Alaska Run for Women 11 June

 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 4 June

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. 

Previewing the course June2:

                            

                                                            !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                    beach and swimming for recovery after!

Summer racing-May

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.

                              Jane is in the middle- She's amazing at 67 still a very strong masters runner. We haven't                      seen each other in person since 2005 at the Chena River Run in Fairbanks. Leonid is on the left- he won the age grading in the guys 10 Jane was 2nd in the age graded half. 

2021 - An Upgrade from 2020

 Once again- I have waited until the end of the year to post-yes because life keeps me busy. 2021 was much less of a dumpster fire than 2020. January started off with getting vaccinated, however it also started off with this-

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2021/02/14/covid-19-racked-alaskan-village-without-safe-drinking-water-after-fire/4436143001/

I wasn't even out of "covid jail" aka the then still 14 day quarantine because I had been out of the village over two months, when this happened. A student came knocking frantic asking for a fire extinguisher, but soon after we knew we were done- no running water until further notice. I knew we were done the rest of the school year. I was hoping to be allowed to work from home again since school was still shut because of covid, but the only options we were offered was 1. move village and likely have to live with someone, 2. stay put and pack water. I will use a hunny bucket and pack water to the end of days before ever doing the roommate crap! My ability to cohabitate has never been nor will never be when it comes to non family. My other half should get a Nobel Peace Prize for living with me.  About half the teachers stayed the rest decided to put up with the crap of moving and some got stuck with housemates- a far worse fate than packing and purifying rainwater. It took until March to get the school on a temporary water system. I have always packed water because it is a pain to be without when we sometimes lose running water a few days or so. I also only drink purified rainwater when in the village because I do not trust tap water because of the mining byproducts coming from upriver. Rainwater through the Berkey it is. The pail and immersion heater trick I learned in Soviet times and it was what we did in Russia  to shower when we had the hot water shutoffs or no water at times. I do however, detest hand washing laundry. I do have a manual washer in my tub, but it's still a time consuming pain. Teacher housing got water a couple weeks before school was out-so, yeh it was pretty much a semester of "fun". We also had a ridiculous amount of snow and it was 4/20 LOL yes 4/20 when I finally got out of my icebugs to train for the season.

At this time, Russia was still shut, so it was fixing to be another staycation summer. I planted a garden again and added a currant bush near the razzies in the berry patch section of the yard. 

I was not even sure there WOULD be a season. Races started to appear ....so there was hope. I hadn't bothered to do much but just base not wanting to bust my butt getting into racing shape just to have nothing to race. I started out in mid May with a low key 5k sponsored to help Special Olympics. Starts were staggered for social distancing. I deliberately started in back so I could chase people. It took me 3km to catch even the guys! This would be my first "chicking"of the season. I still needed to get my butt into shape though.

May 23rd I opted for the 10k instead of the half marathon this year. I just wasn't sure if I could do much since it had only been four weeks since I shed my Icebugs to do intervals. Based on my time, I should have run the half! I was in better shape than I had thought! I would have easily ended up in the top 3 without question and won the overall because they age grade the times.   

June 4th I tried the Twilight 12k for the first time ever as it usually conflicts with Arctic Valley. Arctic Valley was still not on the calendar for 2021 yet. This one went surprisingly well. I posted my best 10k split since coming back to the USA in 2015 and this course has a hilly finish. Finished among the top and won the old fart division. It also helped that it was an evening race.

June 11th, I headed out to Palmer for the Bill Mitchell 4 miler on a hybrid on/off road course. This was on a Friday evening again which my non morning person body prefers. This would be my second chicking of the summer season :-) After the race I headed over for the concert and beer at the Matanuska Brewing Company.

Eight days later I ran the Mayor's Half as a tempo run. I opted not to do the marathon because my season is so short and I have more to lose in recovery time and lost speed than I have to gain from regularly racing up to the half marathon. Marathoners had a 20-30 minute BEAR delay too so I made the right call. Yup, momma black bear parked on the trail and marathoners had to be diverted after said delay.  I qualified for the elite start wave for this one which allowed me to run with people around my ability level. The  downside-we were the early birds starting at 8:30 LOL. Other waves were spread out until 11 AM to allow for social distancing. The half has some hills but the time eater is the kilometer or so through the back trail before heading back onto the Coastal Trail to the finish. This section needs to be done in trail shoes, but then I'd have been stuck running the rest of the paved part in trail shoes which does not work either . I ended up finishing toward the top and winning the masters. 

