Sunday, August 30, 2009

Turkey and Taturs.




The 4th running of the Turkey and Taturs 50K/25K/10K is less than 2 weeks away! This is one of the most challenging 50K races in the area, and the ONLY one in Tulsa. This race has it all. Ya like nice flat single track trail? There are a few miles of that. You miles of trails under a blanket of trees? Yup. You like hills? T and T will not disappoint. You want a good short trail race that will get your heart pumping? Come do the 10K. Ran a few marathons and want to push your limits a little further? You have all the time you need to finish the 50K. You'll get a fantastic navy blue tech shirt with the above logo. This may be your favorite race shirt EVER!

Brian and I could use your help as well. This is one race that volunteering is as much fun as running the race. Whether you want to work an aid station, work at the start/finish, or help mark the course, You will enjoy it, and we will be extremely grateful! I will begin pre-marking the turns tomorrow, and Tuesday. Saturday morning, the day before the race, we'll meet around 7:00ish and the Westside YMCA, and mark the course very thoroughly, flagging the crucial turns, putting up funny/inspirational signs, and setting up the aid stations. I will consider it a huge blessing to have plenty of help with this.

Please email me, TZ, at trail_zombie@yahoo.com, or Brian at brian@tatur.org. Or call me at 918-814-6433.

Friday, August 28, 2009



Madonna is pushing her limits, boldly going where no music diva has gone before! CLICK HERE for the story.

Personally, I doubt she'd last a day out there. I doubt her ability to compete on tired legs the 2nd and 3rd day, let alone the whole 156 miles. Let her do a 50 miler first. Let her make another good album....that would be good! It's kind of cool in a way that ultra running makes the entertainment news though.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

A change of career?




I have always been one who was not afraid of trying something different, getting outside the comfort zone, and have found out that life outside the box is often more rewarding than staying inside on the couch. I am excited to announce that this courage has led to a possible career change for me.




I am one who will do anything for a laugh, and it's no secret that I crave attention. Show up in a crop top and pink running skirt? Not a problem.






Of course I am not the only one who dawns woman's swimwear, but clearly I am the more shapely of the two.

After my last outing where I wore more formal attire, people in the upper echelon of fashion took note.I have been asked to be a model and it seems my first assignment will be to model running skirts for the Ladies First Skirt Chaser this September. This is a 5K, in conjunction with the Oklahoma Scottish Festival, and all proceeds go to the Tyler Hudson Sonshine Foundation to help prevent teen suicide. All of the women will get running skirts instead of the typical boring race shirt, with the words "Can't Catch This" printed on the back. But to really show off just how sexy these skirts are, they need yours truly to squeeze into one of them.

This will no doubt be the beginning of a lucrative modeling career. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would become a super-model!(Well, maybe I did dream about a little!)

Monday, August 24, 2009

TZ does the Mud Run




I recently turned 50 years old. I fully intend to live to 100, and I also fully intend to be active up until the day I croak. You would think at my age, I would have finally gotten past silly foolish things, but I have to admit to my faithful readers, that NO, I still act like a child, and it's getting worse all the time. I like the movie, "The curious Case of Benjamin Button, who was old when he was born, and got younger as the years wore on. I want to be like that!

Now at 50 years old, you should not like to "play" in the mud, but Saturday night, I played, wallowed, and frolicked in the sloppiest slimiest mud you could ever imagine at the Tulsa Mud Run.This was the 2nd year for this event, put on by my TATUR friends, and raised money for the Tulsa Firefighters Burn Camp. Nearly 1000 people ran this 2 mile race which had 8 mud pits to deal with along with a few fun obstacles thrown in.

People came in the bare minimum clothing, and some came in costumes. Some came in formal dress as well.You can always count on Carrie for a funny get-up.

EWWW! Green Mud!!!

Christal and Jessica added a little makeup and skipped a few days filing their horns down to complete their look.

Somehow all color was brown after their run.

Lisa does weekend duty as a prison guard. Kathy, Joye, Candice, and Carmie got a weekend pass to come do this run.

Jason before/Jason after.

For these guys, it was just a day at the office.

Can you believe the blond chick wearing a WHITE DRESS to an event like that???

OMG! That gal is RUNNING THE RACE in that WHITE DRESS!!

Oh....it was me. You know I'll do anything for attention....and a free beer.A nice outfit complete with Betty Boop undies.

The first mud pit was almost knee deep, and would not let a runner excape without sucking a shoe off. My 2nd trip through took a good 5 minutes, and I was not surrendering my Asics Trabucos, and my Dean Karnazes insoles! I am sure there are at least 50 shoes buried there.

The 2nd mud pit had a structure to crawl under....not a terrible thing, but the worst was yet to come.

The Tulsa Area Triathletes did the 3rd mud pit. Runners had to climb, scoot, or dive through the tires into the sloshy mud to make it through this one.Funny that some people seemed to make it through without full frontal mud. Hmmm.... I was pretty dirty before this obstacle, and had a 60 pound skirt after this bog! I ran the whole second half of the race holding my skirt up!!

