I. Ran. A. MARATHON!!!

I ran a marathon: the Mayor’s Midnight Sun Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska.

The starting line!

I got up this morning at 6am.  Already feeling a little queasy, I forced myself to eat breakfast and drink a full liter of water.  I struggled to get my hair in a ponytail, because I got it cut way short yesterday (timing not the greatest).  Then we hopped in the car and drove to Bartlett High School.  The starting area was so exciting!  There were tons of people and music blaring and the whole atmosphere was very uplifting (good thing too!).  It made me feel ready.  Ready to start, to run, and be done with it.

My mom and I at the start.

Unfortunately my watch decided this very day at this very time to stop working, and I didn’t bring a back up (bad planning on my part).  So this made pacing very difficult which I’ll get into more later.  At 8am, starting gun was fired, and we were off.

All lined up for the start, we're in there somewhere!

The first 4 miles we ran up the Glenn Highway.  This was the hottest part of the race, with the sun beating down right in front of us.  I was dripping with sweat, which I didn’t think of as a very good sign being only 3 miles in, and my starting pace was definitely too fast.  I kept up the 9 to 9:30 mile pace though until about mile 20.  Just before mile 2 I found Elle, a friend and former teammate and we ran some together.  She did awesome, finishing in just over 4 hours, but her pace was too fast for me.  Unfortunately the time I did spend running with her got me separated from my mom, and I didn’t see my mom again till the end.

From the Glenn we turned onto some road that lead to Tank Trail, which is exactly what it sounds like.  I had read about this portion of the race online, and honestly the reviews kind of freaked me out a bit.  It really wasn’t that bad however, but maybe I’m just used to running on similar trails.  The first part was more like a gravel road and a lot like Eklutna only smoother (I did my first 16 mile run at Eklutna, so the 7 miles I spent on the trail were nothing!).  The second part of Tank Trail was a double track dirt path (like Red Lake Trail in Willow) through the woods and I really enjoyed that part.  The trees offered some shade and a nice break from the sun.

Getting a drink at the Mile 9 Aid Station

GO MOM!

At mile 14 we reached the highest point in the race (such a relief!) and emerged from Tank Trail.  We ended up (somehow) at Campbell Creek where I had worked at an Outdoor Week thing for the Anchorage schools last month.  So that was cool I guess to know where I was all of a sudden.  We then turned onto Tudor Rd. and wound through Anchorage for a while and eventually through some parks* and onto the Coastal Trail.  I did fine till about mile 21, when I was like, “Oh my gosh this really sucks.”  Somehow or another I convinced myself to “just keep running” for another four miles while playing lots of silly games** in my head.  I knew that if I stopped and walked I wouldn’t start running again, so walking was not an option. 

At about mile 23 Jessica, another friend and former teammate, caught up with me.  This was her second marathon and she ran it right, even splits.  I kept up with her until mile 25, when I was like, “Oh my gosh this REALLY sucks!”  At that point everything began to hurt way worse, not just my legs which had hurt since about mile 12, but my back and chest tightened and I started to have a lot of trouble breathing.  I haven’t been having a problem with my asthma so it wasn’t even the slightest bit on my mind before the race, but then again I hadn’t ever run 25 miles before.  Wheezing, limping, crawling (not really)… I managed to get to the last water station about a half mile from the finish.  This was the only portion of the race that I actually walked for any real distance (I walked through all the water stations, but that’s because I was not blessed with the gift of running and drinking at the same time).  Immediately after this last station was a 100-foot vertical climb up an incredibly steep hill.  WORST RACE DESIGN EVER!!!  100 feet may not sound like much, but after 25 miles it may as well have been Denali***.  And so I walked up the hill.  After the first hump (and consequently the end of my water break) I tried like 6 baby steps of running but just couldn’t pull it off.  At the top of the hill I continued to “run,” which would be more aptly named a “shuffle”, down the street and onto the West High School track. 

