8/14/16
Today was the running of the Moskus, which is a 5k and 1/2 marathon that takes place every year in Kangerlussuaq to benefit the school there. Summit Station is invited to participate as well. I had decided a couple of weeks ago when I heard about it, that I wanted to try to run the 1/2 marathon, weather permitting. Especially since I had run a marathon in Antarctica. I guess last year it was such a crazy blizzard that all everyone did was go outside, walk 100 feet and then take a group picture. I was feeling pretty good about it a couple of weeks ago b/c the skiway was pretty hard. Not as hard as pavement, but definitely felt solid when running on it. Well, there was a managerial mistake and they used this thing called the sheeps foot on the runway about 10 days ago, and it really softened the runway up. It made it quite difficult to run on. I went from averaging 8:00 to 8:15 miles over a 6 mile down and back to averaging 9:30-9:45 on the same run. Running on soft snow is not easy at all! The skiway was slowly getting firmer, but not much. On Saturday night, I figured if it stayed the same as it was, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. On Saturday night, the station had a big party as it was the last Saturday that everyone would be there, and we had new fresh energy. I really wanted to stay and party, but I went to my room to relax around 11:30 b/c I didn't want to ruin all my training. I guess the party got pretty wild. People were taking bagel shots (in case you haven't been reading my blog, that is shots out of James' belly button), including Elissa and Dr. Zoey. I heard all the stories the next day.
But as I went to bed on Saturday night, a storm was brewing. Snow was accumulating and there was a bit of drifting. When I woke up in the morning, there was a fresh layer of snow on the ground, the most snow we've gotten since I've been here. I figured my chances of reaching my goal of breaking 2 hours in the 13.1 mile race was gone. To do this I'd have to average about 9:05 minute miles, which seemed impossible considering what I had been averaging on my 6 mile runs in the soft snow.
This wasn't the kind of race where I'd have aid stations, so I packed a bag with extra warm clothes, food, insulated water, hand warmers, and a few other things. I loaded it all up in a sled and towed it down to the skiway. It was still snowing, windy, and poor visibility (flat light) when I started. With the fresh layer of snow, it was hard to find the firmer part of the runway where the groomer had gone, so I ran in zizags for the first length trying to find the hard spots. Each length of the runway is 3 miles, so I ran 4 lengths, plus another 1.1 miles. After the first length the storm passed and by the last length it was actually pretty sunny. Starting temps were 6F with a -7F windchill. The altitude here is 10560ft, but the pressure altitude was at nearly 11,000 feet. Conditioms--with the soft snow, new snow, cold temps, and higher altitude weren't promising for breaking the 2 hour goal. But I figured I'd just go for the finish. But after the first 2 lengths, I was feeling pretty good, and was under a 9min/mile pace, so I started to believe I could do it. The 3rd length was pretty smooth as well. The last length started to hurt a bit and the 12th mile was pretty rough (but I was imagining Rowdie Gaines announcing my race and imagining the pain my favorite US swimmers went through to get to the Olympics, and that helped me perservere). My shoes were getting heavy from being wet and the snow felt softer with the sun coming out The 13th mile was tough, but at that point I knew I would finish.
In the end I finished in 1 hour 55 minutes and 48 seconds with an average pace of 8'50"min/mile! I was very excited!! I can only imagine what I would run down at Gainesville elevation and on pavement. I ended up winning the Summit portion of the race b/c, well, I was the only racer. Hannah, a former collegiate skate skier, attempted to ski the 1/2 marathon, but only managed a 10k. Grey, the manager, biked a 10k. It was an interesting race b/c I had no one to compete against (just the clock), no race supporters, and no one to cheer me on or to witness me finishing
8/15/16
Dr. Zoey needed someone to pull her heavy GPS survey sled, so I was asked to do it. We ended up doing about 7 miles through deep snow with me pulling the sled. A nice way to recover from the half marathon!
In the evening, the sunset was very nice and there was a pretty sundog as I biked the skiway after dinner. I was even more impressed at my feat after biking by my footprints and seeing just how long it was and seeing how deep each of my steps sunk into the snow.
At dinner I talked with NOAA scientists Geoff who came on the last flight. He was easy to talk to b/c we had a Colorado connection. He lives in Nederland and was born and raised in Johnstown and went to Miliken middle and high school (we used to play them in sports). And he attended college at CU. His house nearly burned (1/2 his property did) in the fire this summer started by two Alabama trespassers. But we talked about the strangeness of Nederland, how crazy much Colorado has grown since we grew up (He's older, probably in his 40's, so even more so for him), how expensive Boulder and Colorado have become (he said the median house in Boulder is now $1 million, which is why he lives in Ned). And of course we talked skiing and our mutual love for Mary Jane (the ski area, not the plant that he said is available in 19 different dispensaries in Nederland, haha).
8/16
Last day with the whole crew. Kathy made a most amazing version of Huevos Rancheros for lunch and then her best Indian Night yet. Lamb Korma, butter chicken masala, palak paneer, mango sticky rice, and a berry lassi. We had a bit of a party with everyone at night. Amber from Dartmouth (who we helped with the backlit snow pit) had sent up a box with a bottle of whisky in it, wrapped in 3 dresses that she said the techs had to wear in order to have the whiskey. So we (me included!) dressed up in dresses for a picture for her. Definitely pretty funny.