Then came the water slide. Of course, there was a nice mud pit at the bottom.
Then, we ran a second lap and we were done. For me, this was no race. I ran with leg weights, or so it seemed, and a 65 pound body suit/skirt. I was more tired after these 2 miles than after my 14 miler earlier that morning!

I was glad to see that Heidi got better acquainted with the slop on her second lap.

A lot of hard work went into pulling this off. My TATUR friends and RunnersWorld worked tirelessly several days right up to race time. Brian and Kathy, you guys are awesome. My great friend Sandra also took the bull by the horns and saw to it that lumber, several dump trucks of dirt, and most important, 8 kegs of beer were donated. Many other people whose names I do not know worked hours and hours putting the course together. Many other friends from Tatur and the RW group volunteered with the race. I made a fool of myself, which I love doing, and drank more than my share of the tasty beer. Will I ever grow up???Nah....I doubt it!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

The Road Not Taken




Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

...Robert Frost


One of my faves

Monday, August 17, 2009

a Saturday long run




Saturday morning's run started in a blur. I almost slept in, but made it to my group run. My coffee was good and I really wanted in in me instead of chunking the 1/2 cup and running with my buds, so I walked. After finishing the cup, I had decided walking was not such an awful idea, and jogging was not working all that well. I did visit with a few friends in that 1st mile or so including a good friend who is as far left as I am right....Mike Stelly. (Mike, I'd post your pic but the one I took was fuzzy, and all the other pics I have of you I have made you FAT, and tonight I don't feel mean enough to post them.) I walked until my Garmin beeped a mile, and then on to the top of this bridge before shifting into the zombie-shuffle.Lots of dogs seen on the run today.Lassie was trying to tell me Timmy had fallen into a well, but I've heard that line before.

Because the group run was an out-and-back, I got to see all my peeps as they were returning.Great friend Chrissy rejoined the league of living runners this Saturday morn. It was so great to see her! Here, she attempts to display blazing speed. Hmmm....

By the time I had ran 6 miles, all of my friends had already made the turn and were heading back. I had no concrete plans. I had thought of meeting Jason and Lisa for some trail running later in the morning but they were dizzy (Jason) and sick as a dog (Lisa). So, I just kept running. I had my debit card, my cell phone, and my water bottle. Needed nothing more. Except some food, I needed that. McDonald's biscuits and jelly. Nothing else.And some more coffee.
Nothing special about this building....I just needed something that said Sand Springs. Running from Tulsa clear over into the next sound....that sounds good.

Headed south across the Arkansas River but just before crossing, I noticed this trail going underneath it.I bike over this bridge every Wednesday night, but had never noticed this trail. Hmmm.... The fuzziness from this pic is rain. Because of the rain, I decided not to head down this trail away from home, which actually was ridiculous since I already was 9 miles away from my car anyway.From the bridge, looking west. More rain.Looking east, towards downtown Tulsa.It'sa coming down hard now!So I found a dry spot under the bridge.Waited for about 30 minutes for it to let up. Zombies do not melt in the rain, but my cell phone would have.

By the time the rain slackened, I was rested and decided to continue south instead of taking the short route home.Somehow, the idea of running from downtown Tulsa, to Sand Springs, and then to Sapulpa made sense. There was a nice cloud cover, and the temps were in the 70s. Why not?
After topping my water bottle off at a Quik Trip, I turned off of the highway and ran 2 miles west so I could run on lesser traveled county roads. Highway 97 between Sand Springs and Sapulpa is a 2-lane road with a wide shoulder, but cars and trucks go by at 70mph+ and with the water on the road, I was not too crazy about that adventure.For the next 7-8 miles, I ran in what almost seemed like the open prairie. I did come across 3 dogs that someone had dumped....a momma and 2 pups. They looked to be a pit bull mix, not exactly picture perfect dogs. The momma dog came right towards me showing her teeth. One of the pups came with her and he was friendly. I extended a hand to the pup, and the momma decided I was ok. The other pup stayed across the road in the ditch. A few cars whizzed by, and the dogs would not get out of the road. Sad, very sad. The look in the momma dogs eyes was a look of despair....like "what did I do wrong, what is happening to us?" She seemed to know her fate and that of her young was out of her control. The pup across the road in the ditch stayed crouched down, and I wondered is he had been hit by a car, and when I tried to cross, the momma dog growled and put herself between us, so I let well enough alone. I was 4-5 miles from anywhere, and there seemed to be nothing I could do, so I ran on. I looked back a few times and two of the dogs were still in the middle of the road, almost as if they had a death wish. No pictures here. Did not think about it at the time, and probably would have not taken any if I had thought of it. Sad.

Whew!! Was that a downer or what?

My next dog encounter was 2 miles later when another pit bullish mix. A well fed brown and white dog headed right up behind me at a quick pace. No growling, no tail wagging. 5 feet away and I turned to face it, and it darted away. No barking. was it going in for the bite and I thwarted the attack? And then about 3 miles later, I had a black lab come right at me with growls and gnashing teeth. I yelled and charged him, and he retreated. Man, was I ever in redneck land!!!

