Havana Cuba Marathon.

Well that didn't go so well!  What a fascinating and lovely place Cuba is.  I was having such a wonderful time with some o the nicest people I've ever met. This would have been marathon number 92. But it was not to be.

It started out beautifully and I felt strong.  The temperature was pleasant and not the blistering heat that we all expected.  I was so happy at the start line.

The Start line

But something went wrong at mile 15. One second I was running and a split second later I was flat on the ground.  I have no idea what, if anything I tripped over, but I was down to stay.  I was in excruciating pain and knew immediately my left arm was broken. I was screaming in pain. Several men came along and scooped me up and put me in the back of an old classic car and took me to some odd little building where some first aid people tried to help me.  There was no cell service so I couldn't contact our tour guide. Next I was in an ambulance, then at a Cuban hospital.

In The Cuba Hospital

They sent me on to the international clinic. From there I was able to text my tour guide. The clinic put me in a plaster half splint, half cast and the tour got me on a plane to Miami. From there I took a taxi to Ft Lauderdale to the trauma center where I had major surgery on my upper arm and elbow. My arm is now full of big chunks of metal. Two days later I flew home and am now up at work for all of December still in lots of pain.

So I don'y know what the future holds for my arm. A visit to an orthopedic surgeon on January 3rd should help me understand that.
But it's not looking good for the Egyptian Marathon on January 13th. But I haven't canceled the trip yet.

I promised myself though that I will be back with Kathy Loper next year to run that Havana Marathon again.

Eklutna Lake

All that lovely snow from a couple weeks ago has melted. So once again, I'm hiking instead of skiing at Eklutna Lake. With Diane and Tobi. Snow or no snow, it's still a heavenly place. We walked about 6 miles out and back.

Lakeside Trail

Polar Circle Marathon

What an amazing trip! First a brief one day visit in Copenhagen, then a flight to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. We did some sightseeing and some hiking and a trip to the ice cap to see the marathon course.
It was a very tough course, in 10 degree temperatures with strong winds. the first 6 miles were on the Greenland Ice Cap glacier. I wore ice grippers the whole way. I had not expected such a hilly course. It was quite difficult, all on snow and ice covered covered road. I felt fairly good, but was definitely a bit slower than usual.  I did finish, but sadly, they were strict with their 7 hour time limit. So even though I got my medal, they didn't post an official time because I was 15 minutes over.. So technically I probably can't count it as an official country with Marathon Globetrotters. I am disappointed in myself because of that. I loved Greenland so much, that if I feel I have improved enough, I'll give it another try next year,

Gorgeous!

Me at the start

Gold Mint Trail

Not quite enough snow to break out the skis but a gorgeous day to walk the Gold Mint Trail.

I never even got there all summer. I was too busy traveling to other places around the world. I've missed my favorite spots here in Alaska. I pretty much had the trail all to myself. So peaceful and beautiful. I'm looking forward to more snow so I can go far back on my skis.

Another spectacular Alaska view,

4 Miles through paradise

Amchorage Hillside

Oh how gorgeous was my little cross country ski trek today with Diane. Beautiful new snowfall. I hope we get lots of snow this winter because I could be happy doing this every day until April. My ski legs are a little rusty. In fact I think I'm just getting a little rusty in general.  Too much concentration on marathons and not enough dedication to some of the other outdoor adventures that I cherish so much.

Anchorage Hillside

Eklutna Lakeside Trail

A fantastic day to just go for a solo hike along the Eklutna Lakeside Trail. I turned around at the Bold Peak Trail head foe a nice 10 mile trek. I think Eklutna Lake will always be one of my favorite places. I was alone the whole way. I felt for a little while there really was peace on earth. At least there was on this walk,

How can you ever beat this view?

Eklutna Lake

And Back Down!

What goes up must also go down. The descent got pretty treacherous at times on the way down from Flattop.  I slipped a few times.  Diane and Tobi left me in the dust a few times. Yep, I need to do more climbing.  I'm getting out of climbing shape.  But still a fabulous day to be in the mountains overlooking Anchorage.

Diane & Tobi Flattop Summit

Climbing Flattop

What a fun way to get a great workout.  I hiked up Flattop with Diane and her crazy puppy Tobi. I'd forgotten how strenuous that climb can be.  I did my share of stumbling while negotiating the rocks near the top.  I didn't feel very surefooted though,  I've been spending too much time running in the flat lands.  I definitely need to do more trails and climbs.  But it was a perfect day.

