26.2

This morning we woke up to an amazing Alaskan Day! The sun was out and the cool crisp morning made the fresh air sink deep into the lungs. Today was Mayor's Marathon and both Kari and I had less than perfect training over the past few weeks so we were prepared for the worst. Fighting colds, shin splints, muscle pulls and blisters we set out on the 26.2 journey. Kari ran with her running partner Kathy and they did Awesome! Kari had a goal to finish under six hours and she really wanted to be around 5:45. Well she crossed the finish line in 5:36 WAY TO GO KARI! What an accomplishment...and to think, only a few years ago the furthest she'd ran was 5 miles. I had a goal of running between 3:10 and 3:20, but I felt great so I pushed it and ran 2:57, placed 6th overall, and 2nd in my age group. It was great to have Mark, Marty, and Cora here to cheer us on! done.

Spencer Glacier

On Friday I pulled together an EPIC adventure! I'd wanted to go visit Spencer Glacier which is only accessible by train. I'd gotten a little frustrated with the railroad because they wanted to charge me a full round trip ticket even though I only wanted to go one way. So I went down to the railroad station and talked with the nice people...after an hour of talking with them a guy came from the back and told them to just give me the "Friends and Family" rate and get me out. Sweet! so we ended up getting a two for the price of one, which made it the same price as a one-way. After I got the tickets I called up a friend to borrow a raft for floating out the river. I spent a few hours trying to decide which raft...paddle raft or oar raft...after deliberating I went with the smallest paddle raft called the Hoser boat...AKA Patches. This raft was an old one that is held together with, well patches - it worked liked a dream. We loaded up all our stuff in dry bags and got ready for a Saturday departure. Saturday morning was a rush, I went for 10 mile run and Kari did 15...way to go Kari! we made it to the train depot and put the stuff on the train...Kenai was able to ride with us but she had to have a muzzle...she hated it! The hike in from the whistle stop to our campsite was about 2 miles, so we had to huff the bags in...and the raft. We went with Spencer and JT and we had a great time. We rafted on the lake near icebergs, the glacier, and did some rock climbing. The raft out was great...only class I and II water but the sweepers and stumps made the upper part of the river a real challenge with the paddle raft. We had one issue where we hit a stump and it flung Kari out into to water. She, being skilled kept herself mostly in the boat, and I was able to bring her the rest of the way in...but she did get went, and glacial water is super cold...just ask her. We all couldn't believe how well Kenai did in the boat...she is our adventure dog! After we made it down the river (about 4 hours) we took out and the bugs ate us alive. I must say this trip was amazing!

Denali

Happy B-day Jared! This year we went up to Denali for my birthday. We camped out at Bayers lake and tried our best to avoid mosquitoes! The drive was very nice and hardly anybody was on the road. At the campground we had to drive through and over a bunch of snow and the lake still had a bunch of ice on it, but the weather was nice and warm...well warm for AK. The next day we got up and drove into the park, looked through the visitors center...was kind of cool. On the way back to the lake we stopped on the pass...its basically Alaska's continental divide, all the rivers to the north of it drain into the Yukon or Arctic ocean, and all the ones to the south into Cook inlet. Lunch was great and we had a 360 degree view mountains. What a great birthday!!!

Matanuska glacier

So May has been busy! Three weeks ago (I think) on Friday I decided we needed a camping trip, so we loaded up the Jeep and drove north. We stopped at the Matanuska Glacier and set up camp. Only one other group was in the campground which was super nice. At camp Kari relaxed in her Hammock and I set up the Slack Line. We had a great time and just soaked up the views. In the morning we got up super early and drove back to Palmer to see if we could get any good deals at the annual NOLS sale...I got a super cool retro climbing helmet for 2 bucks.

It's been a while

Yep it's been a while since i last updated this little blog so I figured I'd take a moment to do it now and mention of few highlights from the past month. 1st we've got our little condo almost completely ready to go, and we've had a lot of interest in it already. I decided to attach a few pictures of the place to show it off while it's clean...ha. 2nd Kenai got the Kennel Cough and was out of commission for about a week, during which she was a snotty nose, goopy eye, sick little girl. 3rd we made a quick trip to Idaho to visit Kari's family and see two beautiful new babies. We were able to squeeze in a great day of skiing/snowboarding but that was about it because as luck would have it, I got sick and spent most of the vacation on my back in bed...yuck! Other than that we've just been training for the marathon, and getting ready for our move to North Carolina. We're trying to decide on driving or flying. Right now we're leaning towards flying, but driving sure sounds like an adventure...hummmm do I dare drive a 91 wrangler 4500 miles??? could be fun

Just another day in Paradise

On Monday I had the day off so I decided to take the dog for a nice long walk across the street. Last couple of walks I'd post holed my way through about 3 feet of snow, so I put on the snow shoes and we took off. The sun was out bright which raised the temp to almost 20 and with the deep snow i worked up a major sweat. While on the walk we crossed the creek many times on ice bridges, found a random swing, and followed a couple of animal tracks for a while for fun. Kenai did fall in the stream once while crossing the stream on a log, but i fished her out real quick. I'm sure going to miss this place!

