Alaska Cruise 2nd Port Skayway

On Wednesday we arrived in Skagway which was a very small cute town. It looked very much like something out of an old western movie seen. We visited the proverbial gift shops and found some great buys. After filling up a shopping cart, we headed back to the cruise ship to catch our bus to begin our second adventure. The bus takes us to a high speed catamaran which takes us to yet another bus and then we finally arrive at our destination to view a glacier up close and personal on a 10 passenger canoe. Yes, we did have to paddle for some of the trip but they did have a small motor that was used for most of the trip. Here's a picture of the cute outfits we got to wear as well as some shots of the glacier and sights. We did see a bald eagle but no bear. We were hoping to catch sight of one.

The Cruise Begins!! First Stop Juneau!

Now that the "race" was behind us it was time to relax and enjoy the real reason for our trip, the Cruise to Alaska. We decided to go on a the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) which was perfect for us. NCL cruises are Freestyle which means you can do what you want, when you want. There was no formal dressing or sitting at the same table with the same people every night so it was very relaxed and comfortable for us. Here's a picture of our cruise ship and us as we enter the ship!!



We were nervous as we'd never been on a cruise and weren't sure we'd fit in, but we soon discovered that they are indeed for everyone and NCL quickly made everyone comfortable. It's amazing how efficiently they are able to get all 2500 passengers rs on board and settled. Our first stop was lunch in the cafeteria which was great. So many choices, I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of it. There was definitely something for everyone. Once we were through eating our room still wasn't ready so we took a little tour to check the place out. Really awesome. We found our way to the spa and the fitness center and were given a tour of the spa. They had an option for you to "join" the spa which entitled you to use the hydrotherapy pool, hot tub, sauna and steam room as well as the heated loungers and the great views from the front of the ship. We immediately signed up and I am pleased to say we used it everyday and were very pleased to have had that option. Here are some pics from the spa! Check out the view!


The ship left Seattle on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 and we would not dock until Tuesday in Juneau. Lots of time to recover, relax and explore the ship. We had chosen our cabin wisely in the mid-section of the ship on level 10. Surprisingly, I had better navigation success than Frank which is really strange cause I always get turned around. But for some reason I had very little difficulty getting around.

The lounge area as well as the room TVs were continually showing various excursions and after looking at the excursion that including going to Dog World and driving a sled with a team of dogs, it was too cool to ignore. We had originally signed up online to take a helicopter to a glacier and walk around but hadn't wanted to spend the extra money to go to the glacier with the dogs and sleds but decided it was something we wanted to do and would most likely not have that option again. So now we're signed up to go on a helicopter ride, to a glacier with the dog teams and we'd be able to drive a sled! How cool was that! Here some pictures of that adventure!





We were really happy that we had decided to splurge and go to see the dogs. It was a fun day and an adventure we will not soon forget. The weather on the glacier was very warm and the ice glacier seemed more like mushy snow. It was awesome.

Alaska adventure

Alaska adventure

Alaska Vacation

We've been home a couple of weeks now from our Washington/Alaska vacation. It was a great vacation and I'll try to recap it here.

It began on Wednesday July 28. We had a limo service pick us up at home which was a terrific idea considering all of the luggage we had as well as the time we'd be away. We got to the airport in plenty of time and settled in for the long flight. We changed plans in Denver and our flight was a little delayed leaving there due to a storm. Eventually we took off and made it to Seattle. We took a shuttle to the hotel and tried to get as much sleep as possible. In the morning Frank went back to the airport to get a rental car and then came back to the hotel to load up the car and the adventure to Mt Ranier begins. Here's a picture of Frank trying to figure out how to get all of our luggage into this little rental car!



Our first stop was breakfast at a 50's kind of place. It was cute and a great way to start our adventure. From there we drove to Mt Ranier. What an incredible location. Here are some pictures to try to capture what we saw there. It was a little overwhelming to think we'd be running up some of these mountains on Saturday at the White River 50 Mile Endurance Run!










Saturday morning we got up early (4:00 am) to make the 5:30 early start which was a couple of miles away from our hotel. Frank decided to run with me and we'd get through it together. I struggled from the beginning and at 8 miles, I told him he should continue as I didn't think I'd be able to make it. This was a very tough course. Only 2 hills but each about 7 miles straight up! It was not fun, at least for me! It was beautiful but a little too scary to really enjoy the views. The trails were very narrow and I found myself constantly having to pull over to let the faster runs go by and then again after they turned around. I was amazed at how effortless the elites are able to maneuver the technical trails. I was petrified that I'd fall off the ridge and never be heard or seen again! I made it back to the start/finish area, which was about 27 miles and had missed the cutoff so wasn't able to do the second half of the race. I was fine with that as I knew that I did not have another 23 miles in me. It was a struggle just to get the first "hill" done!

Now that we're home and I'm looking at the pictures of the race,I'm even more disappointed that I wasn't able to finish the race. It's seems that I just cannot get adequately trained to pull off a tough 50 miler. I'm not even sure if I could pull off an easy 50 at this point. I definitely have to work on this or just realize that those days are behind me and just accept that I can only do, what I can do. Enough whining, back to our vacation!

