Making a plan...

Most people make their annual plans or resolutions in New Years Day.  I always seem to be running behind.  2013 is no exception so I chose a lazy sunny Sunday afternoon in February to do my planning.

Looking back at 2012 it was a good year overall.  A few setbacks here and there but I have a lot of accomplishments to feel good about.  I have a healthy family, good job and great friends  In 2012 I pledged to donate $1 for every mile I ran to the Tulsa Metro YMCA and their Strong Kids Campaign.  This was $1000 to help send kids to over-night camp, play team sports or take swimming lessons.  Plus Rovi matched $500 to help too!

I've been a fan of the YMCA kids programs since my kids were four and five and we joined the Indian Guides program (but don't tell anyone since I may have mentioned the kids were “five” and five at the time).  An amazing aspect of the YMCA programs is how they teach specific skills while encouraging kids to perform beyond their perceived limits.  Kids (and adults) walk away from these programs with skills that prepare them to be our future leaders.  Most of the time the kids don’t even know what just happened. 

Just like my kids, I have had the pleasure if having a few great people in my life.  The kind that not only help me out - but push me beyond “my” limits.  Each time I think they have someone else in mind, crazy or smoking something but each time they are right.

This year I am stepping up the crazyness and my support for the YMCA.  I'm going to run a 50 mile race  (yes, in a row) but I need your help.  I'm expecting 50 of my friends to donate with me, $50 each: $1 for each mile I run in that race.

There.  I said it.  I'm doing it.  It will be the hardest thing I have ever done - but will be the most rewarding with your help.

I'll be running the TATUR Midnight Madness 50 mile race on July 5th and 6th.  It will be hot.  I will be grumpy. I will get blisters.  Maybe some chaffing.  But, I will have the best support crew possible - knowing how your donation to the YMCA will impact the kids around Tulsa.

Your part is simple - I have my own online donation site: http://bit.ly/MitchWestside.  Why wait! Click here then make your donation.

Thanks!

Mitch

New Shoes - New Trails

This past weekend I was invited to go camping at Tulsa Ozark Club.  I was also able to find some new trials and try out my new shoes.  Since TZTrailGuide.com does not yet describe this area I thought I would help out and write a Trail Zombie-style review.  I wonder if he will get the hint...


Since not even Google can find  Tulsa Ozark Club I should be careful what I disclose (hit, it is located on Spavinaw Creek in Mays County).  This was a reunion weekend for our YMCA Indian Princess group (more about that in my next story).  We stayed in the main lodge which is a wood building about 100 years old full of 100 year old furniture (including the kitchen).  Very rustic and very relaxing.  They do have "rules" on technology including radios, headphones, TVs, Internet.  I quietly hid my Garmin watch...

I didn't get many pictures of the lodge, but here is my room for the night.  

Which only captures some of the charm of the lodge.

As I was packing I made sure that I packed my trail shoes in case I wanted to run while the kids slept late.  I figured I could find something even if it was gravel roads in rural Oklahoma.  I looked at Google maps and saw a few country roads but also a Wildlife Management Area a few miles away via a paved road.  At the lodge I looked at some of the old maps and articles hanging on the walls and discovered more roads in the area than shown on Google.  Then someone mentioned "The Back Way" - how to get to camp when the river was above the main bridge.  They said they were no signs, almost impassible, steep hills and overgrown.  BINGO!  This sounded like the perfect place to run.


While the girls decided on a afternoon float trip, I decided to search for new-to-Mitch trails - with my new shoes of course (thanks to Kathy at RunnersWorld Tulsa).  So I loaded up my supplies and head south to find "the back way".  And I found what I was looking for - gravel roads, beautiful green stuff and sounds of nature.

There was also the smell of rotting flesh in this area, but let's move on.

I first encountered a couple of spectators.  Great cheering, but their aid station was a bit limited on supplies.

I then met an interesting couple - Sam and Stacy, owners of resort/ranch along my first gravel road.  They wanted to let me know (in their own way) that I was on their property, they knew what I was doing and would be watching me.  I let them know (in my own way) that I was currently on a public road - of course it sounded more like "Yes Sir" when said out loud.


