Birthday Half Marathon

If you have a birthday coming up, you may be thinking of what wonderful way you can spoil yourself and enjoy the day but I urge you to throw that aside, make a birthday shirt and run a race!  I may only be saying this because I want others to make silly decisions like I do!  This all seemed like a great idea 4 months ago but last Saturday when I woke up and heard the pouring rain there was one thing I wanted to do to celebrate launching into the last year of my twenties, and it was not go run a half marathon.

Running for cake and champagne!

Nevertheless I am stubborn so that is what I did.  I got my fantastic birthday shirt ready as well as my rain jacket and off I went to run Mayors Half Marathon to hear people wishing me a happy birthday for 13 miles.  The race started off like any other, wet and fast.  It was a large race with a lot of out of town folks so there was lots of puddle jumping (its cute they thought they would stay dry on this lovely summer solstice in Alaska) and picture taking.  We ran out on the coastal trail and I was feeling pretty good. Even after a couple hills I was really starting to think, "I got this running thing, I may not be fast, but I get it...finally"  Well its nothing some awesome weather to knock your ego back into check.  After about mile 4 we turned onto a road out by our airport and directly into the wind.  It had to be 30-40mph, it was nuts.  The wind made the rain hurt when it smacked you in the face so we all became hunched runners in garbage bags.  It was a sight!  I am sure I was not the only one relieved when we finally turned onto the connector trail that was to link the road running to the paved trail running, but this trail had its own fun to come.

Fun in the mud

Along with a lot of rain, this train had already experienced about 1300 people before me.  It was a mud pit!  I was really surprised, some people were ticked, others just laughed, many more slid down the huge mud hills while their friends climbed through the devils club along the trails edge.  If the name didn't explain it, you don't want to touch devils club....ever.  It was crazy! As soon as I got out of there and hollered a happy cheer to be on paved trail the running mass stopped again for a moose.  Slightly concerned by the fact people were taking selfies with the animal from very close proximities I ran on. 

I have no idea how those people ran the whole race in ponchos!

At this point around mile 8 I started to feel the nagging pain from my 12 mile blister turned injured hip situation from a couple weeks before but overall I was still going strong.  I made it all the way until mile 11 when my body decided it was done.  I then spent two miles thinking things like, "should I go to a physical therapist?  Crap I signed up for another one of these next month!  I hate hills.  Crap I signed up for a mountain race in August, what was I thinking?"  Then the best thought of all - "who are these happy people running by me at mile 12?  Whey do they look so refreshed?"  It took me a few to realize that these are the marathoners who have run 25 miles in just over three hours, damn them for looking so peppy on this freaking hill! 

Thank goodness I can stop running and eat cake!

As I ended the half - on a hill because all races end on hills, sadistic race directors - I seriously wanted to cry.  I'm not sure if it was relief or pain or what, but I just hugged my husband and bit my lip because nobody wants a sobbing birthday girl!  The race for the most part a lot of fun.  I received many birthday wishes, some songs, and a few people who asked me what the hell I was thinking when I signed up for this race.  Since I don't learn lessons well I am making the public declaration that next year, the day before my 30th birthday it will be me and 26 miles of fun.  Yes I am ready to do a full.  By the end of this season I will have run 5 half marathons, a 16 mile trail race and 5 triathlons, I think its time for the full experience.  So next year I will be out there crying it out over 26 miles of moose, trails and hopefully not rain!

Finishers!

Why Not Tri?

Hello!  Sorry for the radio silence for the last couple weeks, it has been busy!  I am now on week two of summer vacation which is wonderful, I wish it would slow down though, only 6 more weeks to go!  The week before work ended was a bit hectic, my mom came into town, work was frustrating, but the bright side was that I ran a triathlon. 

This triathlon is called the Why Not Tri and it was the first one I was going to run with my husband, well not really with him as he is super speedy, but it was our first experience racing together.  The day started out early as we had to get our bikes out to the town the race was in by 8am.  After getting this done we were both very happy that volunteering had not worked out because it was pouring rain and although I know its the right thing to do, we were much happier waiting out the storm in our car than out directing traffic. 


