Last Run For March

Dragged myself to the treadmill one more time.  It will be my last March run because tomorrow I need to pack to fly home Thursday.  I just did another 5 miles.  It seems like I never found the ambition to do more than 5 on the treadmill except for one day this month.  I only ran 88.5 miles which is certainly less than I had hoped. I was definitely suffering from extreme boredom this month.  But I have the next two months to run a huge collection of marathons.  I even realized that I will actually finally hit the 10 start Titanium mark with Marathon Maniacs during one of my runs in May.  I had forgotten that it must be 30 marathons, 30 different countries, states, or Canadian provinces in a 365 day period, but the period doesn't have to start and end in the same year.

I'm quite looking forward to Rome next month.  I am hoping that Pavlof Volcano settles down though because the morning flight out of here and most of the flights yesterday were all canceled due to volcanic ash.  But I did see Alaska flight 50 from my window this afternoon.  That's a really good sign!

It has been very cold the last few days.  quite the chilly walk to and from work last night, tonight and this morning.  So not much choice but to do my run indoors on the treadmill.

Easter

Today is Easter and I am here at work in Deadhorse.  Not much celebration of the holiday up here. Of course there is the usual extra amount of food, always characteristic of any holidays.  But in reality the extra food was mostly in the dessert category.  I ended up eating the usual salad and small amount of fish. When I saw the dessert table in the dining room though, I was prompted to not be lazy, and I did go do my usual 5 mile treadmill run.  I really wasn't feeling very well, so it wasn't one of my finest workouts.  I did make it through the 5 miles though.

I created an Easter message using one of my photos from my trip to Fatima, Portugal along with the typical Russian Easter greeting. I have always loved the way Russians greet each other at Easter.  The don't say Happy Easter.  Instead they say "Christ Is Risen" to which the person addressed replies "Indeed He Is Risen!"

I miss the interaction with my church in Palmer during Holy Week.  It's a special time and when it falls during March I always feel a little deprived.  Of course I also miss the peeps and Cadbury eggs, but I probably don't really need them!

5 Miles

I had a nice snowy walk this morning back from the shop where I dropped off the car.  I really had the urge to walk all 5 miles around the lake.  But I really wasn't dressed for that and needed to go to sleep.  So when I woke up I did my usual boring 5 mile treadmill run.  I keep trying to find motivation but it just doesn't seem to come.  I am really so ready to head home back to the real world.  Then very soon after, to the beautiful world of Italy. But for the next few days I have to hang in there.

I watched the news on TV while I ran.
It's been interesting watching the election returns today on the Democratic primaries. Alaska, Washington and Hawaii all went for Bernie Sanders at between 70 and 80%  I was happy to see Alaska go for my candidate even though I was not able to attend the caucus.  They don't let you vote if you can't be in your district for the caucus.  Such a weird voting system!

Yesterday the viral video was all over the Internet of the tiny bird that landed on the podium while Bernie Sanders was speaking.  It was so cute, and sure could be interpreted as a good omen for his race for the presidency.  There are so many cute pictures floating around now with the theme of Bernie and the bird.  I used one of them for my Nike+ run today. It is hilarious how people can add nothing more than a pair of glasses and some fuzzy white hair and everyone immediately recognizes it as Bernie Sanders.  He may not win but for sure he has the cutest campaign.

Treadmill 5 Miles

No choice but the treadmill again today.  I woke up kind of late but still did 5 miles.  I need some extra motivation to do some longer runs.  I'm really having trouble this month finding time and having motivation to do long runs on the treadmill.  So I am more or less just hanging in there.  I'm up to only 73 miles for this month.  But there is still one week left.  I should be able to get to 100 before I go home.  I will set that as my goal, even though it is much less than I had hoped for.

I was dreaming of better places while running today.  Contemplating how fascinating it would be to run all the way from here in Deadhorse to Tierra Del Fuego.  I seriously doubt that anyone has actually run the entire way, but it gave me something to think about besides the nightly bad news that I was watching on TV while I ran.

Penguins from my Tierra Del Fuego trip

I really needed to get outdoors in spite of the -10 degrees and nasty wind.  So I walked over to work tonight.  My glasses iced up, and my cheeks were really stinging because the wind was to my face.  But I'm hoping in the morning the wind will at least be to my back.  It was icy cold but kind of a nice little 1/2 mile walk. Beautiful and clear at the time too.

I did some searching on the Marathon Maniacs website and Marathon Guide to see if there were any interesting races I could do in July.  There isn't much in states where I have not run, but I did decide to do one in Utah that is predominantly downhill.  Many people hate downhill but it is always very easy for me.  So I am hoping I can make the 6 hour time limit.  It seemed worth the chance.  I also registered for my super favorite run, the Cordova King Salmon Marathon.  I loved that last year and could enjoy making that one a yearly event.  I'll drive to Whittier and take the ferry again.  It was a wonderful weekend and a wonderful friendly event.

On The Treadmill

I got down to the treadmill and put in another 5 miles.  Never seems to be enough time to go much farther because I still have to eat dinner, shower then go to work.  But I felt pretty good today.

I booked my flight to Vietnam for the Da Nang Marathon last night.  Flying Korean Air, one of my favorite airlines, via Seoul, Korea.  One day I would like to stop off in Korea, maybe for a marathon there. I'll be staying at a gorgeous hotel right by the beach and right by the marathon start / finish line, for a week.  Then I'm flying on to Tokyo so I can finally climb Mt Fuji.  It's been on my to do list for most of my life.  The timing is right, so I'll be taking another week and paying Japan another visit.  I want to climb the mountain from the shrine at the base of the mountain rather than the typical route that starts farther up at the 5th station.  On my way home I have an 11 hour layover during the day in Honolulu.  I see a visit to the beach in my future there!

5 More Miles

I woke up really late again.  Gotta stop silencing the phone alarm and actually get out of bed! But I did get down there to the treadmill, ran 5 miles while watching the news.  Not the most uplifting thing to be watching, but at least it's keeping me informed.

If Bernie Sanders doesn't get the nomination, here's my presidential choice.

5 Miles

Just another day on the treadmill.  I ran another 5 miles.  My legs have been sore for some reason so I stopped several times to stretch.  I'm probably just stiff from sitting around so much of the time.  I am quite anxious to get home then get on my way to Rome for the Rome Marathon.  It's 27 below zero outside so I'm also quite ready for some warmer weather.

It is St Patrick's Day today.  The only green I could find was one hair tie.  I don't think anyone paid much attention to what I was wearing anyway.  But at least I knew I had a touch of green for the day.

Happy St Patrick's Day