5 Miles on the Trail

Another beautiful sunny day on the North Slope.  I drove down the road 20 miles, looking for wildlife but only found a few Canada Geese.  I ran 5 miles back and forth on my favorite little trail that leads from the Haul Road to the Sag River.  I thought I had figured out a way to beat the problem I have been having with my Nike+ I simply used my iPod instead - that will show old Nike+  Well, guess what, it congratulated me on reaching my goal of 5 miles.  But when I synced with iTunes to upload to Nike+ nothing happened.  In fact, if I look in the history, it doesn't even show my run.  How is that for ANNOYING!  I guess I am about to give up totally on Nike+

I did order a new sensor, so when it comes I will try to use both the iPod and the iPhone at the same time and see if one of them will actually register.

Lots of geese out there today.

Very Short Run!

I was going to take a rest day because I woke up really late and it was so beautiful and sunny outside.  I wanted to just cruise down the road looking for photo subjects.  I didn't find many but it was a nice drive.  I did see a couple of caribou across the Sag River, but other than that, just a few geese here and there.  I decided to run 3 miles along the little trail off the Haul Road where I like to run.  My Nike+ quit after 2.20 miles which really annoyed me.  So it was short but not quite as short as Nike+ seemed to think.  Oh well, using the iPod next time.  I give up on the iPhone if it is going to keep quitting on me, mid-run.

It was so nice and warm and not even very windy.  A little piece of summer!

Ran 6 Miles

I ran from the hotel to the lake and around it again today.  Not sure exactly how far it is, but according to my Nike+ it is about 6 along the route I take.  I stopped and took a few photos along the way.  It was really nice today with just light winds, though of course there was still lots of mud along the north shore.  I get my little extra workout when my running shoes gather a few inches of concrete-like mud, making them a whole lot heavier.


Then there was the grumpy trucker from Ch2MHill who found it necessary to chew me out for running on that road.  Someone needs to tell him that it is a public road and not HIS personal road.  I wasn't even close to in his way at all.  I love running that road because it seems kind of wild with birds and caribou tracks and the sound of the water lapping on the shore.  I even saw a bit of a rainbow there later today.

Around the Lake Again

Amazing, I finally saw the sun today.  A nice change from perpetual fog and overcast. But it is now overcast again.  I had planned to do a long run but decided to take advantage of the nice weather and drive down the Dalton Highway a bit to see if I could find any interesting wildlife.  Didn't see a single animal.  But it was a nice drive.  When I got back, I did my run from the hotel around Colleen Lake and back, around 6 miles.  My Nike+ is still working, which I really like!  The sun was out but that didn't make the wind stop blowing.  Not quite as strong as yesterday but still a challenge. Plus the water truck had been by on the road, followed by the grader, thus leaving a muddy mess for me to run in.  It just gave me a better workout because so much mud was clinging to my running shoes that it was like running with lead weights on my feet.  I have to have a positive attitude about things like that.  I do love running around the lake.  It sure beats running back and forth on a 1/4 mile stretch of the road like I so often have done in the past.  It gives me a continually changing scene, and a lovely one at that.

There was a bit of early autumn color showing out on the tundra so I did take a few photos.  This was my favorite for today.

Windy 6 Miles

Another very windy day.  Officially at Flight Service it was about 26 knots but around the lake it was clearly a lot stronger, probably more like 35 knots.  I ran around the lake and back to the hotel.  Running into the wind was incredibly difficult, I felt like I was barely moving.  But downwind I felt like I was flying!  There were big white caps on the lake, and waves were breaking on the west shore.  But it was a great workout.  I'm learning that I can probably run in most conditions unless the road is too muddy or of course, if it is stage 3 blizzard conditions with zero visibility.  But that is not likely to happen in September - I HOPE!

My Nike+ finally started working after resetting my iPhone and resetting my sensor a dozen times.  I hope that is the last time I have that ridiculous problem.  I really like to keep track of my runs on the Nike website.

I wonder what my next Team In Training event will be.  For now my Prudhoe to Palmer site is still functioning, and it is still a wonderful cause.

Colleen Lake x 2

My Nike+ seems to be down for good, at least with my iPhone.  The brand new sensor never did link to the phone. But I decided to just use Colleen Lake here as my 5 mile measure for running.  Yesterday I ran around the lake once for 5 miles.  Today I ran around it twice for a 10 mile run.  The weather was less than ideal with winds gusting to 25 knots.  It wasn't terribly cold though, about 44 degrees, so it was tolerable even with the wind.  On the north side of the lake it was raining sideways and my left arm and leg were wet, but my right side was dry.  I ran out of the rain then everything dried out.  Since I am running along the road wearing a black jacket, I asked a friend to mail me up my bright yellow/green bicycle jacket so I would be more visible to the truckers as they drive by.  Today was quite foggy so it is even more important to be visible since it is usually foggy up here in Deadhorse.

The lake actually had white caps on it!

Prudhoe Bay

I'm back up in Deadhorse working for the month of September.  Funny how I am more able to work out when I am working than when I am at home.  Today I ran from the Prudhoe Bay Hotel around Colleen Lake and back.  It is about 5.5 miles, but my Nike+ sensor quit transmitting at the 3.28 mark.  So that is the 2nd sensor to die mid-workout on me lately.  I have a brand new unopened one that I will use tomorrow. I hope it was just the sensor and not my iPhone that is messing up like that.  I really like being able to track my runs on the Nike website. 

I'm planning to be very serious about my running and working out this month because I was really falling behind in August.  I would really like to do much better on October 17th when I run the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco.  Hoping to get signed up for another Team In Training event soon also.  But the fundraising site is still active for my Prudhoe to Palmer event.