What a day to remember! A couple of weeks before my birthday, I got a bee in my britches that I'd run my age in miles for my birthday present to myself. Why not? I was in good shape and I wanted to do something I would remember. Tim was up for it and agreed to be my crew.So the day before my birthday, we headed down to Ashland to stay the night with our friends Steve, Mary and Emma.
Plan A - I wanted to run in Ashland because I wanted to run on part of the Pine to Palm course. I hadn’t been able to figure out the details of the map, so my plan was to go to Rogue Valley Running store and get a map and more information about the course. Unfortunately, when we got to Ashland, all the maps were sold out from RVR and Ashland outdoor store. Apparently, there had been a Mtn. Bike race a couple of weeks earlier and everything was gone.
Plan B – get info on other possible trails from as many people as possible and then make a decision. So that’s what we did.
I ended up taking an “easy to navigate” way out. I would run on the 2060 fire road for 22 miles and then turn around. This actually turned out to be a great choice in that I could concentrate more on my pace & form even while it snowed, rained, hailed etc. It also gave me worriless miles that I did not fear for my life, Tim's life or our dog Buddy's life from a near miss mtn. bike accident. The mtn. bikes were flying over head from jumps on the single track trails that splinter off the fire road. I couldn’t imagine running mile 42 with sore quads and a tired mind having to watch out for the flying speed machines.
Tim rode his mountain bike for a little over 30 miles and Buddy ran the entire run with me. Tim is perfecting his crewing technique especially in the cold; wrapping me up in warm layers for brief stops for food and water and then allowing me to "dine & dash" while he puts the gear together and catches up down the trail. No iPod, just good conversation for 8 hours with my best friend.
Before meeting up with Tim, I ran into another woman on the road, Amy, who I think, was just as surprised to see another person miles away from the city in two inches of snow and still falling. We chatted a while, she telling me she had seen bear tracks but no bear, exchanged routes and when I told her why I was running on such a day, she just grinned. She was running 40 miles on her 40th birthday! After a little laughter and birthday wishes we hugged each other and continued with our presents to ourselves.
It was great to spend the night in a familiar place with friends. Sometimes I get a little caught up in my thoughts before a big run, but that night it was better to share laughter and stories out of myself. I also didn't know they were going to cook a special meal, but when we arrived, Steve had made fresh salmon, his "special" mashed potatoes and salad. Yum! It went down well and the next day gave me no problems like I had at Miwok. I may try salmon and mashed potatoes before SOB.
I finished my present a little after 3:00pm with a 3 mile pretty steep down hill. By the time I got to the truck, my legs were tired from the long downhill. Tim had a protein drink ready for me and we decided to go in search of a burger before heading to our hotel. This was Buddy’s longest run and when we got back to the truck, instead of eating he jumped into his kennel and was down for the rest of the night. Good ‘ol boy.
That night, we rented a room at the Greens Springs hotel between Ashland and Klamath Falls on Hwy 66. Great post race reprieve. Ice bath, hot tub, fluffy bed, red wine, strawberries, and chocolate - yum!
Woke up and ate breakfast at the Greens Springs restaurant. Breakfast is my favorite meal to go out for and I love to try new things especially things I don't usually make at home. So I had their version of huevos rancheros served on a bed of polenta with amazing chili salsa and avocado. Thank goodness it was a huge portion so I had some for the next day too!
A perfect day and if the run was any indication of how my 44th year was going be, I’m excited!