They also gave me a few pointers on scenic areas, short cuts and gates into the Wildlife Management Area.  I'll have to track them down and thank them on my next visit.  Sam's last comment was "Watch out for Rattlesnakes".


I took off up the hill which curved around a very pretty bluff (I was too scared to get close to the edge for a good picture.  Once I got to the top of the hill, I discovered this wasn't the only hill between me and cold beer by a cold creek.  That certainly explained all of the tight lines on the topo map...

This was the "up hill" that Sam was kind enough to tell me about.  There were a couple of switchbacks to make the climb easier.  Just enough to get your directions turned around...

I then turned onto a rough jeep trail and found my way into the wildlife area.  Here are a few pictures of things I saw on my 12 mile journey.

I was directed onto a rough jeep road into a wooded area - which I followed without a second thought.

I found the entrance into the Wildlife Management Area.  I'm not going to say if I was licensed/passported/exempt or if was inside or outside of this barricade - so lets just say this gate was low enough for "a guy I know" to step over it.

I ran on about 3 miles of jeep road or gravel road.  All was well packed and easy to run on.  
However, I would not call any of it "relatively flat".

With a name like this I was expecting to see some wildlife.
I wonder if this connects to Pumkin Hollow Rd?

No groundhogs, but just a drowned mole.  Who knew a mole could drown above ground?
You would think with those big hands they could swim.

I guess the management team is doing a great job with the critters because I saw one more...  A rattlesnake slithered off into the woods quickly - but rattling enough that I knew not to follow.  I would have taken a picture but the angle was bad.  Well, the angle was bad because I was three feet in the air, screaming and feet peddling like Fred Flintstone not going anywhere.

This sign was actually on the main highway but one of the more interesting.  Yes, that was a steep hill, Yes it was about a mile up.  What wasn't shared - it's another mile downhill to the main office.  Which means - Yes, you had to go back up and over that hill.

The main office sign needed a little bit of work, but the sign was cool but creepy in a way.  I didn't see any human bones hanging on it, but I also didn't stay around long to get a close look.

After I left the Wildlife Area on the east side I was on a two-lane highway that took me over the main bridge across Spavinaw Creek.  This is a view of Eucha Lake from the hilltop.  This is my first time seeing this lake.

I thought it was odd to see a broom littering the local highway.  Ironic or coincidence?  I suppose these guys really care about clean roads and someone left a broom for the next guy.

This is the head of Spavinaw Creek and a view of the Eucha dam from the bridge.

Local charm...

It was great to see the main gate to the Tulsa Ozark Club.  

This was a great run - 12 miles and three hours of sight seeing that money can't buy.  I would upload my route but somehow I lost my Garmin before I got home.  I hope to find it soon and add my course.  I did get a copy of the Wildlife Management Area map on my way out.

I can't wait to go back.  I'm hoping someone gets the hint that this would be a fun T-TOTs field trip.

Success!

It’s been a busy 2012 so far.  I started thinking about this year’s goals, but not before I wrap up 2011. 

As I said in my last post my goals changed near the end of the year – why not? Right?  Well here is how it turned out:

I made it.  Thanks to great people to run with and lots of encouragement I was able to meet my new goal.  $1200 donated to the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign.  I had several friends support me along the way for another 500 green ones.


I saw this picture in November on one of my “shortened” training runs.  I was on my way home about 10 miles early and saw this on the Midland Valley Trail near Home Depot.

I head down this path when I’m not at my most motivated.  It keeps me going.

Here are some of the things I saw on these 1200 miles:

