Mayor's Green Day Gallop half marathon recap

On Sunday, March 13, I got to participate in a brand new race! Last year, Brooke and I ran the Shamrock Shuffle 5k in Anchorage, and for a while, it looked like we would probably do that again this year. Then Active Soles, the running store in Palmer, announced that there would be a new St. Patrick's Day race in Palmer, the Mayor's Green Day Gallop. I was really happy to hear that it was an afternoon race, starting at 3 pm. But the best part? There was a choice of lengths, including a 5k, 10k, and half marathon. As soon as I heard that there would be a half marathon option, I was in. Brooke isn't in a condition at the moment to run a half, so I felt kind of bad bailing on the Shamrock Shuffle 5k, but I was really excited for a March half.

The day before the race, I went on a 3 mile shakeout run, and it was TERRIBLE. My legs felt stiff and tired and heavy the entire run. My pace was abysmally slow, and I knew that running 13.1 in that condition would be misery. I was very stressed after that run. My shins were bugging me a little also during that run, so afterwards I went home and did some light stretching and then sat for a couple of hours moving hot pads around on my shins, hoping that it would help my legs feel better the next day.

Not sure what to expect from my legs, I nevertheless was looking forward to the race, and took the opportunity to dress up in all my green shamrocked finery, including temporary tattoos on my face :)

I got to Palmer with enough time to spare to get my bib attached, use the bathroom, pack my vest with fuel and head to the start line with plenty of time. The sun was shining, and the day was warm. March in Alaska is notoriously fickle, and it could have just as easily have been below zero, snowy, and windy, but it turned out to be a lovely 50 degree day with sunshine and almost no wind. Perfect running conditions. Since it is a brand new race, I was surprised to see so many people there, but there weren't so many people that the start line felt crowded. They had someone arranged to sing the Star Spangled Banner, which she did beautifully, and then they sent off the half marathon runners. There were 41 of us, 22 of us female.

The course was along roads near downtown Palmer, and they did not have traffic stopped or rerouted for the run, but I didn't have any problems. There wasn't a huge amount of traffic anyway, since it was Sunday afternoon, and drivers passing me were unfailingly polite, giving me lots of room, even though I tried to keep my elbows close to my body, just in case. The course was the flattest half marathon course I have ever run, which was really nice. No crazy hill to climb at the end!! There was one section where we had to run a loop twice, but only twice, and the views were amazing, so it wasn't too repetitive or boring. Great course. Three aid stations with water and some type of electrolyte replacement drink.  Well, two really, but one was on the loop, so we passed it twice.

So... the running. It was AWESOME. I ran and ran and ran. I was worried when Map My Run told me at the half mile mark that I had done it in less than 5 minutes that I had gone out too fast. But I kept my pace faster than 10 minutes per mile for the first 10 miles easily, and my final time was about 10 minutes 4 seconds average pace. I finished in 2:11;44, a good 8 minutes faster than my previous half marathon best, even with one stop at a port-a-john. 12th out of 22 female runners. And this is the first time I have ever run a half without ever stopping for a walking break. My legs felt great the entire time.

All in all, it was a great race, and I had a great time. I hope they do it again next year. The only problem I have is with the shirts. (Yes. I know. That's what I said in my last race recap too.) So this is the deal. When I signed up, the race info said that if you were one of the first 150 people to sign up, you were guaranteed a shirt on race day. I was something like #62. I went to packet pick up the day before, and when I asked about the shirt, I was told to pick it up after the race.  After the race, I went to pick up my shirt, and lo and behold, they were out of shirts. I was told I would get an email when more shirts arrived. Haven't heard anything yet. I always wear the race shirt to work the next work day after the race, and I didn't get to this time. By the time I get the shirt, any desire to wear shamrocks will have worn off, I am sure. Other than that, it really was great. I want to do it again.

Stupid work.

