Twin Peaks

So nice to be back home and visiting one of my favorite hikes.  The Twin Peaks Trail with Diane. She didn't have time to walk the whole trail so we just went to the first bench where we had the beautiful view of Eklutna Lake.  I wish I'd had enough time to hike that trail about 100 times before going to China because the climb would have been very helpful. 

Powerwalk LA Airport

I was stuck in the Los Angeles Airport for 9 long hours on my way back from China,  I discovered that I could stay inside of security and walk from terminal to terminal through all the passageways and tunnels and get a nice walking workout.  I changed my money and did a little shopping along the way.  After 10 miles I decided that was enough of that activity.  It helped with the frustration I was feeling from the disappointment of the Great Wall Marathon.  That was a very frustrating race.  I may decide to try one of the other Great Wall races one day.  But probably not that one.

Great Wall of China

Against my better judgment, I traveled to Beijing and ran the Jinshanling Great Wall Marathon today.  I knew I would be marginal at best and actually happy if I survived and totally thrilled if I succeeded in completing the entire course.  I was encouraged to enter the race by a friend who assured me that she would stick with me to the end and get me to the finish.  As I suspected would happen, once she realized that I was significantly slower than she was, she would go on ahead and leave me to my own resources. Really, a person needs to run at their own pace.  This race includes very little actual running but does require an immensity of walking.  There are thousands of rock stairs to negotiate. They are totally uneven and they climb and descend at dizzying rates.  We had 9 hours to complete the race and even though I felt that I was having occasional near death experiences, when I finally reached the downhill part and left the actual wall, I picked up speed and was moving at a very good pace. Unfortunately the race has an unwritten rule that they neglected to tell the runners.  When you reach a certain point where the full marathon runners turn left and the half marathon runners turn right, it can't be later than 3:30 pm.  I reached that point after 3:30 and was told I must turn right and continue to the finish line.  This only gives me credit for the half marathon instead of the full.  I am extremely disappointed but certainly not surprised.  I knew before I registered that this race was clearly beyond my skill and fitness level.  But in spite of not reaching my goal of the full marathon, it was an exciting and rewarding experience.

I learned that I need to spend a lot more time climbing and certainly need to focus on speed training.  If I keep slowing down it will be very difficult to find races that will allow enough time for me to finish.  I'll keep working on it, but I need a little more motivation. I'll see how I feel after I've recovered from my jet lag!

A few photos of the wall and the crowds of runners slowing down slow people like me even more.

Portage Lake

Another fantastic cross country ski workout.  I skied with my friend Diane 5 miles on Portage Lake all the way to where we had a beautiful view of the glacier itself.  We didn't have time to ski all the way to the glacier wall, but we still had a great view of it. It was breezy but in the 40's.  It was nice to only need a light jacket instead of a heavy coat and mittens.  That is a wonderful place to ski.

Eklutna Lake

A gorgeous ski workout at Eklutna Lake with friend Mark.  We skied 4 miles, mostly right on the lake.  The lakeside trail had lots of icy spots so out on the lake it was nice and smooth and flat. It was so warm that I even took off my coat.