Fairwell to Fairbanks

We are just about to the end of our visit in Fairbanks, Alaska. It’s amazing how quickly these six weeks flew by! Our time at Creamer’s Field as volunteer Refuge Hosts was a very positive experience; we got to know so much more about the people, the area, and the wildlife than we would have otherwise. Being here for six weeks gave us enough time to explore the area on our non-working days, and we were able to do almost everything on our list.

We were lucky enough to be here before the Fairbanks “green-up” which is when everything turns from winter brown to lush green. When we arrived in mid-May, all the hills were brown, and there were no leaves on the trees. In a matter of two weeks, everything was green, and you would never have known it was the same place. I feel fortunate to have witnessed that transformation.

We were also lucky to be here for Solstice, which is a very big event in Fairbanks. There were weekend long festivities, culminating in a Midnight Sun Run (10K) at 10:00 p.m. June 21st. It was a fun run, with lots of people in costume, street parties along the route, and the sun up and shining the entire time! I thought I would have a hard time running this time of day, usually I am going to sleep about that time, but to my amazement, I ran it a couple minutes faster than my previous best!

Wednesday June 25 is departure day. As always, we leave here with mixed feelings – ready to move on to our next adventure, but sad to leave behind new friends and somewhere we called home, no matter how briefly. But so it goes when you live life on the road.

Next stop: Denali National Park!

Half Marathon

Two years ago when I turned 50 I took up running. It wasn’t my idea! Although always an avid walker, I never thought I could be a runner. And, the older I got, the less I considered it an option. Then my daughter had a baby and wanted to take up running to help her loose weight and get back into shape. She asked me to join her in training for a 5K (3.1 miles). That was in March 2006. Cory found a 5K training program on the Internet (www.coolrunning.com) which we used to prepare ourselves for our first 5K scheduled in June 2006. Little did I know that I would quickly grow to enjoy running like I did. Granted, I’m not a real fast runner, but I have been able to systematically lengthen the distance of my runs over the last two years, starting with 5K’s, then 10K’s, and finally today, running my first Half Marathon (13.1 miles).

I decided to tackle the Half Marathon in December 2007 as a way to keep myself motivated to continue my weekly runs. Although I enjoy this activity, there are times, as with anything, when motivation and desire wane, and I was experiencing this myself towards the end of last year. I looked up how to train for a Half Marathon by my favorite running author, Jeff Galloway, and found he recommended a 17-week plan. I started looking around for events that would be held in May or later, thinking that would give me plenty of time to prepare. Then Dan and I found out we would be in and/or traveling to Alaska during that period of time, and there weren’t any events scheduled in Fairbanks during the time we would be there. Plan B was the Shamrock’n Half Marathon scheduled in Sacramento in March, but that would only give me 11 weeks to train instead of 17 if I started training on January 1st. I decided to go for it, and just try my best.

Keeping to my training schedule was sometimes difficult while on the road. Every two weeks I was supposed to increase my weekly “long run” by 1.5 miles. I was never exactly sure where we were going to be, if there would be a good place to run, or what the weather would be like. Dan was great, always running with me on the short runs, and on his bike with me on the long ones. On January 20th on my 8 mile training run, we were in Bernalillo, NM, and the temperature when I started out that morning was 32 degrees! I’ve attached a picture from that day, it’s the one where I am all bundled up! On February 26th I fell while skiing and twisted my knee. That was touch and go for a few days. At one point I almost called Fleet Feet to ask if I could transfer my entry to someone else, as the race had completely sold out. Luckily I healed in about a week, and the worst thing that happened is that I had to postpone my 12 mile training run by 4 days. The 12 mile run was my longest run prior to the Half Marathon, so I had never actually run that distance before today. During training, I was averaging 13 minute miles on my “long runs”. I wasn’t out to set any speed records, my only goal was to finish. I employ the walk/run method recommended by Jeff Galloway which is basically incorporating regular brief walk breaks into the run. Today, during the actual Half Marathon I averaged 11:57 minute miles (total 2 hours, 36 minutes), over a full minute faster per mile than during training! Probably because it was so cold to start out, I just naturally ran faster to warm up!

I don’t know that I will do another Half Marathon. The training commitment is big, and it can interfere with other plans for a long period of time. I’m happy today to just be able to say I did it, at least once! I really don’t think a Marathon is on my horizon, but at one time I never thought past the possibility of a 10K, so who knows? The pictures I’ve attached include two from a different training runs, the starting line for the Shamrock’n Half Marathon, and a finish line picture of me getting my finisher’s medal.

Running

I call running in Fort Smith, Arkansas the HHH run – Hot, Humid, and Hilly! The neighborhood near-by that I have chosen as my running route is very hilly. I had never run hills before. I avoid running in the heat at all costs. Before now, I had only run when it’s humid once before, by accident. Now, unless I don’t want to run for a month, these are my "conditions". (The picture is of me and my sister Jennifer getting ready for a 4-mile run in San Diego, California).

I have to admit, there is something to conditioning. It hasn’t been below 75 degrees since I’ve been here, so there is no point in trying to get a really early start – still, I do go out as soon as the sun is up, because every degree counts a little! And the humidity consistently hovers somewhere between 70%-90%. So, my first run was just around the RV park, flat, but still hot and humid. I could barely eke out 3 miles. After the first mile, I wanted to quit, but I willed myself to keep going, even if I felt like I was just barely moving. My time was terrible, averaging only 14:74 minute miles.

But I had to branch out, as the RV park is only about ¼ mile around, and it gets really boring running around in circles, and I can only imagine what the neighbors thought. So, two days later, I tackled the “neighborhood” run. Dan and I had scoped it out earlier, and hills or not, I was ready to branch out. On my second run my time improved to 12:30 for 3.25 miles. This isn’t my regular average time; I can usually run around 11 minute miles when I am just out for a nice run, without pushing too hard. My third run was 3.5 miles, same speed, and today’s run was 4.5 miles, still at around 12:20 minute average per mile. I feel really good about this, considering the three H’s, especially the hills. I keep telling myself, by the time I get somewhere flat, cool, and dry, I will be running better than ever! And, in the meantime, my shins, calves, and buns are getting really strong! And I have NEVER sweat so much at anything in my entire life. Very cleansing, I hope.

Something I added to my running experience (it only took me 1.5 years to do this) was to run to music. I loaded up Dan’s MP3 player with “Running Tunes”, and WOW! How much more fun is this?!?!