5 Miles

I finally woke up early enough to drag myself down to the treadmill.  I am definitely suffering from a combination of laziness and 24 hours of darkness boredom! But I made it down there and even ran the whole distance I had planned, which was only 5 miles.  The first 4 miles felt awful but the last mile was great!  So I guess from now on I should try to make it to 4 miles at least, then maybe I will get the second wind that I need to actually have some speed.

I signed up for the Los Angeles Marathon in February and am in the process of registering for the Havana, Cuba Marathon in November.  It's 15 below zero here so I am really looking forward to those two that promise to be warmer and of course the one in Maui next month.

I was having some foot pain that felt like plantar fasciitis, and that has cleared up due to my inactivity for the last week.  So maybe it was just as well that I was lazy over the Christmas holiday.

Short Run

I only got a couple of hours of sleep today so had a tough time even dragging myself down to the treadmill. I planned to run farther but after struggling for 3 miles I decided to call it a day.  I'm having a very low motivation day.  Less than 2 weeks left up here, then maybe I can run or ski outdoors instead of the very boring treadmill.  I really miss the outdoors when I]m up here at work in the winter.

4 Miles Today

I finally woke up early enough to get in my run for the day.  Still only 4 miles, but much better than zero!

My list of upcoming races is getting longer and longer. Now in addition to the New Jersey Marathon with Team In Training, there is the Maui Oceanfront Marathon in January, Rome, Italy in April, and Ottawa plus two Mainly Marathons full series events in May. So far, that is 16 on the 2016 calendar.

My right foot has been giving me some pain the last week or two.  But it didn't seem to cause problems while I was running today.  So it's probably nothing to be of great concern.

There is a really cute little pink Christmas tree just outside of the exercise room.  It is very festive in a very cute sort of way.

Merry Christmas

Another Short Run

I just ran 3 miles again today on the treadmill.  I had trouble sleeping so ended up sleeping too late.  But I decided to run instead of eating dinner.  I hope I'm not starving a few hours from now.  But I really need to start training or at least getting in a few miles while I'm up here in Deadhorse.  I don't want to be so out of shape that I can't make it to the finish line at the Maui Oceanfront Marathon next month. I'm doing the early start so even if I end up walking the whole way, I shouldn't have any trouble.  But I'm hoping I can gather up a little more motivation before the end of this month!

Novo Nordisk New Jersey Marathon

The Marine Corps Marathon is over and done, which leaves me without a Team In Training event in my future. So I just registered for the Novo Nordisk New Jersey Marathon with Team In Training. It was kind of difficult to sign up for it because once I entered my zip code in their signup page, I was routed to runs connected with the Washington/Alaska Team.  Of course they are not planning to run this one.  So I cheated and put in my brother's New Jersey zip code and was able to sign right up through the Team In Training Flex program.  The race is May 1st and I will likely sign up for the Mainly Marathons Independence Series later in that week. The following week I am doing the Mainly Marathons New England Series followed by the Ottawa Canada Marathon at the end of the month.  I will have plenty of time to visit my family on the east coast on the days when I am not actually running.  I missed seeing everyone in October when I was in Washington DC because all of my cousins seemed to be out of town when I was available to visit.  I hope it wasn't something I said!

So, as I've asked before, please make a donation to my new fundraising page:

Another Short One

I only managed another 3 miles today.  I had to make a run to the store and do a few other things.  I'm not doing the best job of waking up in time to get in a very long run.  I hope I can gather up some motivation.

I did just sign up for the Maui Oceanfront Marathon again.  I'm going to Hawaii to join my sister and nieces for a week, then after hanging around with them I will fly over to Maui and run that beautiful run again.  It was one of my favorites.  I usually don't like to repeat races that often, but it was just so conveniently convenient!

It's still well below 20 below zero outside and the prospect of Hawaii is really inviting!

Merry Christmas

This little tree was here at work when I arrived.  How cute is that!  I added a bunch more little paper cranes for something to do tonight.

3 Miles

Only another 3 mile run today on the treadmill.  It has been difficult to get a good sleep these first few days up here.  I seem to have so much other stuff to do also, just trying to get organized and take care of things that I neglected the last couple of months while I was traveling. My legs and feet seem really sore from the treadmill.  Since I ran 10 marathons on my two month break, maybe I just need a break from running for a while.

It's really cold out there today and will probably get even colder.  The wind chill is down in the -50's as I write this.

Back In Deadhorse

I'm backup in Deadhorse and since it is well below zero outside, of course I am resigned to the treadmill.  It felt pretty foreign at first, but at least I'm glad it is there. My feet are still a little sore from the last few marathons. I'm hoping I can gather up enough ambition to train sufficiently to run a real race next month.

And here we have the reason for running indoors, in addition to the darkness and snow on the ground.

As I looked out the window of the plane heading north from Anchorage I said farewell to the setting sun because I won't see the sun again until New Year's Day.  It is down for the entire month of December up here in Deadhorse.

Last view of the sun