Eastern Oregon Running





As I look out over the desolate Eastern Oregon plains I feel overwhelmed with the feeling of how I can never, ever escape being a small town girl. This weekend I am home for Mother's day, and being home is a little scary. The city is always busy, there is always somewhere to go, people to meet, and places to discover. Here in Eastern Oregon, there is high desert and Douglas fir forests. There is more land than people, and more loneliness and silence in this place than I can even begin to describe. Still it is home, and I feel that right down to my bones. My home is a truth that defines me utterly. Being here in Eastern Oregon is hard, you have to be absolutely alone with yourself.



Almost to the top of one of my trail runs



While I was home I went for a couple of runs into the mountains. They were brutal uphill runs on old dirt logging roads. The elevation was a little higher than I was used to, and well running uphill is just flat out hard. One mile felt like two, and two miles felt like four.  Still I was pretty stinking proud of running uphill, and better yet the soft surface was kind to my knees. In fact I felt no pain, which gives me hope for the 30 miles I am planning on logging next week.

The view from the top. So gorgeous.

The second run I took up the mountain was 3 miles up and 3 miles down. My breath was painful in my chest, and my lungs felt ragged. However, the entire time I ran, the blue mountains that I have lived with all my life rose up behind me. They are majestic.I kept thinking about this friend of mine who is an artist. When I visited her at college, she showed me all of her paintings. She had drawn our blue mountains over and over again. She told me she could not get them out of her head. She said she dreamed of them all the time, and missed them. I guess I understood what she was saying, although I have always felt more torn between home and the unknown than she. I think she just flat out longs for home.

Fields Peak

 Anyways, although I technically only ran 26 miles this week, it was a brutal 26 miles. I am hoping next week to go 30 miles on flat soft surface. Wish me luck. I am hoping to get back into half marathon shape soon!!!!

After the run I drove the logging road to measure the distance and took this picture



Uphill logging road





Me on the way home. I wore a hat to protect
 my poor sun deprived Portland skin!!