Anyhow, Kari and I are starting to pack up stuff, fix some cracks and other minor things so we can get our condo sold...moving is fun!

Hatcher Pass

We love this place! Hatcher is our most favorite area to play. Last week we went camping and snowboarding on a clear moderately cold night. The stars were out, the dog was calm, and Kari stayed warm...it was a great trip. This was our first time sleeping with the dog in the tent and she did remarkably well, except for in the morning she decided that she would be warmer if she was inside my sleeping bag :) After i went out to use the bathroom I came back and found Kenai inside my bag. It was a little difficult to fit everything inside the Jeep, but somehow that little thing swallows camping gear. Anyhow we had some great snow to snowboard on and a wonderful time in the mountains.

Where we won't be this Fall

I got my first ever rejection letter today from the University of Washington (UW). So we won't be moving to Seattle...who needs all that rain anyhow? We would have liked to have lived closer to family and friends, but if Obama can build those lighting fast railways then maybe it wont be much of an issue to visit where ever we live...unless its overseas, Alaska or Hawaii...
Although I got rejected by the 4th best public health school in the nation (UW) I did get accepted into the school tied for 2nd (UNC-Chapel Hill). So if you've wanted to visit Alaska you'd better do it fast. We still haven't heard from John Hopkins or San Diego State University but we're likely moving to NC this Fall.

Snow Cave

Friday I went up to Hatcher Pass to do some snow boarding. Once up to the parking lot I decided to dig a snow cave and sleep in it rather than pitch my tent. The evening was crisp and clear but not terrible cold (I think it was about 10 degrees). After I dug the cave I glazed it with a candle to set it then moved my tarp and bag in. In the morning I grabbed my snow board and hit the hills. The snow was about 4 feet deep so I had to work hard even with snow shoes. The runs were, soft and smooth but difficult to see due to lack of contrast. Great weekend.

A Happy Dog Day Care

This past week we found out that Kari's 4runner has a leaking head gasket, which sucks because we like it and now are getting rid of it. As a result we are down to one car and carpooling. Kenai is a little young still to stay home alone all day so we enrolled her in puppy care. She is now on day two, and she loves to sniff butts, and play with other dogs all day long. When I pick her up she almost immediately falls asleep in the car. Aside from eating, drinking, and pooping she basically sleeps the rest of the evening. We love puppy care!!!!

Ears

We took a couple of pictures of Kenai recently and she is all ears! So long as we take her for daily walks she is a wonderful dog. She can now sit, stay, fetch, give, come, kennel, lets go, potty, ring a bell to go outside to go potty, and catch a Frisbee in the air. She is getting better at down, no biting, and leave it.

It's a SNUGGIE Christmas!

The whole family got snuggies for Christmas thanks Marty and Mark! We had a great morning with lots a gifts and some wonderful conversations with family. Merry Christmas!

Kenai

Jeff wanted some pictures of Kenai so here are two recent ones of her. The one of her under the orange vest is after we cut down our Christmas Tree and she was a cold little girl. The other is her in the bathtub. She loves to drink from the tub and take baths.

He is real...

Earlier this week Kari and I were enjoying lunch offered by her Work Christmas Party at the Alaska Club. When all of a sudden arose such a clatter, I walked over to see what was the matter. To my surprise and delight I beheld Santa coming into my sight. It wasn't long before I convinced Kari to go with my to sit on his lap and tell him what I'd like for Christmas...and what is it that I want? We'll for all my family and friends to be happy and to know that we miss them...also for our little alligator (I mean puppy) to stop biting!