I don't think I have had a moment at any time in recent memory when I sat down feeling bored, with absolutely nothing to do. It just doesn't happen. And the thing I think I spend most of my waking hours doing is working.

(Here I am, at my home away from home)

Now, I really have to say, I love my job. It is rewarding and important work. And it is occasionally exciting and fun, like when I get to travel to some tiny village somewhere in a 4 seater plane. That's awesome right there.

However, the sheer amount of the work that lands on my desk is often completely overwhelming. I'm confident that I could clone myself and the two of us wouldn't be able to get it all done. Unfortunately when I can't get it all done, because of the nature of my work, it has a direct impact on other people's lives. That leads to a tremendous amount of stress. And often, long hours.

Yesterday, I worked 11 hours straight. My plan was to take a late lunch and run 6 miles. That would have been a great plan, except it didn't happen. I didn't take a lunch, all I ate was 7 Medifast meals all day (thank goodness I keep a stash in my filing cabinet). With my run streak going strong at day 105, I had to get my run in anyway, at least a mile. So after work I hit the gym. Because I had been planning to run outside, I was dressed for running in chilly weather. I had on a long sleeved Columbia shirt with that metallic reflective Omniheat stuff. Not exactly the best way to stay cool running in a warm gym. I didn't have a tank top or anything like that with me, and I didn't have my water bottle, as I was planning on using my Camelbak. So, with everything,  I decided to just run a mile and get the minimum in. Then once I started running, the effort turned into a great quick stress relief and I pounded out a mile in 8:51. That is super fast for me, probably the fastest mile I've run in a really long time. Maybe ever, I'm not sure. Then I slowed down and ran another .11 at a 10 minute/mile pace to make an even 10 minutes.

I didn't feel like I got a good enough workout in, though. 10 minutes isn't really sufficient. So when I got home, I did a trial workout of Beachbody's new Hard Corps workout series. The one they have available for trial is a cardio workout, and it was repetitive,  but with only 22 minutes, it didn't aggravate me too much, and the moves were sometimes challenging and had me moving my whole body and getting some core work done. I had a hard time keeping up with the count on the burpees. Burpees really do suck. And I felt pathetically uncoordinated during the lunge and twists. But it was fast moving, and easy to follow. By the end, I had sweat literally dripping off my face, and I felt like I got a pretty good workout on. I finished the day feeling pretty good, all in all.

Valentine's Day Chocolate Run recap

This is the second year I have run Skinny Raven's Chocolate Run on Valentine's Day. It's only a 5k, so in the summer there's no way I would sign up, but in the winter, its a good excuse to get a run in no matter the weather. I'm much more likely to go out and run in the cold if I've paid to do it, LOL.

Last year, 4 of us went, but this year, only Brooke went with me. And Daisy, of course. Our group last year were the poster children for this year's run:

So of course, Brooke and I had to go, and we had to dress up again. I had to borrow Dawn's tutu though, because Daisy ate mine, probably because of the candy hearts that were glued to it, We wore the same thing as last year, because neither of us were feeling very creative, or wanted to spend any money on it.

At the start line

The weather was pretty good, in the low 30's, but there was still ice on the streets and path the race route used, so it's a good thing I brought my icebugs. The race is in the Ship Creek area, and starts under the C street bridge. Brooke is feeling a little sensitive to smells right now, so she had a hard time with the first leg of the race, which went right past several seafood shops. The race route essentially made a big rectangle:

On the return side, we left the street, and ran on a path along Ship Creek. The creek had open water, even though the path next to it was icy and snow covered. I wish I had taken the time to stop for pictures, but I didn't. The path went over a road, under a road, and across a couple bridges, making it interesting and fun to run. Where the path went under a road, they had decorated the tunnel, transforming it into the Tunnel of Love:

(pic is Skinny Raven's)

We finished in about 35 minutes, and there was chocolate waiting for us at the finish line. Each finisher got a little box with two pieces of fancy chocolate in it, and there was really delicious hot cocoa. Plus, they did some giveaways, throwing swag into the crowd. I got a workout towel with the Alaska Club logo on it.