I honestly might not have made it but for Meghan, Brad, Stephen, and the rest of the Birchwood Crew cheering me on down the sideline.  They completely made my day and I am so thankful that they came out!  I finished 88^th overall for women in 4 hours and 15 minutes!  That’s about 9:45 average per mile.  Stephen made sure I did everything right at the end, like eat something and drink something and walk around a little to cool down and stretch (he’s done a few of these before).  My mom finished shortly after me, she did fantastic!  My dad was the best support team and cheered us on from multiple spots on the trail; he’s also the one to thank for all the pictures!

As we were getting ready to leave I noticed the awards ceremony going on over in the corner.  I went over to check the results but my time wasn’t posted yet, and neither were the results from my age group.  So I asked about it and it turns out that I got 1^st Place for women 15 to 19 years old!

My first place medal (left), my GIGANTIC finishing medal (right)
and my finisher shirt****!

Overall I’d say I’m happy with how everything went.  I am thankful to be done with it, but also glad that I stuck it out to the end.  I ran a marathon.

*Most of the parks I don’t know the name’s of, but we did run by Rocket-ship Park (that’s not the real name but that’s what I call it) which brought back some great memories of playing there as a kid.  I kind of wished I was still climbing all over the rocket-ship instead of running by it… But that may have had something to do with already running 20 some miles and still having quite a ways to go.

**Games included: 1) Take the distance I have left and divided by 2… I can do that!  2) Only count the distance to go as the distance to the next water (and excuse to walk) station, this meant that the farthest I ever had to go was just over 2 miles.  3) Think of a run of a similar distance to what I have left, and pretend I’m on that route, for instance with 5 miles to go it was the “Gail Loop” which I ran almost every day three years ago in training for the upcoming XC season, and at 3 miles to go it was the “Peck Loop” which was always the first day of XC practice and our “long” runs during soccer season.  4) Think of all the nice things I’m going to do when I finish, like sit down!

***Sorry for the exaggerations, but I HATED this hill.

****You don’t get shirt till you cross the finish line.

Apprehension

Today I got my race bib, info packet, and time chip.  It is official!  No turning back now.  And I am terrified.

Over the past couple weeks I’ve gotten numerous emails from the race officials, giving race day tips as well as official business stuff.  Each one though contained something about switching races and the deadlines associated with that.  The last one was like “last time to switch to the half-marathon, now or never!”  Now, I understand the reasoning behind this, they have lots of people who wimp out and don’t want to run the whole thing as it gets closer, but for people like me it’s like someone is jumping in my face saying “Quit! Quit! Quit!”  I know of course that is not their intention, they just want everything to run smoothly on race day, but it’s really starting to freak me out!

I ignored each one of those emails.  And today my mom picked up our gear at the Expo.  I have a bib, number 1096, which I will carry pinned to my shirt for 26.2 miles.  I have a time chip, which I will attach to my shoe to time this test of endurance.  And I have an information packet, complete with race day and course info.

Here is the course map:

That's a long ways!

Here is the course elevation profile.

(It's the top one) There's a 100-foot climb at mile 25.7!

I spent more time dreading my last 20-mile run than actually running it, and it wasn’t even that bad.  I’m hoping this marathon is the same, though to some extent no matter what I do it’s gonna suck.  I really am looking forward to it, I think…  I’ve already got the Dory mantra going in my head… just keep running, just keep running, just keep running, running, running…

Oh my goodness! Today is Thursday (and it’s almost over)! Tomorrow is Friday!! And the next day is Saturday!!!! Those 1000 little purple people* jumping up and down and up and down and up and down are back and it is not in pure joy in which they are jumping!

Here goes nothing!

*In case you missed them the first time and have no idea what I am talking about here, see this post

Birchwood

Our God is an awesome God. 

He reigns, from heaven above with Wisdom, Power and Strength. 

Our God is an awesome God.

