Alyeska Adventures

Matt threw open the curtains to a barely daylight morning. The snow was falling so hard that we could barely see the trees not twenty-five feet from our window. This was the playtime we were looking for. Between Monday afternoon when we arrived and noon on Wednesday, Girdwood received over 16" of new snow. It was FANTASTIC! The locals hadn't had a large snowfall  like this for weeks, so they seemed equally as excited as we were.

Here's what the car looked like in that time.

Our first run was on a path along the Alyeska Highway. Even though it doesn't sound glamorous, it was everything we had hoped for. 

Trudging through about 5" of fresh powder, we danced our way through the snow covered trees. Mountains across the valley were largely obscured by the heavy snowfall. Five miles felt like a thousand. I'm so not used to this anymore. 5 mi in 53:49.

 

Mr. Icicle Beard

From there, we hit the hot tub and soaked as we stared out the window at the skiers enjoying the still heavily falling snow. After a quick lunch of croissants and cheese, we had decided. Round two!

We set out on the Winner Creek trail and followed as it meandered up the valley. Several other snowshoers had passed before us so we didn't have the difficulty level of the previous day.

 

The gigantic Douglas Fir trees overhead reminded me of those at home. Instead of growing mossy from the heavy rainfall, these were coated in a fresh dusting of powder.  The way the snow accumulated on small tree branches was pretty.

I'm sure all of you are sick of winter by now, but think back to your first snowfall in November or so. It was awesome, right? That's how we feel about visiting winter. The whole time I prance around and wax poetic about how gorgeous it is and if my little Grinch heart grew any more sizes it would burst.  Of course, it's easy for me to say because I get to go home to my very green California at the end. :) But even if you're sick of snow and the cold, you'll probably agree that it makes for some nice pictures:

Snowy trees like this were my absolute favorite part about living in Alaska.
The UP was always too windy to look like this.

 

Wednesday morning, Matt and I set out for one final run before we left for Anchorage. The snow had stopped and skies began to clear. We even caught a few glimpses of blue sky. 4 miles in 37:26.

Cooling down at the piano. Better than stretching, right?

I felt like I'd finally gotten the hang of  breathing through a face covering and was slowly acclimating to the colder running temperatures.  That turned out to be a good thing, we'd be heading even further north soon.

An Alyeska Introduction

Alyeska Resort, tucked away in  a forested valley in the corner of the Turnagain Armpit near Girdwood, is the ideal place to go if you're looking for snow. Because of the surrounding topography and proximity to the ocean, it regularly gets dumped on, between 200" and 600" of snow annually. That's a fantastic place for a ski resort!  I wasn't sure how I'd react watching others ski when I was no longer able to, but I found myself not missing the slopes at all.  Besides, most of the good views are on runs far above my ability level. 

Isn't it picturesque?

Monday, we got in a very strenuous snowshoe hike near Whittier. Even though Matt and I were both wearing snowshoes, we still found ourselves sinking into snow well above our knees. The flakes poured from the heavens as we laughed and smiled, joking about how we shouldn't have left the snowshoes in the car. It was the best.

I believe that's a bench Matt is sitting on.

All smiles in the winter wonderland.

Those poles are to help the snow plow find the highway.

Big fluffy flakes= A+

So that's why they make those signs so sturdy.

I think this is one of my top ten favorites of this trip.

That afternoon, there was a break in the snow just long enough to entice up the tram to Mt. Alyeska for the sunset. The fresh mountain snow glowed orange and yellow as the sun slipped away behind the mountains across the Turnagain Arm.

View from the cafe at the top.

Turnagain Arm

Tram headed down.

Then we tucked ourselves away in our hotel room for the night. Normally, I'm a bargain basement hotel kind of girl (cheaper hotels=travel more often) so this place was fancy. It frequently reminded me of the alpine ski hotels we stayed in on our Tour du Mont Blanc trip last summer. Of course, it could have just been the mountains.

Networks

You may be wondering why we chose to visit Alaska in the winter time, I know a lot of our friends in California do. Heck, I do sometimes. After a failed trip to Michigan "winter" a few years ago, we like that we can always count on Alaska to satisfy our winter desires. But perhaps the most important lure to both Anchorage and Fairbanks is our network of friends. Because many of them are Matt's former coworkers, they work the same goofy shiftwork and we can usually find an adventure buddy on their day off. Just tagging along on their adventures rather than planning it all on our own rocks, plus we get in a visit at the same time. Two birds, one stone and whatnot.

