Before my run, it was ballet class for Lena. It was “parent visit day” which meant I got to watch Lena strut her stuff and show off what she’s learned. Throughout class, Lena was a chatterbox and had to comment about everything. I nearly died when the early 20-something year old teacher told the students they can roll onto their backs, but she was just going to go part way down. Lena loudly exclaimed in front of the whole class and their parents, “That’s because you’re old and you’ll hurt yourself.” I wanted to crawl under the chair I was sitting on.
With as chatty as she is, she obviously has been paying attention. This is her 2nd year in ballet and I am so impressed by the grace and form she possesses while dancing. When it came time for the class to demonstrate five positions, I was amazed at her concentration. I also learned that three students in her class will be chosen to be the “baby mice” in the Nutcracker this December. I asked Lena if she wanted to be one and she said, “I was a mouse last year for Halloween, so nah, not really.”
After ballet we came home, made some grilled cheese sandwiches and then I headed out for my run with an old Haines compadre Kelly. Kelly took over the fair after I left and did an excellent job managing it. She and her husband recently left Haines and moved to Juneau. (We are starting a trend where ex fair directors take exile in Juneau after running the fair.) Kelly is a runner, and I mean, she is a RUNNER. She has run the Golden Circle (Skagway to Haines) twice. That’s 360 miles, and she ran it in 12 days at 30-40 miles a day. She’s also participated in 50 mile runs, countless marathons and she was supposed to run a 100 miler last week, but couldn’t get the time off work. I was fully prepared for her to kick my sorry ass.
Kelly suggested we run the Herbert Glacier trail which I was very excited about for two reasons. One, I’ve never been on the trail and two, I’ve only been doing road running and I was very eager to get out on some soft ground and away from traffic. The run to the base of the glacier is about 4.5 miles. I only needed to run six, but having never been to the base of the glacier, Kelly suggested we push on, and we did. We walked some, but mostly we ran and it felt so good! The rain stopped and the sun came out creating spectacular beams of sunlight creeping through the mossy forest. Kelly was a great running partner. We talked about the fair, living in Haines, running, and about life in general. Overall, we put in over 8 miles and I am happy to report, it didn’t kill me and I don’t hurt. I can’t wait to go running with Kelly again!
The day ended with a birthday party for my friend Karl at Bullwinkle’s. I gorged on taco pizza and popcorn and watched the girls shoot animals on a video game. For a ballerina, Lena sure knows how to take down a moose.
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