We haven't really set up our house much for Christmas due to the puppy. Just this last weekend we finally went and cut down our tree, and that was an experience! It was about 10 below and Kari was sick. We walked for a little while through the deep snow using our snowshoes while Kenia played, but once we stopped Kenia realized just how cold it was and started shivering...so basically we made a quick decision on a tree huffed it back to the 4runner and put her under some blankets where she stayed for the entire 2-hour drive back home. Fun times. Anyhow we still haven't decorated the tree and it's up in our spare bedroom because puppy loves to bite it. what a Christmas. Ho Ho Ho

So we went down a hill

This past Saturday it warmed up into the 20's so we took the dog out for a little adventure. We'd taken Kenai sledding down a really small hill at the elementary school in our neighborhood and she loved it, so we decided to take her to a little bigger hill where we could really pick up some speed. We got to the hill and I jumped in the sled, Kari sat in front and then Kenai jumped on her lap and away we went. She has a lot of adventure in her so I think she'll fit right in with us!

What 0 degrees looks like

When you've got to take the dog out to pee in the cold you got to look good!

Sleep, eat, poop, and bite

Our little dog is sure growing fast! When she arrived in Alaska she only weighted 12lbs and now she's nearly 30lbs...what a fatty! She has put on some winter fur so she can stay outside a little longer, which is nice because she has a lot of wiggles for a tiny condo. She is super smart and is almost completely house trained; when she needs to go potty she will ring a bell we have hanging from the door...what a good girl. The other day she found her bark which is super cute, but we'd better watch it so it doesn't get out-of-hand. She got a new kennel, ate up part of her dog bed...but she didn't rip it open she un-zipped the zipper to get in. Anyhow back to work tomorrow.

Turkey Day

Gobble Gobble, lets eat some turkey! Kari and I decided to have a low key Thanksgiving this year and enjoy the puppy. Kari made a great dinner with lots of food and some wonderful pie, which caused me a lot of stomach pain from eating so much it hurt to breath. Before all the cooking we were coerced into participating in the local Turkey Trot. It was short 5k, but it was snowing so Kari and I ran together with her friend Kathy and just enjoyed playing in the snow. Kari ran a great race considering the conditions. Happy Turkey Day

Zombie Run

Last weekend Kari and I participated in the Zombie run here in Anchorage. Kari ran the 1/2 marathon with her friend and co-worker Kathy. Kari hadn't really put in the training for this one like the other one she did, but she had experience on her side this time. The course was kind of a killer because it had a major hill the whole last mile. Her race started at 10am and ran from goose lake to kincaid park. Kari was about 15min slower this race but it was a lot harder, colder, and she wasn't as prepared so really she did tons better.

I ran the 50k with my friend Mike. I was tricked into this one. I share an office with Mike and one day we were working and he asks "hey Jared, what's your date of birth?" so I tell him, then after a few moments I say hey why'd you want my DOB, and he say's "I just entered you to be my partner in a 50k in 10weeks. What happened is that his original partner got hurt and couldn't run and for this run you have to run with a partner for the first 1/2 marathon (safety concerns for the dark and animals). Ok...so i started training.

The run was nice and the first part was exceptionally slow. Mike had a plan to run for 25 min then walk for 5. This ended up putting our pace just under 10min per mile. After I reached mile 18 with Mike and I realized I only had a half marathon left so I opened up and averaged around 7min pace the rest of the way and 6:45 pace the last 5 miles. Needless to say I was able to finish really strong, passed a bunch of people on the hills and dropped a couple of 6min miles around mile 29 and 30. It sure felt good to be able to run that distance and feel that great at the end. I took 6th place time of 4hrs 30 min... I think I should run a marathon for time sometime soon, I'd like to see if I could get under 3:20 and closer to 3:10 (which is my Boston Qualification time)

anyhow laters.

Kenai

At 3:45pm yesterday our life completely changed. Kenai, the daughter of Mike and Mary's dog Mocha made a journey from Wenatchee Washington to Anchorage Alaska. The original plan was for her to accompany me home after my trip to WA last week, however that just didn't happen because she got sick. Now when I say sick I mean really sick that had super bad diarrhea and vomiting. Kenai ended up staying the night at the vet to figure out if she had Parvo.

Anyhow we decided that we wanted to get her up hear so we shipped her up her cargo with a lot of help from Mike, Mary, and Mom...thanks. Because Mom and Mary were going over to Seattle already taking Kenai wasn't a huge inconvenience. She traveled fine in the car and great on the plane.

So have you ever started something that you think to yourself, "what did I do" well that was what Kari and I were thinking last night when we couldn't figure out how to get her to pee or poop in a place other than the carpet. Good thing she is super cute because otherwise I might have dropped her off at the shelter. I think Kari got about 2 hours of sleep last night, and I got about 4. Today she (or we) did a lot better, she only had one real accident and has been a major cuddle bug all day!

She is a great addition to our family.