All in all, it was a fun run. Neither Brooke or I were trying to run fast, although Daisy pulled me along pretty good whenever she saw another dog on the course. She likes to be in front. It didn't seem like there were as many people there this year as last year.

finish line

The only complaint I have with this run was about the shirts. They gave out scarves instead of shirts for this run, but for $20 you could purchase a shirt. I usually like to have the shirt, even if I have to pay extra, but I'm glad I decided not to shell out the extra this time. They were plain red T-shirts with lettering with the name of the race in beige on the front. Very plain. Seems like for Valentine's Day, they could have made really cute shirts, but they didn't.

And yes, we will probably do it again next year :)

the icebugs saved the day

I was in Palmer for work, so once again had the opportunity to climb the Butte on my lunch break. I never get tired of it, or the view. I got to the trailhead, laced up my icebugs, and off I went. I was super glad I wore my Icebugs today!!! It was SO ICY!!!

The entire trail wasn't icy, but the places where the trail was the steepest also were the iciest, somehow. Luckily, there was a thin layer of frost on top of the ice so that it wasn't glare ice, which would have been impossible for me to navigate even in my Icebugs.  I didn't have any trouble at all on the uphill trip.

Once I got to the portion with the stairs, it was much better, with just a few slick spots on the flat area between a few of the groups of stairs. I was able to cruise right up and down them.

The view was amazing, as usual. I never get tired of it.

On the trip down, I was afraid to run the steep, icy portions of the trail. I had to keep telling my self to go slow, but keep going. I knew if I stopped, I would have to force myself to move my feet again, LOL. And I kept reminding myself to push my feet into the ground to give the studs on my Icebugs extra pressure to dig into the ice with.

It worked, and I made it down the slick areas without falling.  The rest of the trail was very runnable and it felt good to be running. It was a great 2.4 mile, 900 foot elevation gain/loss break in the middle of my day.

For the foreseeable future

This semi-stealth project is going to be my main knitting project for the next few months. I'm not saying at this point what it is or who it's for. The recipient knows I'm knitting her something,  but she doesn't know what. All I'm going to say is that I'm working under a deadline, about 8 months from now...
And if that isn't a big hint, I don't know what is :)

Happy Run

Every Monday night, my local running store, Active Soles, puts on a free run, that they call the Happy Run. My friend, Brooke, and I go almost every Monday night. Tonight, however, Brooke was tied up at work, and couldn't go. Work kept me pretty busy today too, so I didn't have time to go home and get Daisy like I usually do. So tonight I ran it by myself.

I love running with friends, and I've said before that Brooke is pretty much the perfect running partner for me, because we run at about the same pace. Except when we are sprinting.  That girl has a fast sprint.

But I'm ok running by myself too. I wasn't really by myself, because there were probably 50 other people running tonight, but I didn't know any of them. I just plug in my headphones and run.

I was worried my legs would be too sore since I ran 3.5 miles on Saturday, and another 9.3 yesterday (I'll tell you about those runs in the next couple days, but they were awesome). My legs held up just fine, reminding me that while I may not run fast, I can run for a long time.

There are two different routes that Active Soles use for the Happy Run, and the route alternates every week. For each route, there is a long and a short version. I pretty much always do the long run, unless I am having problems that day.

Tonight the route took me through a neighborhood in downtown Palmer, and down an empty stretch of road with a field on one side and the little municipal airport on the other. At the end of the route, you turn left for the shorter version, to head back into downtown. For the longer version, you turn right, run down a long, gentle hill, under a road, and across a bridge over the Matanuska River. I LOVE LOVE LOVE running across that bridge even in the dark.

At the far end of the bridge, you turn around and head back to downtown. All told, it's just over 4 miles. The official distance is 3.9, but I think that's just to the bridge, not across it.

