So after running just about an hour, I turned back around. I figured I was pretty close to the Turkey Mountain trail heads and after consulting the maps once back home, I indeed was quite near them.

I do like this trail though there were fewer water fountains than I expected. I opted to use the one conveniently located near the waste water treatment plant around 41st Street on both the outbound and inbound portions. Looking back, it was probably not the best selection of a water source, but nothing tasted funny!

Overall this was a really great training run. I went a little over 11 miles in just over 2 hours with relatively even splits (right at 11:00/mile pace), particularly since I practiced some power walking on a few slight uphill sections in the second half.

Landmark highlights for the run included:

• The PSO power plant lit up on the return trip
• The Channel 2 tower lit brightly on the evening sky from across the river
• A small pedestrian/bike bridge crossing an inlet of the river just north of I-44
• The railroad crossing on the trail, and finally
• A exhaust torch burning off excess energy at a plant just south of I-44…this puppy is right on the other side of the fence from the trail and you can feel a significant temperature increase for a few moments!
• The TATUR Estim8ur turnaround spray paint which is now quite faded on the trail surface.

Today’s route took me a bit more north along the recently redone Riverparks trail. I joined up with it at 31st Street since there is construction south of here and followed it all the way up to 11th Street. Until now, I hadn’t ventured past the 21st Street bridge. Though there is no crushed limestone “chat” on either side of the super smooth asphalt trail, I’m still a fan. So were several others today: there were lots of walkers, joggers, bikers, skateboarders and rollerbladers out tonight and many kids playing on the playground that borders the trail. But it wasn’t overly crowded and there was only one mad hatter biker racing to set a new world speed record :-)

After noticing the nice Route 66 sign and monument along the road, complete with a flag for each state the road passes through, I crossed the river to the west side. At the start of the trail here there is another disc golf course that’s just on the edge of the apartments. After navigating through the geese and ducks, I followed the curving trail around The Reynolds Amphitheater and floating stage. By this time I was still holding a steady pace and feeling great.

At some point around here I crossed a wooden bridge that had a smell like Six Flags. It’s not too wide and the boards are uneven but it was kind of neat. I’m starting to like running the routes around here and crossing all the bridges. With the river in the middle, it reminds me of my old favorite routes in Austin around Town Lake (now Lady Bird Lake) and Philadelphia along Fairmount Park.

After managing my way along the grass on Riverside Drive, I crossed the road and headed back to Brookside. In total, I logged 6.7 miles at a 10:34/mile pace for a time of 1:10:50.

The east side of the trail near the dam still has a bit of fireworks litter from yesterday evening’s festivities. A side note: Tulsa’s 4th of July Fireworks display was quite good. It lasted well over 20 minutes and the finale was long and bold.

I held a steady pace around 10:00/m though I didn’t have my watch and I wasn’t following the mile markers. Using MapMyRun, I estimate the mileage right at 2.5.

The west side of the trail is just about like the east side with a few differences:

• More of that refinery smell since the electric company borders the trail. On the other hand, you get less of the car exhaust smell since it’s not right on the road.
• Less crowded, with significantly fewer walkers and runners but a steady flow of bike traffic.
• Nice new tree plantings with “In memory of” posts on plaques that also note the tree species. Quite nice and will one day be nice and shady (in a good way, hopefully).
• Plenty of water fountains–seemed like more frequent, too, though I didn’t check to see if they were operable.
• Ken was right, there is a lot more goose poop on this side, concentrated up near the 21st Street Bridge area.

This run was strong and steady in the hot and sunny conditions. I drank about 12 oz. of water in less than 30 minutes and it seemed like I could have had even more. Had I gone another mile, I would have needed to refill my bottle.

TATUR night run on June 28, 2008 ~ Photo: Ken Childress

I expected there to be only 5-6 people but in fact there was a strong group of what turned out to be 14. And that’s exactly how many miles the “long” runners went. Ken had stashed an ice chest at the 4 mile point on the way out and there was another ice chest courtesy of Cindy and her husband at the turnaround. I topped off one of my bottles at the turnaround and popped in another tablet of Kona Kola nuun. This product is really growing on me and I was digging the flavor all night.