Only about a mile and a half, but a great workout with a beautiful view,

Chicago Marathon

Finished marathon number 90 and another successful race with Team In Training.  The marathon raised $865,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with 321 Team In Training runners. My own fundraiser raised over $4000 and our joint team effort through Team Deere raised over $100,000. It was a very successful event.  I love when I can run knowing that my effort is for such a worthy cause.

I was worried that my abscessed tooth might give me trouble over the weekend but it was completely quiet, even though my face was still swollen and my jaw was kind of black and blue.  I looked like I had been training for a boxing match instead of a marathon.  I can look forward to the root canal on Wednesday.

We were blessed with perfect weather for the Chicago Marathon.  It was in the high 50's to low 60's, perfect for running.  I was slower than I had hoped but actually I felt really good and strong the whole way.  I was disappointed to see that I was still over 6 hours. But I beat the time limit and got my medal and official time, so that's what counts.

Chicago is a lovely city and our hotel was wonderful.

Prague

In a little over one week I will run the Chicago Marathon for Team In Training.  So it's time to register for my next event.  I just got the word that the Prague Marathon event is available for Team In Training registration.  So I'm registered!  I'm all ready for Team In Training event number #18. I set my usual goal of $10,000 which I have yet to reach on any of my previous events. I donated the minimum myself so have already reached that requirement.  Everything else will be towards my goal. Maybe I can make it this time.

Race 4 Cancer

BUT I NEED YOUR HELP!
PLEASE MAKE A DONATION HERE!

Mud Mud Mud!

You couldn't ask for a more beautiful day. Bright sunshine, no wind, a cool 35 degrees. But when I attempted to do my usual 5 mile run around the lake, I thought I might be swallowed up by the mud on the road.  We've had snow and rain for a few days and it looks like the grader has gone through and turned that dirt road to mush.  So once I reached the Dalton Highway at about 3/4 mile I turned down there because it is a much higher quality road.  It was really nice and dry.  After going around the end of the airport I found an access road that runs along the river bank, and ran there for about a mile.  My shoes are a muddy mess, especially since I still had to run back along that first muddy part.  But even a muddy run is better than no run at all!

It felt great!

Alaska Scenic Byway!

Beautiful Evening!

I woke up so late that I figured it would just be one more lazy day.  But after I ate my breakfast at 5 pm, then watched the evening news, I decided I really needed to get out of my dreary room.  I figured I would completely miss dinner, but I really didn't care.  I had a gorgeous and peaceful run around the lake up here in Deadhorse in calm weather and 50 degrees.  I've heard the saying "You're just one run away from a good mood!" Well that is sure true.  After that wonderful 5 mile outdoor run, I felt so much better.  I even got back with 5 minutes to spare and got to eat dinner.

Almost Sunset on Colleen Lake

3 On The Treadmill

I guess my outdoor runs for September may be coming to an end.  I woke up really late, it's very cold, and there are warnings about the grizzly bear that charged a man the other day, still posted all over the hotel.  So I decided that I have procrastinated enough so I'll resort to the treadmill.  I actually had a pretty good run even though I only had time for 3 miles.  I miss running around the lake. Maybe it will either get cold enough for the bear to decide to hibernate or it will finally get sunny and nice again.  Only two more weeks here then I can go back to my real life at home.

At least I got to watch Jeopardy while I was running!

Around The Lake

It was the most dreary looking day I've seen in a long time.  But at least it wasn't raining or snowing and was actually fairly warm, at 44 degrees.  So I did make myself go out and run around the lake for my usual 5 miles.  I was much slower than usual, and it took me a while to really get into the run. But it was surprisingly nice running conditions.  I saw a few small flocks of Sand Hill Cranes along the west side of the lake.  There were a couple of seagulls who were extremely unhappy with their presence and were circling around them and making a lot of noise.  The cranes were squawking back and it was quite entertaining to watch.

I'm getting bored with the same old 5 mile run every day but there really aren't a lot of other choices around here.  So I guess I'll just keep doing the same old run.

Snowing!

I woke up to snow falling outside my window.  So I decided today would be a run on the treadmill because no way was I going out there in that muddy windy and snowy mess.  So I washed all the dirt off my running shoe so they wouldn't get the treadmill dirty. But the thought of running on the treadmill just didn't excite me at all.  I procrastinated and procrastinated until almost 5 pm.  Then I noticed it has stopped snowing.  But it was only 33 degrees and windy.  I started to change into my running clothes then decided that a little snow isn't enough to keep me inside.  So I did my usual 5 miles around Colleen Lake.  It started snowing as soon as I stepped outside and continued for the first mile.  But then the storm passed on by and it was just kind of chilly and windy.  It was actually quite nice! There wasn't even much traffic.

