Christmas Camp Day 1 and 2

It all started Christmas day with a scheduled 12 mile run. The campers need to 100M in seven days along with push ups and sit-ups daily and none of the sissy kind. It all started with a pretty enthusiastic group of 20 campers, probably the biggest group ever. Right of the bat the emails were flying challenging more push-ups, more sit-ups, banter about the pending snow days. Then the real snow hit and all was quiet.......

12 miles on Christmas day is a big task since there are so many important celebrations and time commitments but this group could not be stopped even with all the snow and ice. I met Steve in the morning at the base of Terrwilliger Blvd. (a popular running path in Portland). Since this road leads to the hospital I figured it would be plowed and the traffic would be very light making it good for running. It was fabulous. I am so desperate for any kind of even running surface where ice holes and drifts are few and far between that the light coding of icy slush felt great. Not only was the road plowed but at least 1 mile was closed because a house was sliding down the hill. We got the whole road to ourselves. It was an awesome 12 mile run.

Friday was a scheduled 7 miles and our first group run. The group would be small since most are still having trouble even getting out of their driveway but it was nice to see other campers. We met at Lief after Darin, Lisa and I finished a brutal boot camp session with Mark. See, I ate M&M's last night which meant suffering for all. I suffered and my friends did to....sorry I couldn't resist! After our legs and arms were mush we all made our way to the park. The freeways have all been plowed but the side roads are a mess. I felt for the folks who parked their cars on the streets. They are now buried in lots of snow and ice. Lief Erickson is an 11 mile gravel road gated off so only runners, bikers or hikers can use it. The path is covered in a foot of ice and snow. The snow would be fine but the ice is awful! We were breaking through, twisting and sliding. We had fun and enjoyed the company but quickly began brainstorming for the finally, the annual purge and splurge 31 mile run that takes place on the the 31st using the Wildwood trail. Most likely that is not going be a good place for a 31 mile run. The ice/snow is just to weird. A few good ideas were born so we will begin testing them out and come up with a plan.

Tomorrow is a scheduled 15 mile run and we are doing the bridge loop. Details to follow. So far, many campers have reported in and they are determined and creative. It's and honor to hang with such cool people and I am looking forward to more. I only have 1 pair of long running tights so I am getting a lot of laundry done.

BTW: What present did you get that you are most excited about? I got an adaptor for my car so I can now play my IPOD in my car. I am going to LOVE this once I get my IPOD. As soon as Bill is done blading our road we are going on the hunt for the perfect color....I think red as a reminder of "red hot Sunday's"! What do you think Micheal??

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and is looking forward to another fun and adventurous year.