Alaska

Last week I departed from the Motherland, and landed in Alaska well before my University training camp in order to tour a little bit of the state with my family.  As I mentioned in the previous post, we were to spend one week in Wasilla and one in Homer before heading back to Anchorage, where I will be going to school.  So, where do I begin?  Oh yeah, the airport!  Fun stuff always happens at the airport.  That day, the airport excitement began when our first flight was delayed by half an hour, and with a connecting flight waiting in Philadelphia, it was shaping up for an exciting sprint for the awaiting gates at the opposite end of the airport.  It was only a couple minutes before the gates were closing that I saw a couple of figures in the distance absolutely hauling it down the hallway.  I then realized that it must have been my family who had been waiting for their bags.  I really wish I had a watch ready, because I'm almost certain my dad dropped a sub-60 second 400 with sandals and a suitcase to get to the gates with seconds to spare.  In the end we all made it, and our excitement was over just in time for our 7 hour flight.  Then, the next thing I knew I was in Wasilla.  Where Sarah Palin lives.  It's a pretty small town, and I figured it wasn't too big of a long shot to see her at the grocery store or driving around town.  Until I found out she was in Iowa.  Not cool Sarah Palin, not cool at all.  But other than that, Wasilla was really cool.  There were mountains absolutely everywhere.  And animals too.  One of the big concerns I had when I visited Alaska was the bear population, and being in a relatively wooded area, I was sure a bear was going to jump out at me while I was running.  I decided I would stick to the gravel path alongside the only road close by, and run up and down that road all week.  The first day, I decide I would keep my run very relaxed and low-key to flush my legs out after the long flight.  6:30/mile pace was where I hoped to start off, but with fear of bears occupying my mind, I proceeded to start off with my first two miles each in 5:40, before somewhat settling down towards the end of the run.  I didn't actually see any bears at all in Wasilla, but I did see some moose-s? meese? as well as bald eagles and unbelievable amounts of salmon spawning in the streams.  All these animals were awesome, but there was one animal that wasn't awesome.  Basically every house had a guard dog that barked and barked and barked and barked and barked and chased me down the road until I reached the next house with a dog.  I think these dogs sort of adopted the road as an extension of their property, which didn't make it very fun for me.  But now they have nobody to chase! I left Wasilla 2 days ago, driving to Homer.  I heard good things about this place all week,  and it has lived up to expectations so far.  From what I've seen so far, it seems like a small fishing town with lots of old fishermen sporting bad-ass beards.  It's really scenic too, as the entire town is built on a hill overlooking the inlet, with no shortage of mountains and glaciers.  However, I hear that there are plenty of bears all over the place, so I've elected to do all my runs this week on a spit that goes 7km out into the ocean, where I don't need to worry about bears or a lack of scenic views.  And that's basically all I've been up to the past few days.  Just chilling in Alaska.  Get it? Chilling...Alaska?  AHAHAHA...ahaha...ah...never mind.  It's a good thing I picked up running, because I wouldn't have made it far as a comedian.  But for real, 18 C in Alaska beats 30+ C in T.O. any day.

So basically, what I'm trying to say is if you're searching for a spot to take a vacation, definitely consider Alaska.  It's awesome!  There really are no other words for it, just awesome.  Go see for yourself if you don't believe me! And if you do believe me.

On a separate note, I figured I should probably be taking a few pictures here and there to share a fraction of the awesome-ness of Alaska with my fellow readers, so I'll be posting some pics for you all to see.  It's a good thing that I'm in Alaska actually, because this is one of the only places I've been to where you only need to know how to click the button on top of the camera to produce postcard worthy pictures.  And you can keep clicking that button everywhere you go, because the scenery is endless.  I can't even imagine how amazing these pictures would be if they were taken by someone who knew a thing or two about photography.

Click Here to see a few of the pics I took

To be continued...

The Countdown Is On!

