where I go very carefully. This year, two mountain bikers were just ahead of me, and I was watching their dust as they sped down that section – that was amazing! My lifeguard skills came into play here, watching them ride and reminding myself of all the different first aid possibilities that I might have to help with. They did it, expertly, though I suspect some soreness from some of those rocky bumps!

Started recognizing the path we were on, back in the park, and knew it was almost over. Wanting to finish, but wanting to stay on the trails, too. Saw Reggie just before the last bend, and came under the finish banner. I knew I had beaten 6 hours (which was what I’d figured it would be) so that downhill second half was faster than I thought! 5:49:49 was the time – 13.4 minutes per mile average. Reg’s ½ time was 2:53:08, and his goal was to beat 3 hours, so he did well, too.

After getting a shower and lunch at Baja Grill, we thought we’d head back to Sisters then take the scenic McKenzie Pass route down from the mountains. We got on the road, then saw the road closure signs still up. It had been closed in March, but we knew that was from the snow. Turns out there was a rock fall just past the pass to keep the road closed. But we still went up to the pass, to the Dee Wright observatory. This is at the top of a huge lava flow, about 8 miles long and ½ mile wide. The Cascades are all volcanic, and it really shows here. There are 10 mountains surrounding the observatory – lots of pictures here, too. Then back to Sisters and the regular highway 20 way home. What a fun day!

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Happy 25th Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary!

25th wedding anniversary – how to celebrate? Turns out our original plans wouldn’t work, either because things were reserved too far ahead for 4th of July, or too expensive, or wouldn’t fit in the middle of the week. But Reggie’s a very good sport – he agreed to do the Flat Half with me, on Sauvie Island just north of Portland.

Mind you, Reg hasn’t done any running since last fall, when he did do a little training for the trail run in California. So we did a test walk the Sunday morning before the 4th, with just a little running. He knew it was going to be slow. My friend, Sarah, was going to ride with us to the race – I just told him that I’d make sure Sarah had the keys, so she didn’t have to wait for us just outdoors (it was forecast to be hot).

I carried my camera, and we got lots of pictures of the race and us running it. Sauvie Island is mostly agricultural, with some beach accesses. Lots of lots of summer fruit here, all the way to corn in the fall. The Flat Half is once around the island; there is also a full marathon of 2 laps around the island.

Turns out, we took two vehicles, for Sarah ended up having to get back to Newberg before 11:00 – her finish times was 2:12.17 – she did great! Some more pics:

Halfway pic, beautiful wheat field, and a family farmhouse with the whole family cheering the runners (and obliging to take pics):

Going on south on the east side of the island -- there was no shade. The next water stop finally had cups again (the previous two had none -- thankful we carried our own G'ade)!

Around the far southern end of the road is a farm/fruitstand/craft store. They are one of the big sponsors of this race. The course goes through their gate and around the big barns. We wished it would run out along one of the rows of raspberries!

Every year the farm has a huge corn maze in the fall. We got to see some of the course -- the postcard in the goody bag (with a discount to this year's maze) shows last year's complexity. Time for some aerial photos to learn the course now!

About 1 mile left, is the bridge to get onto the island. There is another span being built, to widen the road. Lots of interesting construction going on, and great traffic control by the local police there:

The end is near! We could see the parking lot where the cars were, then the course goes around to come in the back side of the park. One of the ladies from my weight training class passed us out there...

The finish is at the park at the old farmhouse -- really pretty park.

This race has a history of being slightly disorganized. There were over 300 day-of-race registrants. They ran out of T-shirts, medals, and the second and third water stops – cups. Seems like that is something that could have had a quick fix, with the hot weather and that many more runners, and a small store on the island. We carried our own G’ade – something I learned my 2nd year running Los Angeles marathon on a hot day – the races often mistake how much people drink. This year, they had a volunteer after the chip removal writing down bib numbers, and they are supposed to mail the medals to us. Sarah and I were glad we picked up our shirts and chips the day before!

Post-race treat here really is a treat – strawberry shortcake! Mmmmm… They also have bananas and oranges and Gleucos and standard post-race food, but the strawberries are the best!

We had some strawberry shortcake, headed back out to the parking field. It took almost as much time to leave the field as it did to run the half-marathon! But we finally got on our way, and had our anniversary lunch at Sweet Tomatoes. That’s a post-race treat, too! Then home to get cleaned up, and we headed out with our daughters to the St. Paul rodeo, another anniversary tradition.

And after the rodeo, comes a great fireworks show!

Happy Anniversary to me and Reg!

My Time on the Run

Life is full—very full. Our oldest daughter is home for the summer, already getting work hours at the pool, already planning some house-sitting, already registered for summer classes at a nearby community college. Our younger daughter is finishing homeschool classes, and will be teaching and lifeguarding at the pool this summer, too. Plus taking drivers’ education and assisting with our church’s Vacation Bible School coming up end of July. So while I have to plan my running around work and school and making sure there are vehicles taking people places as needed, I definitely plan my running!