I spent last week at Birchwood Camp.  I’ve been to Birchwood Camp many times before, but this was my first time there as a counselor!  Not only did I grow in my faith, but I got to help and watch as the campers progressed and learned through Wonder, Gratitude, Hospitality, Generosity, Worship, and Love. 

The theme of the week was “Got Spirit?”  Each day we read a passage of scripture, and discussed something that related to it (that was vague, sorry).

Day 1: Wonder: Psalm 8

“O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

I think this was one of my favorite days of the week (ok, they were all my favorite, but I REALLY liked this one!).  Wonder is, for me, one of the biggest things that makes God real.  God is here, among us, and we know this by simply opening our eyes to His creation.  I am blessed to have grown up in Alaska; all I have to do is look out my bedroom window to see the Wonder of God’s creation.  This theme struck me all week.  Being outdoors, by the lake, surrounded by mountains and trees…  We lose some intrinsic value of life when focusing on man made items instead of being out enjoying the fresh, sweet air.

Day 2: Gratitude and Hospitality: Luke 17:11-19 and 24:13-35

“Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

These two themes are so important every day.  My favorite part of this day came during morning small group time.  We were discussing how you have to notice before you can be grateful or hospitable; you can’t merely look, you have to see.  Ironically this came back throughout the week in many ways which I won’t get into here.  Just know that God is always there, working, we just have to take notice and act.

Day 3: Generosity: 1 Corinthians 12:1-26

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.”

Here we focused mostly on how generous God is with us, which is something that I hadn’t previously put a whole lot of thought into, and turns out it’s a good thing to think about.  Each is given different gifts, some the gift of wisdom, others knowledge, faith, healing, and so on.  Initially this makes me want to go “Wow! Thanks God!  You didn’t have to give me anything but you did!  I’m so lucky!”  And I am.  And that’s a good thing to keep in mind.  But this also gives me an appreciation for each and every soul on earth.  “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”  And this really is something special.

Day 4: Worship: Psalm 96

“O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.  Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.  Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all peoples.  For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised.”

You know that warm tingly feeling?  And as it grows your whole heart fills up and it bursts right out of your chest?  And you want to shout from the mountaintops PRAISE GOD!?  That’s Worship.  I want to write SO much about this, but honestly, I’m speechless.

Day 5: Love: John 15:1-17

“And this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

Sometimes it feels unfair.  How God?  How!?  How can I possibly love as you have loved me, so perfectly?  I’m comforted later in verse 16: “You did not choose me but I chose you.”  Jesus said “I. Chose. You.”  And His love flows through me.  I was incapable, but God chose me.

The week was a challenge not gonna lie.  There are parts of it I look back on that make me want to cry.  There are parts I remember that fill me with pure joy.  There are people whose friendships I will carry with me for the rest of my life, and others who I hope I have steered in the right direction.  I am so thankful that God is in control.

I have to mention this, because it’s just too good not to.  As a camper years ago, the counselors were the coolest people on the planet.  They had ALL the answers to EVERYTHING!  I figured they’d had some special training or something to make them so smart.  So now I’m a counselor.  And I don’t know nothin’!  But I pretend I do!  And they all believe me!  (Don’t get too worried here; I’m not like lying to all the kids or anything.  I answer their questions as best I can, and if it’s beyond my reach I find someone who does know the answer: GOD!)  It’s fun sometimes to have the roles reversed.

That’s it I think for now.  I’m going back to Birchwood to be a counselor at MAD (Music and Drama) Camp in two weeks and am looking forward to that immensely. 

Thank you God.

From Lower Reed Lake in Hatcher's Pass, Alaska

My Backpack

I have this thing with backpacks.  Something about carrying it around… to school, up mountains…  it pretty much goes wherever I go.  So in my eyes it’s understandable to have such a strong attraction to that canvas bag that I just can’t get rid of it.  It’s like a blanket for big kids.

