Transitions

It's that time of year again, put the running shoes away. Hang up the bikes and bring out the skis. Exciting time of year. Happy to enjoy my first day of skiing with Laura.

Always happy to get out and enjoy the fresh air and great snow. Passed a couple of open creeks and stopped to enjoy the sounds of open water before it freezes up. 

Saturday. Fun. Run...with friends!!

Great run this weekend with Wilson and Whitney. Nice long trail stretches. Awesome uphill climb to great views and some bomber down hill wild chicken style. The cold is moving in but the running is just beginning.

A day of Bliss

Ran for the first time today in three weeks. It was amazing how freeing and liberating the mileage was. Today I am feeling sufficiently sore but extremely happy to feel this way. Can't wait to get back in some mileage and start prep for next year US mountain running team and XTERRA world championships. Possibly some Skyrunning Races as well. 

Almost there...

It's been a month and a half since I have run full out for longer than fifteen minutes. It's time. I need to get out for mental strength, physical reassurance and emotional clarity. I need this. The day is getting closer and I'm trying to let experience be the stronger voice. I still am not at eighty percent but every day I get closer.

Slow pace

I had the opportunity to help clean up the boyscout camp today. Opportunity because it afforded me chance to get outside and enjoy the place in which I live. I may never race with the fastest mountain runners, I may never travel abroad on a national team. But I can say with out a doubt that I train in harsher conditions than many of that team may ever experience. I am thankful for the strength that Western Alaska has shown I possess. I know that when I do race against the younger faster US team that I will do so knowing that I race with my full potential.

Arrrgggg...

I cannot wait until this pain is over with. Mobility is increasing, but pain has not subsided. Hoping for ruptured bursa sack and not a broken or chipped bone. Not twenty two anymore. In the meantime, I'm loosing fitness. Loosing ground on all the progress I have made. Age has given me patience but has also made me wonder how much time I actually have left. 

Sometimes there is no choice but to slow down

Turns out six minute pace over tundra and rocks is not the greatest idea. I got caught up in chasing the dog and slipped out on a spring coming out of the hill side. Ankle blown. Out for six weeks...hopefully.

Running and Dangers of the Tundra

Weather has been off and on here in Nome for the past three weeks. What that means is there are days where is warm enough to strip down to my running shorts and no shirt, head out on a trail and continue wiping sweat from my eyes. Then there are days like today. Rain coming in sideways, the river water is warmer than the air temp, and...did I mention the rain coming in sideways. Along with this is pea soup fog. Fog so thick that the only shapes you can make out all seem to be outlines of bushes until the bush start moving...and its a musk ox...or a moose...or...a bear. The later encounter has not happened, yet. But today is an another easy run, letting the hamstring heal to completion. I ran six miles on it Thursday and took yesterday off. Hopefully today's run allows for a little more loosening up. More to come....

Who knew...

I guess like many other blogs, the intent of this one was to keep a log of my running exploits. It has been random and sparsly updated but turns out there are people out there that actually read it. I never feel I write much, let alone anything of significance. I used to take writing classes to make sure that my writing was somewhat entertaining but I found myself exaggerating details to make the story more entertaining. It soon lost much of my interest. So here I am again, after an email from Germany, looking to resurrect this page.
   I started up again to keep track of lulls in training. I was, and put emphasis on was and the coming attempt, attempting to make the U.S Mountain Running Team. I came off of a huge winter of nordic skiing and thanks to those around me, came away from this winter with a gigantic cardio base. What did not match was the delusion of grander  or perhaps it did match, which is why I find myself sitting on the couch with a hamstring injury dreaming of running ridge lines instead of actually running them. I spent much of the winter plotting lines, taking pictures of mountain tops I wanted to be on top of and feeling the open freedom and wildness that Western Alaska provides.
  It all began well, I don't feel as if I started out to ambitious. I have learned from my past and became extremely patient with my training often only running three to five kilometers to allow my muscles and tendons to catch up with my cardio. It began to work. I was feeling strong, doing repeats on Anvil Mountain outside of town. I began feeling stronger and ran with our community running group three times a week on top of my daily runs. I have yet to incorporate any speed, just base building. Then I felt the twinge in the back of my leg. Like so many times before I was able to run it off. But it persisted. So did I. I didn't back down and neither did the pain in my hamstring. I had convinced myself that I would outrun it.
  Failure in this was complete when I ran a 4k race. I felt strong and broke into a rhythm that set behind all the competition. Maybe the adrenaline kept me from feeling the pain but about half way through I figured I would push and see where I was at. I pushed the pace, widening the gap between myself and second place. On the turn around I got to see the gap I had created and this only fueled my desire to broadened the gap further. I started to really push, bringing my heart rate well above 180 but still feeling comfortable cruising. My watch was reading 14mph. I haven't calibrated it but I even on downhill runs I hadn't broken 13 yet. I pushed harder, my heart rate moving above 195. I wasn't sure this was physically possible at my age. I began pushing 198 and thats when the knife embedded itself in my hamstring. No one really put a knife in it but at the moment it happend you would be hard pressed to convince me otherwise.  I backed down and finished the race cruising in just under 10mph with my heart rate down to 152bpm.