Hanging out in the packed car

This race started in the pool with a 400m swim and I was relieved to have sorted out my swim issues that occurred at the last triathlon and was able to swim the entire length with my face in the water.  I am still doing a breast stroke, I haven't graduated to a crawl stroke with my face in the water yet, but I am about to start swim lessons so its coming soon!

I leaped out of the pool and made it through transition with great time, but when I jumped on my bike and started to pedal there was just air.  I had thrown a chain.  Whoops!  Got that fixed and off I went.  The bike was nothing too exciting until a couple of the volunteers were sitting in their cars which left me very confused on the route.  I know I should have been responsible and driven the route beforehand, but I didn't, and at about mile 9 I was sure I was lost.  I ended up stopping at a yard sale to ask directions.  Yep, you know its a good bike ride when you throw a chain and have to ask directions in the same ride. 

At the end of the ride I saw my mom, sister and nephew which was a great motivator.  I got through transition and was out ready to run.  Well part of me was, my legs were not that part.  Off I went through the neighborhood on wobbly legs only to find that there is one long large hill in this run.  Here's a question, do you like to know the course ahead of time and stress about it, or be surprised mid race?  Apparently I went with the surprise on this one.  I was calling it a taper tri for my half that was the next weekend so I was taking it easy.  Yes there is such thing as a taper tri, I just made it up myself :) 

After finishing the hilly run I came screaming around the final bend (okay that part may be in my head) and sprinted to the finish line.  That part is real, although I heard in my head a lecture from my coach about having too much gas in the tank at the end means you didn't run hard enough, oh well!

Finishers!

It was a great race, my husband did amazing much to his surprise, but not to anyone else.  I was on a total race high afterwards and tried to rope him into many more races.  I get really excited when I think about sharing the love I have for racing with my family.  Next Tri is in September!

Mugwumps 10k

I hope you all had a happy National Running Day, I almost made mine super memorable with a 10k PR but regardless I had a blast running with the Anchorage Running Club 10k yesterday. I started a bit nervous as the race was for people who had not run a 10k in under 45 minutes, but I am no where near 45 minutes so I started to wonder if I would be last at my slow person race.  But those fears have no place in running so I pushed them aside and put on my sassy tights and headed out!

It was an AMAZING day, so sunny.  Unfortunately I did not remember to take any pictures but the area I was in is so beautiful I will steal a photo or two from the computer to show you where I get to run.  Don't be jealous...or do and move to Alaska, its really fun here :)

These pics don't even begin to do justice to the amazing view.

I love Anchorage :)

So back to the race, it was a small free race put on my our local running club and as I said before it is called the Mugwumps 10k.  What is a mugwump you may ask?  Why let me explain...

mug·wump

[muhg-wuhmp]

NOUN

1.

a Republican who refused to support the party nominee, James G. Blaine, in the presidential campaign of 1884.

2.

a person who is unable to make up his or her mind on an issue, especially in politics; a person who is neutral on a controversial issue.

The idea behind this race, as I have read, is that the mugwumps in option #2 cant make up their mind and us mid-pack runners (read under 45 mins for a 10k) cannot make up our minds if we a serious runner or a fun runner.  While I like to think of myself as both, maybe more on the fun side, that is how the race got its name.  Strange or not it was a great route with fun people.

I started off the race pretty fast which is normal for me, but may have possibly been compounded by the insane mob of mosquitoes chasing me down, or the fear from all the handmade black bear warning signs I had to pass on my route.  At mile two I remembered my goal was to run even 11min splits on this race instead of 10 mins or less on the first three miles then 12mins -death on the last three miles.  So I slowed down and got into the groove despite my music being shut off around mile 2.  It took me a few minutes to realize I was listening to pandora which needs cell service to run, whoops!  I hit the three mile turn around and was around mile four when I realized there was a huge moose on the side of the trail, I think I should get a moose penalty for the seconds I lost there.  At mile 5 I started to wonder if I could get a PR, while doing some hard mental math my pace shot back down to a 10 minute mile, that is until my math came out with the answer - NO.  So back to my 11 minute mile I went and I finished strong in 1:08:20.  I felt great, a super runners high quickly followed as I ate cookies and hung out with fellow runners just soaking in the amazing view.

