Denali Highway Bike Trip

Now for a little cross training!  I think I will make this an annual event, and this was the second year for the event.  Mark Simpson drove and I rode my bicycle from Cantwell to Paxson along the Denali Highway.  It was fabulous and so was the weather.  We left the morning after the marathon and somehow I managed to ride for about 25 miles before we camped.  My legs felt really tired, but that first part is relatively flat so it was actually pretty pleasant.  We spent 3 days and camped in his camper the two nights.  I think I was a little slower than last year.  It's actually amazing that I could do it at all because so far this summer I was only on my bike one other time, just a 10 mile out and back at Eklutna Lake and I was felling pretty lousy on that ride too!  But I managed the hills up from the two rivers fairly well and managed to avoid a couple of rain showers that Mark ran into.  The showers were obviously faster than I was!  135 miles on the bike right after the marathon.  That's what I call cross training!

Big Wild Life Marathon

Wow, I did it, I even beat 6 hours.  I really pushed hard the whole way.  My time ended up being 5:53:41.  I can't say that I am extremely pleased with that time.  But at least I can be happy that I did beat 6 hours.  Lisbon Marathon is coming up in October and it has a 6 hour limit.  So that has to continue to be my goal.  I felt better this time than any of the other times I have done this race.  I think it helped to not climb a serious mountain the day before like I did last year.  Or, run the Matanuska Peak Challenge the week before as I did the year before.  I just took it easy on Saturday and it paid off.

I got second in my age class, although there were only three of us.  But it was still cool to place.  I got a little coffee mug, a ribbon, and a key ring of an Alaska Map.  Very cute.

I saw Diane who was doing the walk, and my two speedy friends, Jill and Jennifer who ran the ultra.  Next year my goal is to do the ultra.  It's 49 k and if I can be in decent shape it would be awesome to do that.  But this year I was just happy to finish in a respectable time.  Diane and I went to her house and relaxed in the hot tub then she treated me to a delicious salmon dinner. 

I wondered if I might have had a little help from above on the race.  I got there at 7 am even though the race doesn't start until 9.  I found a wonderful parking place a block from the start line.  Ironically it was right in front of Holy Family Cathedral.  A man out front told me that mass stated at 7:30.  I didn't get to go to mass this morning because of the marathon so found a seat near the back and got to calm my nerves and spirit at mass there at Holy Family.  I probably looked a little odd in my running dress wearing a number.  But it was awesome!  I had plenty of time to grab my stuff from my car and make it to the start line in time. 

At the Finish

Wolverine Creek and Back

One more big hill run to get me in shape for the marathon this weekend. Oh what a struggle it is to get up that hill from Wolverine Creek to the big carrot statue up there.  But I sluggishly did it.  It was a pretty good run and my speed was good.  I'm still worried about the marathon and my slowness though. I guess it will be what it will be.  I decided against changing over to the early start, just on general principles.  I know if I keep to the regular event I will tend to push myself harder to meet my goal.  Doing the walk will just give me an excuse to poke along.  So I'm going to meet the challenge on Sunday. 

Hills!

Training for the Anchorage Big Wild Life Marathon in a few days.  I ran the hills on Wolverine Road up and down to the curve and back.  5 miles.  It rained a little but I was pleased because it felt pretty good.  I am really worried because I haven't felt much like running or training ever since I got back from the Arctic Watch trip.  I really need to get busy if I want to beat the 6:30 time limit.  Ordinarily that wouldn't be a problem, but I've been feeling exceedingly slow lately!

4 Short Miles

I've been hiking more than running lately. But got out for a 4 miler on my own road today. I actually felt really good. I'm hoping the steep climbs have helped me get in shape.