Well, once again, I've disappeared for months on end. I actually finished 3rd in a 4 miler 29 of July before heading to Tuluksak. Just because I'm not racing every weekend, does not mean I'm sitting on my ass and growing it. I still do 2 interval sessions a week the intensity and workout depends on how close I am to my next race series. I do the workouts so I don't go totally to hell in a handbasket because I'm basically looking at winter break and late spring into the summer to race (ha unless someone wants to pay my airfare out then , yes, I'd go back to a few races a month). I am stubborn as f#ck and want to stick to mountain,ultra and trails. I'm just not into the road scene as much and to be honest, when I'm fit I can happily climb shit all day those fast roadies can't. So, how in the hell am I going to keep my trail strength and mountain legs while training on open tundra? I can see the mountains and they are actually close, but 15+- min by small plane :-( Budget be damned, I invested in a treadmill that I can program to the same grades I trained on in Homer and even more difficult. 1700$+500 to ship air cargo. When I leave one day, I sure as shit ain't donating it, I'll send it right back to Anchorage, because that or south central on the road system is about the only place Id likely transfer out to. Took me til October to pay that bastard off, but it was that or get weak legs over time. I still run mostly outside and once I get done doing 12-15k on average outside, I come in and do 3-5k of UP at a minimum of 12%grade-sometimes more.
I knew I'd get one race in mid September in Kalskag for Rip the Ridge with the xc kids. They need a female chaperone for overnight trips and I'm it! They do an open 10k that starts on open tundra ...prepare to get really WET....then it's a steep climb to the top of the mountain and just before the top there is actually a rope to use to get up! You literally go over the top swing one leg over the mountain and then head back down the other side! Try not to kill yourself on wet slick rocks while you are at it. It was very foggy actually and visibility was damn near zero and I actually dropped back a little to allow a HS boy to catch back up to me because he knew the course. Last year , 2 HS boys got lost on the descent and were gone over an hour off course before they found the markers to head back! The course was very well marked but up top in that fog it could be very easy to get lost. This is an open race for the kids and community. This was a very tough course. I loved it. I was surprised our elementary kids do the whole thing! Sure, the littles hike where it's really steep and tough, but still this ain't your snoozy groomed golf course XC course! I ended up winning the open. Mid-September I could still climb up and down shit :-) It was a fun way to get to know the kids better too and hang out. Many of the kids I work with face very difficult challenges, but are still really nice, open, and friendly especially when you take the time to get to know them. Half the village already knows basic Russian thanks to asking Leonid and I how to say this, that, and the other thing :-)
This would pretty much be it for racing til winter break.
I did train through the fall and early winter leading up to that. Now, I do have one concern. By Thanksgiving, I was down nearly 5kg(a good 10 pounds)! WTF?! Leonid also lost weight -a little less. I still cannot figure out what gives. I eat-I'm very good at eating. The only diet I know is the SEEFOOD diet-I see what I like and eat it! I eat breakfast and lunch at school then come home and usually go for meat/fish/protein and veggies. I was told I may not be getting enough carbs of all things. Ok, well sometimes the meat fills me up, but an hour or so later I usually sit down to watch something I've downloaded and attack anything from ice cream, to craisins, to chocolate covered raisins, to even redvines, fruit and or yogurt...you name it. It's not all of the above at once, it's whatever the hell I feel like munching. Fruit is usually apples and oranges I stock up on when our store gets them because they are cheaper to buy here than order on that item and I go for the grapes when we have them too. Some people lose weight in the Bush because they can't just go buy some kind of takeout or fastfood, but I never really did that anyways-cooked at home most all of the time save for maybe a sandwich or pizza from the Fritz Creek general store when I was in Homer and that was once a week maybe. In Moscow, I cook too. All I know is despite eating some damn good not calorie counting food over break in Moscow, I did not gain a gram. I did bloodwork in Moscow late December and all was normal. Friends in Moscow and in Anchorage noticed said weight loss- that's not good. I do NOT wan't to lose more that's for sure. I feel fine, but 10 lbs is a LOT off me when I was barely 120 on a good day (boy I have to EAT to hit that) to begin with and I'm nearly 176 cm tall FWIW.
Never too cold to run-
I knew I'd get one race in mid September in Kalskag for Rip the Ridge with the xc kids. They need a female chaperone for overnight trips and I'm it! They do an open 10k that starts on open tundra ...prepare to get really WET....then it's a steep climb to the top of the mountain and just before the top there is actually a rope to use to get up! You literally go over the top swing one leg over the mountain and then head back down the other side! Try not to kill yourself on wet slick rocks while you are at it. It was very foggy actually and visibility was damn near zero and I actually dropped back a little to allow a HS boy to catch back up to me because he knew the course. Last year , 2 HS boys got lost on the descent and were gone over an hour off course before they found the markers to head back! The course was very well marked but up top in that fog it could be very easy to get lost. This is an open race for the kids and community. This was a very tough course. I loved it. I was surprised our elementary kids do the whole thing! Sure, the littles hike where it's really steep and tough, but still this ain't your snoozy groomed golf course XC course! I ended up winning the open. Mid-September I could still climb up and down shit :-) It was a fun way to get to know the kids better too and hang out. Many of the kids I work with face very difficult challenges, but are still really nice, open, and friendly especially when you take the time to get to know them. Half the village already knows basic Russian thanks to asking Leonid and I how to say this, that, and the other thing :-)
This would pretty much be it for racing til winter break.
I did train through the fall and early winter leading up to that. Now, I do have one concern. By Thanksgiving, I was down nearly 5kg(a good 10 pounds)! WTF?! Leonid also lost weight -a little less. I still cannot figure out what gives. I eat-I'm very good at eating. The only diet I know is the SEEFOOD diet-I see what I like and eat it! I eat breakfast and lunch at school then come home and usually go for meat/fish/protein and veggies. I was told I may not be getting enough carbs of all things. Ok, well sometimes the meat fills me up, but an hour or so later I usually sit down to watch something I've downloaded and attack anything from ice cream, to craisins, to chocolate covered raisins, to even redvines, fruit and or yogurt...you name it. It's not all of the above at once, it's whatever the hell I feel like munching. Fruit is usually apples and oranges I stock up on when our store gets them because they are cheaper to buy here than order on that item and I go for the grapes when we have them too. Some people lose weight in the Bush because they can't just go buy some kind of takeout or fastfood, but I never really did that anyways-cooked at home most all of the time save for maybe a sandwich or pizza from the Fritz Creek general store when I was in Homer and that was once a week maybe. In Moscow, I cook too. All I know is despite eating some damn good not calorie counting food over break in Moscow, I did not gain a gram. I did bloodwork in Moscow late December and all was normal. Friends in Moscow and in Anchorage noticed said weight loss- that's not good. I do NOT wan't to lose more that's for sure. I feel fine, but 10 lbs is a LOT off me when I was barely 120 on a good day (boy I have to EAT to hit that) to begin with and I'm nearly 176 cm tall FWIW.
Never too cold to run-
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