I found out today that Kathy used to work at Winter Park (in 1997 when she was 20) as a janitor. She also was a waitress at Slogar, my dad's favorite place to eat in Crested Butte
Today was the running of the Moskus, which is a 5k and 1/2 marathon that takes place every year in Kangerlussuaq to benefit the school there. Summit Station is invited to participate as well. I had decided a couple of weeks ago when I heard about it, that I wanted to try to run the 1/2 marathon, weather permitting. Especially since I had run a marathon in Antarctica. I guess last year it was such a crazy blizzard that all everyone did was go outside, walk 100 feet and then take a group picture. I was feeling pretty good about it a couple of weeks ago b/c the skiway was pretty hard. Not as hard as pavement, but definitely felt solid when running on it. Well, there was a managerial mistake and they used this thing called the sheeps foot on the runway about 10 days ago, and it really softened the runway up. It made it quite difficult to run on. I went from averaging 8:00 to 8:15 miles over a 6 mile down and back to averaging 9:30-9:45 on the same run. Running on soft snow is not easy at all! The skiway was slowly getting firmer, but not much. On Saturday night, I figured if it stayed the same as it was, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. On Saturday night, the station had a big party as it was the last Saturday that everyone would be there, and we had new fresh energy. I really wanted to stay and party, but I went to my room to relax around 11:30 b/c I didn't want to ruin all my training. I guess the party got pretty wild. People were taking bagel shots (in case you haven't been reading my blog, that is shots out of James' belly button), including Elissa and Dr. Zoey. I heard all the stories the next day.
But as I went to bed on Saturday night, a storm was brewing. Snow was accumulating and there was a bit of drifting. When I woke up in the morning, there was a fresh layer of snow on the ground, the most snow we've gotten since I've been here. I figured my chances of reaching my goal of breaking 2 hours in the 13.1 mile race was gone. To do this I'd have to average about 9:05 minute miles, which seemed impossible considering what I had been averaging on my 6 mile runs in the soft snow.
This wasn't the kind of race where I'd have aid stations, so I packed a bag with extra warm clothes, food, insulated water, hand warmers, and a few other things. I loaded it all up in a sled and towed it down to the skiway. It was still snowing, windy, and poor visibility (flat light) when I started. With the fresh layer of snow, it was hard to find the firmer part of the runway where the groomer had gone, so I ran in zizags for the first length trying to find the hard spots. Each length of the runway is 3 miles, so I ran 4 lengths, plus another 1.1 miles. After the first length the storm passed and by the last length it was actually pretty sunny. Starting temps were 6F with a -7F windchill. The altitude here is 10560ft, but the pressure altitude was at nearly 11,000 feet. Conditioms--with the soft snow, new snow, cold temps, and higher altitude weren't promising for breaking the 2 hour goal. But I figured I'd just go for the finish. But after the first 2 lengths, I was feeling pretty good, and was under a 9min/mile pace, so I started to believe I could do it. The 3rd length was pretty smooth as well. The last length started to hurt a bit and the 12th mile was pretty rough (but I was imagining Rowdie Gaines announcing my race and imagining the pain my favorite US swimmers went through to get to the Olympics, and that helped me perservere). My shoes were getting heavy from being wet and the snow felt softer with the sun coming out The 13th mile was tough, but at that point I knew I would finish.
In the end I finished in 1 hour 55 minutes and 48 seconds with an average pace of 8'50"min/mile! I was very excited!! I can only imagine what I would run down at Gainesville elevation and on pavement. I ended up winning the Summit portion of the race b/c, well, I was the only racer. Hannah, a former collegiate skate skier, attempted to ski the 1/2 marathon, but only managed a 10k. Grey, the manager, biked a 10k. It was an interesting race b/c I had no one to compete against (just the clock), no race supporters, and no one to cheer me on or to witness me finishing
8/15/16
Dr. Zoey needed someone to pull her heavy GPS survey sled, so I was asked to do it. We ended up doing about 7 miles through deep snow with me pulling the sled. A nice way to recover from the half marathon!
In the evening, the sunset was very nice and there was a pretty sundog as I biked the skiway after dinner. I was even more impressed at my feat after biking by my footprints and seeing just how long it was and seeing how deep each of my steps sunk into the snow.
At dinner I talked with NOAA scientists Geoff who came on the last flight. He was easy to talk to b/c we had a Colorado connection. He lives in Nederland and was born and raised in Johnstown and went to Miliken middle and high school (we used to play them in sports). And he attended college at CU. His house nearly burned (1/2 his property did) in the fire this summer started by two Alabama trespassers. But we talked about the strangeness of Nederland, how crazy much Colorado has grown since we grew up (He's older, probably in his 40's, so even more so for him), how expensive Boulder and Colorado have become (he said the median house in Boulder is now $1 million, which is why he lives in Ned). And of course we talked skiing and our mutual love for Mary Jane (the ski area, not the plant that he said is available in 19 different dispensaries in Nederland, haha).
8/16
Last day with the whole crew. Kathy made a most amazing version of Huevos Rancheros for lunch and then her best Indian Night yet. Lamb Korma, butter chicken masala, palak paneer, mango sticky rice, and a berry lassi. We had a bit of a party with everyone at night. Amber from Dartmouth (who we helped with the backlit snow pit) had sent up a box with a bottle of whisky in it, wrapped in 3 dresses that she said the techs had to wear in order to have the whiskey. So we (me included!) dressed up in dresses for a picture for her. Definitely pretty funny.
I found out today that Kathy used to work at Winter Park (in 1997 when she was 20) as a janitor. She also was a waitress at Slogar, my dad's favorite place to eat in Crested Butte
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| Picture of Muskox in Kanger. Taken by race officials before the race |
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| Check for the students of Kanger |
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| Hannah and me |
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| my tracks |
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| Grey's biking tracks, my running tracks, and Hannah's ski tracks |
