Sunday, September 7, 2014

Awesome and more Awesome.

So.... I will let you, the reader choose which part of this blog is "awesome" and "more awesome."  


First and foremost, it's only THREE weeks until our annual Anchorage Fast and Female event!  We've been putting together quite the afternoon for the girls of Alaska and we'd love help spreading the word. There is nothing worse than running into people after the event who would have loved to come but just didn't hear about it. 

We're looking for participants, volunteers and ambassadors - please sign up for the fun-filled, totally awesome day!  The registration link can be found HERE. This year (by popular demand) we're bringing back the parent/coaches clinic. New this year will be a separate break out session for high school aged girls with speakers on nutrition, injury prevention, a killer core workout and a panel of successful female athletes spanning NCAA to Professional Sports. Girls will get a chance to interact and get their questions answered. 

This is a MULTI SPORT event and every girl ages 9-19 is encouraged to attend!  If you'd like to volunteer we're always looking for help. 
Second.... this past weekend was awesome and I'm happy to report, I accomplished my goal of not racing!  There is a huge part of me that knows how much I'd like ultra racing but for now, it will have to wait. I certainly wonder how fast I could have run the 30 miles / 50k but I will have plenty of time later in life to test myself at this distance on feet rather than skis.  Skis are the focus right now and although my race "time" was a long 5:55 I kept a reasonable training pace (with the exception of the last 3 miles when I decided I wanted to get a sub-6 hour time) which should allow me to bounce back quickly and resume normal training right away.  For preventative purposes I will focus on roller skiing, ski erg, biking and lifting weights for the first two days post Kesugi. 

The following are a couple of photos for the weekend. Thanks so much to Andrea and Dave who put a lot of time and soul into making this event happen. Everyone had an AWESOME time! 

All smiles pre-race. Woke up to sunshine after zero-viz, ultimate faith drive North Friday..... 
Harlow, Holly, Matias, Chris, Ben & Jim

 The official race map! Yep.... lots of good info. 

 Alaska Sports Hall of Fame and Healthy Futures Executive Director Harlow Robinson! 

 Buds.... 

 Christie 

 Around mile 12 or so? 


 This wonderful crew hosted an incredible feed station at the half way point! They had Gatorade, salt tablets, cookies, fruit snacks, oranges and more. Also included, killer cheering. Thanks all! :) 

 Looking back at Skinny Lake 

 Much of the ridge trail is marked by cairns. Little tarns are interspersed along the way.  We saw the Summit of Denali during the drive but for the race, it was hidden. Honestly it was probably better that way because the trail is incredibly technical. If you're rubber necking too much you'd trip and fall on your face! 

 Byer's lake had amazing high bush cranberries everywhere. I've never seen them so plentiful. These went directly in the freezer with the plan to make some Alaskan cranberry sauce at a later time... 

 Warm enough to jump in post race! 

The mountain made an appearance in all it's glory Sunday!  Iphone cameras don't even begin to do McKinley justice. It was incredible in person. I suppose you had to be there :) 

Special thanks to my husband Rob for taking all these photos, shuttling the car for racers, and carrying an extra bottle & some food for me. 

More soon. In the meantime have a great week! 
Cheers, 
Holly