The Lonely Road around Colleen Lake

Nice Run!

When I woke up and looked out the window I thought - no way I'm going out there!  It was rainy and windy and dreary and gray.  I procrastinated for at least an hour then decided that I really didn't have anything better to do.  Really, how bad could it be?  It really wasn't raining anymore.  So I begrudgingly got into my running clothes and dragged myself out the door.  I didn't have to go very far before I realized that it was really perfect conditions for running.  It never did actually rain during my usual 5 miles around the lake, but it was so misty that I had to take off my glasses because they were too wet to see where I was going.

I need to make a note to myself that even if it looks terrible outside, it is still probably just fine for an outdoor run.  If it turns out to be too awful, of course I can always turn around.  But today was really nice even if it looked like the end of the world!

I would like to see the sun again someday though!

5 Around The Lake

Another 5 miles around Colleen Lake.  Kind of chilly and overcast and dreary.  But still better by far than the treadmill. It is always refreshing to spend some time outdoors every day regardless of how nasty the weather might be!

Colleen Lake

I'm back in Deadhorse for the month of September.  I had to search a little for some ambition but finally got out for my typical 5 mile run around Colleen Lake.  It felt good to get outdoors even though it was kind of cloudy and nasty.  I see that now that I am done running, the sun has come out and it's lovely!  I did hit one section of mud that made my shoes weigh about 5 pounds each.  But once I knocked that off, it was a good run.  A little slow but better than parking on the bed in front of the TV like I did yesterday.

Leading Ladies Marathon

A lovely race in South Dakota.  All women!  Also mostly downhill.  It was also gorgeous.  Once again I was first in my age class.  Nice sometimes to be old!

Medal & Age Group Award

I spent a few days with my friend Alyce who lives in Rapid City.  We did some great sightseeing to Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and the Devil's Tower.

Mt. Rushmore

Danang Marathon

A very hot marathon, but a really nice course and wonderful race directors and volunteers.  It was 97 degrees with about 95% humidity.  There were water stops every mile which really saved the day.   I was not last but was very close to last.  But still got first in my age class.  I was the only person, male or female over 60.

After reaching the finish line!

Danang was an amazing city and I really enjoyed everything about it. So many fascinating sites.  I loved the Lady Buddha Statue and the Dragon Bridge the most.

Lady Buddha

Dragon Bridge

Deseret News Classic Marathon

I finished marathon #87 today.
The start line was over 7000 feet and most of the race was downhill, which was very helpful for me. I love downhill and don't seem to have the problems that some runners have with downhill running.

Once the course reached the city and flattened out, the 90 degree temperature became my worst nightmare. I definitely started to slow down. But it was not until mile 25 when I started feeling like the heat might win. The time limit was officially 6 hours, and even though I felt they would wait for everyone to cross the finish line, I really wanted to beat that time. I managed to make it with 4 minutes to spare! 5:56:42

I even got an extra medal for first in my age group.

King Salmon Marathon

I took the ferry to Cordova on Thursday in spectacular weather. Friday I picked up my race bib and just explored Cordova for the day.

Today I ran the marathon. I was worried that the warm weather of Thursday would make for a miserably hot run. But this morning it was only 54 with low clouds and light rain. In typical fashion very quickly the other 19 or so runners left me behind. I ended up running all the way to Cordova completely by myself. I felt really good and ran the whole way. But still crossed the finish line last. Marathon number 86 finished.

Stars and Stripes Marathon

I flew to Portland Oregon on Saturday to run the Stars and Stripes Marathon in Beaverton on Sunday. It was really fun with 8 loops quite similar to the Mainly Marathons races. I fly home tonight.

Short Short Run

I kind of messed up my run today.  First I tried to drive down the road because the weather was nasty. But I reached a flagger and what looked to be a long wait for a pilot car. So I turned around. I've been a little hesitant to run directly from the hotel, knowing that the bear is still hanging around.  So I decided to drive part way around the lake and just run the north shore.  But it turned out to be colder than I thought and after only 2 miles and a lot of mud building up on my shoes, I called it a day at only 2 miles.  But it was fun.  I saw a couple of swans and lots of birds.  I'll be home in a few days then I won't have to worry about the bear or the cold.  I'll be heading to Portland for the Stars & Stripes Marathon the day after I get home anyway.  I'm looking forward to being able to just run without fear of being eaten by a hungry bear.  Although that bear seemed to be pretty disinterested in me or anyone for that matter.

Now that I have to go to work, the weather ha cleared up and it's beautiful!