During the Anchorage portion of our trip we were able to meet up with several friends, both real life and those that exist mostly in my little computer world.

We spent several days with Mike, one of Matt's Fairbanks co-workers. He's an avid skier and adventurer, taking his two enthusiastic huskies along on all our adventures. He's also really good at finding all the best restaurants, so we were well-fed for all those adventures too. 

I also got the opportunity to meet the lovely Michelle of The Runner's Plate for a quick visit during her lunch hour.  I love how motivated she is in all parts of her life. She doesn't mind working hard for the things she really has a passion for. We talked about training and that we were considering self-hosting our blogs. Overall, it just felt like she's one of those people who has life figured out. And she's super speedy, yet not a jerk about it like some people can be, that's pretty awesome.

The day after the Little Su, Matt and I met my childhood friend, Anna, for lunch. I don't know what it is, and it may seem silly since I'm still relatively young, but there's definitely a difference in the way it feels meeting up with friends from my childhood versus those I made as an adult. I feel more comfortable around them, almost like time hasn't passed. Or maybe because I know she didn't run away when I was at my most awkward with braces and horrible outfits, so she's probably supposed to stay in my life. Either way, it was a fantastic visit. Anchorage had just received their first snow in a several weeks and we decided to go skiing after lunch and made it a full-day visit. Yay for adventurous buddies.

It was tough to squeeze in a visit with Cinthia of Ah, Ah Alaska who seems to be working on a thousand projects all at once and can still keep her head on straight. If you think her blog is awesome and she sounds like a cool person, multiply that by a thousand and you get how awesome she really is in person. She's a published author and I was thoroughly impressed by the deep, profound things that she said. She even sounds like a writer, I kept thinking to myself.  My spoken vocabulary isn't nearly as eloquent. Cinthia is also the reason I signed up for this year's Little Su. We planned to run together. After an injury kept her from racing, Matt and I spent most of the race leapfrogging on the trail with her partner, Mike instead. I still maintain that she tricked us into the race. :) I'm running the marathon at Humboldt Redwoods in October, it's your turn to come play.

Then on our final night in Anchorage, we met with my Tumblr buddy, Angel. She just found out that morning that she needed to take time off for a running injury so I hope Matt and I did a good job at distracting her from that. She seemed to be in good spirits about it, better to have two months off during the winter than the summer. In fact, she seemed to have a positive outlook on everything. That's awesome. Too many people in this world are grumpy.

The remaining adventures were more like unfinished Alaska business, things we had thought sounded like fun when we still lived semi-locally but never got to. Because we never committed to the studded tires and 4WD car that one usually needs to make the 450 mile drive here from Fairbanks in the winter, we only visited Anchorage twice in our almost four years in Alaska. Since the whole purpose of our trip was to spend time playing in the snow, we knew exactly where we needed to go: Girdwood. It was snowy enough to be a winter wonderland, but not so remote that we get stuck there.  More on that later.

2014 Little Su 50K Race Report

Following the devastating fire that forced the Point Mackenzie General Store to close, the race start and finish was moved at Happy Trails Kennels, personal home and training grounds of Iditarod racer, Martin Buser. The new 50K course was a single out-and-back. I was curious and excited to try the new course and also get a chance to spectate at the same time as the other racers passed by on the trail.

As we pulled into the parking area adjacent to the dog yard we saw dozens of sled dogs atop their own personal house. I asked Matt, "Wouldn't it be cool if they handed us our race packet and then let us pick our own husky racing buddy?" Some argue that the sled dog is the world's ultimate endurance athlete, we thought it both fitting and humbling to share their trails.

After Thursday's run with Mike in Anchorage, I decided to start the race in my Kahtoola micro spikes. I felt no slipping on the icy trails there and was hoping for a similar experience here, where the snow was about as sparse and coated with ice.  As racers lined up, we watched several bikers skid to a crash on the ice. Eek.

The first few miles were mostly packed snow with patches of hidden ice. Under the cloudy skies and flat, shady light, it was difficult to discern which was which. In my Kahtoolas of Invincibility, I noticed none of it. Instead, Matt and I began discussing what the results would be like on the very fast trail conditions. Bikes zipped away and runners trotted easily as if their feet danced on dry pavement. The skiers, of which there were far fewer than previous years because of the ice, seemed to struggle a bit with the lack of snowy glide.

