smithposts…

For the last 22 or so years, I have had an on and off again affair with running. Never much of an athlete, I took my first tentative steps in my early forties and have continued at some level since.  While my best running years were my mid 50’s, I believe the later in life start has allowed me to continue running into my 60’s and hopefully beyond.  Running has been good for me providing a sense of accomplishment and a tool to help manage my weight.

Though I rarely go a week without at least one run, some weeks I am all about running and some weeks not so much.  My biggest running motivator is an adventure goal with a deadline!

Which brings me to my current situation.  John and I have committed to a 6 night/7 day late August trek in Eagle Cap Wilderness, Oregon. Because we have spent the last few months “in discussion” about our destination, I have struggled to get my mind around getting in shape (cue up violin music).  This week reality finally settled in!  Yikes, only 89 days till departure.  I think I found my motivation!
So this is how Eagle Cap Training Week One shook out :

Monday, May 22: Set my alarm for 4:30 AM and, at 4:30 AM, reset it for the regular time.  Grrrrrr, still tired from Saturday’s 8 mile hike to Charlie’s Bunion and couldn’t convince myself that running was a good idea.  On the plus side, 1-min of planking done.

Tuesday, May 23: Ditto Monday,  but yay for another 1-min plank.

Wednesday, May 24: Third time is a charm.  Up at 4:30 Am for a 2:42 mile run around the neighborhood. It is really dark at 4:30 AM and NO ONE else is stirring.  Lucky for me I have my trusty headlamp and John to keep me company.  When we got home, we patted ourselves on the back for getting out the door! And yay for another 1-min plank.

Thursday, May 25: Riding high from yesterday’s  early wake up, we were up again at 4:30 AM.  This time for a 2.11 mile run, I had an early meeting at work so we cut our distance a little.  Nope, still no one out that early and yes I did the 1-min plank.

Friday, May 26:  This is my late day at work and my hardest day.  Nobody in our house is getting up at 4:30 AM.  1-min plank done.

Saturday, May 27: We slept in (7:30ish). After all, it was my 64th birthday and gosh I deserved it!! Went for a 4.02 (yes, .02 counts) around and just outside the neighborhood.  Since we are in a build phase (read: just getting back in to it), we (I) avoided the hills and kept it flat.  Going for distance this day and hills would have crushed me!!

Flowers at Suttree Park with the Tennessee River and city skyline in the background

Flowers and dandelions at Suttree Park

Sunday, May 28: I think my husband tried to kill me today (well in a loving, let me help you get in shape sort of way).  After another sleep-in/relax and drink coffee sort of morning, we headed out for the second run of the weekend, 3.57 miles.  Again, around the ‘hood, not too exciting but getting it done. My legs are feeling a little tired now but I am feeling quite happy with the weekend effort.

But it appears I was not done.  John announced that we really MUST do steps.  After all, we will be hiking a lot of uphill and well, how do you get in shape to go uphill if you don’t go up hill.  So off to the University of Tennessee we head to walk the steps on The Hill or as it is known by the faculty and students, “Cardiac Hill.” We climbed all the steps around the hill, then one wicked set at Neyland Stadium and the and up and down through the stadium parking garage.  We climb 631 steps up, I did not count the down.  By the end of the effort, I was gasping for air, my legs were trashed, I don’t think my husband even took a deep breath.

So, that was our effort for Eagle Cap Training-Week One.  All in all, not a bad effort for our first week.

Total Miles Run:  12.1 miles

Total Steps: 631

 2nd Creek runs along the base of the east side of “The Hill”.  It is usually a drainage ditch but based on recent rain, the water level is higher than usual. 

Ayres Hall, the hallmark of the University of TN.  This is half of the staircase that climbs from Cumberland Avenue to the Ayres Hall patio. The steps are on the north side of “The Hill”.  

The staircase from Phillip Fulmer Way to the top of The Hill .  This is roughly the west side of The HIll. The top of Ayres Hall is visible above the enclosed walkway.

Knoxville skyline and the Tennessee River from the top floor of Neyland Stadium parking garage.  The green roofed boathouse contains the women’s rowing team sculls and workout area. 

Woke to overcast skies on Saturday morning, it had rained all night. With John still sick after a week of sneezing and sniffling, I would be on my own for most of the weekend. I decided to beat round three (or was it four or five) of incoming storms and head out for an early run. Although the humidity was high, the temperature hovered around 60 F, conditions I find appealing for a good run.

