5 Miles Indoors

Another dreary, wet, foggy, nasty day outdoors. So I ran 5 miles on the treadmill here at the hotel. The first couple miles were slow and I thought I might fall asleep out of boredom. But by the time I started into mile 3, I started to wake up and move faster. I listened to music and watched Big Bang Theory on TV.  It started out slowly but by the time I was done, I felt pretty good. At least it was better than just hanging out in my room watching the news.  I'm into my last week here at work so I'm hoping I'll get some nice long runs in once I get home.  In two weeks I'll be flying to Michigan for the Grand Rapids Marathon, so at least I'll get a nice long run that day.

Treadmill Workout Today

Humm, 36 degrees, muddy and a 40 mph wind blowing.  So I was forced to run on the treadmill today.  It was not my best workout because I didn't sleep well and was really tired.  But I did cover 5 miles, slowly, but surely.  Even a poor run is better than no run at all I guess.  I'll be home in a week then I can run outdoors again.  I'm so looking forward to that!

By The Pond

I did my 5 mile run on the Dalton Highway about 7 miles south of Deadhorse by a little pond.  It was a beautiful sunny day when I started but it quickly deteriorated to cloudy, windy, cold and overcast. But I had a really nice run.  I like running there because in late afternoon there is almost no traffic and I feel like I have the whole world to myself.  I can see far enough in all directions to easily see a bear in time to make it back to my car safely.  It's still much too muddy to do my favorite run around Colleen Lake, so maybe this will become my new favorite place to run.

A Beautiful Peaceful Place!

Another Lovely Day!

Today was another really nice day. Not quite as warm as yesterday but nice enough to hit the little side road where I like to run.  It's still pretty muddy around Deadhorse so I just ran back and forth on the little road to the river, which is good gravel and still pretty dry.

Yesterday was beautiful but I was not feeling well so had to stop after running only 1 mile. It was kind of tragic too because yesterday it was 60 degrees and sunny. But today it was only 50 degrees. But that's a good running temperature.  I was still feeling kind of sluggish but did make it 5 miles. I hope I get some dry weather so I can run around the lake again.  I really miss doing that but so far this month it has been too wet and much too muddy.

My Little Side Road

Another Rainy Day on the Treadmill

Yesterday I totally failed.  I made it only 1/2 mile on the treadmill before I gave u, tore my earbuds out and went back to my room.  It just wasn't happening.  But today, even though I still had to drag myself down there, I did manage to run 5 miles.  I was pretty sluggish until the last couple of miles. But I was happy that I didn't just give up.

The treadmill has the option of showing trails on it's little screen so you can pretend you are actually running in a beautiful place.  I try to pretend I'm really running in these lovely places, but in my heart I know it's just not true!

Treadmill Screen View

Indoors Again

I slept in and skipped my run yesterday.  But today I woke up early enough to get in 5 miles on the treadmill.  It wasn't a good workout but at least it beat sleeping in two days in a row.  The weather is ridiculously dreary, raining, and even a little snow.  The roads and parking lots have foot deep lakes in them, so running outdoors wouldn't be worthwhile even if I did dress for the rain.  So on the treadmill again.

Pouring Rain

And another 5 mile run on the treadmill.  Rain is one thing, but pouring rain, mud, and howling wind, no thanks!  Ran on the treadmill while I watched the news on TV. Multitasking!

My last Team In Training event is over so it was time to find my next one.  Austin, Texas in February. I'm registered.  My usual domain name now points to my new fundraising page:
Race4Cancer.org

I'm having the metal removed from my arm and elbow on January 3rd and I assume I'll be up to running by February 18th.  I sure hope so since I'm also running 4 back to back marathons with Mainly Marathons in Hawaii starting January 18. Just some warm-up long training runs!

Beautiful Run!

It was kind of chilly at 42 degrees, but what a beautiful day!  It's still pretty muddy around Deadhorse but not too bad down the Dalton Highway.  Someone was parked on my usual little side road so I continued on down until I found a turnout.  Then I just ran back and forth along the highway itself.  It's still pretty muddy even there, but at least it wasn't the kind of mud that you sink into and ends up building up on the bottom of your shoes.  It was just kind of wet.  I was a bit pushed for time because I woke up a little late.  But I did manage to get in my planned 5 miles.

Also, this arrived in my email today.

5 Miles Today

I have a goal this month of running at least 5 miles every day this month. The weather today was not exactly outdoor runnable so I had to hit the treadmill again.  It is very foggy and still ridiculously muddy out there. So it would be too dangerous to try to run out there on the road dodging trucks that may not see me, or bears that I might not see!

I got official notification that I was accepted into the 100 Marathon Club of North America.  That was fun.

Outdoors Finally!

Wow, it's a beautiful sunny 50 degree day here in Deadhorse.  The road around the lake is a slippery mud hole, but it's pretty dry down the Dalton Highway.  So I drove down to the little side road leading to the river, parked the car, and ran back and forth there foe 5 miles. It wasn't even windy!
I ran into a cute little ground squirrel but no other wildlife.  I was glad not to see any bears. They are still out but I haven't seen any yet.

5 Miles Again

I guess I may be stuck running on the treadmill for a while. I ran 5 miles on it today. Pretty boring but better than just rolling over and going back to bed!  It is still incredibly muddy and foggy outside.  I hope it clears up at some point so I can get outside.  It's much too wet to do anything out there right now.

Back to Work

Well all the exciting travel is over for a little while.  Back to the treadmill here at Deadhorse.  It is exceedingly muddy and wet outside making it impossible to run outdoors.

I'm pretty disgusted at how slow I have gotten. I lost a lot of running time when I broke my elbow. So I'm planning to try to get some good training time in this month, even if I do have to do it all on the treadmill.

I registered for the Grand Rapids Marathon in Michigan and will be repeating both the Polar Circle Marathon and the Havana Cuba Marathon on my next two month break. So I need to get in some serious training to make up for lost time.  I don't like the frustration of trying to beat impossible time limits.  I feel optimistic after my short 5 mile run today. The most important part of training will be simply the act of doing it and not rolling over and going back to sleep, even if I can't get in extremely long training runs.

This is the parking lot at the Prudhoe Bay Hotel!