Mainly Marathons Prairie Series Day 4

Today we ran in Sioux City, Iowa.  Another very hot day at about 100 degrees.  I'm so thankful to be living in Alaska.  I can't stand this kind of heat.  Maybe this winter when I'm up at work and it's -50 I'll be wishing for a little of this heat. But right now, it is almost unbearable.  I keep pouring water over my head to try to cool off.  But it doesn't help very much. Iowa is another state that I did need.  I will gain 5 states from this series.

Mainly Marathons Prairie Series Day 3

Now I'm in South Dakota for Day 3. I do already have a marathon in South Dakota, but figured I would do them all.  Today's marathon was in Baltic, South Dakota.  Hot hot hot once again. We've been starting at 4:30 am but even in the dark it is still very hot. I seem to get slower each day too.  But I love these races and the people who I run with.  They are simply fun with no stress because there is no time limit to worry about.  They sure give us a lot of food as we pass by the one aid station over and over again.

Mainly Marathons Prairie Series Day 2

Day 2 of the Prairie Series was at Wahpeton, North Dakota.  It was actually the exact same race we did yesterday but both races started in North Dakota and ended in Minnesota. So either race counts as either state.  I already had North Dakota, but I wanted to do the whole series even though I do have both of the Dakotas already.  It was another hot one in the high 90's. I didn't break any speed records, that's for sure! This day had a really bad ending too.  I had to drive about 200 miles to the next race plus after two in a row in blistering heat, I was pretty tired.  I pulled into a gas station on my way out of town and managed to hit a concrete barricade and damage the side compartment door on my beautiful new VW RV.  I've only had it for 3 days!  But I am still able to close the door, although I did add some duct tape to make sure that it doesn't go flying off somewhere down the road.

Mainly Marathons Prairie Series Day 1

I drove from Minneapolis to Breckenridge, Minnesota yesterday and picked up my race bib for the Prairie Series.  I camped at the zoo over on the North Dakota side of the river, right next to the zebras.

It was extremely hot at nearly 100 degrees which made for my usual slow marathon pace to be a whole lot slower.  But I did manage to finish, and not be totally last even. Close to it though. I needed Minnesota towards my 50 states so it was nice to add another state to my list.

Fun Runs

We had two North Slope Borough/ICE Fun Runs today.
Our Fun Runs are twice each day at 6 am and again at 6 pm.  They are a little less than a standard 5K. When we complete the race we get a T-shirt.  Since it's a rather short distance I usually try to run each race twice and get two shirts. Depending on whether the race is inside or outside of the security gates, I will run the race at both time.  Outside of the gate I am able to drive myself. But inside I need a visitor's pass and have to catch a ride with someone else.  Today's runs were outside the gate over by the North Slope Borough Building. So I was able to run them both, twice and bring home one shirt for myself and three for my friends.

It ws great running weather. 52 or the morning run and up to 65 for the evening one. Although the evening run came with a very strong wind. But at least it was a warm wind. I tracked both runs with my Nike+ app. With a total of 10.92 miles.

Morning Run

Evening Run

Colleen Lake

Finally, a decent enough day up here in Deadhorse to actually run around the lake.  It was cold, about 45 and with a 20 knot wind.  But even with the trucks kicking dust in my face the whole way, it felt great to get outdoors.  I really start to feel like a caged animal after a few weeks up here unable to go outdoors.  I was pretty slow but I also stopped a few times to take some pictures. I saw lots of birds, sand hill cranes, Canada geese, tundra swans, and a few Arctic terns struggling to fly into the wind. Fortunately I didn't have any bear encounters. there have been several bear attacks further south this week, and two were fatal.  So I do keep my eyes open while I'm out there running, since there have been recent grizzly sightings around here.  But since it's pretty wide open around here, it's not likely to catch one by surprise.It's pretty easy to divert and keep your distance if you do see one.

Lots of delightful waterfowl though.

5 Miles

I finally gave up on the idea of running outdoors here in Deadhorse. The weather looks nice from the window but it's still below freezing, which itself isn't a problem.  But the 30 knot+ wind is a problem.  So I finally kicked myself out of my comfy room and spent some time on the treadmill.  I actually do feel better because I got some exercise.  My first week up here I was sick, but that excuse is gone.  I'm hoping it warms up and calms down enough that I can enjoy a nice run outdoors either around the lake or down the highway.  But this wind is just too much!