Threatening skies for an early morning run.

I don’t get the opportunity to run on my own much these days, John is often at my side (or usually ahead). While I enjoy his companionship and encouragement, if truth be known, I enjoy the occasional run alone. It is my time to let my mind go blank, dream or sort though things that maybe bothering me.  So Saturday’s run was a treat.

The run seemed effortless. I wound my way through the streets of the neighborhood and out to the new boardwalk along the river.  Before I knew it, my legs began to feel heavy.  I looked at my Garmin and realized I was near 4.0 miles. Where had the time gone?  Knowing I was not going to make 5.0 miles,  I stopped at 4 and walked the rest of the way home.  It was a very good run for me!

Rain soaked entrance to our neighborhood. Everything is greening up nicely.

Rain soaked iris from my garden.

After the run came a 3 hour grocery run (3 stores and lots of walking up and down the aisles), we were out of most of the essentials.  I came home to a bored and restless John, who offered to buy dinner if I would drive.  I said yes, of course.

We struggled per our usual routine of trying to agree on a restaurant, finally settling on a burger place (I shutter at the thought as I write this) called Stock Burger .  Not long after we left the house, we noticed the sky had an odd color with a series of heavy, unusual looking clouds.  The further northwest we traveled, the worse things appeared.

At first, a few rain drops fell, then a heavy rain started and suddenly the sky opened up and buckets and buckets splashed (crashed) down.  Next came the hail, big, loud pieces of ice pelting the heck out of the car.  I haven’t looked too closely but I am hoping for no noticeable damage. Finally the worst of the storm passed and the rain went from intense to heavy. We made it to the restaurant in one piece though a bit damp getting from the car to the front door.  The burger (and fries) I ordered negated every step I had run in the morning.

I can’t believe I ordered, much less ate most of this.

I was hungry and dove into the burger. Got through most of it and the fries before my stomach started cramping.  I could not eat the rest.  I did manage to put away the vanilla cake donut with maple frosting and carmel drizzle below before the cramping turned into intense pain.  I thought for sure I had food poisoning but a couple of Tums and laying down eventually solved the problem.  By all accounts, eating this type of food is poison but sometimes it is hard to resist!  John had the same type of stomach cramps later in the night so we have marked Stock Burgers off our restaurant list.

Duck Donuts are amazing….   Glad we do not live within quick driving distance of the store front.

The rain continued through Saturday night and all day Sunday.  Knoxville received a record 2″ of rain in 24 hours. We considered throwing life rafts out for our newly planted coleus, azaleas and dogwood but the sun should be out tomorrow to dry things out.

Rain puddles in the garden

Sunday has been a lazy day.  A little bit of cooking, some laundry but mostly writing and resting.  Rainy days are good for that sort of thing. We found ourselves restless mid-afternoon and headed downtown for lunch (food seems to be a theme for the weekend).  Even with the rain, the Sunday crowd was out.

Comfort food at Sweet P’s hit the spot.  John had a andoula sausage sandwich and mac and cheese while I settled on pulled chicken (somewhat healthy) and mac and cheese (ouch).  We were home an hour later and back to relaxing mode.  All in all a needed restful weekend!

Our favorite downtown dive!

Shame on me for not having my toe nails painted but I have my rain shoes on and am ready for the puddles.

Downtown Knoxville in the rain

We went on a backpack this weekend.  By all accounts it was short and easy but we haven’t been on a backpack in almost 4 months so it felt like starting again.  Duane Simmons, my first backpacking partner went along for the exercise and social aspect.  His stories kept us entertained and laughing on the trail and in camp.

The hike began in the Elkmont are of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  We parked behind the campground (closed for the season) and amongst the cabins in Historic Elkmont. Historic Elkmont has an interesting history beginning with the Little River Logging Company then summer homes for the elite in Knoxville and surrounding areas.  After years of a tug of war between environmentalist and supporters of preservation, a compromise was reached.  This little piece of history and status update appeared in the Knoxville News Sentinel on January 27, 2017″

“Elkmont is one of the most popular destinations in the Great Smoky Mountains and offers a glimpse of life in the decades before the property became a national park.  Logging operations began harvesting timber from the area around 1880.  

