Summer Update
With August rains and teammates leaving for college, the end of summer is already here. I said in my last blog that I would be writing more frequently, but somehow its already been a couple months. The good news is I have been busy for all the right reasons.
Since Bend camp I have stayed in Anchorage and tried to keep things as simple as possible. Getting lots of sleep, training twice a day, and eating lots of food. With warm weather, lots of people to train with, and no stressful races summer can be the best time to be a skier.
My favorite part of summer is getting into the mountains and bagging peaks. Whether it is a short afternoon run or a big adventure, I am happiest running on dirt and rock. Almost every Saturday I spend my morning running three to five hours, looking for summits I haven't seen yet. Recently, I decided to document some of this fun scrambling. I have some work to do with the camera angle and finding better clips but I think it is a good start.
Being as competitive as I am, I can only be away from the start line for so long. I chose to do three mountain races this summer. Generally, the results show improvements in my fitness. The highlight of these races was the Alyeska Cirque Series race. The six mile course, with nearly 4,ooo feet of climbing in the rain; ended with me going home 500 dollars richer. My second time dipping into prize money and my first time in running.
When I was not training or racing I spent some time hanging with friends and salmon fishing. Eating salmon as an Alaskan is obligatory, fortunately salmon is one of the healthiest protein sources out there. The health benefits and great taste of salmon allow me to not eat red meat, helping the environment and me. With some snagging in June and dipneting in July my freezer is filled with plenty of fillets to make it through the winter.
With many teammates heading back to college and the weather getting colder and wetter, finding the will to train will be a little harder. Fortunately, a strong core of training partners remains, and my trend of solid training should continue into the winter. I will do my best to actually write another blog in a timely manner, so stay tuned. Thank you for continuing to follow my journey.