So happy, and so, so proud

I'm in Portland for the week, for my son's graduation from Lewis & Clark College. It was held indoors yesterday, due to rain (duh! It's Portland) and I was so proud I could barely stand it. My son is such a great young man, kind and sensitive and smart and funny and just great company.

Here's his listing from the graduation program. (Not bad for a kid raised by a single mother who received not one dime of child support, eh?)

Portland is very green and lush. I love it, though the city is too big and too busy for my tastes. I haven't been doing much except spending time with my mother, sister and son, just hanging out and talking. Basically, we just want to soak up one another's company, since we see each other so rarely. Right now I'm off to sit by the pool. It's such a luxury, an outdoor pool. I've been swimming instead of running because I can run in Alaska whenever I want. But swim in an outdoor pool with the sun on my shoulders? It's not something easily found around Anchorage. And added plus: No snow!

Of mud and grace (And more moose)

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I love running in mud. I love splashing in mud. I love when my shoe gets stuck in mud and makes a delicious thuck sound as I pull it free.

So when we headed out to the Turnagain Arm Trail on Sunday and MM mentioned the that trail would be wet, I knew the conditions would slow us down and that the mud would cheer me up.

And it did. Except when it didn't.

We started at the Potter Trailhead and ran all the way to Rainbow and back, about 16 miles and over 3,000 feet elevation gain and loss.

It was a hazy, overcast day, no rain but the air felt damp.



Looks kind of eerie, eh? Welcome to spring in Alaska.

I felt great the first few miles and then had a breakdown around the four mile mark and sat on a rock and cried and cried. I'm not sure why I cried, though I think it was old stuff surfacing, that the solace of the trees and mountains supplied me with enough grace to let down my guard, and when I did, I realized I had been carrying around sadness. Funny how that happens.

After that, I felt better and we kept running. The trail slants gradually uphill for two miles and then dips into the valley and an almost mile and half of steep downhill, which is great. Except that we had to turn around and run back up that almost mile and half of uphill.

On the way back we ran into this critter.

Monday night we rode our bikes to Kincaid Park and back on the Coastal Trail (about 20 miles from our house) and saw more moose. It must be that time of year.

Bare trail--can there be a more beautiful sight?
 



Downtown Anchorage from across the inlet.

Tonight we ran 13.5 miles on the Coastal Trail to Kincaid Park. It was windy, and cold. It's supposed to snow tonight (yes, snow in the middle of May). The wind was so strong in places that it blew my earphones out of my ears. It also pulled the elastic band off my ponytail.

It was a great run, though. I kept a pace just past comfort, so that I was pushing the whole time. (MM didn't have to push, since he's naturally faster than I am, sigh, sigh.)

The last two miles were wicked. The wind was so cold that at one point I looked down and was surprised to see that I was wearing capris. In my mind, I truly believed I was running in my underwear, that's how sharp and fierce the wind blew.

I couldn't untie the car key from my sneaker or unlock the door; MM had to do it. I blasted the heater all the way home and then immediately took a hot bath. Crazy weather!

Tomorrow morning I leave for Portland to visit with my son and watch him graduate, with honors, from Lewis & Clark College (you go, Chris!).

Happy running, everyone. Hope it's warmer wherever you are.

I won, I won, and another beautiful Alaska sunset

The most exciting and incredible thing: I won a race Wednesday evening.

Yes, these old legs carried me to victory. I even received a shiny blue ribbon.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that only two women ran the 7.5K course (4.87 miles, according to my Garmin); everyone else opted for the 4-miler.

Still, I beat some men, which is a cool and worthwhile pursuit.

I didn't take many photos. How do people take photos during races? Do they carry their phones/cameras and snap shots while running? Sounds like too much work to me.

Anyway, the Anchorage Running Club's Do Run Run Race was the first club race of the season. What I love about the ARC races is that they're low-key and comfortable, and people of all running levels participate, and there's no strutting or preening, just a bunch of folks racing because they love to run.

We followed the Ship Creek bike trail, an out-and-back course that was fairly level and with enough curves that it never became boring (I don't much care for flat courses).

MM raced too, and of course he beat me. He did manage to take a blurry pic of me holding my ribbon. Look closely, folks: This will be the last time you'll ever, ever see me this close to a blue ribbon.

I wish this picture were larger because it includes another incredible thing: I'm wearing shorts! The first shorts of the season!

 

To celebrate my victory, we took The Beebs for another beach walk. Most of the ice bergs had melted and we caught the sunset over Sleeping Lady Mountain (which isn't really a mountain, more of a ridge, at least by Alaska standards).

See how indescribably beautiful the evenings are up in Anchorage? This is why I stay in Alaska. This is why I suffer through the long and cold and dark winters. Because where else is there such twilight, such silver/blue/lavender shadows stretching across the horizon?

Right now, we're up to 17 hours of daylight. These sunset photos were taken around 10:45 p.m.

Tomorrow we're running a 16-mile trail run. I can't wait, especially since today it hit 65 degrees in some areas of town. I sat out in the yard in shorts and a tee-shirt, even though there were still patches of snow around me. Such juxtapositions--I suppose that's what keeps Alaska interesting.

Can you see the woodpecker in this photo? (Remember those "Highlights for Children" puzzles where you had to find the objects hidden within the picture? I used to love to read those at the doctor and dentist office.)

Anyway, this little guy or gal visited while I was sitting out in the yard writing. It only stayed a few minutes but no matter, it was nice of it to fly in and say hello.

Happy weekend and running, everyone.

And the trails finally cleared, and it was good

The big excitement in our house is that the Turnagain Arm Trail is cleared of snow. This is HUGE news, since MM and I are both trail runners. Yes, we do run the Coastal and Chester Creek trails, but our first love is being up in the mountains.