The paths were pretty icy tonight, and the wind was blowing like crazy, so I ran pretty slow. But once I turned towards downtown and the wind was at my back, I was at about mile 3, and everything felt right, so I kicked it into high gear and ran fast the rest of the way. It was a great run, and I felt awesome!!

Nancy Lake Snowshoe Run

Monday was a holiday, so I was determined to enjoy the extra day off of work. Brooke and I had tentatively decided to go on a snowshoe run, and I was really looking forward to it. I slept in, til almost 11:00, and then texted Brooke. Brooke had also slept in, and was just waking up. We each grabbed some breakfast and then Brooke showed up at my house, ready to go. We loaded my snowshoes, gators and other winter gear and my puppy, Daisy, into her truck and off we went.

We had talked about going to Red Shirt Lake, which is accessed by a trailhead at the very end of the Nancy Lakes Parkway, and we know that the summer trail to Red Shirt Lake was about 3 miles, so 6 miles round trip. Then Brooke’s boyfriend told us that the Nancy Lakes Parkway is closed in the winter, at least a couple miles before the trailhead, which would have made for a hike of unknown length, but at least 10 miles. With the short daylight this time of year, we decided against Red Shirt Lake.

In an exploratory frame of mind, we headed down the Nancy Lake Parkway, after being assured that there were lots of winter trails we could run on. Sure enough, after a couple miles, we came to where the borough had quit plowing the road, and a sign in the middle of the road saying that from that point, the road was closed to highway vehicles.  Brooke probably could have put her truck in 4 wheel drive and we probably could have kept going, but we didn’t want to get a ticket. So we parked at the winter trailhead parking lot just before the sign, and headed out.

There was probably 6 inches or so of snow, so the snowshoes weren’t absolutely necessary, but they kept us from constantly post holing in snow past our ankles. Snowshoes make any snow more than 3 inches or so easier to run or walk in. Since there were only a few vehicles in the parking lot, once we left the parking lot itself and were on trails, I let Daisy off her leash and let her run the whole time. We ran 4.78 miles:

We made a couple of turns, and wound up on a trail marked as the way to public use cabins #2 and 4. Oddly, we never saw a sign for cabin #3, although the map clearly showed it as being located right where logic said it should be, between 2 and 4. The public use cabins are right on Nancy Lake. When we got out there, we found the lake solidly frozen, and there was 2 or 3 inches of fresh snow on the ice. We saw some snow machine tracks on the snow, so we figured the ice was solid enough to be safe for two girls on foot, so across the lake we went:

We ran across the lake, around an island, and back to the public use cabin. This was only my third time out on foot on a lake like that, but the snow machine tracks were very reassuring, and I wasn’t afraid at all. While we were out on the lake, we were passed by a couple on fat bikes. Daisy loved running around on the lake, and wandered around the shoreline too, checking out peoples’ yards and probably getting into things she shouldn’t. One time I called her because I couldn’t see her anymore, and then I saw just her plume of a tail bouncing down the side of the hill, and once she ran out onto the lake, she lost her footing and slid several feet on her bottom, making us laugh.

 (Daisy)

The lake was definitely the high point of our run. I loved it. It was absolutely beautiful. The very idea of running around an island just struck us as totally cool. After we rounded the far side of the island and started heading back, we were treated to an amazing view of Denali:

 After we got back to shore and the cabins, we hit the trail again.  We stopped when the sun was setting and did some yoga:

 (Brooke in Dancer pose)

(Warrior 2)

(extended side angle pose)

And some falling, because really, balancing on one foot on snowshoes and uneven terrain is not easy:

 (not quite Eagle)

(the dance is over)

and then we turned around and headed back to the truck. Neither of us brought our headlamps, so we didn’t want to take a chance of being out in the dark. We were both pretty happy to cover almost 5 miles in our snowshoes without being completely exhausted, as it was our first snowshoe trip this winter, and neither of us have done a lot of high mileage runs lately. It was a total blast!