Here is a video the DOT guys took of the bear I ran into the other day.  He's very cute!

Mr Bear!

Another spectacular day here on the North Slope.  It was 66 degrees with just a very light breeze.  I had a great 5 mile run around the lake.  It was so nice out that sometimes I just stopped to admire nature. But when I got back to the hotel, just as I came between two trucks, I saw a huge grizzly bear standing right where I needed to go.

Detour time!  So I quickly ducked behind some larger containers and trucks and figured I would simply go around to the front door of the hotel.  When I passed back into the open, I found that the bear had decided to go in the same direction.  So now I faced him at 15 to 20 feet ahead, and heading in my direction.  He seemed a lot more interested in sniffing the ground than in running after me, so I just bolted across his path and ran into the front door of the hotel.  Then he sauntered on across the street over to the airport.  Later I got a call from the Flight Service Station advising that he had just been chased out of their parking lot.  So, since I work there, I decided to drive to work instead of walking like I usually do.  I brought my camera but was not blessed with another sighting of him.  He was a beauty too. I hope I do see him again, and have my camera with me, and am in a safe place!

A couple of pictures taken by DOT right outside of the Flight Service Station building.

Beautiful Day!

Finally it looks like summer up here in Deadhorse.  It was 60 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  Still a little windy, but I was able to run around the lake with just a T-shirt and windbreaker instead of bundling up in my heavy sweatshirt.  I saw the loon that is often in the north side of the lake.  Today I called to him and he actually swam closer.  Still not close enough for a good phone photo, but at least he didn't fly away.

The road was pretty rough because of the last few days of heavy rain and snow. The grader has been by piling up rocks and mud along the side of the road where I need to run. It's a little challenging t times.  But it sure beats a boring run on the treadmill.

North Slope Fun Run

We had a 5K fun run here today over by the North Slope Borough building.  They always have them twice a day, at 6 am and 6 pm.  This is the only one I will be able to do because the rest of the runs on the schedule are in July and August, months that I don't work. Each time we complete the run we get a T-shirt.  So I ran it twice in the morning and twice in the evening and collected one T-shirt for me and 3 for my friends.  I am always so tired in the morning but was surprised that I actually had a better pace for the morning runs. It did cut into my sleep for close to two hours so maybe I was even more tired when it was time for the later one.  But it is always fun to actually run with other people, and to run in the middle of the road instead of along the edge of the road on loose gravel and big rocks.  Most of the other people are actually just enjoying a nice walk, but there were a few very fast runners who sped by me as if I was standing still.

So I got in about 11 miles today in spite of the icy cold wind, 39 degrees, and dense fog.

Morning Runs

Evening Runs

Whoops!

I woke up late today and procrastinated until it was really late.  But I finally dragged my lazy bones out to go for a run.  There wasn't enough time to run around the lake so I drove down the road to a little side road that goes by a shallow pond, parked the car and just ran loops there for 3 miles.  There were a couple of Arctic loons on the pond but they were too far away to get a good picture.

At the 2 1/2 mile mark I tripped on a rock and went flying.  I managed to scrape my left hand and open up the same place that has years worth of scars from doing exactly the same thing.  Plus added one more scrape to my left knee.  I seem to have the same falling routine every time I trip and fall. My left knee and left hand always get the cuts, scrapes and bruises.  At least I'm consistent.

It was cold, around 40 and the wind was around 20 knots.  So that was the other thing causing me to procrastinate heading out there.  The little road is directly in line with the wind.  So in one direction I was freezing cold, and the other way quite comfortable.  But it was a beautiful sunny day.

Cool and Windy

I guess our 60 degree days are gone for a while.  It was only 37 today when I did my usual 5 mile run around the lake. But I was comfortable with a sweatshirt under my windbreaker.  My calves are still really sore for the first mile or so.  I'm not sure why they are staying so sore.  That has not been typical in the past.  I suspect that maybe my shoes are just so worn out that they are becoming a factor.  They still feel pretty comfortable though.  They are getting close to 700 miles so are well past time for replacement.  I have another quite new pair of Hokas at home and plan to go back to them when I get home.

It was a pretty day with lots of clouds but lots of blue sky and sunshine too.  I saw a lone sand hill crane along the lake shore, and the usual collection of geese flying over.  Gladly, no bears.

Bear In The Area

Today I woke up early and figured that since the weather was gorgeous, I would run around the lake, then drive down the road.  I need to refresh the paint on the Caren Pond sign.