It may be scary at first but I highly recommend hooking up with your local running group if you are starting to run.  Yes a lot of them are fast but they are really supportive and you can meet some great people who will cheer you on and celebrate your finish no matter what your time!

Biking, Lattes & Lefse

Hello!  Well it is T-minus 6 days until my summer vacation.  I am not a teacher but I work with Head Start programs so I get a wonderful summer vacation away from work to relax, recuperate and gear up for the next school year.  Last summer was a blur of buying a house, moving (being slightly homeless for a bit) and planning a wedding so relaxation was not on the list of things to do.  This year relaxation is pretty much all that is on the list of things to do! 

During the school year when I do work, I have the distinct pleasure of not working on Tuesdays, I work a 4 -10s schedule that leaves Tuesdays for cleaning, running and napping.  Its amazing, have I mentioned that I love my job?  Well this past Tuesday I had a buddy to hang out with as my sister is a teacher and is already off of work.  After my AM nap, yes sometimes there is also a PM nap - I like my sleep, I went to her house to confer on paint colors then her and her 1/2 & 3 year old son (his words, not mine) came with me to do some errands.  One of my errands was to pick up my new compression socks, more on that later, but on my way we saw a coffee stand with a sign on the side advertising a "latte & lefse" special.  Now I should mention my maiden name is Ericksen and in my family I have members named Leif and Johan, and we all are fair, blonde, blue eyed folks - make sense?  I LOVE lefse!  And I will say this coffee shop did not disappoint.  I am glad it is not on my way to work or I would have to do some financial explaining to my husband, yum!  I could write a whole blog on how awesome lefse is!  I liked the picture below as you can see my nephew also in the back seat holding up his lefse, the love runs deep!  By the way I am the blonde on the right, sometimes I forget to mention that in pics with my sister, we look a lot alike but I have the little bit rounder face and longer hair.

Lefse Love!

Moving on from yummy carbs, though I am not sure what else a runner would want to talk about. I have heard that today is national running day.  To celebrate I am going to go run a 10k tonight for slow people.  Yep, you are not allowed to participate if you run a 10k in less than 45 minutes.  This actually makes it sound like a race for middle people, I think slow would have an hour cut off!  My 10k PR was 1:06 and my last 10k was 1:15, though that was through icky shin splints.  Regardless I think there is a chance I may be near last or the actual caboose of the slow person race.  This is when I tell my self to put my pride in my pocket, buck up and lace up!  Wish me luck!

Sometimes I have to remind myself of this!

 Speaking of days of celebration in Anchorage today was also our Muni bike to work day.  So I just started biking to work a bit last month and have been loving it.  Its seriously a bit embarrassing how easy it is and how long it took me to finally do it.  I love being on a bike, zooming around corners and pushing my legs is probably one of the best feelings.  Can I say that on a running blog?  Running is more of a love/hate - mostly love, but biking brings me back to being a kid, there is just something awesome about it.  So today I put on my bike shirt, and I don't mean a fancy biking shirt, I mean my shirt that has little bikes all over it, and my fancy pink pants and off I went.  I heard there were stands set up to make this day fun and boy was that right!  I stopped along with many bikers at about 8 tables set up in a park that were full of games, info, chocolate, coffee and bacon.  Yep it was awesome!  After I pulled myself away from the goodness with a full belly it was seriously hard to pump up the 1 hill on my ride.  What a fun day.  You can see how many people were at the stand in the picture below.  And this was just one of many of these stands around town that are sponsored by local businesses and organizations.  I just love seeing the community come together and be active, it makes me smile from ear to ear!  So in parting I would like to say Happy National Running Day and Happy Anchorage Bike to Work Day! 

Bike to Work Day!

Bacon, Coffee, Chocolate, and Bikes - Woohoo!

A Nice Rainy 10

Sunday was my long run for the week.  I was going to be at a triathlon that day, but due to a local forest fire, the tri had to be moved back.  So my training schedule got off a bit, but in the end all it meant is that I ran 10 miles two weeks in a row.  Not a bad situation as I have found I actually really like 10 mile long runs.  They are long enough to feel bada** but not long enough to be super crazy.  I have full rights to run slow, stop when I want and make my husband come pick me up at the end - I hate out and back runs! 

