Moscow Masters Championships 16-17 June

Day 1- 1500

This was fun- I saw so many familiar fases I hadn't in ages. This is a 2 day meet and I usually just opt for the 3000 on day 2 ,but I did the 1500 Friday night and then the 3000 the next day. I was able to pull off a win in my category -they do 5 year brackets which is the way it should be. Let's face it, there are a number of races in the States that do 10 year brackets which is a crock of crap after 40. I'm approaching the end of a 10 year bracket, but I am still competitive, but not everyone can do that and putting someone who has just moved into the masters with someone nearly 50 is truly a crock of crap. Likewise putting someone who has just moved into the 50-59 against someone nearly 60 is also a crock and so on. It's always been 5 year brackets here at masters meets and it is at the international level as well at World Masters. 

We got slammed with 32 degree heat in the sun Friday evening, but I held up ok and put down a decent tie for the win. It's nice having people to run with to push you to go harder. It's also nice to get back on the track since I have near ZERO opportunity for that in Anchorage because USATF quit putting on outdoor summer meets after 2019. That's such a shame too because they used to have quality all comers meets as well as a state championship.  The running club does offer monthly miles which does help, but lately it's just been Leonid to run with at my level and I need competition to push me to do better. 

Day 2 was the 3000 and once again we had 32 degree heat. I chose to go out slow in the first km. We had had little time to recover from the 1500 and many of the other ladies were doing the double. My first km was my slowest and I slowly crept up and passed people in the middle and final km. I won my division again and time was not bad at all for heat and tired legs :)

June- Moscow Masters Championships and more

 I flew in very early morning on the 8th via Istanbul as there are no longer direct routes from the US to Russia. I do have to admit- it is good to be back for a while. I never imagined I'd be gone FOUR YEARS. That's the longest for me since I was a high school brat! On the 10th, still recovering from Arctic Valley and the haul over, I ran the Parkrun right out the door in Kuminki. I managed to win too. Every Saturday, they still put on 5 ks in the parks across town despite the UK having cut it's affiliation with Parkrun in Russia because of, you guessed it, politics. Screw politics , we still run :) 

Arctic Valley 3 June

 Honestly, I could have bailed in mid May (yeh thank you jury duty for holding me hostage) for Moscow, but I did not want to miss Arctic Valley. So, following in my footsteps from previous years, I decided to bail for Moscow AFTER WINNING Arctic Valley :)

This is one of my favorite races and I love the 10k climb. Leonid opted for the 5 mile again and won the guys division overall! I start serious hill training in Februray for this which often means treadmill sessions in the village. This year, I had a fair challenge.  Kamie Miller who won the 49K in 2019 was hot on my heels. I was able to pull away on the climb, but my lead was less than two minutes at the turnaround. I am a climber and she is a descender. I had about 1:30 on her at the top and she was able to close about 30 secods of that on the downhill. I went eyeballs out on the descent just focusing on holding that gap. I usually win this race by pulling away at my own pace on the climb and hanging on for a strong downhill. I ended up with the win and a gap of just under a minute-whew that was an assbuster but the job got done. Time to hit the pause buttin on Alaska racing until August and head to my other home for a bit. Next stop-Moscow!