State #30 Her Tern Half Marathon, Anchorage, AK, July 17, 2016, Part 1

Where do I even begin with this one? Alaska. Yes. Alaska.

Rental car license plate.

My husband and I pretty much figured that Alaska would be somewhere around the halfway mark of my 50x50 journey. Neither of us have ever traveled to Alaska before, so it was a no-brainer that this would be a family trip. Being Alaska, a summer half marathon was a must, of course, so summer vacation was on!

Looking for an Alaskan half marathon wasn’t difficult, but there also weren’t very many to choose from in our time frame. I saw the Summer Solstice Mayor’s Marathon in June, but I was a little apprehensive about that one since I wasn’t sure how many snow days we might have at school this year. I couldn’t plan a summer vacation that required me to blow off the last week of my job! We also planned to see our family in Seattle as part of the same summer trip, so playing off of their schedule, I found the Her Tern Half Marathon in Anchorage in mid-July. This is a women’s only half marathon (with the exception of one male runner!), and it was billed as a "boutique-y” race. The race is named after a women’s clothing boutique in Anchorage and is co-sponsored by the Skinny Raven running store. My only hesitation with this race was that I had to forego one of my half marathons musts. This race doesn’t give out finishers medals. Instead, in keeping with their boutique persona, they award runners an artisan, hand-crafted finisher’s bracelet. Ok. I guess I can go with that this time around. 

My husband, kids and I packed our bags and we were off on July 14th. The flights were easy, and surprisingly, it seemed to take less time to get to Anchorage than I thought it would. We were tired when we arrived at our hotel, as was to be expected, so we pretty much checked in and went to sleep.

View of Alaska from the plane. Photo credit to Lily Frost.

The next day, our first full day in Alaska, was truly magnificent. We looked in to taking a boat tour of some glaciers near Anchorage. I managed to find a pretty large glacier cruise that was about 2 hours from our hotel. My husband, wanting to research it more, discovered a smaller, more intimate option only one hour away, and set about booking it. Unfortunately, that cruise was already all booked up, but that company gave my husband the name of another possible small-scale glacier tour. 

Photos along the roadway from Anchorage to Whittier.

Enter Captain John Earle. My husband made contact with him, and so we were booked on his boat, the Tundra. He departs from a small marina town called Whittier. It is only about a one hour drive from Anchorage. A beautiful, one hour drive. All along the highway we saw gorgeous water and mountain views. We had to make it to a one-way tunnel by 8:30 am to get to Whittier, which we managed pretty easily. The tunnel was a sight to see. It looked like an ancient, underground chiseled subway tunnel. Not like those glitzy tunnels we are accustomed to seeing in the big cities back home. Captain John’s boat was docked at the first marina after the tunnel, so we met him there.

Entrance to the one-way tunnel.

View inside the tunnel to Whittier. 

Captain John, along with his first mate Kayla, were so welcoming and friendly and casual and fun. We were greeted with bagels, croissants, fruit, coffee and Pellegrino sodas. And the sights all around us were just breathtaking. Whittier is a tiny little town surrounded by gorgeous mountains, and water that leads in to the Prince William Sound. We managed to have a sunny, beautiful, clear day for our boat trip. It was just perfect. 

View of Whittier marina from the back of the Tundra.

Joining the crew....

We started our journey with Captain John and Kayla, learning much from them about Alaskan history, flora and fauna, local(ish) travel and activities and a crash course on the science all around us. The views were just incredible, with the sun glinting off of the glaciers creating lightness and highlighting that amazing glacial-blue hue that results from the immense pressure of the ice. Also around us were countless waterfalls cascading from the high mountaintops as the snow melted. Just spectacular!

One of the many exquisite glaciers we viewed along our boat trip.

We also learned from Captain John that he was originally from Glastonbury, CT! How funny to come nearly a continent away to meet someone from your own backyard. He told us that his grandfather was the person to establish the Earle land trust in the town. We decided we would have to make a special trip when home to do some hiking there in the protected land preserve. 