This last weekend I was about to walk out the door when I realized it was pouring rain so I had to go for a quick outfit change which ended up with me looking like I swallowed a highlighter, according to my husband.  Not the most attractive photo but this was my getup.

Ready to run!

 It may have been a bit intense, but what can you do?  So out I went into the rain, not many people to see anyways.  I ran to a set of trails that I am not entirely accustomed to and inevitably got really turned around.  I ended up doing some fun loops before I found my way to the 2nd trail I wanted to be on.  You can see my route below, hint - it was not supposed to have any loops.  Whoops!  While I do need to spend more time on actual dirt trails I did not intend to put in so much time on them in the rain in my road shoes.  Oh well, Ill figure it out at some point!

Loopy Run

After I found my way back to the main trail I had to make a call to my husband to tell him I was not going to make it to the original pick up location as I was on mile 4 and was still relatively close to our house.  Overall I had such a blast on my run.  It was nice and slow just the way I like it!  I even broke out into song at one point, many I love long slow runs!  After the run my husband picked me up and we went out for burgers for dinner, always a good follow up to a killer run!  Next weekend is 12 and I'm looking forward to it!

Trying to take a pic of my bright pants for my mom

Twilight 12k

Friday night was the Twilight 12k race by Skinny Raven.  This is my second time running this race and last year it was one of my favorite races of the year.  It starts at 7pm which this time of the year is nowhere near twilight, but close enough, and finishes with beer and pizza.  What could go wrong with that right?  Well actually a couple things, before I start complaining I will say the race was actually not bad.  I had fun and ran a pretty good time despite having to stop about 5 times to keep from throwing up.  I am still not sure if my tummy troubles were due to actual sickness, food from my company picnic, or dehydration from me not taking the race very seriously.  Regardless an icky tummy is no fun.

So back to the race, it started out good, we ran up a nice big hill over to what we call Govt Hill, a place I never go unless I am doing this run. Then we looped back into town and down on the coastal trail which was beautiful!  We were very lucky, it had been raining and cold all day and right before the race the sun came out and it got hot!  I am very glad to not live where it is actually hot, 65 is hot enough when I'm running, even when I'm well hydrated I am a high quantity and super salty sweater so that makes things fun above 50 degrees.  After the coastal trail we looped around a lagoon and into the neighborhood for the final hill (there is always a final hill!)

I finished around 1:20 with an 11something pace, not bad for feeling pukey.  Afterwards I made my way to the oranges and cookies to try to settle my stomach enough for a beer.  Sadly I couldn't touch the pizza and only had a few sips of beer as my tummy was still a bit off.  I think if I were to direct a race I would end it with cereal and chocolate milk.  If you add some Swedish Fish to that you could solve the worlds problems.  It was actually probably a good thing I didn't have a beer, apparently I needed all the good sense I have, on the way home I completely ran a red light right in front of a cop who thankfully had better things to do than pull me over.  Whoops!  Pay attention!  Really I slowed and looked as if I was in a yield turn lane, but really I was in a regular turn lane and should have fully stopped.

Twilight 12k with an IPA

Anyways the night concluded with me laying in the shower, always classy :)  Does anyone else live where they have night runs?  I want to do one, although running in the winter, every run is a night run.  I want to do one when I don't have to wear 10 layers of cold gear.

Spring Race Recap

Hello,

I started this blog right in middle of spring racing and wanted to do a quick recap of some of the races I completed so far this year.  However I didn't think my memory was good enough to do a full post for each.  So lets get started!