• Man dressed as a chicken jump into a 36F pool (Polar Bear Plunge)
• Girls in a shopping cart (Scavenger hunt run)
• Petroglyph (Turkey Mountain)
• 17" of snow
• Hill from Hell (Post Oak Lodge Run)
• Kids carrying a fake dead body (Turkey Mountain)
• Hundreds of Leprechauns (St Patrick's Day run)
• Robert Ray finish his first 5K
• Lincoln Continental with Longhorns (RW training run)
• 31.2 miles of Lake McMurtry trails
• Hail
• Snake (at least 3)
• Live skunk (at San Jose Airport)
• Golden Gate Bridge
• A Slip & Slide on a roof
• A toilet papered house
• Illinois River
• Baby Foxes playing at Riverparks
• 2500 people running through the mud (TATUR Mud Run)
• Rattlesnake (Burbank)
• 8 friends finish their first triathlon (triTulsa)
• Stumptown Coffeehouse (Portland, OR)
• Another snake
• Mad Dog aid station (Pumpkin Hollar 100)
• Pervert (Woodward Park)
• Center of the Universe Detour (Route 66 Marathon)
• Turkey Mountain trails
• Christmas Lights
• Lake Bixhoma
• Taco Truck
• Man in a giant corduroy suit (QT @ 21st & Harvard)

It was a great year and I’m looking forward to more fun in 2012.

Setting Goals, Meeting Expectations

At the end of each year we each start to reflect on the things we set out to accomplish during the year.  Sometimes these are New Year’s resolutions and sometimes they are mid-year adjustments.  As I look back at 2011 I see some things I am proud to have accomplished.  And of course there are things that I didn't finish, but I know I can keep working on them next year.

Setting My Goals

As I started 2011 I wanted to focus on running with the hopeful side benefit of loosing weight.  I also wanted to continue to support the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign.  I had an idea that would combine the two – donate $1 for every mile that I ran.  My plan also includes encouraging others to join and they could donate for my miles or theirs. 

My original goal was 1000 miles and a total of $1500 raised between me and my friends and family. This sounded easy since I had ran that many in 2010.  Plus that is under 20 miles per week.  With the training for Lake McMurtry 50K, OKC Marathon and Route 66 Marathon it should be easy, really easy…

Meeting My Goals

I had not looked at my total miles for a while and after the Route 66 Marathon I took off a couple of weeks of running.  After a couple of week of nursing a sore calf/shin and burritoed in blanks on cold mornings I looked at my schedule and realized I was 15 miles under 1100 miles total.  I was very pleased and thought I could get the 15 miles in by the end of the year easy.

Resetting Expectations

Then I made the mistake of attending the TATUR Christmas Party and watched the movie Unbreakable (http://www.ws100film.com/).  I guess the movie inspired me a bit (or it could have been the beer) but I thought “1200 miles might be a better goal.”  Followed by “if they guys can run 100 miles of mountain trails in 24-30 hours, I can run that far in three weeks.”

The big mistake I then made was mentioning “a few more miles” to my friends Ken Childress and Kathy Hoover.  They both said “you can do it” and the rest of the conversation was like this:

Ken: “How many miles to do you need?”

Me: <pause> “About 100.”

Ken: “Umm, how close to 100?”

Me: <longer pause> “115.”

Ken: <his turn to pause><blink><stare> “We should start early then - 6:00 Saturday.”

Me: <big smiles>

That was a Tuesday night.  This is the text with Ken on Friday evening:

Things have picked up this last week.  So far I have run 46 miles leaving 69 miles in 8 days.  I can do this especially with great friends encouraging me on.

How You Can Help

You can join me on Saturday mornings at 8:00 as I’ll be running with the RunnersWorld Tulsa running group.  I’ll then go out to get a few extra miles.

You can also help support my mission by donating to the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign.  Simply click on http://bit.ly/uM8Bsv and donate a few dollars.  For every dollar you donate between now and December 31^st, I will add that many miles to my 1000 mile goal for 2012.  

The Calm After The Storm

What a great “3 day weekend” – 3 days of Route 66 Marathon activities and another $29 for the kids at the YMCA.  It was a busy weekend, but I am already looking forward to next year.  

Here are some of the best items of the weekend

Friday Night at volunteer check-in

• Many volunteers checking in including groups of 40+ people
• Several runners stopped to check in.  When we told them "this was volunteer check in and racers are one more down" we had several friends and family say "I can volunteer.  Where do you need me?"  We had at least 20 people sign up that night.