Captain John drove us around the sound to our first stop, which was to hoist up his shrimp traps. The girls got involved in this activity, helping to pull the line and bring the traps up to the boat. It was so fun to see the traps land on the back deck of the boat and to see all the jumping shrimp flipping around inside them. We marveled at how large they were! It was a terrific catch…four traps and lots of shrimp. We even got to hold them. Of course, we had to tell Captain John and Kayla about how we like to get lobsters at home and let the crawl around on our deck to see what they will do. We even like to pretend that they are our pets. Ha!

After the shrimp catch, it was on to see the glaciers. On our way, we spied a seal and some sea birds called kittiwakes. Captain John told us the story of the Blackstone glacier, named after a man whose last name was Blackstone and who became lost traversing the glacier, never to be seen again. His brother, Willard, looked for him for years, but never found his body, only his pack. A nearby island is named Willard Island in his honor. We hung out at the Blackstone Glacier for a good bit of time, waiting to see chunks that might “calve” or fall off and in to the water. We also saw a sightseeing tour on jet-skis go by. Talk about up close and personal! We saw a few bits fall off of the Blackstone Glacier while we enjoyed some clam chowder prepared by Kayla. What a lovely treat while we braved the cool glacier air. 

View approaching Blackstone Glacier (on the right).

Another view of the area. 

Our panorama while enjoying clam chowder. Talk about lunch and a view!

Next up, we were off to enjoy the Beloit Glacier. This glacier is located next to the Blackstone Glacier, and as we approached, Captain John could tell that lots of calving occurred that day. There were lots of ice chunks in the water all around us, and he took Ella to fish for some 10.000 year old ice. She hauled it up with his help in a fishing net, and the ice promptly went in to our water pitcher to chill our drinks, and the clearest and prettiest chunk went in a bowl for Ella to show her sister. (Later in the day, Ella actually ate the ice and drank the melted water. She consumed something as old as the dinosaurs. How cool is that??!!). Kayla prepared us some terrific sandwiches for lunch. Talk about dinner and a view!

Beloit glacier to the left, Blackstone on the right.

Hanging out with glaciers. Not too shabby.

Capt. John and Ella scooping up ice chunks.

Clear, gorgeous 10,000 year old glacial ice.

We hung around the Beloit Glacier and spied some amazing ice chunks falling off of it. It was so amazing to see and hear. The cracking noises were very loud and the splash and resulting waves were cooler than fireworks! It was incredible to see! We couldn’t believe our amazing luck that we saw so many chunks tumble. 

Gorgeous blue color in the glaciers.

Glacier, waterfall and us.

Captain John told us all kinds of cool stories about how he hikes to the mountaintops in this area and then skis down them, and how he has camped out on the glaciers at night watching the Northern Lights. It must be truly unbelievable. We also had fun looking at his underwater sonar to tell what kind of depths and fish swimming below us. 

Heading back to Whittier and to reset the shrimp traps. Captain Lily at the helm.

As part of our return trip to the marina in Whittier, we witnessed the resetting of the shrimp traps. It was really so wonderful for our girls to have this experience. We do not get the opportunity to go out on fishing boats or ocean vessels ever, so for them to see were shrimp come from and how they are caught was so very cool. I think it is so important for kids to understand that food just doesn’t “happen” in the grocery store. There is a process for it, and many people are involved in it.

Kayla's garlic shrimp prepared on the boat. Caught that morning. Yum!

Now, just as if things couldn’t get any more amazing on our Tundra boat trip, Kayla cooked up the fresh shrimp caught earlier that morning for us to snack on as we returned to the marina. We also got to witness the amazing kittiwakes nesting on the cliffsides and shifting to and fro in wild squawking swells. It made us feel like we were in an episode of a National Geographic special. 

Kittiwakes.