The rest of the month would be virtual. For the second year in a row, I would do the Running Free 4 Miler- but this time I had company! This is a story of its own!

I was last in Moscow in the summer of 2019. Never in my life would I have imagined I would literally be locked out soon thereafter. When I returned at the end of that summer, I was finally able to file for Leonid's k-1 visa. No, we are not some cheesy 90 day fiance couple.We have actually been together since 2007 and the fact that we even have to prove a legitimate relationship to the government makes me sick. I needed at least three years of taxes and stability in the USA before I could file. All was going well and on track so he would get the visa to encompass the SUMMER so we would have plenty of time to get married (yes we were thinking at Arctic Valley) in time for me to make it back to work by August. He was literally a week from his interview at the Embassy in Moscow when the shutdown hit in March of 2020. That was game over until late April of this year when the Embassy contacted us out of the blue to move forward. We were extremely lucky because the Embassy in Moscow quit processing visas shortly after Leonid got his. I have friends who had to move their cases to neighboring countries like Poland and the Baltics to finish their process. That has become a nightmare between covid shutdowns and all, it is extremely difficult to file immigrant visas for Russian citizens now.

We were finally able to marry in June this year right here at Kincaid Park. See pics :) This also fell right smack in the 10 day virtual 4 miler and mile time trial.  We both won for most miles run on the course during this time and won the mens and women's time trial in the mile.  Again, I pulled off my best mile since the indoor mile in Moscow 3 years ago. I also won overall for the 4 mile.  The prizes were very sweet- literally from Chugach Chocolates and Wild Scoops!This is always a fun race and raises money for a good cause to help women behind bars run and train while incarcerated and also provides support post release. 

On July 7th we ran the Anchorage Running Club Masters. Leonid ran the 5K and was second overall and won the 60-69 group. I ran the 10K and for the third time this season I chicked the guys! I was looking for a good tempo run befor the Skinny Raven Half on the 18th.

Skinny Raven Half-

This one was HOT. It was sunny and into the 70s. This was my first time on the regular course since I ran it back in 2015 only a couple days after returning from Moscow. Last year, covid restrictions kept us off the regular course. Leonid went out fast and hung with me until about 7k in. I warned him there were some rollers in the midsection and a damn good hill to finish. I ended up running my own pace for this one. It used to be just a women's race, but this year it was for all genders. I put down my best half in over 3 years on a hot hilly day and was only a few seconds from my 2015 time. Skinny Raven does a great job organizing fun events. Thank you for introducing me to the Double Shovel Cider Co. at the finish.

Arctic Valley

This race is my baby. Before covid, I have won this in 2017,18,19. Last year it was moved to September so I missed it. This year, it was October 2. Doctor appointments and immigration appointments got me out of the village just long enough to do this. I did my usual 12.6 miler and Leonid opted for the 5 miler. He's never raced this before because it's always been in early June in typical years. It would usually be my last race before buggering off to Moscow for summer racing. This year, the day before the race conditions were ideal. Overnight- ice and snow majorly happened. I had to don my icebug racers and even then I still ate shit FIVE TIMES on the descent. That has to be a record!Lots of falls happened that day. Unable to open up at full speed after all those diggers, I ended up a close second after having a significant lead on the ascent. I won the masters and collected in both overall and masters. Leonid was 3rd overall and also top masters. He left his icebugs in the village. I have multiple pairs I leave in Anchorage, but they would not fit him. The really nasty ice was on the long race, but the 5 miler was still nasty. I'm just glad neither of us ended up with broken bones and asses. 

Preview of the course the day before-

The Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving was the last race of the season. It was rather snowy and slow but somehow I ran better in this than I did two years ago in 40 degrees and pavement and in racers not icebugs. Hmmmmm. We bot took home pies for dessert LOL. They only do age gp awards in 10 yr brackets and we bot won our divisions and some yummy pies. Gobble gobble