In elementary school (third grade I think) I got a purple Eastsport backpack.  And I used that backpack until my Junior year of high school.  I loved that backpack.  I retired it from use the day after the entire bottom ripped open disposing of all of my school books, lunch, and gym clothes onto the floor as I entered school one day.  That was a very sad day indeed*. 

I found a new backpack, but just couldn’t bear parting with the purple one I loved so much, and so I put it in the back of my closet.  Today I opened my closet, and there it was, waiting ever so patiently for me to pick it up and put it to use again.

As soon as I picked it up I remembered why I kept it all these years**.  It’s incredible how many memories came back, and how many pieces of my past are glued into the seams.

The ballerina nametag.

The cloth ribbon marker from Science O.

The first “youth group” bracelet I made on the Gulkana.

First aid materials crammed into the side pocket, complete with bungee cord.

An assortment of pens, pencils, and markers poking through the one pocket with a broken zipper.

The remains of a squished banana***.

Enough hand-warmers to last a whole trip.

This backpack screamed “Emily.” 

And so today I sewed it up, good as new****!  And tomorrow it will accompany me into Hatcher’s Pass, it’s first journey since reincarnation.

*Not embarrassing or anything, I got to school early so it’s not like anyone saw, but it meant the end to my favorite accessory of all time.

**Aside from the fact that it was in the back of my closet and I forgot it was in there.

***Gross I know.  This banana was squished and molded years ago, and I cleaned out the pocket it happened in when I first discovered the banana.  There was nothing more really left now, but I still didn’t dig around in that pocket all too much out of fear.

****Minus one side of a broken buckle.

18 days!!!

So this here is about something that I mentioned in a previous post, but really deserves a whole post (if not multiple) to itself.

I AM RUNNING A MARATHON!!!

On June 18^th I am running the Mayor’s Midnight Sun Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska.  If you had asked me a couple days ago how training was going, I would have probably said terrible.  Now however, after a 20-mile run yesterday during which I didn’t die, I think I just might be ok.  You see before that run the most I had ever run at one time was 16 miles, and both times I did that I barely made it.  The first time I went out way to fast, so I learned my lesson (I SOMENLY SWEAR TO NOT GO OUT TOO FAST DURING THIS MARATHON – we’ll see how that goes, I’m kinda competitive).  The second 16-miler was supposed to be an 18-miler, but we didn’t make it.  I’m going to contribute that to running those 16 miles at Crevasse Moraine, Keplar-Bradley, and the Experimental Farm, which if you’ve run there before, you’ll know they are not exactly the flattest trails on the planet (consequently, they are some of the hilliest I’ve ever run on).  So this 20-miler I was really dreading, so much so that I pushed it off till Tuesday.  But I did it.  I ran 20 miles, the last 6 of which were 30 seconds faster per mile (I need to find my pace for the marathon – not too fast so I die, but I still want to get a good time!). 

I had mentioned earlier that I hoped to qualify for the Boston Marathon (I’d need a time of 3:40).  I don’t think that’s going to happen in this race.  My last-ditch-you-better-be-able-to-pull-this-off-Emily goal is to run in under 4:30.  Under 4 would be spectacular, but I’m not sure just how realistic that goal is.  We’ll see come race day.  Since I’ve never run a marathon before, I really have no idea how fast I can push myself for such a long distance.

Anywho, I am so very excited now for this race.  IT’S GONNA BE EPIC!!!  If you want to come into Anchorage and cheer me on (I’m going to need all the help I can get), it starts at 8AM on Saturday the 18^th at Bartlett High School (no need to get there that early - I'll be running for quite some time).  Here’s a link to the course map. 

One more very, VERY important detail: my mom is running with me.  She is such a dedicated and inspiring runner.  And she needs people to cheer for her too!  I’m planning on running the first 10 to 16 miles with her, depending on how things go during the race.  I honestly don’t think I’d still be doing this without her support; she makes those long runs bearable!  Thanks mom!

So yes, that’s all.  I’ll be sure to make a follow up post after the race.  Wish me luck!