Running is my time. I really like the long runs – several hours, just me and my thoughts. Sometimes the mid-week runs are long runs, because of how full weekends seem to get. Sometimes (this is Oregon, after all) my long run is a wet one, even in June. But now the wet is OK – I can get soaked, and still be warm enough with shorts and T-shirt, and not need the Tyvek jacket or rain poncho like in winter. Sometimes the weather is hot from the beginning, so I have to stay flexible to allow more walk breaks, or to reroute myself for shade spots on the different roads.

It is amazing how much thinking gets done – thinking about friends and family and neighbors. Thinking about the next week’s schedule. Thinking about one of the kids in my swim classes, and how to give him confidence. Thinking about races coming up, and how to juggle the long runs with the shorter races. Thinking about how to juggle the laundry for the coming week. Thinking about when to get the next pair of running shoes before Portland Marathon. All kinds of thoughts. Meantime, I’m waving to all the cars that go by (hey, it’s friendly and it’s safe—I want them to see me). I’m talking to all the dogs and horses and sheep out there, and loving the horses that come to their fences to see me. Then sometimes the thinking gets interrupted…

A couple weekends ago, I was doing an out-and-back on one of my rural roads. Just got turned around, and there was a huge, black column of smoke. I could tell it was a structure, but with orchards and a hill in the way, couldn’t tell exactly what. But the general direction was one of my favorite old farmhouses! I do carry my cell phone out there, and tried to call 9-1-1. But the networks were busy. Everyone on the road about that time must have been trying to report the fire. I’d seen a fire truck about 90 minutes earlier, but it was not on an alarm—the driver waved and smiled passing me. I was sure I’d be hearing sirens soon. And listened, but just normal sounds. I finally got through to Reggie, who was working on our shop, to see if he could see it better. But he was closer to the ridge, so couldn’t tell where it was, but that he didn’t think it was the old farmhouse.

So I added 3 extra miles to my morning, and decided to go find out what was burning. Turns out it was a burn-to-learn, and it was an old farmhouse, but the next property over from where I first thought. When I finally crested the last rolling hill before, I could see high, hot flames. There were lots of fire trucks there; they’d even put up a big awning for shade in the front yard! And there were lots of spectators, watching the blaze, and lots of cars parked nearby. People like me went to see what was going on.
On my way up Killer Hill #2 (walking it, not only was it hot, but I hadn’t planned those miles) two of my neighbors passed with their kids in their cars. The kids were excited about the old house fire (I used to get fire nightmares as a kid – maybe they are tougher than me). The moms were making sure I really was out there to run, and if I wanted a ride home, it was available.

I didn’t take the ride. I enjoyed another 40 minutes or so of my time.

Oregon is beautiful!

Last weekend we had a change in plans, so took advantage of the time for some hiking and sightseeing in the Cascades!

First, we stopped at Little Niagara Falls -- a day stop on the way up Highway 22:

There was a patch of inside-out flowers near the parking area.

The river comes rushing around this corner, and goes into a narrow, rocky canyon. Most of it is blocked off, for too many lives have been lost there. Turn of the century, there was a little village and mill there...

The picture above is some of the old stone structure that looks like it used to be part of the walkway to the overlook.

Next came the hike. We got a permit and hiked into Pamelia Lake -- it's beautiful! Lots of wildflowers -- pictures are Bunchberry, Reggie on the old trail, looking up through the old-growth forest, a Fairyslipper orchid, yellow violets, some scrambling where the old trail got changed by glacier fall last November, Reg back on the old trail, and 2 views of Pamelia Lake.

This last picture is from Hunter Creek trail, where we found some rocks on which to eat our picnic lunch. See those big, fluffy clouds? By the time we finished eating, they were getting bigger and darker, and there was one thunder roll after another! Beautiful, but we weren't wanting to be out in a downpour, so we headed back the 3.5 miles or so back to the car.

Next stop was where the Metolius River emerges from the ground. It was still dark, with awesome lightning, but not real rain when we parked the car. So off we went, with photos: the full-size river from the beginning, a cute little chipmunk drinking from algae water (ewwww), and Ponderosa forest on this side of the Cascades.

Next, we thought we'd head back toward the Willamette Valley going over McKenzie Pass, but we got to Sisters and found out that the road was still closed due to snow. So, we did the next fun thing -- we drove down to Redmond then north to Mt. Hood. It was lightning and sometimes pouring rain almost all the way to Mt. Hood, but soon we could see that the mountain still had sunshine on it!

We drove up to Timberline Lodge, and admired the views. The lightning storm got closer and closer. We headed back down to Portland from there...

We got to see a lot of Oregon on June 2, 2007!