7-8-2011
Ok, so it has definitely been a while since my last post and i hope to remedy the situation with more updates on what going on in my training and racing world. Lets start with a brief synopsis of what has happened over the last couple of months.
After a fairly mediocre end of the ski season in Sun Valley, my focus and motivation were lost. I took a couple of weeks off to simply try and get rested and feel ready to train again. I started my training again full time about week before the Heart run. I raced the Heart run and ran a solid 15:26 or so. Not too bad. I came back a week later for another road 5k in Palmer and raced to a second place finish in 15:36, which also garnered me about 300 bucks in cash. I just beat out my training partner Mark. Next was Brian Gregg's wedding (one of my former UAA teammates and very good friend on the race circuit). On a dare by the great Rob Whitney, myself and a few others from the wedding party found ourselves at an ultramarathon race nearby the day after the wedding (not a great time to choose to race by the way). We all signed up for the 25k race which is considered the whoosy event in the ultra races, but whatever. I was able to fend off a formidable ski and trail racer by about a minute and a half for the win, although i wont mention that the first female was not far off... oh crap. I had a good week of training and finished it off with my first ever Ski To Sea race. What a blast that was! Because it was early in the season, this was one of the harder 6k races i have done. I finished a solid third in the nordic leg (first leg) and set a good momentum for our team which eventually finished 9th.
This brings us to about a month ago. At this point in the year here in Alaska, Mt. Marathon is what is on everybody's minds. Bird Ridge is usually the first race to gauge the mountain runners fitness for the upcoming Mt. Marathon race and notably the most prestigious race in Alaska. I get swallowed up in this because i love mountain running and like most others in the mountain races, I want to win. This typically takes my mind away from ski training just a bit to focus on getting faster in the mountains. I also use these races for motivation as well. A good time and effort up either Bird or Mt. Marathon can keep me fired up for a while.
The race up Bird was solid with the formidable Rob Whitney coming back onto the scene and setting the third fastest time ever up the hill. I finished in third about a minute back and about thirty behind Mark. It was a slightly disappointing and really good race at the same time. It was my second fastest time up the mountain, but was still a minute back. Oh well. Mt. Marathon is a different race.
Mt Marathon was a good day for me. I had a really solid uphill time and downhill time. Eric Strabel was the man of the day at the end as he surpassed me just before the bottom of the mountain and held his small margin to the finish. I broke 45 minutes on the course which is a huge PR for me. I felt good about the race and I am now motivated for next year.
So here we are up to speed. For now the mountain running scene goes on the back burner. I am ready to do some good ski training now and see if I can find my way back onto the podium this year!