We ran 7 miles Sunday and my feet were thrilled (thrilled!) to find themselves on bare ground. I swear, I almost knelt down and kissed the muddy, cold earth.

It wasn't the fastest run. The trail was muddy and slick in places, with small patches of snow in wooded areas. I wasn't used to jumping over roots and rocks, either. Yet I can't begin to tell you how happy I felt being back on the trails again, how my heart sang, how my soul felt good and soothed and refreshed.

I almost cried when I saw this: Green shoots pushing bravely out of the cruel, obstinate Alaska earth. After six months of cold and darkness, of constant snow and single-digit temps, it was a welcomed and beautiful (beautiful!) sight.



In a few weeks, this will all be green and lush.



Turnagain Arm--love, love the lavender shadows

MM and I also took the dog for a sunset walk on the beach. Sunset, in early May, hits right around 10:30 p.m.; we are currently up to almost 17 glorious hours of daylight. The beach was clear, due to the tide and wave action, but artistically shaped ice bergs littered the shore. It felt surreal and ghostly to walk around these ice bergs in the twilight.

The beach right after sunset.

Tonight MM and I are running our first race of the season. Well, I'm running if I manage to finish Chapter Six of my next book. If I don't, I'll have to spectate instead (I have to give myself strict deadlines or I'll sit around blogging and reading all day, sigh, sigh).

Happy running, everyone.

Running after the Boston bombing, and brownies (!!)

My running after the Boston Marathon bombing piece published in the Anchorage Press today. You can check it out here:


Tidbits:

The challenge of 26.25 miles isn’t what it does to your body so much as what it does to your mind, how it subtly and cleverly wears down defenses, displays weaknesses, uncovers limitations and forces you to see yourself as the person you really are, not the person you want to be or pretend to be. You can’t lie during a marathon, can’t pretend to be in better shape than you are, can’t run a faster pace than what your body can handle. As they say in running circles, the marathon is the great equalizer. It cares nothing about sex or income level, skin color or country of origin. Basically, the marathon is about truth: the truth of your body and your mind, of the weather conditions and race course. Of how much you’re willing to give and how much pain you’re willing to face.  


And thanks to my lovely friend Ela, who spent the night last night and brought us these: Carob, arrowroot flour brownies. Oh. My. God. They were to die for. I ate too many and was on a sugar high all night.

Running, hiking and reading (oh, my!)

I've been away for a bit. First I wanted to stay silent out of respect for everything that happened at Boston. Then I wanted to write about Boston and ended up doing so, but I sent that piece to an alternative newspaper instead of posting on this blog. It's easier to reveal one's more private thoughts when writing to a larger audience. Why is that, I wonder? Maybe because it's less insular, less intimate, and therefore the writing feels less of a risk. Whatever the case, I'll post the link when it prints later this week.

I've also been writing like mad and have pretty much run out of words. So I'm posting pics instead. Please notice how much snow we still have up here in Alaska, sigh, sigh.

 

 

Coastal Trail in the middle of a 16-miler

 

 Coastal Trial during last weekend's 16-miler



Spring beach, Alaska style



Ice blocks on the beach

And last but not least, our sunny hike up Powerline Pass with The Beebs.





Me and the Beebs at Powerline Pass Trail

And after all of that happiness, a package came in the mail today containing this:

Advance review copies from my publisher. So much fun! Titles include The End of Night by Paul Bogard; Thinking in Numbers by Daniel Tammet; Eating on the Wild Side by Jo Robinson; Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand; Shorecliff by Ursula DeYoung; and The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe by Mary Simses.

Cannot wait to curl up and begin reading later tonight.

Moose, more snow and Brooks Ghost 5 review

Well, it finally (finally!) stopped snowing up here in Anchorage. But it's nowhere near spring. Last night it was eight degrees at our house. Eight. Degrees.


The trails are a mess so I spent the evening at the gym doing intervals on the treadmill. It's to the point that the guy at the front desk (his name is Miracle, isn't that a beautiful name?) knows both of our membership numbers by heart, MM and I have been going so often. We don't even have to flash our badges.


The below photo is to remind all of you out there running in shorts (shorts!) that some of us pathetic fools are still plugging away in tights and windbreakers, hats and mittens.




I dunno. I think this view alone is worth the mittens.

Today my favorite moose came for an afternoon visit. Note the amount of snow still in the yard.

So, so cute! Well, cute as long as I keep my distance (used a zoom lens, hee, hee).

The other news is that (drumroll please), I bought new running shoes!

I fretted for weeks about giving up my beloved Asics and was going to buy the Brooks Glycerin 10. But then, right before MM and I left for the store, I checked my blog and Karen (thanks so much, honey), suggest I buy the Ghost 5.

And I did. And I love (love!) them. I swear, running is like a dream. The shoe seems to better fit my natural gait, and my stride flows more easily. And while I only ran eight miles, I did six sets of half mile intervals and my feet felt light the whole time. I didn't even realize that I was wearing shoes.

What I like most about the Ghost 5 is the wider toe box. (When did running shoe companies begin fashioning such narrow toe boxes?) It also better supports midsole landing; I didn't have to fight against a heavily-cushioned heel to land in the center of my foot.

One thing that troubles me, however, is the higher arch in the insole. Since I have a very low arch, I can feel it settled against my foot. I didn't notice it while running but do while walking. I may have to do away with the insoles and buy others, but that's no big deal.

I do hope that my Brooks shoes last as long as my Asics, which had racked up almost 800 miles before I finally tucked them away in retirement.

Other news: My son graduates from college in May (yes, I am that old). He's graduating with honors, so I'm sure I'll embarrass him an sob like a baby through the whole ceremony.

Cheers and happy running, everybody.