Cloverleaf

Topic: Houston Hills, The Man Made One's At Least
Key Words: Jovial, Cloverleaf, Yogi and Boo Boo
Word Count: 699
Tomorrow's Likely Topic: The Super 8 Motel

My last post was a bit of a downer, so it's time to be jovial again! And nothing is more of a knee slapper ... than running hills in Houston! Hills in Houston??? Yes, there are a few, but none-the-less, today's Houston FIT hill workout was on a set of man made hills at the fly-over between Waugh and Memorial. After meeting at Jackson Hill, we ran to the Waugh overpass of Memorial, did two sets of skips, butt kicks, and strides, and then ran the cloverleaf. The cloverleaf had two long, gently sloping uphills and two fairly identical downhills. This was certainly not a course on par with the Spots Park hill course, but it was a good start to hill training. The cloverleaf was supposedly a mile, but it had to be less as I did the first loop in 8:30 and the second in 7:34. I finished third on the second loop, so I replaced the lack of hardcore uphills with speed. And I had on my black socks; they make me faster. Basketball after the running, and after stinking it up for three games, I finally hit some shots late.

Tomorrow I leave for Alaska and the Mayor's Midnight Half Marathon. I'm excited, though the weather man is now predicting rain on Saturday, the day of the run. I do not have much in the way of rain gear (maybe I should run with an umbrella?), so please do your "no rain dance" and direct it to Anchorage. Here's what I'll be doing:

Thursday - I'm heading to Denali National Park, home of Mt. McKinley. Interestingly enough, it's peak is higher from it's base than any other mountain (who knew!), but it is generally covered in clouds during the afternoon, so I may not get to see it. Denali favors the wildlife over it's human visitors to the point of requiring you to traverse the park by foot or special bus on a special road. A six hour safari is on tap. I'll have my bear knife with me, and my sprintin' shoes, just in case.

Friday - I'm heading to Kenai Fjords National Park. The drive, which is along a road carved into the mountains rising out of the Pacific, is supposedly one of the highlights. I picked this for Friday since it is closer than Denali to Anchorage, thus allowing me to make morning packet pickup and also allowing me to get back before toooo late. If I dare (again, the bears) Kenai allows direct access to Exit Glacier. I probably won't hike to the top of the ice field, but I should get to see some nice glacier action.

Saturday - The run is @ 9AM. I have to be out of my hotel @ noon, so I have incentive to put a little bit of effort forward. I have no real time goals, but if I'm feeling well after fending off Yogi and Boo Boo, I'll shoot for 9:30 miles, or about a 2:04:30. The course is hilly, so it may present some problems. After I hastily vacate my hotel, I'm going to a local brewhouse to ease my aching legs, and then to Chugach State Park, which is located beside Anchorage. Though not a "National" park, Chugach is supposedly quite the place for hiking and has a nice mountain you can summit to get a view of the lay of the land. I fly out at 9PM or so, so I should get so spend a decent amount of time in the park.

And that's it. Medal number 11 will be procured if all goes well (#12 if I count the plastic one!). Jasmin, since mean old Nasa isn't going to let you come (I mean, it's just the space shuttle!!), I'll try to snap you some nice pics; I'll throw them up hear as I get them.