My first race of 2014 is as per usual the Fur Rondy Frostbite Footrace 5k on the 22nd of February.  This if you are not from Alaska is a heck of a good way to spend a freezing cold February morning.  Fur Rendezvous (Fur Rondy) is a multiple week festival that has roots back when fur trappers came to Anchorage to sell their furs and enjoy a rest from living in the wild Alaskan frontier.  Now it is a great time for a carnival, foot race, reindeer run (yes think bulls in Spain), outhouse races and snowshoe softball.  Nope we are not nuts up here in Alaskan, but we sure do know how to make our own fun!  Back to the race, this run was actually my first 5k ever, I ran it in a full red union jack suit and a raccoon hat, lets just say I fit in well up here.  This year my sister and I ran the 5k in a reused shark costume from Ski Train 2013.  I loved that while I was running on the icy roads, I would hear behind me "oh shes a tiger shark!"  The tiger tail I had on made my costume a lot of fun.  I ran this race in 35:26 which I was surprised by since it was icy and I had not been running much as of late.  I usually use this run as the kick in the butt I need to remind myself that running doesn't come naturally and I need to work at it if I want to hoof it over a few finish lines this year.  Works like a charm!

Insert Jaws song here... Did I mention we finished right after a couple people dressed like fish?  Perfect :)

Its a tiger shark!

The next race I did this spring was the Shamrock Shuffle.  At this point I had received the kick in the pants and had committed to 3 miles 3 days a week to build a base back up before any official training began.  With the existence of some actual endurance I was really looking forward to this race when the night before something very Alaskan happened, it snowed.  And it snowed.  And it snowed. 

Snow!

Snow Tunnel

My  husband nicely shoveled me a path to my sister's truck that got us to the race.  I read on the race website that the race was on (come on we're Alaskans!) and the roads were clear!  I remember having a funny thought at that point "what about the race that's on the trail?" But I tossed that aside and headed out.  It was a chilly morning but the race started off well through the freshly plowed streets, then we hit the trails and OH MY GOSH!  All several feet of fresh snow were still there.  We then commenced running 2 miles in three single file lines.  If you wanted to pass someone you had to hurdle the snow separating the lines of people - not fall- and then repeat to get back into your "lane."  It was exhausting!  I have never heard a race so silent, everyone was just surviving.  Did I mention this trail also goes significantly up hill at the end?  Yep it was a doozy!  I finished about 39 minutes absolutely exhausted and happy to receive my pub glass to be filled later with the drink of my choice.

Shamrock Shuffle 2014

 Next on the list was the Heart Run.  Nothing to exciting to report here, it was my first solo race which has become a new thing for me this year.  I started always running with my sister but now really am starting to enjoy the alone time with the road.  The heart run was the first time I really decided that I have shin splints which are terrible awful sucky things to have :(  So I went and bought new shoes which led to more new gear...did I mention my husband was in Vegas this weekend?  I think my new gear was justified!

Heart Run 2014

New gear!

After the Heart Run I was signed up for a 10k and I was really nervous for my shins.  It was a small run called the Salmon run and it was put on by a local PTA to benefit their school so I figured I would lace up, buck and and suck it up.  I had to make a couple stretch breaks but overall the run wasn't too bad.  It was freaking hot, but in Alaska anything over 60 feels like 75 when your running, I'm not really sure why...  I finished around one hour and 13 minutes and was scarily close to the last person on the course, but as I say in running practice, somebody has to be the caboose!

Yay! Love 10ks!

From our local running club facebook, I look so focused, but really was angry I couldn't get map my run to work.

The day after my 10k I decided one race a weekend wasn't enough so off I went to join the fantastic women who compete in the bike for women.  This was my first year in this 9 mile race and it was an absolute blast!  This was actually my first bike race that didn't also include a swim and a run.  I can't say enough how much I loved it, biking is a great happy place for me, I felt strong and competitive and loved the event.

Bike for Women 2014

Last race of the spring season was the Faster than a Falcon 5k that supports our local boys and girls club.  It is a race I do every year and while I enjoy the community of this race for some reason it always seems like a race that takes forever to finish!  However this year was a good one, I ended up taking what I think was a PR of 32 minutes and while that was not faster than the darn falcon (yes there is a man dressed as a bird who runs about a 27 minute 5k).  It was a hot run and it got even hotter when I ran 5 miles home to make it a nice 8 mile long run. 

Well it was a great spring season of running.  I have completed 2 more runs since the ones posted above and I have blogged about those.  Coming up I have quite a few more races this summer and I am really excited to plan them, run them, and talk about them!

Happy Running :)