This one was another scorcher with temps sunny and low 70s for the evening start. I was hoping to post a decent time, but just wasn't feeling it in the heat. This was actually my first bad time of the season, and sure, I won overall, but my time was over two minutes off from just a few weeks ago. I would just call it a bleh day performance wise.
This was the run to cap off a very hot and busy June. This used to be the 4 miler which has been a virtual event the last 2 years. It helps the running program at the women's correctional center. Covid restrictions kept us from using the 4 mile course that loops around the prison yard where the inmates used to cheer on the runners as we went by. We could pick from either 20 40 or 60 minutes of seeing how many loops we could rack up. The loops were just under 400m on and open field near UAA by Goose Lake. I opted for the 60 because it was time to start thinking about longer workouts, tempo runs, training as I shift to some longer races later in the season. In the 60 minutes the overall man and woman who went the furthest got a nice gift box from Chugach Chocolates and gift cards from Wild Scoops-YUM
Leonid and I both won the 60 minute finishing just under 9 miles. I've really enjoyed doing this one over the years. I missed in 2019 because it was moved from late July to late June and I was in Moscow by then.
WOW! It's been TWENTY FOUR YEARS (and a bazillion age groups ago) since I ran this in person! I have always been traveling in and out of Russia at this time or just gone. The last time I did this was in June of 98 before I started grad school at Moscow State a couple weeks later! Back then I was 12th. Top 15 get overall awards at the finish and this is very competitive. Top women are often Olympic skiers, top college runners, Olympic Trials qualifiers in the marathon, etc. This year, was the first time they had changed the course running at UAA. So there would be no objective comparison of my 98 performance to this one. At registration, I also learned they now have an elite corral for the start and that I qualified. So, I decided to accept.
I always do the breast cancer races for mom, but this year, I lost one of my best friends , Julie Mahmoud to breast cancer in late January. She was only 51. She was on the US 100k team and a national champion. She had been running a training camp in Uganda doing awesome things for athletes there. We trained together in the early and mis 2000s before I moved to Moscow. She was an awesome snowshoer too and we raced together there there too qualifying for Nationals more than once. We stayed in touch even after I moved away and I miss her lots. We trained for the Little SU 50 and Susitna 100 together doing epic long runs on that trail with her sweet husky-Buddy. To this day, I have yet to find a training partner willing to go run 4-5 hours on the snow just because.
Race day- I warmup and head for the start. Oh dear, I am old enough to be the MOM of most of the elite ladies. What am I doing here? Beth Bragg- now the retired sports writer was doing the start. I do have to say that coverage of local running events has gone down the toilet this year since she retired. What a loss. to journalism-she was very good.
After a 25 minute or so delay, we were finally off. I could still feel the effects of Arctic Valley in my legs, but managed to finish 13th overall eeking into the top 15. IN 1998, I was 12th, so really hadn't lost much since then :)
Arctic Valley June 4
June is an extremely active month. In March, I learned that indeed Arctic Valley was returning to its proper spot on the calendar in early June-YEAAAAA! I started training for it in early March incorporating hill workouts n the treadmill while in Tuluksak and then running the hilly Kincaid loop when I was in Anchorage during spring break and the beginning of breakup the last couple weeks of March. I came in for break and had scheduled dr appointments that piggy backed into the science fair that our district was bringing kids to so I t allowed me to get a little over 2 weeks in town on the hills. During this time I did the Shamrock Shuffle- that was a wake up call to get on the stick with training if I wanted to be ready by May/June. I mostly do base on the tundra during the winter with some interval sessions on snow on Saturdays I'll start up Jan-Feb just to get my legs moving, but nothing major. I was back in town at the end of April/beginning of May for a conference and got in more training on the hills including a tempo run.
Arctic Valley is one of my favorites. I love the climb and the view can be awesome on a clear day. It also motivates my ass to train through the winter HAHA! This one was HOT temps pushing to 70 by the end. About 5k into the climb, I passed all but one of the boys. I essentially ran the race alone after that. This bothered me only from a safety standpoint-BEARS! The chase pack was out of sight too far back and I was on my own. Two days before, I had come out to check course conditions only to see a momma black bear and her 3 cubbies cross at bout the 11-12 mile marker or just before the 2 mile on the climb. It was HOT! I climbed in my comfort zone and it was a bit slower than my previous climbs in cooler temps, but everyone was feeling it because nobody was catching me. After the turnaround, I just let it rip down and hoped a bear wouldn't make my day! A the 5 mile turnaround, a volunteer was shooing a bear back into the woods! When I hit that spot where I'd seen momma and her cubbies, I just clapped a few times hollered "bear bear" and carried on. Actually, I did this periodically on the descent. By this point, I had a pretty big lead on anyone behind me and it was me on my own with any bears that I'm sure saw me but I failed to see! I did secure my win in the 12.6mile -my 4th overall win and was beaten by only one guy.
29 May- Trent Waldron 10k
The season opener this year for me was the Trent Waldron 10k. I opted not to do the half in order to spare my legs for Arctic Valley seven days later. This was just to be a barometer race to see where my fitness was at and to get in a final tempo workout before Arctic Valley. Placing is not based on order of finish, but on age grading. That factor gave me a nice "discount"from my time :) This year top three on the ladies side age graded in the order of our actual finish putting me in 3rd overall for the actual place and 3rd after the age grading. It just worked out that it was pretty tight in the 37-38min range for us. Based on my performance, I could have run a very solid half in the 1:30 range, which is not bad having just come off the dirt roads in the village less than 2 weeks before. Weather was warm- pushing 60s and sunny which early in the year is rough.
