Running Into the Wild

Against my mother's wishes, I am currently training for another marathon while I am up here in Alaska. Since I am determined to run a marathon in every state, I figured I should run it while I am up here. I will admit that it has been difficult to train with my work schedule and everything else I am trying to accomplish, but it has turned out to be such a blessing. My lovely roommate, Erika Ewing, also runs marathons (I believe she was sent to me from up above) and when we have the same scheduled days off, we venture off into the numerous trails and woods of the Anchorage area.

The first few runs were somewhat depressing as Anchorage had not quite leafed out in all its beautiful green lushness and resembled more of a brown sand bag with numerous dirt and twigs. The trails seems to change every time I run on them, getting progressively more green and full. Of course, there are always the tunnels with the train running overhead, random moose to maneuver around, sunsets, lakes and small creeks, bald eagles on the mud flats and airplanes flying so close I can feel the vibration from their engines. I realized today as I was running my standard 20 miler run before the race that I am so incredibly spoiled. Every time I go running, I am amazed at the beauty of the area around me and the peace and quiet of my surroundings. I've even run into people that were on my train car the day before on my runs. They give me time to think, breath deeper and expand the limits of my physical capabilities. I love my runs. They are my salvation. I don't need a marathon to get me out on the trails here. Actually, I can't wait to just go jogging without keeping track of time and distance and just enjoy the run for what it's worth....which is a lot.