Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Running the Hill

I ran Nelson hill with the girls from our team today.  We kept it short, only 30 minutes because the wind was howling and the air quality was terrible.  Glacier dust and pollen filled the air.  Like most everyone around here lately, I was fighting allergies.  Coughing, sneezing, and wheezing the whole way.  I've been too busy working and trying to get caught up after my travels in Europe and trip to California to help out my mom.  I'm going back to California in a couple more days to help get my mom comfortable after her back injury.  Then off to Deadhorse with my bike in back of my friend Mark's camper.  I plan to hit training hard all of June, riding my bike to the places where I plan to run.  I need to catch up after the last month of having little time for training.  Going flying in the morning too since I am so behind in that, my biennial flight review is out of date.  So much to do!

I'm packed and ready for the Prudhoe to Palmer ride though.

Monday, May 10, 2010

I'm Back!

I am finally back from running around Ireland, and the UK.  Had a wonderful time touring Ireland with my Team In Training running friends after the Connemara Marathon.  We kissed the Blarney Stone, visited amazing castles and the Kylesmore Abbey.  Then the Iceland volcano started erupting and we all got our flights messed up.  I was only trying to fly over to London, so ended up on a 24 hour bus and ferry trek to get there, instead of the short flight from Shannon to London.  Then I spent another 10 days visiting my cousin and her family in London, and seeing amazing places like Stonehenge, and I even took the train up to Scotland and took a boat ride on Loch Ness.  I never did see the monster though.
I had planned a trip along the US east coast but my mom hurt her back, so I spent that week in California helping her.  Now I am back in Alaska and finally getting back into my workout routine.  I did a short 3 mile run today.  My iPod and Nike+ didn't work right so I didn't get to record my run.  But at least I got back on the road.  It was so nice running outside this morning in the fresh air, with the birds singing and the new leaves just beginning to come out on the trees.  Now I will focus on getting back into marathon running shape and breaking in my biking muscles for my 830 mile bike trek for Team In Training in July.

I'm so looking forward to that bike ride from Prudhoe to Palmer.