The out portion of the run went very well for me. We walked most of the uphills and stopped to regroup a couple of times, but other than that, the pace was nice and easy but consistent. I was sweating heavily due to the humidity so I was sure to drink a lot. In total I had 60 oz. of liquid over the course of the 3-hr, 14-mile run, which I think was probably ok–maybe a bit on the light side. It seemed like I was drinking at least as much as everyone else.

I started to get a little bit tired on the way back but my feet were never really screaming. Towards the end, I was running a bit with Johnny and started powering up the hills because I knew we didn’t have much further to go. I was behind the lead group but saw a few of them as I came into the final parking lot section. They were walking so I decided to practice fast walking to see if I could catch them. Right at 94th I did manage to catch up with them.

After the run, we sat around in the parking lot chatting before Ken and Rob headed out for more mileage. I was asked if I wanted to continue but I decided to turn it in because I was having some coughing problems. At one point, I thought I might vomit, but it went away. I really didn’t have nausea, just this scratchy bad cough I couldn’t kick and it almost brought up all my liquid with it.

Though I need to get in some longer runs, this was a nice one. The large group made it tons of fun and the route was pretty interesting overall. Maybe I can get a couple more of these in before Tahoe so I’m in a better position to complete the mileage next month.

I hadn’t yet run on this dandy little trail but today I discovered my new favorite route along the Midland Valley Trail. I started at the #2 light post and wound my way up and crossed at 25th Street, 21st Street, again at Cincinnati to enter Maple Park, and then at 15th Street. There is a trail closure currently just north of 15th Street but I wanted to see why. Shortly thereafter on the hill the trail asphalt is out and in need of repair. I continued on and crossed the BA on Peoria and then 13th Street to enter Tracy Park. After crossing 11th Street I continued north up to Central Park and made an almost complete counterclockwise loop before picking the trail back up all the way to 3rd Street. It is here that I couldn’t find the trail anymore and I was to my halfway goal time so I headed back and completed the entire route in reverse.

I was digging the weather and started really pumping up the hills and holding a very strong pace. I never really felt fatigued and was having a great run. It was very encouraging that things were going so much better compared to my last few really hot runs. After turning in a negative split, I actually think I felt like I finished with more in the gas tank than when I started. It was a good run.

Along my route I saw a bunny, a male cardinal (who was waiting on the same branch on my way back) a female cardinal, lots of robins, and a number of other birds out enjoying the recent rainwater that had collected on the ground. The trail had some standing water in spots but nothing that I couldn’t manage. It was fun splashing through the puddles and I didn’t mind since I wasn’t planning more than 6 miles.

What a great route! I look forward to more of it again soon.

The trail was pretty empty once again between 31st and 41st but at least there wasn’t a vagrant riding a bike and speaking gibberish. There aren’t usually characters roaming the area but I don’t want to start seeing them. With the heat, there were plenty more bikers than joggers and walkers but I did see several people just out for a stroll. At the end of my four miles, one even asked me how my run went and I muttered, “it’s too hot.”

I didn’t get the long mileage in this weekend, but my pacing is okay and I wasn’t feeling bad after either run today (unlike yesterday). I’m hoping this is a bit of positive momentum I’ll be able to carry forward into the next couple of weeks because those hills at Tahoe are going to be tough.

Alert from Tulsa River Parks
River Parks Authority will begin phase III of River Trails improvements starting Friday, June 13th. Phase III will provide new trails from 31st to 48th Street along Riverside Drive and improvements to the plaza at 41st and Riverside. Trails will be fenced and closed from 31st and Riverside to 48th Street. The parking lot at 41st at Riverside Drive will also be closed as construction begins on the new plaza donated by QuikTrip Corporation. Demolition of these areas and delivery of materials will begin immediately. No public access will be permitted. QuikTrip plans to dedicate the plaza on Thursday, September 25, 2008 as a part of the corporation’s 50th anniversary festivities.