4k in 14:59. I had shut down it down about 1.5k out. I was extremely pleased with the outcome but once the adrenaline subsided the pain came on ful strength as well as the swelling. I have been on the couch for a couple of days now. Waiting it out. Testing the contraction. Icing. Wrapping for compression. More waiting.

I remember this feeling from college. Waiting. Knowing the time I am loosing in training and on competition. Browsing times and results. Digging myself deeper into dispare.

The mental defeat came last night. I was browsing times and came across results from an 8k. NEW COURSE RECORD. My age group. Loosing ground on the competition. Waiting.

For now, I will hope to get back to training. Keep in shape the best I can without running. Waiting to get back on the ridge lines. Waiting.

Fox Creek Revisit!

So, Fox Creek is a true back country Shangri-la on the Seward Peninsula. Its easy access from the road  gets you quickly behind the first guard of mountains through and relatively smooth tundra crossing. A quick traverse across some scree and I am am able to access the wild valleys of the Kigs. I love this valley, its open landscape and the daydreams it lends itself to. From it, I also have access to three other valleys, two ride lines, one saddle crossing, and excellent river/creek crossing. I spent this trip with three friends and two dogs, wandering around and finally napping in the middle of the tundra for an hour or so. Don't worry, this was not run free. I got in a two hundred meter glisade on the way out. Glisade on a 70 degree day, awesome!

Hamstrung out!

It appears as careful as I have tried to be and as successful as my spring/summer training has been, I cannot shake the injury demons. Hence, I have found myself hamstrung. The pain in the lower portion of my hamstring is stabbing and I would like to think that experience and age has taught me to be patient but even as I write and acknowledge this injury I am thinking of the next ridge line, hill or mountain to run. It appears as if I have also worn out the dogs. Both are sprawled out on the floor looking ragged and worn thin. Maybe we all need a break...after today's fun run.

Dog motivation

It was there persistence that made me go out. They kept at it, standing by the door whining. I was in a foul mood. " Hey! Go lay down!" I must have said it thirty times, but in the end their persistence won out. I think they could sense what I needed. It was windy and cold out. Minus twenty five with windchill. But, I bundled up laced up my shoes, covered them with gaiters and stepped out the door. I mile in and turtle shock was occurring. My mantra became, run faster stay warm. Two miles in I was cursing at some one driving down the road five miles away. I stopped and so did the dogs. Both of them could sense my mood. Parker trotted up to me, head lowered and placed his snout between my legs. Emmy followed suit and leaned against my right knee with the majority of her weight. As if they had been whispering to each other they both ran off and looked at me. Emmy went into a downward dog position and beckoned me with a yip that cried out, " Come play."
They knew what I needed. The silence and purity of my surroundings. I needed to be outdoors, on an adventure. I am a biped! I am designed for travel...and pursuit. I took my first steps towards the chase and a better evening.

Double ski day! Double ski day!

Had a great ski out on the sea ice then did the musher's loop. Eleven miles on skinny planks for the day. It was sunny beautiful out. Good day. Parker's back in the game!

Ski and run

Took Emmy out for an eight mile ski and a three mile run. Cardio is up to an all time high as far as post winter is concerned. Dropping weight and feeling good. Goal weight would be about 145. Super excited for racing this summer and all that is to come. So happy to be back into the endurance game.

A New Begining

Having skiing this past winter I have been able to retain some endurance and cardio from this past cross country season. So...a new goal. I'm getting older, I can feel the aches creeping in. It may be my last chance. One more shot at an international team. US Mountain Running team is hold in a qualifying race in August. I find myself questioning my reason for continuing to run. I guess I have found a new way to run. Light, minimal, regardless of conditions.
I feel a connection to the my past...and the past in general. A connection. To all those who ran before, to those who stepped foot on this land. Western Alaska is an amazing place. Ancient and timeless, I can run ridges, free to design my own path, and be exposed to wide open expanse. I love the wild and open places around me.