Whitefish, MT, the site of this year's Two Bear Marathon.
Due in large part to forgetting just how difficult and painful my first marathon was, as well as a hefty dose of stupidity, I have decided to train for and run another marathon. But did I pick a flat, paved course similar to the Portland Marathon? Hell no! I picked a rugged trail race in Montana, with ample opportunities to twist an ankle, and 4100+ feet of hills to climb. Oh, and bears. Grizzly bears! So on top of running 26.2 miles of isolated hilly trail with 200 other insane people, I risk grizzly bear attack. Or a black bear. Or a pissed off bull elk. Why am I doing this again?
The Two Bear Marathon is on September 13th of this year in Whitefish, Montana. It’s a pretty mountain town in northwest Montana, 30 minutes from Glacier National Park and an hour from the Canadian border. A massive ski resort, lakes, rivers and mountains in every direction means that this place is an outdoorsman’s paradise. It’s beautiful there, and I certainly love the mountains more than the wheat and lentil covered hills in Pullman.
I, however, will not be thinking about that come September. I will be more focused on 1) Charging up yet another hill. 2) Worrying about surprising a grizzly bear (Seriously, grizzly bears scare me) and 3) Rolling my ankle, falling off of a cliff, dying, or something equally as bad.
In the meantime though, I’ve got lots of training miles to get through. Last week’s training went really well. I happened to be in Whitefish last week with my girlfriend to see her new niece, so was able to put in my Saturday and Sunday run up there.
Tues 5/19: 2.96 miles in 24:47 at 8:23/mi
Wed 5/20: 4.98 miles in 44:02 at 8:50/mi
Thurs: 5/21: 2.95 miles in 24:58 at 8:27/mi
Sat: 5/23: 4.76 miles in 42:32 at 8:55/mi
Sun: 5/24: 8.26 miles in 1:18:16 at 9:28/mi
Total miles: 23.91 miles
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