So I’ve been settling for 31st down to where the trail is completely fenced and blocked off at 41st which is just about a mile with all the twists and turns. I try to stay on the gravel part of the path since that’s a surface more similar to the races I have coming up.

I got out there this morning around 9am but the temperature was already pretty toasty. After the first mile I was sweating and figured I wouldn’t be able to make it very long. I just kept at it, listening to my music I’d brought along (even though my in-ear headphones kept slipping out–irritating!). I made it four miles with only one small 30-second stretch of walking before I decided to call it a run and start on my weekend chores. Still not a great run, but better than not being out there at all. Maybe I’ll get in more miles this evening when the temperature goes back down and the sun isn’t so directly overhead.

Today I hit the trail during the heat of the day, hoping to go for a couple hours. But by the 4-mile mark I had a lot of nausea and thought it best to haul it in rather than get myself feeling really bad. At least I was able to keep my usual slow ~10:45/mile pace. I was also experimenting with nuun, the electrolyte replacement. I had a glass of the kona cola flavor with my late lunch and it tasted pretty good. Then I took the tri-berry with me on the run. Between the two, I prefer the kona cola because it’s not quite as strong. I picked the nuun up at Tom’s Bicycles at 6861 South Peoria and the help there was really friendly.

I hope to get a long run in tomorrow morning so I can see where I’m at without all the heat. I’ve been managing 6-milers pretty easily but I need a good 25+ miler to be better prepared for Tahoe. If the 50-mile distance doesn’t get me, the altitude surely will. Otherwise, my only hope to make it across the finish line will be riding in a baby jogger pushed by one of my NTTR friends :-)

I finished the first loop and decided not to stop and just keep going. It was smooth cruising the rest of the way and I wasn’t feeling tired at all. I didn’t expect the run to go near as well since I had some minor pain in the top of my right foot for about 15 minutes. It eventually went away but had me worried.

Of course today was also the first day I didn’t take my watch with me. Not that I really care about setting speed records, but it would have been good to know what pace I was actually holding. It was probably slower than I think but at least the run felt great.

With the crowds, though, come the road runners. Nothing against them, but it’s just you’re more likely to run into the ones who are hell-bent on getting in their workouts and will not let slower runners get in there way.

On Tuesday of this week, I had my first notable encounter. I had not even gone a quarter-mile when I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming of being in Spain. At first I thought it might be the running of the bulls but then I realized it was just someone trodding very heavily. Not only that, but as he went around me, I wasn’t sure whether to 1) get out of the way, 2) offer him directions to the nearest Catholic church, or 3) point him in the direction of the St. Francis Hospital emergency room. Common sense said just move, but with the amount of “Oh God” I was hearing, I really expected to see him carrying a set of rosary beads. Then again, with the labored breathing and flailing of the arms, I thought he might actually need help. As he stepped over into the parking lot and quickly calmed down, I was comforted in the fact that he was actually just adding a little extra drama to his routine.

The following day, another encounter almost topped the first. I was approaching the section on the north side near where the trail curves back to go behind a baseball field when I heard an interesting mix between a cough, a raspy voice whispering “Help!”, and an asthmatic wheeze (no offense to those with asthma). I quickly realized that this was yet again another runner who was more interested in hitting some goal time than avoiding steamrolling other walkers and joggers in his path. I mean, seriously…on a path barely wide enough for 2 runners to pass comfortably, don’t expect me to utilize the eyes in the back of my head that don’t exist to first notice your dominance of the sport and then to sacrifice myself against a tall chain link fence just so you can get around. Seriously.

Anyhow, I actually enjoyed two great comfortable runs. The course does have a few uphill sections that get the blood pumping. With an abundance of parking and easy accessibility from I-44, I will likely start making this my more frequent route for short distances.