Little Su Prep Day

“DayQuil or Sudafed?” Matt asked me as we stood in the pharmacy aisle at Carr’s.  Not the race prep we had planned for, but it appeared we needed to make some adjustments.  Knock out the fever and congestion and an emergency rest day.

Anchorage skyline

Chugach Mountains from the same spot

Chester Creek Trail in Anchorage.

We decided that instead of skiing the green belts of Anchorage, our day would be best served by sightseeing from the car.  The less exertion, the better.  Driving south out of Anchorage, we immediately hit one of my favorite spots in town.  Through nearly thirty city stoplights along the Seward Highway, the urban neighborhoods and shopping malls give way to wilderness.  Anchorage is so close to Alaska!! 

If you’ve been to Anchorage, this is the spot I’m talking about:

 Seward Highway

Instantly, buildings are replaced with Turnagain Arm and the mountains to her south.  This is my favorite place in all of Alaska.  We stopped for photos and ate our sandwiches along the shore. 

Still not feeling much better, we decided to head to our hotel in Wasilla and rest for the remainder of the day.  We dumped all of our gear bags onto the floor to take inventory.  I began cutting up our bars.  I’ve gnawed on enough frozen Snickers bars to know that I needed bite size pieces.  Even at 25F it can be a challenge to eat frozen caramel and nougat.  If I had a problem with freezing, I could at least toss it in my mouth and wait for it to melt that way.  Matt packed our spare clothes.  We decided that he would carry all the bulky spare clothes in his pack, I’d take all the food and heavy things.  After I tossed all the wrappers in the trash can, I couldn’t help but laugh at it.  What would the housekeeper think?  Hey, sometimes I get the munchies!

We made an last-minute stop at Sports Authority to get the electrolyte tabs we forgot at home and for our post-race dinner (hotel had a kitchenette!).  Then we had dinner with my high school friend, Anna and her boyfriend.  I really love having thai food the night before a race! YUM!

My outfit:

• Brooks Cascadia running shoes
• Smartwool light hiking socks
• Dirty Girl gaiters
• Asics pants, fleece lined
• Patagonia ski pants
• Moving Comfort sport bra
• Long sleeve tech race shirt from a previous race
• Brooks reflective pullover
• Adidas wind breaker
• Glove liners
• Asics running hat, performance fleece lined
• Neoprene face mask
• Sunglasses

• Nathan Intensity Race Vest
• Deuter water bladder (2L) (required)
• GuBrew electrolyte tab
• Headlamp(required)
• Rear blinking light (required)

All this food:

About 1,700 calories each.

Here’s the gear we brought with us: 

• Moleskin
• Small pocket knife
• Day Quil (5 servings)
• Spare Smartwool Socks
• Down gloves with windproof over-mittens
• Chemical foot warmers

One Dairy Queen Day until the Little Su.