After the first six miles of flat trails, we encountered the next six of miles of rolling hills. Some were steep, others not too bad. I was pleasantly surprised to notice how comfortable an 11:00/mi pace felt. I knew there was a lot of distance to go, but the thought of possibly running a PR on this wintry course was definitely swirling around in my head.

The narrow trail was lined with a mix of spruce and cottonwood trees, which was unremarkable and beautiful in its simplicity all at the same time. Matt and I leapfrogged with many of the skiers who were having trouble climbing the icy trails. One skier, apparently frustrated with constantly taking her skis on and off had tucked them under her arm and ran at least a mile in her ski boots. I joked with Matt that I do the same thing on flat, easy trails because I'm such a horrible skier to begin with so I sympathized with her frustration. My legs felt unusually heavy and the spikes caused me to over-pronate enough to make the inside of my arches sore.

By mile 8, we began to encounter bikers making the return trip. Wow, conditions really were fast! Before we saw any skiers, a few runners came by. The lead male runner finished in 3:11 and was practically flying when we saw him at about 10 miles in. We were impressed that he was already ten miles ahead of us. At first, it was fun to cheer for the other racers, most of those on behemoth fat bikes. But soon that excitement turned to frustration as few made a real effort to share the trail with those passing in the other direction. It was difficult to maintain momentum when I had to keep stopping to jump off the trail and let them pass. 

Soon the flood of bikers was over and peaceful balance restored. We crossed a couple of frozen lakes and streams. Wind had swept the ice clean and Matt and I plodded across in our mini crampons as we admired the bubbles and cracks in the otherwise smooth icy surface. I was especially happy to have my spikes for crossings such as this.

We reached an aid station and checkpoint just before mile 12 and runners coming toward us shouted encouraging messages, "Just a mile to the turn-around", which we found odd since it should have been at least another three miles away. When we arrived in a clearing next to the Iditarod Trail Nome sign, we were puzzled. Another runner caught up to us, "Wow, looks like a really short course, huh?" she commented. No wonder we encountered the leaders so early on.

The light buff over my face provided the perfect amount of warmth for this race.
I didn't have any of the breathing problems I had at CIM even though it was about 20 degrees colder.

First Half: 2:24:58

Even though my Garmin is often inaccurate on trails with any tree cover, I was genuinely surprised by my halfway split. The course had to be short. I was plugging away at a solid 11:00/mi. not the 9:30/mi. required to pull off that halfway split. The halfway split on my 50K PR is in the 2:50s.

Nearing mile 16, Matt removed his spikes and commented on how heavy they were. Because they're essentially snow chains for your feet, they are surprisingly heavy. After the final frozen lake, I had an epiphany: take the darn things off.

After three hours of running on stiff spikes, my feet felt light and soft, like I was running on pillows. The achy spots subsided and my pace quickened. "WOOOOO! Second wind!!" I shouted to Matt as I sped off ahead on the trail. I don't know if it was the lighter load or if my fabulous mix of broken Snickers bars, M&Ms, Reese's Pieces, and peanut butter cups finally kicking in, but I felt like I could fly. 

Crushed all these into pieces and put in baggies. A whole frozen Snickers isn't easy to eat.
Key to balancing out all that sugar and avoiding stomach rot? A Nuun tablet in my water bladder.

The remaining time on the trail consisted of one of us dangling the sugar bag in front of the other person to get them up a hill or speed up. Clearly I don't take this kind of race too seriously; my priorities in 50Ks includes a fun trail, some buddies, and a bag full of sugary goodness. Add sugar to the fatigue late in a race and weird things are bound to happen.


With less than five miles to go, the clouds lowered further and small but persistent flakes began to fall from the sky, covering all but the tracks of those travelling just ahead of us. I saw a two runners up ahead in the distance. "It looks like we're gaining on them," Matt offered, "I bet you could catch them." I agreed. Even if I didn't it would provide motivation for a strong finish. Okay, it was on.

As I tried to focus on catching them, signs labeled with the initials BLT tried to distract me from my mission. I imagined the trail leading me to that bacon-y goodness. I had to find it. As I veered onto one of the BLT trails, Matt pulled me back and promised me we'd stop for Dairy Queen instead. "Okay, fine," I muttered. If he hadn't run this race with me, who knows where I'd be right now. Mmmmm..... BLT. (BLT stands for Big Lake Trails, the group that maintains the area.) Sometimes my best motivational racing mantras go like this: CHEESEBURGER. CHEESE-BUR-GER. Today it was B-L-T.