But when I saw Bear in the Area signs plastered all over the hotel, I had some second thoughts.  I came up with a perfect plan.  First I drove around the lake to see if I could find the bear.  At least I would like to get some pictures.  But I never found a bear.  But I did want to go for a run so I drove down the road to my second favorite place to run, a little side road. As soon as I parked, along came a security vehicle. That was my signal to quickly leave.  I couldn't drive down to the pond sign until after 6 because they are running a pilot car for 7 miles that includes that area.  So I found a little pullout and parked the car.  Still not sure if the bear might be nearby, I just ran short out and back loops along the road until I had reached 5 miles.  My calves were hurting a lot and I was feeling unusually tired, but managed to complete the 5 miles.  I guess that means tomorrow needs to be a rest day.

After I ran, I continued on down the road and reached a flagger. It was almost 6 so figured I wouldn't have much of a wait.  The pilot car arrived and after only about 1/4 mile he flagged me on by.  But then I got to mile 20 of the pipeline and came to a second flagger. This was the same one who told me they quit at 6 pm.  By now it was 6:15 so I figured they were just finishing up.  But then the pilot car came along.  I asked the flagger if they were quitting for the night and she said they were working late tonight.  So of course, I didn't have enough time to wait for flaggers and pilot cars for some undetermined amount of time.  I turned around and drove back to Deadhorse.  I guess the sign will have to wait for another day when they don't need to work overtime.  I was disappointed that after driving all the way down there I didn't see any wildlife.  But it was still nice to get out of the hotel and enjoy the 60 degree temperature and sunshine.

Beautiful Day!

It got all the way up to 60 degrees today.  First I started to run around the lake but for a change of scene I turned right at the Dalton Highway and planned to run my usual 5 miles, then return to the hotel.  But on the way back I was enjoying the warm weather so much that I decided to continue on around the lake when I got back to the intersection.

It was quite muddy along the south side of the lake but once I turned to the north it was dry.  There were lots of birds also enjoying the warm day.  My favorite was a loon that sounded as if he was saying hello to me.  I captured a video of him with my phone.

I ended up running over 8 miles after I got back to the hotel.  It was nice to get in a longer run even though I barely had time to eat dinner.  It is such a pleasure to be able to run outdoors in beautiful sunny weather around the lake and down the "Alaska Scenic Byway!"

Beautiful Run

It was snowing most of the night and today didn't look too promising.  But when I woke up it was a beautiful sunny day with big puffy clouds and not too much wind.  So I got myself out and ran the 5 miles around Colleen Lake. The south side of the lake was really muddy so I had to run about a foot farther out into the road than usual.  When a car was coming towards me, I moved back into the mud until they passed by.  But once I got past that main section of road, it was much better.  It was a pleasant surprise after so much rain and snow the last couple of days.

I was pretty slow though and the top of my left foot kept getting an annoying sharp pain.  But it went away as strange pains like that usually do.  It was so nice out that I really didn't want to go back to the hotel. I was thinking how nice it be to just keep right on running all the way to my house in Palmer!

Interesting Run

I was looking out the window watching a little bit of snow falling and thinking, nope, not today.  But then I just couldn't face the thought of the treadmill and I really felt the need to go for a run.  So I bundled up and hit the road.  It was pretty chilly, right around freezing white a fairly strong wind.  Plus the side of the road on the first stretch around the lake was really muddy.  It was building up on the bottom of my shoes so that I felt like I was running with lead weights on the bottom of my feet.  But it was drier on the second mile so I was glad I decided to go.

The sky was really black ahead and I wondered whether it would be rain or snow when I got to the far end of the lake.  It was quite the snowstorm when I reached it and the little snow pellets were stinging as the wind blew them directly into my face. A few trucks drove by and I'm sure the drivers thought I was insane.  But by mile 3 the snow had stopped and the sun was breaking through.  It was beautiful lighting and geese were flying overhead. But then along came one angry seagull who definitely didn't think I belonged there.  He kept dive bombing me, but never really dangerously close.  There must have been a next nearby.  I got some videos of him and of the storms off in the distance.  I think this was one of the most interesting 5 mile runs around Colleen Lake that I have ever done.  So glad I decided to give it a try.

I took this funny video that shows Ms Seagull trying to chase me away.

5 Around The Lake

Another gorgeous day for a run around Colleen Lake. It's kind of rough running there because the edge of the road is quite rutted with big rocks and loose gravel from the road grader.  But it's really good practice for trail runs and uneven courses like the Rome Marathon was. It was pretty warm, about 50 degrees but the strong north wind off the Arctic Ocean was a little chilly.  I saw lots of birds flying over and a beautiful pair of Tundra Swans on a spot of open water.