As we approached the marina, we were sad to see our unbelievable day end. Captain John and Kayla were such fabulous people, and we wished we could hang out with them again for another boat-touring day. Captain John echoed our sentiments, saying that we’d just have to make it an annual trip. How amazing that would be! And if we could ever do an overnight camp out via the Tundra, that would seriously be life-changing. 

Such a wonderful day for our family on the Tundra.

Captain John and the girls.

We said our last goodbyes before leaving for our return trip through the tunnel. We received some suggestions for activities for the next day from our hosts, and on the return trip to Anchorage, stopped in Girdwood to research some of them. We hit a store called the “Tourist Trap” filled with souvenirs from the area, and as Lily and I were in there browsing, who should walk in but Captain John and Kayla! Our only friends in all of Alaska! Such a small, huge state. John helped us navigate the activities for the next day, but unfortunately, his contacts from the sled dog farm were not working in the store that day, so he just gave us the brochure along with the map of Girdwood that had some other options on it. It was so fun to see them again, and we thanked them again for the wonderful day and suggestions for the next day before we departed for our hotel. 

I can’t say enough wonderful things about our experience on the Tundra. If you are planning to visit Anchorage, this is the way to do a glacier tour, as the larger boats are all owned by the cruise ships and are loaded down with cruise line passengers. You will absolutely enjoy the personal touch of the Tundra crew over the larger group setting of the cruise ship excursion boats! Definitely check them out!

We ended up having dinner that night at the Glacier Bay Brewing Co. in Anchorage, which was great. I had a delicious meal of rock fish prepared in a somewhat Southwestern style. It was super! After dinner, all tired from our day at sea, we crashed as a family and slept a hearty sleep. 

Back to business!

I finally feel like I'm getting back to business here. It has been too long that I've been inconsistent (or non-existent!) with blogging. Work made life very busy this past six months, which really is no excuse, but nonetheless, I got away from the blog. Additionally, my running became inconsistent as well. My husband's work travel schedule increased, and between my work day and running my kids around to their activities, I didn't always achieve my desired mileage per week. In 2015, I typically averaged 100 miles a month or so, and the past six months I didn't get near that more often that not. Certainly not where I wanted to be. Add to that the fact that I haven't been the world's most diligent Weight Watcher either, favoring quick, easy freezer-to- table options rather than home cooked healthy specialties, and my weight has inched up a bit. I'm working on all of these things now that summer is here and my job has ended.

View of my work space.

Somewhat typical day at work.

That being said, I had a terrific year at work! It was nice to head back in to the workplace after a 5 year hiatus raising my kids. I fell in with an amazing group of people at an intermediate school in Granby, CT. Everyone was so welcoming and helpful and willing to jump in to whatever project or activity was happening at school. It was an environment with great energy and positive morale which made it a pleasure to go to work each day. I also had an incredibly supportive principal, which is so crucial in a school setting. I was so lucky that this was my first experience with work after a prolonged time off. I will miss it, as my job was eliminated due to the closing of a school in the district. I have, however, offered to come back as a volunteer to help out...that's how much I enjoyed being there. Shout out to my Wells peeps!

Excellent co-workers!

In the meanwhile, I am able to get back to business with my running, dieting, family focus, sleep :), and healthy cooking. I managed to hit 102 miles for June, and I'm well on my way to hitting 100 for July as well. With my next half marathon around the corner (next weekend!), I'm in good standing. I've started going back to my favorite Thursday morning Weight Watchers meeting, and although I haven't lost much, I'm at least thinking more about healthy eating. 

Garden corn

Garden squash

My husband has also planted an amazing garden, and we've been enjoying all sorts of incredible greens in our salads this summer. That's been pretty wonderful. 

Red kale

Swiss chard

Beet greens

Romaine lettuce

Tomatoes!

I don't have to get up at 4:45 am each morning to fit in my running anymore, thus, extra sleep feels like a luxury. I get to hang out with my kids every day at their swimming lessons, golf lessons, piano lessons and other fun activities that come up. Life is good.