I finally caught the two runners with less than a mile to go. One was hunched over as I passed. "You're almost done, you've got this," I offered. I always feel a little bit awkward when I pass someone that is clearly having a bad day. Usually I try to say something nice unless they look really angry. 

Soon the cars parked on the river ice came into view. FINALLY!  I picked up the pace even further and prepared for my best kick, all the while telling Matt that if there's another 5 miles hidden on the course between here and the end to make it a full 50K, I'd probably cry. I was definitely not prepared for that anymore.

Turns out, there wasn't. With somewhere between 26.5 and 27 miles, I crossed that same yellow spray paint line on the ice and finished the 2014 edition of the Little Su. It wasn't anywhere near a 50K, but still considered an ultramarathon, so I guess that's something right?  Other participants agreed that it was the way to bring balance to all the races that were too long (ie- Marquette 50K last summer was a little over 32 miles), but of course there's no way I can count this as a record.

Second half split: 2:42:05

5:07:02
(assuming 26.75mi: 11:28/mi.)
595 ft. climbing
Foot Racers: 9th and 10th  of 27

Had this been a complete 50K, I probably would have come close to a PR (6:07, 11:48/mi. set in 2011). Oh well, more energy for the rest of our adventures here in Alaska!!! 

Alaska Dreamin'

Traveling always has a way of disorienting me, especially when I arrive at bedtime. The next morning, it takes a moment to figure out where I am. The rest of the day it feels like I'm dreaming.  Am I really in Alaska or is this a dream? I've had dreams like this, it could definitely be a dream. When will I wake up?

Mr. Moose says, "YAY! Karen's back!" Look at that smile!

Our first day in Alaska was filled with activity. We had a late breakfast with Mike and Erik at Middle Way Café, a place we would visit two more times in the next few days when asking different friends to pick a place for lunch. It was always their idea, so apparently it is THE place for the good food in town.

With my buddy Kluane

That afternoon, as the sun angles began to lower and spread a golden glow across the snowy landscape, we took to the multi-use trails of Hillside and Far North Bicentennial Parks for a run. Still jet lagged and dehydrated from the noticeably drier and colder air, my lungs fought with me the entire way. Most of my outfit was perfect for the temperatures, but that neoprene facemask was a bit too much for the temperature and the difficulty breathing through it. I'd have to find another option for the Little Su, given that it would be a balmy 15F and too warm for the heavy duty one I wore for this run.

Matt, Mike, and Mattie.

Just as I was test driving my gear, Matt conducted an experiment with his own.  He's been growing a beard since we returned from our Utah trip. Part of his motivation was to see what he looked like with a frosty Alaska beard.  This run did not disappoint.  Both Mike and I agreed that the frost aged his look just a little bit.

Let's just call him Old Man Winter.

If this is a dream, please don't wake me.

I don't want a dog, but having a canine running buddy is fun. Please loan me your husky please.

6.75 mi.
1:13:59
10:57/mi.

Little Su 50K Race Prep

It has been an unusual winter for just about all of North America this year.  After months of sunshine and no rain, our winter seems to have returned to normal, at least for the time being. In between storms, we get beautiful sunny days. Usually they are really windy, but yesterday's wasn't too bad.

Last week

Yesterday: warm and dry enough to stretch on the patio after my run.

This week.

Southcentral Alaska spent most of January creating strings of high temperature records. Things melted FAST. Friends in the Anchorage area reported icy trails. When I asked about conditions as related to the Little Su, no matter who I asked, their response was that I should bring Kahtoolas, crampons, or some similar traction device for my feet.

Then I saw this photo of a trail in the area where the race takes place:

Trail 4, Photo credit: Big Lake Trails, Inc.

The Susitna 100 and her sister race, the Little Su 50K follow snowmobile trails (like the one shown above) and travel across frozen lakes, swamps, and eventually the namesake river, the Susitna. As below freezing temperatures returned and everything refroze, I admit I panicked a little.  Trails solidified, but it left all them covered in a thick icy crust that Mike said was more like ice skating on. Even with Kahtoola spikes, he had a few runs he wished he had crampons for. Yikes.

