11 Miles to Portland
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In Appleton I had developed a bunch of running courses. 3 miles. 4 miles. 10 miles. I had a variety of regular loops that I could use to match any type of run that I wanted to complete. None of them were particularly interesting, but they got the job done.
I also participated in a Saturday morning running group in the summers, that focused on training for the Fox Cities Marathon. This helped me get a bit more social with my running, and introduced me to some different running routes. People in the Fox Valley who think it is "flat" have never had the “privledge” of running Prospect street in Kimberly. It was a nice training ground for our six months in Sandy.
Sandy presented a new running challenge with its new verticality. There was never a need to schedule hill drills, they were just built into every run.
The biggest problem with running in Sandy is how small the city is. When I train for a marathon, I am regularly traveling over 10 miles in a single run. I could run the entire perimeter of Sandy and only accumulate 5 miles. This lead to many days of running the same loops over and over again. Some of the views are amazing, but I always felt restricted. Restrained. Like a caged animal.
I tried running on the country highways a few times, but that just lead to the stress trying of not getting hit by cars and trucks coming around curves at 50 miles an hour with no shoulder to retreat to.
Our move to the Milwaukie area was prompted by many things, but places to run was not high on that list. However, now that we are here I am blessed with some of the best running routes of my life.
Our house is near the Trolley Trail, a pedestrian and bike route that heads north and south following close to McLoughlin Boulevard. With just a few minutes of walking I am on trail that offers nearly endless running opportunities with amazing views and interesting histories.
To the south is Oregon City, which contains a municipal elevator and views of Willamette Falls. I ran there a few weekends ago. The river reminds me of the Fox River with it’s industrial history.
Last Saturday I headed north on my longest run since moving to Oregon. 22 miles with a few strides thrown it the end for maximum torture. I headed north and never ran out of trail. 11 miles is enough distance that I can get to downtown Portland. Along the way is the Trolley Trail, Milwaukie waterfront, Oaks Park, and the Spring on the Willamette trail. It is a wonderful variety of changing terrain and vistas from tree lined neighborhoods, river front parks, art installations, and vibrant urban areas. I regretted having to turn around at 11 miles as there is just so much to explore.