Golf lesson for the youngest 

Oldest paddle boarding with pals on July 4th. Fun!

My next race is the Her Tern Half Marathon in Anchorage, AK. Yes, Alaska! I can hardly believe it! This will be my 30th state half marathon, which I also cannot believe. 30! I was on the website for the race the other day, watching one of the videos they have posted there. The footage shows the women runners heading along a trail when suddenly moose are crossing the path! Oy! I am really in for a wild run this time! I may have to break my rule of never taking my phone out during a race to take pictures in the midst of this race. Even though I may not be at my ideal race weight, and I may not be running my fastest times right now, I'm really looking forward to the adventure. We are also hoping to have some fjords, puffins, glaciers, mountains, whales and hiking in our future there. It will be an outstanding trip, no doubt.
So, on I run. I have three more 5-mile runs to do before leaving. I can handle that. I do have to say though, that after adding in the P90X yoga and the 21-day fix Dirty 30 workouts last week, I've been hobbling around with sore legs and a sore back. Hopefully that all shakes out, and I'll be able to run strong. It's been slow-going the last few days out on my regular routes. But as I like to say, "Slow is better than No." Good thing my husband helped me secure a visit with my massage therapist this week. Amen to that! Next time I write, I'll be writing about the Anchorage adventure. Stay tuned!

State #29 Flying Pig Half Marathon, Cincinnati, OH, May 1, 2016: Part 2

Race morning arrived pretty much the same as it usually does. I woke up at my standard early time (before Andrew) and made my way to the first floor of the hotel to heat up my coffee and oatmeal. The coffee shop lobby was filled with runners getting their coffees and breakfasts, and spirits and nerves were high. Back upstairs I went through my warm up exercises and other morning rituals. In short, it was an ordinary race morning.
The streets were wet from overnight rain, but mostly the rain had passed by the time we headed out to find the starting line. The start was right along the road next to the football stadium, right near the Ohio River area. It was a nice walk, not too far, with lots of nervous runner energy all around. We were cutting it close to starting gun time, but got to our starting corral just in time for the start of the race. 

Traditional pre-race selfie.

The race kicked off with the blasting of 1999 by Prince. An excellent choice to get everyone pumped up, and a nice tribute to the artist in light of his recent death. We were off!

View from our place in the starting line up.