I eventually ran by Sahoma Lake, northwest of Sapulpa.This was a nice surprise as I really was not sure where I was. I knew that eventually I would cross highway 33, and would take that into Sapulpa....finding this lake along the way was nice. After passing the lake, I ran out of water, and realized I should have looked at the campgrounds for a water tap. The sun had come out, and the temps scooted right up into the low 90s. I knew a store of some sort would be ahead a mile or two, and it turns out I was getting into trouble by the time I finally hit Sapulpa. And finally, I hit the highway right at the Sapulpa municipal golf course. I treated myself to a Gatorade, a couple of iced refills, and a bag if Fritos. The air conditioning was cold, and the PGA was on the smallish wall mounted TV set, so I watched a few holes as best as I could without my glasses. (They were so sweaty and I had nothing clean with which to wash them.) 20 minutes later, I was refreshed again.

Downtown Sapupla....ahh....running on the Mother Road!
One of the last shots leaving Sapulpa was the old glass plant. At one time, this was one of the largest employers in the area. Not sure about that today.

The run from Sapulpa back to my car near Downtown Tulsa was around 12 more miles. It was hot. I chose to stay on old HW 66, the old 2-lane road that goes by Frankoma Pottery. The newer highway had too many cars whizzing by at 70+mph, but it also had a few quickie stores. You guessed it, I ran out of water again. My friend Bobby had called earlier and asked if I wanted the services of a "male crew babe." Well, I had to make the call. Bobby rounded up some bottles of water, a big jug of Gatorade, some chips, and headed out to meet me. I was nearly overheated when I saw him, and what a welcome sight he was!I know I'll be killed for posting this, but does he look good in a skirt or what? Bobby, you were a great crew babe!!! Thanks a million, and I owe ya!

Last dog encounter was somewhere after I left Bobby. A couple of weenie dogs felt the need to grind on my ankles a little. I outran them, but the sillies stayed right in the middle of the road and barked at me and a few cars had to come to a dead stop and hink until they budged a little for traffic to pass.

Bobby met me one more time to top my bottle off, and at that point I was about 3.5 miles from being done.A nice truckload of clunkers traded for cash. GRRR!!!! What an idiotic idea!

T-Town in full view!! The finish is near.

At 36 miles, I still was not too tired to pass up some camera play.

I ended up with 37.2 miles, with stops for some breakfast, a rain delay, a few quickie stores, a 20 minute stop at the golf course, another 20 or so with Bobby, and I was at or near a 12 minute/mile pace when I was moving. Not a good marathon or 50K pace, but just fine for a 100 mile race. I needed this run and I feel good heading into the string of runs I have planned for the fall.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Saturday morning confession time




Saturday morning, I overslept and missed the start of my group run. Seems that I need to whack the alarm clock silly a few times for it to reset itself. I set it for 5:00, but it did not go off, or maybe I slept soundly with the darn thing blaring in my ear for an hour. It could happen, and has before. So, I got up, decided I probably needed the extra beauty sleep anyway, and decided to ride my bike on the route my friends were running. Lotsa time to take pics, and get a few miles in the saddle in the books. Click here for a report on the RW blog.

Next on tap was a 5K trail race over at Keystone. Actually, this was a duathalon, with a 15K bike ride sandwiched between 2 5K trail runs. I would love to get into some serious mountain biking someday, but I have a hybrid which tough trails would eat up. And, I admit I am a little more serious about getting a good road bike before getting an off-road toy. So, a short 5K was on tap for me.





Brian Franklin, the race director did a superb job putting this together. Brian is the owner of Double Shot coffee, by far the best espresso obtainable in the city of Tulsa.
Local beer and hotdogs awaited the finishers, and since I was doing the bunny race, that meant I had gratification much sooner that the hardcore participants!

My buddy Wade ran the same race, and PR'd in a major way. He ran 23:23 on a hilly technical course, finishing 13 minutes ahead of me. I would blame the time difference on youth, but he is not all that much younger than me.

The start. There were far more people in the full Du, than in the 5K. I started near the back....OK, I started dead last. Nowhere to go but up. See the little dude in the colorful jersey? I put a big bulls eye on his back, and intended to blow his doors off.

There were lots of switchbacks early in the race. Make no mistake, these guys were a good 1/4 mile ahead of me.

A mile into the race, I ran into Robin who was acting as course marshal, making sure no one missed this turn.Robin ran with me for 16 miles at the Arkansas Traveller last October. She is getting quite good at knocking these 100 milers out.

I would have for sure blown through this turn without these guys helping out.Tried to talk this guy out of his shirt, but to no avail. Our race shirts were white, and the red would not have shown blood as bad.

It was work, but I finally caught this guy. A tactical move on my part....get them to pose for a picture....let me catch my breath as I was wasted from running him down.

A brief moment of indecision. When in doubt, trust the arrow.

Actually, the course was very well marked.

I finished 6th place overall, and 1st in my age group!! Not my best time by any means, but considering I just treated it as an easy run, I was happy with it.

Hot dogs at the finish line.Hot babes at the finish line too!And MMMMMMM Coffee!

Ok, I guess I need to come clean. yes, I was 6th male overall, but there were only 7 males in the 5K. I'm ok with that.And if this guy hadda ran, maybe I could have beat him too.