3P: 3D: 30M

Day One- feelin good, beautiful forest

Three people, three days, and thirty miles in this third month of 2010 was the goal. Portland has lots of good coffee, beer, food, art, and community to brag about. But, Forest Park is the shiniest gem this place has to show off, in my opinion. The Wildwood Trail offers 30 delicious miles of meandering trail through the rainforest (in one direction! love that!). While access to the Wildwood is pretty easy from downtown Portland, once on the trail, you hardly know that half a million people are gettin it done just on the other side of the ferns, moss, and dense trees you are wandering through. In my mind, the trail running in Forest Park is to runners what the Wasatch is to skiers. So, to honor and completely saturate ourselves in this trail's greatness, we decided to run the whole thing from end to end in one weekend. Kyle joined Chip and I on this adventure. We are grateful he did because without him there I could have just made this whole thing up, and, he carried his camera all 30 miles and documented this adventure like a pro. Oh, and he is a really fun dude that you want along on just about any adventure you embark on.
PS- Kessler joined us for day one and three. She did a great job, but her herding instincts drove her to run a lot more miles than any of us humans. In two days, she probably ran 60 miles. We thought that was enough.

Day Two- muddier, longer, and a bit more pain.

Before you put us up on some pedestal about how healthy we are, let me complete the story by letting you know that part of agreeing to participate in this activity included a commitment to go out to eat each day after we were done running. We rewarded ourselves with treats like pizza, burritos, crepes, beer, and burgers. .. we ate our way through the weekend just as much as we as we ran our way through it. And, it was equally as enjoyable as the incredible trail. We discovered some really stellar spots in the city.

Thanks, to my husband for organizing our put-ins and put-outs ;)...and agreeing to do this adventure even though he has no time to run or train for anything these days (Pretty much we all "off the couched" this....that might explain the pain I am in right now). Thanks to Kyle and Emily for being our partners in crime again this weekend- pictures, shuttling, eating, laughing, and loving the city with us. So much fun. What's next?!

Day Three- 30.25 miles complete!

"A lot of people run a race to see who's the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts."
- Steve Prefontaine (link)

Snooze Button

Haven’t written in a while…again. I did some sand tray therapy as part of my social work studies and one thing that illuminated itself at that time and pops into my head often since then, is the idea that hibernation is good. It works for bears. However, my favorite example, and the one that came to life in my sand tray, was that of a tree. I love trees. I know, who doesn’t, right? But, I have always felt this affinity for them similar to that of my attraction to blooming flowers…or puppies…
(a sunny afternoon at our new favorite back country spot below Mt Hood)


I grew up around lots of trees, especially deciduous ones that put on a fantabulous color show in the fall…and then seemed to hibernate. They would stand there looking dead all winter, getting clobbered by snow, wind, and rain…naked. I felt sorry for them. But, then, come April, they would come back to life, and grow back not only the leaves that they dropped in the fall, but would extend their branches a tad bit further. That bright green tip reaching just beyond last year’s mark... hibernation made that possible. Trees are smart. Some of them give themselves an entire season to rest, shed the excess, and draw into their center so that they may have the energy and ability to grow that extra little bit, be that much stronger, stable, and able to support that much more life. So like a tree, I am…have been… in a bit of a hibernation, at least a blogernation (yeah urban dictionary, what do you think of THAT word?!). And, I trust that upon revival, I will extend my green tips further. In the meantime, doing my best to find center.



(an awesome weekend trip to the coast with Emily and Kyle- skim boarding on the warm, February, Oregon waters)



PS- Unlike the tree, I don’t have to stand still, or naked, to pull into center and regain strength. So, here are some photos from things of the past six weeks. Hasta pronto…mas pronto esta vez.

"Accept the present and intend the future."
- Deepak Chopra