I lost Andrew almost immediately. He passed me by while I did my best to just keep up with the crowd as we weaved in and out around corners and up and down small hills in the road.  It was a muggy morning despite the post-rain cloudiness that was still lingering. It was sweaty right away. The first part of the race brought us over the river and in to Kentucky! I was thinking this race could actually count as a dual state achievement, but then figured it would be cheating. Next time, Kentucky, I'll have you all to myself! I ran on through a mix of retail, industrial and residential areas in this first loop of the race. It was an interesting jaunt with just enough of a variety of scenery that things didn't get too dull. My favorite part of this loop was just before we crossed back over the river in to Cincinnati. We ran past a senior citizen retirement community called Panorama Apartments. Many resident ladies were sitting out front holding signs that said things like "Hurry up, it's almost time for my nap," and "Hurry, this sign is heavy." They were hysterical, and I wished that I had known they were going to be at that point, as I would've had my phone out and ready to snap a few shots. By the time I saw them, it was already too late and I would've slowed myself down too much.
Once we got back across the bridge, we ran through the downtown Cincinnati area where the crowds were lively and plentiful. As we progressed, the crowds thinned out a bit, and we headed out in the direction of the art museum. I knew what that meant. HILLS. The climb up the first hill was steep but manageable, and I had a chat with a man as we ran up. He had run the Hartford Marathon previously, so we traded a couple of stories of our running travels. He wished me well and advised that I save some strength for the coming hills. Oh boy!
At the top of the first hill, we took a right turn and ran through the gorgeous Eden Park area near the art museum. It was a good reprieve for the legs, as it was flat for a bit, but then the road began to angle upward again. We were still on the road through the park, and for me it was slow going. It was hot and muggy and hilly. Not my favorite combination. Near a conservatory along the way, I had to slow and walk the last part of the hill. Thinking back to my lessons learned in the Oregon half (Fueled by Fine Wines), I decided this would not cost me too much time but would help with my energy level further on in the race. I probably only walked about 100 yards or so, but it helped give my legs (and lungs!) a little break. Once at the top of the hill, I was off again. There was one more flat part before another climb...would these hills ever end???!!! Finally, we reached the highest point on the course and began to come back down.
The last few miles were mostly downhill which was delightful. There was one very steep downhill stretch heading back in to the downtown area that I actually had to slow myself down on for fear of tripping over my feet and falling on my face, but the decline was a welcome change. There were some neat historical looking apartment fronts along the way. That's one thing that is hard about running around a new city. You get to see all these cool things along the way, but you don't really have time to stop and learn about them. I knew I was only a couple of miles from the finish at this point, so I just tried my best to keep a decent pace and keep going.
The finish line was back near the stadium area (this time the baseball stadium), and as we neared I could feel my tiredness taking over. Around a couple more corners we went, and there was the finish line! It is actually referred to as the Finish Swine by race organizers. Oink oink! I made it! The finishing chute was quite long for this race, and full of all kinds of recovery foods, both healthy and junky. I grabbed some healthy stuff for myself and some ring dings to sneak in to my suitcase for my kids.
It took Andrew and I a little while to find each other. I waited near a concrete wall by the river to stretch while he found me. I was pretty beat and my legs were exhausted from all those hills. My psoas was screaming! I knew I would be sore, but I just hoped I wasn't too uncomfortable on my flight later that afternoon.
We hobbled back to the hotel, discussing our favorite and least favorite parts of the run. My official time was 2:00:57, barely over my two-hour time goal. With all those hills, I felt pretty good about that. And the medal was really cute, featuring a flying pig on it, of course.

Race poster, medal and bib.

Andrew and I got back to the hotel, showered, rested a bit and headed down to get our car and navigate back to the airport. We made it in plenty of time for our flight, thankfully, as I got flagged in security and had to go get a pat-down search. Sheesh! There's a first for everything! We settled, past-security, in Vino Volo with a celebratory glass of wine and plate of cheese. Yum! A perfect way to end our cousin trip.

Ohio card.

We conquered the flying pig! It was a great trip to Cincinnati for a difficult but spirited race. I even managed to find my husband a WKRP magnet. State #29 officially done!

Magnet souvenir.

State #29 Flying Pig Half Marathon, Cincinnati, OH, May 1, 2016: Part 1

The Flying Pig Marathon/Half Marathon was nearly two months ago, and I’m finally able to get my blog post written for it. I left work on Friday, April 29th and drove straight to the airport for my flight. Luckily, it was a direct flight straight in to the Cincinnati airport, which, interestingly, is actually in Kentucky. My cousin Andrew flew from Boston at approximately the same time, so we met up in the airport and enjoyed a drink at the Wolfgang Puck airport bar. It was so good to see him, as it had been quite some time since we’d had the chance to catch up with one another. 

We grabbed our rental car and headed in to the city. Andrew is an excellent navigator whenever we are out on our adventures. I so appreciate not having to watch the GPS and the road in unfamiliar locations. We arrived at our hotel pretty easily, checked in and headed out for dinner at the Yarde House Brew Tavern. I’ve been to the Yarde House in the Boston area (Dedham, I think it was) and it is a fun place to try new beers and grab a good plate of food. We had a super time enjoying the food and beer and company. We didn’t make it a super late night though, as we needed to stay rested for the race.

Fountain Square area in Cincinnati downtown area.

