I will be on warm, sunny beaches soon

I'm breathing a sigh of relief.

It finally reached the 40s today in Wasilla. The 40s! Spring seems to have sprung everywhere else in the country, but has failed to reach the far north. January and February were difficult. March has been...a fight. I almost cried when the 75 mph winds came back, and the temps dropped to the single digits again. Brrr. Winter has lasted far too long for my liking, and I'm beyond ready for warmer temps. Which is why I was so delighted to get out there today and tackle my run outside instead of on the treadmill. Deep breath. Relief.

At least I can say I've survived my first winter in Alaska. It's taught me a lot of things about myself, actually.

1. I need sunlight. It doesn't have to be warm sun, just SUN. During those few dark weeks when the only time the sun shined was while I was inside a building, I became quite familiar with Mr. Tanning Bed. Who knew that UV rays for even 15 minutes per week could get me through winter.

2. I'm a bad ass winter runner. I may have done a fair share of my runs indoors, but when I did get my ass outside I felt...effing hard core. Who runs outside in -5 degrees, when it's dark, with a reflective vest, headlamp, blinking LED tail light, and all manner of layered clothing?! Only hard core winter runners. Like me. ;)

3. I'm much stronger than I ever would've imagined. I don't want to go into the details about why I think this. Let's just say that emotionally, physically, what have you, I've improved. It was a bit of a roller coaster for a few months, but being alone in frozen Alaska, in the dark, without any family within driving distance. Tough. But I made it through.

So, yeah, winter was hard, but I got to do and see a lot of awesome things, too. Alaska has a lot to offer, and I definitely got to partake of it.

1. I got to fly in a small airplane, land on a frozen lake situated between two glaciers, and then play jungle gym on the glaciers.
2. I went snowshoeing in the backcountry.
3. I SAW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS for the first time in my life.
4. I went snowboarding and enjoyed a kick-ass view of Anchorage while I was at it.
5. I ran with reindeer. Seriously. It was kind of like the Running of the Bulls...Alaska-style.
6. I met A LOT of amazing people. New friends abound here in Alaska, and I'm grateful for every one of them.
7. Oh, and on Sunday I'm going ice fishing for monster rainbow trout. Kind of excited for that.

Okay, so now for the real reason for this post. I promise, I didn't expect to start rambling on about Alaska. It just happened. So back to the post. SUNNY BEACHES.

I've mentioned it before, but I'm running the Ragnar Relay So Cal on April 15 and 16. The reason for this race actually came about in a strange way. A couple of months ago I was reeaaallly wanting a vacay to somewhere warm. And a couple of months before that is when I first discovered Mumford and Sons (go ahead, check them out here. So, I did a little research and found that M & S were playing at Coachella in California on April 15. MY best friend from high school, Michelle, lives in Los Angeles, loves live music, so I figured it'd be a good excuse to fly to California. See my friend, go somewhere warm, and see my new fave band, all at the same time.

So I booked my flight. Then I went to buy my Coachella ticket. SOLD OUT. I was in a panic for a few brief moments. At least I could still visit my friend, right? Right. But then my mind started wandering in a million directions. "Michelle is a runner, but has never been in a race before." Hmm...so the search for southern california races began. It didnt take long before I realized that the Ragnar Relay So Cal was happening the same weekend that I'd be there. I mentioned it to Michelle, she got suuuuper excited, we found a team, and wha-la!! We were hooked.

Michelle is Runner 5, and I'm Runner 6 of Team Sugar Coated WhoopAss! Distance-wise, I'm not really running that far during the relay. But I don't really care. I'm just there for a good time! And good times definitely await! RR So Cal starts in Huntington Beach and wraps up on Coronado Island, right by San Diego. Here's what my legs look like:

LEG 6 -- 2.7 miles

LEG 18 -- 5.4 miles

LEG 30 -- 4.3 miles


I'm actually sort of excited that I'm not running more than 13ish miles total. Usually when I participate in these relays I try to find legs that have considerable distance to them. I am a distance runner, after all. But my goal for this relay is to attempt to blow my usual times out of the water. Like that first leg of 2.7 miles?! Yeah, I want to run 8:15 miles. And I can do it.

And for the second leg I'd like to run at an even 9:00. It's mostly all downhill, so I won't be surprised if I do it even faster.

And for the last leg, my only goal is to keep running. It's got a SIGNIFICANT climb, and by this point in the race my legs will be tired, especially if I leave it all out there for my first two legs. I don't want to take a walk-break up that hill. I WILL keep running, no matter how slow.

All in all, I'm pretty stoked. Mostly to see my friend and to be somewhere warm, but running in relay just adds a little frosting to my cupcake, yeah?