This week on the trails...

This was my first week back in training after racing the Susitna 100 and then being drawn into a month of work commitments and travel. I ran everyday, hopefully starting the consistency that I need to prepare for a multi-day race. The plan for April is to build a solid habit of getting out the door each morning and to develop my aerobic engine using Mark Allen's heart rate training principles. I ran the same route each day slowly getting a little further each run and feeling stronger as the week went on.

Very happy to out on the trails again and wearing my sunglasses for the first time this year.

Alaska at this time of year is truly amazing. The trail conditions are changing every day and the amount of daylight we get increases by five minutes a day! I started the week in cold crunchy snow running in the dark and by the end of the week it was mostly mushy-thawing snow and it was almost full daylight. In between, there were two days it was snowing, a day of rain and a day with a perfect crisp clear sky. I love this time of year because it's warm enough to run with less gear and running the same trail every day can feel like a new adventure each time I go out.

Dog mushing trail through the forest

The trail comes out into an area of thinner tree cover. The trail was littered with broken branches after some windy nights.

Thawing trails. I kept post-holing through the snow and ended up with a foot in 2 inches of freezing water.