Morning brought rain. We could see 5K/10K runners finishing their races coming in wet. Rain was forecast for our race the next morning, too, but we were hoping it might all dump out on Saturday leaving Sunday clear for us. After a quick bit of breakfast at the hotel Starbucks, we headed across the street to the expo center where we picked up our numbers. 

Race t-shirt and bib number.

The Flying Pig Marathon and Half are very well embraced by the city of Cincinnati. There were pigs all over the city in support of the race, and numerous local establishments were sponsors of the race. The expo was loaded with booths showcasing all kinds of health/running/racing related things. And other things, too. We walked around for a while, collecting trinkets and foodstuffs before picking up our numbers. 

Parade of pigs and other scenes from the race expo.

Much to our delight, in addition to our numbers and race t-shirts, the race volunteers also gave us duffel bags and Flying Pig posters! Hot dog! Runners like freebies, you know. We stopped back at the hotel to drop off our haul and then headed out in to the rain (with hotel umbrellas, thankfully) to walk to the Cincinnati Art Museum. Along the way, we stopped at an Italian restaurant in Fountain Square to set up our dinner reservation for that evening.

It was the perfect day for the art museum, but not really perfect for the walk there. Even though the distance was less than two miles from our hotel, it wasn’t an easy, direct route. We had to traverse around and under some highway bridges and up and down some pretty big hills. We saw what we thought was the top of the museum sticking up behind the channel 9 television station building, atop another large hill. A stone staircase behind channel 9 seemed to be a good bet to getting to the top of the hill, so we went for it. The climb wasn’t easy, but the museum was at the top. Success!

We decided to start our visit with lunch, and delightfully our table looked out in to the museum hallway where an oversized Miro, gleeful and smiling, made for the perfect companion while we enjoyed our meal.

We walked around much of the museum, enjoying some contemporary art as well as some more traditional works by Picasso, Degas, and others. I was pleasantly surprised to see one of Horace Pippin’s original paintings, entitled Christmas Morning, Breakfast. I read a picture book biography about him (A Splash of Red) earlier in the school year to my 3rd grade class, so it was really cool to see his work in person. I snapped a picture of it (legally) to show my students. 

After lunch, we walked around the museum for the afternoon soaking up all the beauty surrounding us. We decided a cab back to the hotel would be best so we could keep our legs from becoming completely worn out. 

Once we got back to our hotel, we relaxed a bit and then I ventured out to try to find some fresh blueberries for my breakfast the next day. I found a local farmers market type shop about 10 blocks from where we were. I knew I had just about enough time to get there and back before our dinner reservation, so I set out. The first few blocks were fine, then the neighborhood started looking worse. Many of the low brownstone style apartment buildings were in disrepair or boarded up. The folks hanging around the street corners seemed a little sketchy…I almost turned around, but kept on, thinking that it wasn’t much farther. Before long, I came to a large park (Washington Park) where a concert was taking place. To my relief, there was a fairly strong police presence there, and people were having fun, enjoying the music. The band playing ended their set with Purple Rain, which to everyone’s delight, sounded just perfect. At that moment, I was glad to be exactly where I was. All of us, no matter who we were or where we came from, felt a moment of love for Prince. It was marvelous. 

I finally got to the market, but to my great disappointment, they didn’t have any blueberries. What a bummer! I walked all the way back to my hotel empty-handed. I returned to our room with just enough time to grab Andrew and head out for our dinner reservation. 

When we arrived at the restaurant, we were pleasantly surprised by the hostess to have a table rather than seats at the bar. It was a busy night for the restaurant, so we didn’t think we’d have a real table. The restaurant was Via Vite, an Italian place, of course, and our food was outstanding! I had my usual pasta, this time with meat sauce. Andrew and I enjoyed our meals and chatted a bit with the couple sitting next to us. They were thrilled with the idea that we, as cousins, meet up and run races together. We had fun talking with them and then headed back to prep for the morning and get our rest for the night.