The timber industry was eventually replaced by a resort town where people enjoyed the area’s natural beauty.  Vacationers bought property and built 74 cabins along the rivers and creeks as part of the Appalachian Club.   Elkmont’s resort community was comprised of three neighborhoods:  Daisy Town, Millionaire’s Row, and Society Hill.

When the Great Smoky Mountains became a reality, the National Park Service allowed owners to keep their cabins until the early 1990s.  Since then, the vacant buildings have crumbled.  Signs now warn people to keep out of the unstable structures.

In 2009, the National Park Service announced plans to preserve 19 of the cabins and tear down the remaining 55.  Of the 19 cabins spared, 17 are in Daisy Town where paved roads and parking lots allow visitors to drive directly to the site. “

While I initially worked with environmentalist to tear down the structures,  I am glad a glimpse of this history will be preserved. Elkmont is a different but important piece of park history.

But back to the backpack…  We hiked on the Cucumber Gap Trail which merged with Jakes Gap to Campsite #21, our destination for the night.  The trail is an easy walk and most places are wide enough for three across to walk comfortably. Because it was cold or more likely the last weekend in January, we had the campsite to ourselves, a rare pleasure in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Below are a smattering of pictures from the evening:

John unloading gear into the tent. 

Duane doing the same. 

One of many rock walls remnants left over from cabins built in the park.  

The sun seems to set early in the mountains.  In reality we loose visiblity as it slips below the taller peaks. 

Winter starkness.

We saw too many of these snags in the campground where people had obviously hacked away at living trees, most likely for wood.

Being dead of winter when the number of backpackers are seriously reduced, we had no trouble finding wood for our evening fire. 

Of all the people we hike and backpack with, no one can build a fire quite like Duane.  A one time Boy Scout and always a perfectionist, he has the “art of the fire” figured out. 

A warm fire kept us comfy and talking for hours. 

A glimpse of the Elkmont resort community restoration.

Yesterday I woke up to a real southern treat, SNOW! Significant snow by our standards,  an official 3″. With salt trucks running the roads on Friday and dire weather predictions all week, I was convinced the snow would turn north and miss us.  Afterall weather fronts often do funny things around our Great Smoky Mountains and as a result, the weather folks usually get it wrong. But they were dead on this time, yay for a good southern snow.

On the other hand, it is good not to be living in Blasdell, NY where 28″ of snow fell. According to the National Weather forecast, 65.4% of the country is currently covered in snow and ice. Brrrrrr!

I intended to be out running 1st thing Saturday morning, 4 miles was the plan.Over the past six weeks my running has really suffered; I went on two weekend trips, spent four snowy days in Quebec City (a later post) and family came in town for the holidays. However, a layer of ice lay below the snow and the temperature hovered around 18 degrees F, so I gave into the situation and took a 3.5 mile walk with my hubby. It was cold!!

Our destination was an out and back to  Ijams Nature Center , the 300 acre cornerstone to South Knoxville’s urban wilderness, a mecca for mountain bicyling, birders, hikers, canoers, SUP boarders, runners and photographers.  This amazing area is a quick 1.5 mile hike (or run) from the house!

We walked the short .5 mile through our neighborhood and jumped on the Will Skelton Greenway.  The greenway begins in our neighborhood park  on the banks of the Tennessee River and continues along an inlet that branches off the river (above).  Each summer I swear I am going to rent a kayak and paddle through the inlet. 2017 is going to be my year to “get it done”!

Bird houses were installed along the Will Skelton Greenway in 2016.  I think they are decorative only.  The boxes sit low enough for the curious to peak in on any given walk (not guilty yet).

The wind was strong Friday night and appears to have prevented the light, fluffy snow from settling on the branches in the trees.  We were not the 1st walkers (or bicyclists) on the greenway, but not many had come before us.

The water was lovely from the trail lookout in Ijams Nature Center. The inlet is is part of  the same inlet as the first photo, about a mile (probably less by water) east.  During the summer, the vegetation is heavy and the water is not as visible.

Snowy bridge in Ijams Nature Center

Winter wonderland

The ice covering this pond was very superficial.  Like others before us, we did not venture onto the boardwalk for fear of slipping. John had a little incident earlier on another bridge but shhhhh, I didn’t tell you that!

Stay safe!