Recap!!

First of all, if anyone reads this blog (which, thanks to page views, I know a few people do) I’m so so sorry for not posting! My only excuse is that I have been super busy because I have been working two jobs. Portland and the wedding were great, and it was especially fun to see my family again. I hadn’t seen my cousin who got married in about 10 years! My next trip is at the end of the month, when my dad and I are going to go bear viewing in Southeast Alaska. I’m excited, but feel like I am starting to get into a pretty good routine here in Nome. The newspaper job has been going really well, I have even had a few articles on the first page! I definitely am learning about what it takes to run a newspaper, and it has yet to get boring. The restaurant job has been pretty much same old-same old, the owner is trying to get me to work on the weekends also, but I have been able to stay strong and say no so far!

            The weather has been really good (it’s almost 80 degrees out right now!), but smoke has been blowing in from all of the fires in other parts of Alaska. Besides working, I have been running a lot and thankfully haven’t had any injuries. The past two Saturdays I did races, one was about 12 miles. I haven’t run that far since I did a half marathon in February, so I was pretty under trained. The course was pretty flat for the first five miles, then went up and down this huge mountain, Anvil mountain, and back to town. I went out pretty conservatively, but made up a lot of time on the mountain. In the middle of the race I was really close to the first place woman, a marathon runner who had been actively training for the race. She broke away on the downhill, which was actually where I struggled the most (go figure). However, I was able to reel her in on the way back to town, and she ended up beating me by only three seconds. While winning would have been great, I was happy with my race and am looking forward to trying again next year.

            The second race was also on Anvil Mountain, but it was more of a trail race. The uphill was so steep that everyone had to walk. I did the race last year, and tried to avoid walking, but this time I had no qualms about it. Let’s just say it was brutal, but only three miles. I ended up being second overall and the first woman. I was the first woman last year, but I was third so I at least moved up a little!

            I think I am going to start posting some of my articles on here, but right now I am going to go out and enjoy the 77 degree weather!

First Day of Work!

Yesterday I finally had my first day of work at the Nome Nugget. The Nugget is the oldest newspaper in Alaska, which is pretty impressive. Obviously, I’m not writing cover stories, but I did actually get to write three articles. One was about the annual Midnight Sun Folk Fest, which is not coinciding with the midnight sun (solstice) this year. My second was about an award that was given by a local native corporation in honor of an elder’s service to the community. This was fun since I actually got to go to the presentation of the award and take pictures and notes. The last story I did covered an exercise program for kids to help decrease the diabetes rate. I liked this story best since I am interested in living and promoting a healthy lifestyle. It turns out that I will be getting paid for my work at the newspaper, which is making me reconsider working at the bakery/seafood house. I don’t really need the money and don’t want the rigorous schedule, but I do feel obligated to continue my work there. I told the owner that I will have to figure out how time consuming the newspaper is and go from there.

            In other news (if my life can be called news) I am planning on doing the running portion of a biathalon relay on Sunday. The race is normally a triathalon, but earlier this summer the water mysteriously disappeared the pool, so the mile swim is out. I’m not sure who will be doing the biking portion yet, but no matter who they are I will try to do my best in the five-mile run. I have had to take two days off of running (today and yesterday) because of some knee pain, but I think by tomorrow I will be able to do a short jog. I have been riding my bike, which is fun and seems like a pretty good workout, but it is just not the same as running. Luckily, someone else will be the biker on Sunday (hopefully)!

            I’m going to Portland, Oregon next week for my cousin’s wedding, which should be fun. With the Nike headquarters, the University of Oregon, and Hayward Field, Portland is definitely a running mecca. Stay tuned while I try to sneak in to run on the famous track! Kidding... (well maybe)!

North to Alaska

About a week ago, I finally graduated! Since I am officially done with high school, I guess this means that my gap year is starting, which means that I should probably start posting. My parents, aunt, uncle and cousin flew down to Connecticut for graduation, and afterward we went to New York City for a few days. Unfortunately it was cold and rainy for most of our time there. I should probably start preparing myself for the cold, since I am on the plane to Anchorage as I type this.

            I am very excited about my summer and gap year, but I have definitely have some concerns about taking a whole year off. My fears are somewhat akin to a 65 year old’s when contemplating retirement. I am worried that I won’t have enough to do, that I won’t be able to structure my days, and that I will be left behind (both physically and academically) once my friends all start college in the fall. These doubts have also made their way into my running.

            For the first time in years, I don’t have cross-country to look forward to in the fall. Even though I will be training with the Nome team this summer, I won’t be competing. I’m not sure how to run when I’m not running for some goal. Sure, I’m good at training during the off seasons, but my next season is always in the foreseeable future. Now, I am not sure what I should be doing. I will continue to run, but how much? Should I do hard workouts? Will pushing myself this year help or hinder my collegiate career? This year off of a traveling team could be a chance for me to rest and relax, but it could also be a good time to focus (almost) solely on running. I’m not sure what to do yet, but hopefully talking to the Nome coach, Jeff Collins, will help my fears subside. I want to sign up for a half marathon or 10k in Anchorage this summer, so that will at least give me something to train for. I know that college running won’t last forever, and a year off from team competition will, like my gap year, prepare me for later life.

             Another reason I am so apprehensive about this next year is that I don’t know the amount of involvement I will have in any of my endeavors. So far, dog training will not be too time consuming, especially in the summer. I need to talk to the newspaper people to make a schedule, and based off of that I will figure out hours with the bakery owner. At Hotchkiss, I got so used to always having something to do, somewhere to go and someone to do it with. It was challenging to adapt to that fast paced, intense, lifestyle, and I’m sure that at times it will be challenging to slow down. However, I’m sure that everything will work out, and, with three different commitments, I will never have nothing to do. As I see it, the point of this gap year is to bring what I learned at Hotchkiss back home. I just need to trust that when I go to Whitman in the fall of 2016, I will be refreshed and able to remember how to study hard!

About Me

I'm a seventeen year old high school senior, who has decided to take a year off after graduation to run, mush, read, write and relax. Part of my gap year is to record my experiences, so I decided to create a blog. I'm from Nome, a small town in rural Northwestern Alaska.  For the past three years, I have attended The Hotchkiss School, a New England Prep school in Northwestern Connecticut. Hotchkiss has challenged me academically, athletically and socially, but overall it has been a great experience and I have definitely learned a lot about everything from writing research papers to running track. However, I decided to take a year off before starting Whitman College in order to reflect on my experiences and have new ones.
Throughout the next year and a half, I will be helping my neighbor train his dog team for the Iditarod, a thousand mile sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome. I have been mushing casually since I was two, but I am excited to learn about what it takes to train dogs on a much higher caliber. I will be volunteering for the local newspaper, The Nome Nugget to learn about what it takes to be a journalist, since I am considering pursuing it as a career. One of the most important aspects of my years at Hotchkiss has been running cross country and track. I hope to continue to run competitively in college, so I will train throughout the year. I am going to run with and out help the Nome cross country team, which I am thrilled about since I love all things running.
The only times I have blogged have been for school, so this is definitely going to be a learning curve. However, I promise to try to write interesting posts at least a few times a week!