Friday after work, I got my butt in gear and started to pack for my outing. I wasn't really sure how long it would take since I was going for distance, not speed and made sure to pack a clif bar and some granola. Before catching the bus home I bought a very large bottle of water. I meant to sneak some bottles from work but forgot until I was all the way down the street!
I tried finding a friend or two to go walking with me, but as soon as I said 10 miles they were all, "Um yeah... no."
The walk from the starting point on the trail was actually only 3.75 miles each way, but I walk from my house which adds an additional mile, for the final total of about 9.5 miles.
While I was packing but before I left, I realized I had lost my keys somewhere. I remembered taking the off the hook so I could put them in my pocket, but then mysteriously could not find them ANYWHERE. Luckily my roommate was downstairs and I was able to ask her to leave the door unlocked. She didn't really seem comfortable with the idea, her eyebrows rise up in a way that says, "I'll go ahead and agree to this but whether or not it actually happens is a different story." /foreshadowing
Just before 7pm I set off on my journey.
Westchester Lagoon is probably one of my favorite spots in Anchorage. They have a disc golf course, and plenty of room to picnic around in. Plus there is this gorgeous body of water that people boat on during the summer and ice skate on during the winter. Many of the races I go on will go by this at some point.
I was really excited to get my walk on, but there were so many photo ops, I had to stop and take a few.
This is where the trail begins at the Lagoon. In reality it starts about 2 miles earlier than this at the Ship Creek trail head.
The view half way around the Lagoon. I look at these mountains every day. I'm overwhelmed by the prettiness that is just in Anchorage, let alone outside of the city!
Not going to lie: I was kind of getting irritated with myself at this point. But... baby ducks. Gotta stop and look at the baby ducks. They're just so cute!
Finally getting a move on, and just before the mile 1 marker, A view of where I would be walking to. Point Worzonof.
Got a little color in my cheeks, but happy and moving. There were a lot of people on the trail so I wasn't too worried about Moose stepping out of the trees, and had my headphones in. I was rocking out to a playlist of my own design. A Genius playlist, based on Rolling in the Deep by Adele, cause I love her.
Just before reaching Mile 3, there is Earthquake Park. It was really shady and entrenched with mosquitoes, so I paused long enough to get a little stretch in, mow down on some trail mix and then started moving again.
I didn't see a mile marker 4 point, but I figured it could have been too far off from my destination. Just towards the end, the hill going down got very steep and very curvy. I started cursing, knowing I would have to walk back up it, but when I did, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Or possibly I just couldn't feel my legs. Time of arrival: 8:59pm.
I paused and had some more trail mix, drank some more water. I sat in the grass, and just enjoyed the view. The thing I love most about Point Worzonof is that the Airport is right next to it, and quite often the planes will take off and make their final descent right over head. It smells like jet fuel, but I don't care because its awesome.
Above: Mount Susitna, or as the locals call it, The Sleeping Lady.
Now, I started getting tired. My stamina was rapidly disappearing. I even had to turn on my Awesome Opossum play list to keep me going. I was not pleased.
Before I knew it, I had made it back to the Lagoon. My home was only a hop, skip, jump of a mile away!
Beautiful reflection. There are these broken down boxes that look like at one point they must have been part of a dock. I don't really know what they are. On the other side of those tree's is a
hill from hell that I love to ascend. Last year I had to stop several times to get up it. Now I don't at all. It was originally part of my route this walk, but I'm not sure I could have done it would injuring myself at that point. I had nothing left.
I finally reached my home, at 11:01pm. I walked up on the porch and turned my door knob... well, tried to turn my doorknob. It was locked. After discussing with Suraman that the door should be left unlocked, it was not. So I spent the next 20 minutes pounding on the door, yelling her name up at the window (her light was still on), and even enlisted my neighbors to help me get in my apartment. Finally she comes down, wrapped in a towel, hair all wet.
Of course she was in the shower. How can I possibly blame her for wanted the door locked when she's in the shower?
I used the very last of my energy to make a protein smoothie, took it up stairs, cleared my room well enough that I could put my legs up against my wall, and left them there for 22 minutes, or approximately the length of one How I Met Your Mother episode. Specifically, the Lucky Penny Episode where Marshall trains to run the New York City Marathon, only to break his toe the day before the race. Barney runs in his place without having trained, and then later gets stuck on the subway because he can't move his legs.
Legendary.
I spent Saturday in a haze of useless brain, spent money on clothes I don't actually need, and can't really afford, missed my friend's BBQ, and was angry the whole day.I ate a lot of carbs, but I didn't eat a lot, so that was good.
Stamina. Its something I need.