In signing up for this race, I knew the weather and terrain were part of the challenge. The cold, wind, rain and snow, I can handle all that; but I'd rather eat the entry fee and DNS than fall and spend the rest of my life without my left arm. My left arm has only one bone and has been so heavily radiated that it is fragile (like a 90 year old lady's) and if broken, it is unlikely to ever heal. My orthopedic surgeon spent most of our visits during active treatment telling me of this risk. I quit rollerblading. I don't downhill ski anymore. Frankly, I've spent too much time and suffering protecting it to lose it now. Not to mention, I really like playing the piano, crocheting, and two-armed hugs.

Then this past weekend, Becki, a friend that lives in Big Lake rather than the Anchorage area,  sent me updated pictures of the trails and a message from that same trail association, via their Facebook page:

"Like all of you, I've been getting a little frustrated with the fact we haven't had any snow to fix the rock hard area trails. My frustration turned into the idea of doing an experiment. I decided to take one of the Tucker Sno-Cats out to Trail 1 and see what it could do with the hard ice on the trail. I didn't want to do this earlier as it is really hard on the equipment. I was pleasantly surprised at the result. Below are some pictures of before and after results. As you can see, the ruts smoothed out nicely and we were actually successful in turning up a layer of snow for lubrication.

I am happy to report that based on the results of this test, we will begin grooming again this week in anticipation of WinterFest, The Family Fun Run, the Iron Dog and the Susitna 100 which are all happening next weekend. It will be a great time so I hope to see you all there"

After shot. Photo credit: Big Lake Trails, Inc.

Then we got an email from the race director regarding the course:

"We wanted to let you know that both courses are now marked! 

The trail conditions are estimated at about 80% hard packed snow, 

10% icy crust over snow and 10% glare ice (most of the glare ice is avoidable)."  

Right now, there's still the possibility of a DNS, but as the forecast looks more and more like snow, that risk diminishes. Thank goodness.

Now I can get back to the important race prep: what food to take. Matt and I plan to go on a candy shopping extravaganza for Valentine's Day. Isn't that romantic?

Last Week: Feb 2-8

Sunday: Rest!

Monday: Run 5 mi. Not timed.
This run was really windy. I spent most of the run tucked in behind Matt. Can he run with me at any windy races too?  My sinuses spent the rest of the day being angry at the wind.

Tuesday: Run 8.25 mi. 1:08:02, 8:14/mi.
8 miles in 1:04:32 (8:04/mi.) and 0.25 mi cool down.

Fastest run in a while. The last couple miles hurt a little bit in my lower back. Ever since the climb up Look Prairie on the long run last week, my lower back has been achy. Matt’s weekend starts tomorrow and he’s promised me a long rubdown, so hopefully that will help. :) It’s been a while since a training run has had a 7:30-something mile in it.

Wednesday: Run 5.5 mi in 1:12:25, 13:10/mi. on soft sand dunes.
Even though it was a tough day, dune runs always have a certain playful quality to them. To celebrate National Weatherperson Day, I ran with two of my favorite meteorologists, Matt and Alex.

Thursday: Run 5 mi, 46:20, 9:16/mi.
Another breezy run. Matt and I ran with Paul and Rob and it was really hard to keep a conversation because of the woosh in my ears. A nice social run was perfect after a dunes day.

Friday: Run 14 miles.
10.5 mi in 1:03:41, 11:40/mi, 2,492 ft. climbing
and 3.5 mi, not timed.
Matt and I ran the 10.5 mi race route again to see if we could get another elevation profile for our race website.

YAY! It worked!

It was a very rainy day but we were dressed warm enough it didn't bother us. We also had hot peppermint tea and snacks waiting for us in the car so it was a wonderful outing. Then we hit the hot tub when we got home.

Saturday: Run 3 mi, 22:25, 7:30/mi.
Matt wanted to run his own speed workout today so we went out at the same time and did separate runs. We have one copy of a key for our front door and he said he should carry the key since he would be home from his five mile run first.

I made damn sure that he didn’t.

(In his defense, he didn’t know I was just going for 3 miles.)

TOTAL MILES: 40.75

Notes: Now we're less than a week from the Little Su. The weather and trail conditions had me worried for most of January, but now I think things are looking up. I'll write more about that in a later post. After Saturday's run, I realized how much I'm itching to get back to the fast running again. Perfect timing. After the Little Su, it's back to work for this girl.