Muddy, wet hills... all smiles

At the last minute, after some begging by Abbie, I decided to go on the Newberg Friends women's retreat. As luck would have it, she ended up staying home with sick kiddos. Bummer all the way around!

But I quickly got over my disappointment. A feeling of expectancy took over, and I was excited to see what God had planned for my weekend at the coast.
I planned to arrive at Twin Rocks Friends Camp nice and early and squeeze in a woodsy run before activities got under way in the evening. But as I drove out of the mountains and into Tillamook, the warm, sunny weather to which we were treated in the valley was replaced by a dark, gray sky and cooler temps.

I got all checked in and claimed my bunk bed in the new(er) Osprey cabin, which was gorgeous and roomy. I never want to go back to the old cabins after that luxury :)
Then I almost threw in the towel and took a nap. Instead, I kept the promise to myself and slipped into my running clothes before I could change my mind. Because it was a bonus workout, I told myself it would just be easy, maybe 30 minutes.

I ran up Charlotte's Mountain until I came to a logging operation. Apparently they are "thinning" the forest canopy, but it really looked like clear cutting to me :(

I was all smiles as I ran around the camp's forested trails, which were squishy, muddy, slippery and wet. I did 3 miles in 37:02 - slow because of the hills and trail conditions.
Then I cooled down in this gorgeous spot near our cabin:
I love the woods!

Saturday brought a long stretch of free time. I read for a bit, napped for about 90 minutes and then changed for another soggy, muddy run.

This time I ran on the logging road - all the way to the top of Charlotte's Mountain. Because of the logging debris, I couldn't locate the other end of the trail. So I ran down the way I came up. Then I headed to the other side of the mountain and went up from that direction. I found the connection that time and continued down the logging side.

Three miles in 48:21.
Why so slow? Maybe this will explain it:
My Garmin says I did nearly 1,500 feet of elevation gain in those 3 miles. No wonder my butt and calves hurt! :)
That was one of the wettest, muddiest runs I've had. And I loved every minute of it!
I took time to stretch on the porch with this woodsy friend:
Usually I'm really social, but this weekend was a lot more about alone time for me. There was lots of good stuff, but I have to say that these runs were my favorite part of the getaway :)