cool. thank goodness there are some others around. oregon's supposed to be famous for running, right?

i live in eugene and try to run in the mountains whenever possible. i love portland, too-- the marathon is fast yet laid-back. how west coast!

i want suggestions on good oregon runs. i'm training for the crater lake marathon and the hood-to-coast sounds like a fun time. any other don't-miss-it oregon classics?

Darn, I tried to post this and just lost it, so here goes again....

Econo: I'm a recent transplant to Eugene-- I've been going to school here for the last five years but finally decided to move here (i.e., get a new driver's license) last year. I ran and skiied xc in HS in Alaska, but my real loves are trail running and mountain biking, both of which are hard to come by here, I'm discovering. I've run two road marathons in Alaska, the Mayor's Midnight Sun and the Humpy's Classic, but I've never run a trail marathon. I did run a 17 mile trail race in AK three years in a row, though, and sorely missed it last summer.

So, long story short, I haven't raced much in Oregon at all. I'm looking toward the Crater Lake because it seems like a really good challenge to work towards, plus it's kind of a cross between a road run and a trail run. Unfortunately, it has the altitude, hills, uneven surface, and slippery gravel of a trail run without the saving grace of actual soft, joint-saving dirt. hee hee. oh well. Here's to living through it.

To answer your question about training, I haven't started an actual training schedule yet because the race isn't until August, but I've been increasing mileage since late November. Right now I'm running about 35 mpw total, with two 1.5 hour hill workouts during the week and long runs of 12+ miles on the weekend (river loop; don't know the exact mileage).

When I really start a rigid schedule in mid April (I'm in the process of planning that right now; I would welcome advice), I should be running about 42-45 mpw and I'm looking for places where I can get into thin air. The Ridgeline Trail, Spencer's Butte, etc. are good hill workouts but they're certainly not going to train me for high altitude. On the other hand, I've had a lot of folks tell me not to worry about the altitude so much, just to get into really good shape and then get to Crater Lake several days ahead of time and do short runs to acclimate. It seems like they're saying that if I train to run, say, a 3:30 road marathon, then I have hopes of maybe running a 4:30-4:45 at Crater Lake. As it gets a little closer and I actually have a chance to go down and see the course, I can set a more concrete goal. I'm obviously not going for a PR.

I've posted this a few times here, but does anyone run in the mountains here? where do you go? and should I even bother running up high on the weekends if my body isn't going to acclimate anyway?

Also, I would just like to say that I really love Oregon. I'm still taken aback by the huge trees and the awesome rivers. I love river rafting (my folks were guides back home) and I am proud to live near such great whitewater. This state really has a little bit of everything....

Now if Eugene only had a few more races....