I’m diverging here a bit from Amazonian adventures for the sake of propelling forward another goal of mine: finishing the New York City Marathon on Nov. 2.  I’ve said before that this has been a goal of mine for approximately four and a half years and that finally I have the chance to make it happen; I’ve been granted guaranteed entry into the race.

Woo hoo.  The only problem is that I’m about the laziest person ever to train for competitions.  I have a hard time staying on focus and my general life schedule is rather erratic.  This would make it hard for even the disciplined person to keep up a good routine, but for the undisciplined, a nightmarish feat.  For the past month, I have been erratically exercising.  Going on hikes, bike rides, running etc., but none of it organized into any training schedule.  I don’t feel bad about this, I’ve been having fun and my body has been getting stronger.

I do envy people who have strong self-discipline.  Take my friend Andrea for example. She’s competing in her first triathlon in a few weeks (go Andrea!) and in setting that goal for herself, she also researched various training schedules and … (gasp!) follows the one she selected.

Yesterday, Aug. 1, actually marked the first day of my “official” training season.  It wasn’t anything spectacular (a mellow three-miler), but it felt good to know that I’ve got myself a schedule and a plan to stick to it.

I’m moving forward and for the next three months, Fairbanks will be my playground.  There are a few runs – and bike rides – I am particularly looking forward to (like the 15-mile Granite Tors loop).  I also head back to Colorado Springs in a few weeks and plan to drag my dad up the Incline at least once.  I was pretty pleased to see this brutal trail featured in today’s New York Times as a gem of a training opportunity, or a what the article describes as a “beast, a bear and a battle-ax” for Olympians training at the Olympic Training Center.  I hate going uphill generally, but this trail awards your effort mightily with beautiful views from the 8,500 feet.  And it is quite a bear.

Speaking of views, I had the chance last week to go up in a four-seater airplane with some friends who are making a documentary about the Alaska Baseball League.

For an hour, we flew over the Fairbanks field (the Goldpanners were playing the Oilers) and other landmarks in town.  The University, the pipeline, the Tanana River, downtown…

I couldn’t help but think about how different the Fairbanks area is from the rest of the state.  Its beauty more subtle.  Found in the vastness of the landscape and the gentle sweeps of the hills and curves of the rivers.

I also couldn’t help but think about how lucky I am – this is my playground.  And I love that I get to train here for a marathon held smack dab in the middle of one of the most populated places on Earth (with nary a moose for miles).