Less than 2 weeks from now, I will be in Alaska, and my journey up north couldn't have come at a better time!  I have a feeling mother nature has been mad at Toronto for a while, because she has been trying to set the city ablaze.  Today was 38 degrees!  No, not Fahrenheit... CELSIUS!  That's over 100 Fahrenheit, and with humidity included, it felt like 49 degrees.  Not a typo there folks, 49 degrees!  120 Fahrenheit!  I am so happy I didn't have a run planned today, or at all this week.  The past few days have all been north of 30 degrees without the humidity included, making it a perfect week to stay inside and turn on the air conditi...oh wait.  Broken A/C, that's right.  And to make matters worse, our car A/C broke a few days ago.  Yes, so I'm left to spend as much time as possible in the basement where it is marginally cooler, where I can be jealous of all the people living in Anchorage today.  It's about 20 degrees up there, and I hope it stays that way for at least a few more weeks.  But apart from the weather, I'm getting pumped for Alaska, and maybe a little nervous, but mostly pumped.  I'm sure it's going to be a wild couple of days, weeks, possibly even months in Anchorage getting all the new stuff sorted out, but I can't wait.  New country.  New state.  New city cities (good band).  New school.  New teachers.  New classes.  New friends.  New team.  New coaches.  New home.  Everything will be a little different living on my own, and while I may end up burning a couple of meals and forgetting to do laundry a couple of times, I'll get the hang of things.  Eventually.  

By the way, since I've been spending so much time inside, I figured I might as well be productive, so I taught myself how to use Photoshop to design a new blog layout.  Anything to stay out of the sun.  If we get any more of these heatwave days, I may just have to start up a whole new blog to complain about the weather!

Let's make this post a little bit running-related by saying that there is one heckuva track meet going on in Monaco later today, with guys like Bolt, Solinsky, Farah, Rupp, Bekele, Lagat, Tegenkamp, Wheating, Centrowitz, Armstrong, Rudisha, Symmonds, Uceny, and a whole bunch of studs competing at the Louis II Stadium.  Going to be awesome!  Just for the record, I'm calling Solinsky.

I think the following is a pretty appropriate and relevant song from the New Cities.  

Time to Recover

My track season is done.  I wrapped things up last night with a 1500m at the Toronto International Track and Field Games, and I came away with another mediocre performance, running 4:00.11 for 7th place on a windy night.  It's too bad that I wasn't able to break through and go under 3:58 last night, but I raced well, and closed in 46 seconds so there are a few positives to take away from the race.  Apart from the actual race, the entire day was awesome!  Nike put on a full-day clinic for all the high school runners where we got to chat with some of the Pros before the race, as well as getting decked out in new race gear, and a runnerspace interview! (see below)  Not to mention watching the actual meet, which was great to see in Toronto.  Walter Dix, Perdita Felicien, Dylan Armstrong, and Jared Connaughton highlighted the meet, and numerous fast times and big throws made it really exciting for the fans.  Hopefully the National Track League will continue to grow next year, and help raise the sport of Track and Field in Canada.  So now that my racing is officially over, I will completely shut down for the next few days, and get fully recovered before my build up to the upcoming cross country season.  Also, I only have another 3 weeks until I head up north to Alaska, and begin my University running career!

Click the link below to see my runnerspace interview.
Kevin Rooke - Be A Pro Clinic - Toronto International Track and Field Games 2011

A few more cool videos

Ok, this is going to be a dual-purpose blog post.  So, with a little less than 4 months until I depart to the big AK, I am getting pretty pumped!  I couldn't resist posting a few more videos that reveal more of what this great land has to offer.  If anyone reading this is considering ever visiting Alaska, these are definitely going to get you excited as well.

Additionally, I have to give a shout out to my friends over at UAA.  The Seawolves have been tearing it up on the track so far, with some huge PB's and records set in a bunch of races in the lower 48.  Keep it up Seawolves, and I can't wait to run with you guys next year!

Destination Alaska

One of the key perks in living in Alaska for the next few years, is that I will be surrounded with eye-opening experiences that I will likely never forget.  This is a great video I found showing the vast land of Alaska, and all it's beauty.  Anchorage is a city unlike any other that I have ever visited, and while the Alaskan wild spreads far further than the city itself, living so close to this kind of environment definitely gives Anchorage a similar level of awesomeness in my mind.  Now of course, I won't be climbing mountains and riding polar bears to school every day, but that's not too far off.  I really can't wait to discover what living in Alaska is really all about, and watching this video just makes me want to pack my bags and book a flight for tomorrow morning!

Officially a Seawolf!

Since Grade 9, I've been motivated not only by improving my track times and running faster than my competition, but also by the NCAA coaches that are continually looking for Canadian talent to recruit for their teams.  It's amazing to think that college coaches everywhere are willing to pay thousands of dollars each semester for you to attend their school and play the sport you love.  In my mind it was just further incentive to work hard for my chance to run with some of the best up and coming runners in the world.  4 years later, and I've officially signed with the University of Alaska Seawolves.  With the great training group, some of the best facilities in the world, too many trails to count, and their top notch competition schedule, I'm ready to roll with the big boys!