Frank finished the 50 so all was not lost. He said it was the toughtest 50 miler he had ever done however I was still disappointed in myself. Here are some pictures from the course. Frank sure looked tired! By the time I got to the photo spot on the course, the photographer was gone so I had to photoshop myself (thanks Tate) into the picture. I was so bummed that I didn't get that prized picture with Mt Ranier in the background so this is helped a little with that disappointment.















Now that the race is behind us we get ready for the second phase of our adventure. We return to our motel to get ready to return to Seattle in the morning. We are tired but happy and excited about the cruise. We returned the rental car at the airport and got a limo service to pick us up with all of our luggage and bring us to the Cruise Terminal. We got there early and checked in to prepare for boarding the ship. It was amazing at how smoothly everything went. We were actually able to get on the ship earlier than we had anticipated and were able to eat lunch. Wow! Let the eating begin!

Back on Track

It's been way too long since I've updated my blog and I realize I really need to keep it current to help me stay (get back) on track. We just returned from our whirlwind vacation adventure and I want to be sure to capture the memories as best I can.

It's been difficult recovering from our trip and today I go back to work after being off for 3 weeks. That will be a drag. Hopefully however, it'll help be get on a schedule again. I'm having difficulty getting motivated after the White River 50 mile run adventure. I'm so discouraged to not be able to finish yet another ran. It was extremely tough but I should have been able to get through it. My body just doesn't want to cooperate. I think I need to go back to square one and really get my base developed. I've been reading a book called Slow Burn and hopefully it'll help me increase my endurance and stamina by going back to the basics of effective heart rate monitor training. Although I continue to use a heart rate monitor, I don't think I've been using it efficiently so back to the drawing board.

I was out trying to run this morning and realized that I don't have a goal event to work on so I think I will use Weymouth as my goal event although there are other races that I plan to do but I'll use those as training runs! We're thinking about doing a marathon in Florida in October so we can check out the Gulf side to decide if it's somewhere we might want to move to. I can't believe we're actually thinking about moving but we've concluded that there is really not much in this area that inspires us and we'd both like to be in a more active area. I'm not sure that Florida is the answer but we've got to start looking and it would be great to find an area that we like as well as one that will be easy for the kids to visit and that they'd like to visit. We'll see. In the meantime, back to training! I'm going to put together a training schedule like I used to do for marathon training and hopefully it will get me to be more consistent. I also plan on incorporating Hot Yoga and some cross-training when I can fit it in.
Stay tuned!

Summer

 

Umstead Report

My attempt at running another 100 at the Umstead 100 Endurance Run fell short. I experienced back spasms at mile 17 and after a couple of hours of ice and rest, I managed to complete 50 miles. It was important to at least accomplish that goal. I'm not 100% sure I would have been able to complete the distance although I was feeling great and the running weather was perfect. I'll never know and although I'm disappointed in not completing the race, I'm also relieved that it's over and I can move on. I need a break from all the miles I've been putting in and am not sure where to go from here. One day at a time and I will let it unfold. I'm confused and seek guidance so will be open to my inner voice. Today is going to be one one more day of rest and tomorrow I will attempt to start getting back into some type of routine. The weather is awesome, going to be record highs so hope to get the bike out soon.
I think I'll take Chico to the park this morning for a walk around the lake. That's a foot in the right direction!

Rocky 2010

 
 

Weymouth Woods 100K

This past weekend we ran the inaugural Weymouth Woods 100K in Southern Pines which is about 5 miles from home. My friend Marie Lewis was the Race Director and she did an outstanding job. My training had not gone as well as I had hoped so I did not think I'd be able to run the whole race but would use it as a training run. By the day the race came I had decided to give it my best and complete the whole 62 miles. I was feeling great (that's a relative term of course) and staying positive until we got to the end of the 11th lap. I had 3 to go, each one about 4.5 miles, and I decided I just didn't have it in me and decided to drop. No fan fare, no explanation, I had decided I was done. I told myself that 50 was enough! 50 is good isn't it? At the time I thought it was the right decision and had promised not to second guess myself however, in the light of day, I have been questioning myself. It was certainly not a bad decision as it's wasn't my goal race however, a dnf is a dnf. Now I need to figure out how to keep that little voice that tells me it's okay to quit, to SHUT UP! I also think it has a lot of do with my fear of SUCCESS! Yes, not so much my fear of failure, although I'm sure that is part of it as well, but I think it's more the fear of success. Go figure!

I refuse to beat myself up (too much anyway, a little maybe) but I do want to learn from this and use it for my next event. I know I need to train more both physically as well as mentally. It was the first ultra I've done in almost 2 years except for New River 50K in October, where I bonked but finish. By the way, I'm waiting for pictures of the "lean"!

One of my goals for the new year was to get a little more selfish and I have to figure out how to do that. It's so hard for me to put my foot down and put myself first. I am working on doing that and hopefully will figure it out soon.