A great week of running and outdoor activities starting with a black bear crossing my path on my way home
Week 2 of running and training for NYC marathon went pretty well.
- Monday – Day off (always a great way to start off the week 🙂 )
- Tuesday – Regular Run (AYF) 4.2 miles easy over the Eagle River rolling hills
- Wednesday – Regular Run 5 miles (target 8:59-9:16 min/mile) ran 43:49 (8:46min/mile)
- Thursday – Easy Run 4.2 miles 41:46 (9:57min/mile)
- Friday – Off
- Saturday – Long Run 9 miles (target 1:24-1:26) Ran 1:26:22 (9:36 min/mile) I was in Chitina camping and salmon fishing on the Copper River. Still got my long run in on some pretty challenging hills but it went great (see photos below).
- Sunday – Regular Run (target 36:37) Ran 39:31 (9:11 min/mile) This run was challenging in that I took my dog, Demi, and she decided to stop running about a mile into the run. I had to take her home and then continue on my run from there. It was a little frustrating and not my best run by far. But, I got it done! Almost all of my runs have been pretty good so I can’t be too upset about this one. I was a little tired as well from the camping, fishing and all the traveling.
Other than running, most of the week was spent getting the camper and supplies ready for our camping/fishing trip to Chitina. We are mainly fishing for reds AKA Sockeye Salmon. Initially, the trip was not looking very promising. The water level was rising with all the rain and the fish count has been pretty low (not to mention that Scott and Matt went there last week and only got 2 fish) , but it turned out to be an awesome day and quite successful.
Dip netting,which is how we caught the salmon, is considered subsistence fishing. How many fish each family is allowed depends on the number of family members. The head of household is allowed 25 fish plus 10 for each additional family member. Matt, whose primary goal was to get enough fish for the wedding, also went with us. Between them, they were allowed 90 fish! And they limited out! It was not expected….unbelievable!
A charter took them out to an area that has been identified as the good “fishing spots” and dropped them off. They literally had to rope in while they were fishing! There is no way I would have been dip netting under those conditions!
Having to dip the net into that current more than 90 times is hard work! But worth it (easy for me to say ha ha)!
Keeping the fish in the water while waiting for the charter pick-up; 88 fish caught in less than 6 hours!
Just a beautiful area!
This is the area where we cleaned all the fish and packed the coolers for the transport home. That took about 3 hours!
And once we got the fish home, we had to rinse, dry, and vacuum pack them. That took more than 6 hours with Scott, Matt, and me working steady without any breaks. It’s definitely a lot of work!
As I mentioned above, before we left the Copper River, I was able to get my long run in. And I was so glad that I did because the scenery was just beautiful. It truly is hard to capture on the iPhone how awesome this area is.
The route had some challenging hills, so I just took it easy! It was so awesome! It is nice to be able to get out and run in areas that I have never ran before. Of course, Scott was out there keeping me safe❤️
The grandkids were with us and found many ways to keep themselves entertained. They had a great time!
And the pups came along as well. We were just a bit crowded in our tiny little camper.
The drive home was nice…especially nice for me because Matt and Scott did all the driving. It was an absolutely beautiful drive home – a little sketchy on some of those steep mountains- but we made it!
So, week 2 of training completed! And fish in the freezer! Time with family! Life is good ?
