Preparing for Lost Lake

In three weeks is the Lost Lake Run. It's a 16 mile trail run with about 2100 feet of elevation gain. I've been trying to up my mountain mileage lately in preparation. I had an ankle injury in June that caused me to stop running for a bit, but slowly throughout July I have been getting back out.

I've decided to limit the amount of time I spend running on pavement, for a few reasons. I have gotten bored with running on roads. I am intrigued by all of the mountain runs in Alaska. I want to start upping my mileage by a lot and pounding the pavement has proven to be bad for my body (I'm working on my 4th injury this year). I want to be able to move fast and cover a lot of ground in the mountains and running on flat roads just doesn't prepare your body for that.

So I've been spending a lot of time on my feet in the mountains. Running, jogging, hiking, exploring and loving it. This Friday I got out with my friend Kathy and we did an 10-ish mile loop from the Powerline trail. We crossed the valley, went up over the ridge to O'malley, across the ballpark and Deep Lake (which was still covered in ice?) down the scree field on the other side, dove in Black Lake as a side trip (brrr), down to the Williwaw Lakes and ran the trail around the front side of Little O'Malley. We power hiked the steeps and ran the downs.

I had never been on the other side of this ridge and was amazed how different the scenery was just one valley over. I forgot my camera so I took this picture from LocalHikes.com. This is a view of the valley from Black Lake where we swam. Next time I'd like to run back past the lakes and explore this valley more. Maybe climb Williwaw Peak.



And I'm wondering why I ever wanted to run here?