Great Wall Marathon

I made it!  I finished the Great Wall Marathon in the time limit too!  I was so worried and my confidence was at an all time low.  The time limit to be finished with the first climb of the wall, the race through the villages, and back to the start line around mile 22, was 6 hours or they would block off entrance to climb the wall section in reverse and finish. The first 3 mile steep hill to finally reach the wall had me as intimidated as the wall section itself.  But we had some really good luck with the weather.  Instead of the 90 degree heat of the last few days, we woke up to cool, windy and overcast. At the start I was actually cold!

But the first hill was a struggle, the wall was a very difficult and slow climb, but I did feel strong.  I was able to run slowly down the stairs on the down side of the wall.  I was surprised at how many hills I encountered while running the parts through the villages. In places it was very muddy and loose gravel.  I only had to take a rock out of my shoe once, but was wishing I had worn my gaiters. 

I was so shocked and happy when I reached that first trip past the start/finish and still had 15 minutes to spare. I suddenly felt hopeful that it might be possible to finish. At least I had made the intermediate time limit. I was able to continue on the second climb of the wall in the reverse direction.  It was definitely steeper in that direction and seemed to go on forever.  We were stopped for a few minutes while the medical rescue people carried an injured person down the stairs.  I was concerned that the delay would cause me to miss the 8 hour time limit.  But I later learned that they did extend the time limit to compensate for that delay.

Once I reached the top and looked at my time, I finally realized I had a chance of actually reaching the finish in time.  I ran as fast as I could down all those stairs and was flying past everyone once I reached the long steep 3 mile hill that had caused so much concern on my way up.  I was fighting back tears when I crossed the finish at 7:50:34.  Certainly not a great marathon time, but good enough for an official finish.  I had done it, I had conquered The Wall. 

The Finish!

Hills Hills Hills!

5 miles up and down my usual run along Wolverine Road.  It's so hilly and such a great hill workout.  I was feeling really good today and made it all the way up and down still running.  It was really chilly at 7am when I started out, and only a couple of degrees warmer when I got back home.  I think the colder temperatures and icy wind made me run a little faster.  It was a beautiful day.  After my run I plan to spend the entire day hauling rounds of wood to my woodpile.

Starting with this pile of rounds that are so heavy that I need to drag them with my sled one at a time.  I can't even lift most of them.

They will end up in the is gigantic pile behind my fence.

Cross training at its finest!

Rainbow Hike

Today first I went to the Aviation Trade Show in Anchorage.  Then went with my friend, Diane to the Rainbow Trail along Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet. We both carried our big backpacks with weight in them to practice for Chilkoot Trail and Mt Aconcagua for me.  I didn't have a lot of weight, but I did have enough to get the feel of my new 80 liter backpack that I will use for the climb.  Going up that steep trail is great practice.  I need to hike up a lot more steep trails before I'll ever be ready for the mountain though.  But it's a start.

We only logged a couple of miles, but they were pretty much straight up!

To The Carrot

I ran to the creek and the carrot again, my favorite 5 mile run.  It was chilly, in the high 30's but I warmed up while running.  I'm still kind of tired from Oklahoma so the big hills were difficult.  But I definitely like my new shoes.  I don't know how much running I will get in this week because I have so much heavy work to do in my yard.  I need to use my chainsaw and cut up many trees still lying in the yard from last summer.  Then I need to haul them and also haul thousands of branches to the burn pile.  It is a lot harder work than running or anything I could do in a gym, so I'm going to consider all of that cross training. 

But today I did get in my 5 miles to the carrot.  There is a lot of damage from the earthquake on the hills past Wolverine Creek.  The road is quite cracked and warped all the way up that hill.  I have to be careful not to trip on any of the big cracks.

Quake Cracks