First Race Road Trip - 71

I found a race that I wanted to do in Tualatin, Oregon and since it had a pre 8:00 start and was over a two hour drive away I decided to make it an overnight trip. As I always try to do I made sure to see a few things while I was in Northern Oregon. My original destination was Multnomah Falls on the recommendation from Brandy. I did get to Multnomah Falls but they were so crowded that they closed off parking so I just continued north up the Columbia Gorge and came to Horsetail Falls. I stopped and then took a short hike from there up to Ponytail Falls which is at the top of Horsetail. There were other longer trails but they were still closed because of a past forest fire. 



Considering that I’m still dealing with paranoia over falling and the trail was very rocky, steep in places and somewhat slippery because of a light rain it was enough of a hike for the time and place. What I did learn for a return visit is that by staying on 84 to exit 31 there is additional parking and it wasn’t full apparently because I could still see people walking in through the underpass. 





On the way back to Tualatin from the Gorge I stopped at Lewis and Clark State Park and took another short hike. It was still cool and overcast but a little humid. 



I picked up my packet, checked into Motel 6 at Lake Oswego and went to a sports bar and grill for dinner where I had a good grilled cheese and tomato basil soup as well as one beer to celebrate International Beer 🍺 Day. Bud Light of course because Ultra is almost impossible to find on tap!



The next morning I got up at 5:00 so I could get an egg McMuffin on the way to the race site. It meant getting to the race way early but anyone who knows me knows I prefer it that way anyway. I got in some good walking and jogging before the race and got familiar with some of the course. I didn’t know about the surprise hill around the mile mark. Short but steep. The race went well. I barely got under 40:00 again and won my age group. 









When I was on the way home Donna called and wanted to know if I wanted to meet her and Brandy at Joe’s for blueberry pancakes. I did and it was delicious! It’s a bummer that they’re closing and retiring this month. It’s a great small town breakfast place. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Talk About a One Two Punch!

Image
I was surprised when I noticed this morning that it had been two weeks since I wrote the title of this post and I have written nothing since. I’ve picked up my phone two or three times with the intention of doing this post and each time put it down after just trying to organize my thoughts. We’ll see how it goes this time.  So what is this 1-2 punch I’m talking about? The first is one that affects everyone worldwide as we find ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic with a new deadly disease. Covid19 Coronavirus. As I write this on May 26th we will be going over 100,000 deaths in the United States. A mind boggling number that just increased my anger and frustration every time I hear or see some fool complaining about having to wear a mask infringing on their “rights”. While this pandemic has brought out a lot of good in people it has really shown how there are so many self centered, self absorbed, egotistical, selfish, oblivious, assholes there are in this world. And of course ...
Read more

Tired of Being Tired 😴

Image
It’s been over three weeks since I wrote the title to this blog and with the one positive exception of starting treatment there really hasn’t been much reason to post. The good news is that I believe the treatment works based on my first two. I’m still normal out is shape old man tired but I don’t have the overwhelming fatigue that stopped me in my tracks as soon as it hit with no chance of a second wind. The first two treatments were only two weeks apart but from now on they’re supposed to be every eight weeks. I’m curious to see if there is regression the further out from treatment I get. “Time will tell” has never been a more accurate cliche.  And of course all this is taking place during the ongoing Covid pandemic that shows no signs of letting up.  The cartoon says it all! Staying away from the news is one way to pretend things are okay. Unfortunately I don’t have that willpower because I just feel the need to know what’s going on with Covid and maybe more importantly I w...
Read more

Walking Lynx Hollow Road

Image
To say that this April has been unusual would be a huge understatement even though my plans this year were to not leave Oregon to travel until May because of doctors appointments. Every year from 2015 - 2019 I was on the road in April visiting family and friends and adding more states to my states raced list.  Sometimes all of my April races were in Missouri and other times I raced other states going to or from Missouri. The main point is that April has been a big travel month for me. In 2015 I raced twice in St. Louis. In 2016 I was recovering from knee surgery and my first race post op was an 8 mile race in the snow in Greenland, Colorado on my way home from Missouri. In 2017 I raced three races in St. Louis including the first that Chase ran with Stacie and me. That spring 2017 trip including visits in Missouri, Georgia, Florida to celebrate my son Jeff’s 50th birthday, Massachusetts to see my uncle Billy for the last time, New Hampshire to see my son in law Tom’s parents and b...
Read more