A Big Earthquake and a Run

Workout: 4 miles, 9:38 average

Before we begin: as I was in the middle of writing this, there was suddenly a BIG earthquake. Now, when I say big, I mean big. Alaska gets legit earthquakes. Not that 4.0 shit that scares East Coasters. I was in a 7.9 earthquake in Iquique, Chile in 2005 in which there was a moment where I literally thought I was going to die (it didn't help that I was standing on an elevated platform hanging from the ceiling by cables on the top floor of a mall), and which made me fall to the ground. That was big. The earthquake I just felt, while not as big, was still enough to make me run from the house in my towel. It's 0 degrees outside. It was also big enough that shit fell off shelves. I'll let you know how big it was once the news reports it. That's two large earthquakes in three days... I'm hoping that's not a signal that "the big one" is on its way. Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled verbal diarrhea.

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If my average pace is any indication, running in cold weather makes you run faster. It's a scientifically-proven fact. Although let's be clear that in this case, "science" is synonymous with "Jeano who lives in Alaska."

Anyway, I went for a run after class and it was great. Cold as hell, but relatively fast and requiring relatively little effort. Nearly every run has been awesome since I started my most novice of novice plans, but this run felt particularly fantastic.

I won't bore you with the details, but here are some pictures.

Alaska Native Medical Center

Frosty face take two

Fogged up iPhone doing pretty things

You may notice that the sun seems to be going down. Yes, it's setting early these days. Don't believe me?

That made me slightly depressed until I realized we'll hit our darkest day in only a few weeks. It really hasn't been bad so far. I remember it being far darker when I was in high school. Teens are so dramatic.

Wait, this is a progression run, right? Even if your pace only increases by 4 seconds per mile? Score.

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It's funny how amped up I always am to run outside in freezing cold weather, yet the prospect of taking my wench of a dog for a walk afterwards is torture. That's mental training right there. If only it would WARM UP, maybe it'd snow a little. We sure could use some.