Saturday 5K with YMCA

• Plan: be the sweeper for 150 first time runners and encourage them in.
• Revised plan (revised by Summer at T -1:00 on the start line): "keep an eye on these two kids"
• Reaction: "What? Me? They are fast."
• Results: finished in 31 min with Nacho and Josiah

Sunday Route 66 Full Marathon

• Best sign: 15th & Peoria "Way to go random stranger.  You're doing great"
• Best water stop: Cascia Hall.  Man with megaphone directing traffic into the restrooms
• Best unofficial aid station: Cold beer at mile 17
• Best course location: "Mile 25.9"
• Best sight: My family cheering me along Peoria and at the finish line.

Your’s truly at the finish line.  Found out later this was a 18 minute PR (over Oklahoma City).  Finished in 5:20 - enough for 9^th in the “big boys” division.

Next year I’ll carry camera.

The Perfect Storm

This is it.  Sunday is the event I've been looking forward to all year - the Route 66 Marathon.  Two years ago I ran my first marathon here and I look forward to it each year.

This year I get a double whammy on race satisfaction.  As you know my goal this year is to raise money to help kids through the YMCA programs.  I am donating $1 for each mile that I run and asking my friends to do the same. 

This year I get to run WITH the kids that benefit from these YMCA programs!

Blue Cross Blue Shield is encouraging Tulsa kids to get active by sponsoring hundreds of kids to run in the Route 66 Marathon 5K on Saturday.  Local youth programs like the YMCA have been training with these kids for the past several weeks.  I will be running the 5K with the Y kids on Saturday.  Be on the lookout for hundreds of kids (and me) in matching shirts.  This will be great to see again how my donations can help kids from all over Tulsa.

On Sunday I will also be running the Route 66 Full Marathon.  I'm looking forward to the new route this year as we tour Maple Ridge, Downtown, Brookside and TU.  I really like this course because it is almost in my back yard.  The course is within 3 blocks of my house 3 times.

I would like to ask for your help in one of three ways:

1. Join us for the 5K run on Saturday.  Your $25 entry fee will help Tulsa in many ways through the United Way organizations.  Plus,  you will possibly inspire one of these new runners to become a lifetime runner.
2. Come out Saturday and cheer on these new runners.  Look for hundreds of kids wearing matching YMCA shirts and yell for them.  I'm sure this will encourage them to run another race.
3. Donate a few dollars to help support the Tulsa YMCA youth programs through our Strong Kids Campaign.   I’d like to see you match my donation for this one day - $26.20.  You can donate online at http://bit.ly/uM8Bsv.

Here is a quick progress update:

Miles:  1043

Donations:  $1303.00

Thanks again for your support,

Mitch

Community

How would you define “community”?  I always thought of it simply as a geographic region such as a city.  Merriam-Webster defines it as “a unified body of individuals”.  After this past weekend I couldn't agree more!

I've been running with RunnersWorld Tulsa training groups for a few years and have made many new friends along the way.  I’ve discovered some with common beliefs (and some polar opposites). 

Over the past few months a saw something unexpected – a simple “suggestion” became more like a virus in a small community.  Of course it was fueled by discussion, support and a bit of peer pressure.  Before long nine dedicated runners had become Triathletes!  These people went out of their way to take on a new challenge.  Nothing motivated them more than the encouragement from their running buddies – their community.  They dusted off their bikes or borrowed biked from friends and neighbors, researched training plans, and rallied each other for long training sessions. 

Misty, Darcy, Sue, Kathy, Guy, Troy, Tom, Venus and Lygea (not pictured) are now TRIATHLETES and members of another strong community!!

The most impressive thing to me is that each person had the courage to start.  While each had their own reason they worked together as a community to take on and overcome a new challenge.  I’m glad that I can call each one of the people my “triathlete buddy” now (in addition to my “running buddy”).

Lifelong Connections

This reminds me of the results I see with the kids attending Westside YMCA and Camp Takatoka.  Many of these kids start their first week away from home in a strange location with strange kids and councilors.  By the end of the five days they have made friends for life, learned they can take on new challenges and overcame their fears.  These experiences are truly life-changing and these kids will be part of an unbreakable community of their own.

I’m able to see firsthand how my financial and time contributions have impacted many lives.  This is why I am donating as much as I can this year.  I encourage you to do the same.  As of today I have raised $1039.  Please join me and my other buddies supporting this community.  You can donate now at http://www.ymcatulsa.org/