My Running Partners

I go running most everyday. On those days when I just can't manage a run due to stress or illness then I at least walk a couple miles. Until the trails melt out and dry up I'm relegated to running on the highway. This isn't as bad as it sound because our "highway," especially at this time of year doesn't have much traffic on it. Now in a month or so when dipnetting opens at Chitina then it'll be a different story. By then the dirt trails will be all ready for some serious training!


Most days when I go out I have a dedicated running partner which is my Airedale Chet. He looks a little better now since he's been trimmed and has lost his winter shaggies. Then there are the days I walk in which case my partner changes to Kerril. Kerril is a lot of fun to take and a real traffic stopper. Well, if traffic doesn't stop, at least it slows WAY DOWN! You see, Kerril is a yak. I'm teaching her to lead and she will be taught to pack and broke to ride. She sure is a head turner on the highway. Those who know us when they drive by just think, "there goes Fithian's walking their yak again...." Strangers sometimes stop, or slow WAY down, drive a little farther and sometimes turn around and come back for another look.


Yup, I've got some really cool running "partners!" Well, I'm off to hit the road. Wonder who I'll take with me today...........

Run Barb Run!

"On September 18, 2010 I will be participating in the Equinox Marathon & Relay at Fairbanks, Alaska. I'll be training with and running for Team In Training to help raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. As you may already know, my older brother and mom both died from Leukemia within the last year and a half, so this is something that is very near and dear to my heart and I will be competing in their memory"

My personal goal is to raise at least $3000.00 to help find a cure for leukemia, lymphona and myeloma. If you want to find out more about Team In Training, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society or blood cancers in general visit my fundraising page.

My blog will be focusing on my training for the Equinox Marathon--the ups and downs of it and what it's like to train with Team In Training. I'll be sharing my fundraising milestones as well as those ever important training milestones.

I've been told that the Equinox could easily be the second most challenging marathon in the US. Whether that's true or not, after looking over the layout of the course I do know that it is going to be one of the most challenging things I've ever done! I like the idea of running on trails instead of paved roads/streets but am a little intimidated by the thought of the run up and down Ester Dome.

Will these 50yo knees stand the strain?...Am I crazy for wanting to try a marathon after not running/training for way too long?...Is this my "second childhood" or just a "mid-life crisis" that I'm going through?...WHAT have I gotten myself into?????? This and much much more is what goes through my head over and over again since I made the decision to do this.

But, once the doubts go away and my rational self returns, I realize that YES! I CAN DO THIS! Because like my friend Jen and I like to say... "I ain't no sissy girl!"

Well, I'm up to 30 minute runs at this point. My pace isn't very fast and my knees scream at me after 20 minutes but I am NOT going to quit. Even if I have to WALK this marathon, I am going to do it!

The Friend's Testimony

Many may wonder at the name "Wilderness Friend" as referenced in this blog. So, a brief explanation may be in order.
Wilderness is where we live. Alaska, the great land; the last frontier; land of the midnight sun (and sometimes the noonday moon!). We spend much time as a family actually in the wilderness part of Alaska, far from roads and modern conveniences. Hence the "wilderness" part.
The "Friend" part comes from The Religious Society of Friends or Quakers as they are commonly called. I am a Conservative Friend by convincement (as opposed to by birth.) What does that mean? It is a discovery of Truth and denotes one who has become convinced of the truth of the Quaker way and is used to describe anyone who joins the Society of Friends. I have gone from being an "Enquirer" to a Quaker by fact of convincement. Not a quick and easy journey for me. I also would refer to myself as "Christocentric" which means I am a Quaker whose inspiration is essentially Christian and hold that the Society of Friends is essentially a Christian denomination. Further, I am a Conservative Friend and the following sums up my beliefs and was taken from words published by the Ohio Yearly Meeting on their website. (http://www.ohioyearlymeeting.org/2003_oym_beliefs.htm)

"This document is a summary of the contributions of individual Friends gathered at one worshipful session held during the 2003 session of Ohio Yearly Meeting for the purpose of articulating the common faith and beliefs of Friends in OYM. Friends who participated felt the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ move among them as they outlined their faith. However, this is not a comprehensive statement of OYM beliefs, nor is it to be taken as a creedal statement.

Jesus Christ lives and acts now within you and me. He is our hope of glory. Jesus, the living Word of God, will talk to us. He is the One who can speak to our condition. We experience Jesus Christ directly, drinking from the Living water and being refreshed as that spiritual stream flows over us. We can address God in prayer. When He speaks to us, we must listen and then obey.

Jesus’ outward work allowed us salvation from sin. His inner work transforms us. By God’s almighty power and grace we can be lifted out of sin into righteousness. God can break into our lives at any time, unexpectedly, to change what we do and even who we are.

We can pursue our own salvation by hanging our greed, lusts, anger, and other sins on the cross. By accepting the cross into our lives, we yield to and follow Christ.

Conversion, convincement, and transformation happen in different ways to different people. Some people experience an immediate, dramatic event; some people know steady spiritual growth; some people have both.

Truth does exist, and we can know it both individually and corporately. We know Truth through the immediate presence of Christ within us. The Scriptures, which were given by God, cannot contradict Truth. They contribute to our understanding of Truth, and they stand as a second authority to check our understanding of God’s Word within us.

When two or three are gathered together in Jesus’ name, He is in the midst of them. When we allow Him to work in and among us, He can bring us into corporate one-mindedness. We enter into corporate worship and business with the confident expectation that Christ, our pastor and shepherd, will direct us in both general practice and specific detail. God calls all believers into the priesthood, bestowing gifts and appointing members for the accomplishment of His will within the community. God calls us to faithfulness in using His gifts and to obedience in following His direction. An inward baptism is the only essential baptism, and spiritual communion with God is the only required communion.

We teach the importance of the commandments to trust in the Lord with all your heart, to acknowledge Him in all your ways, and to love one another. It is our desire that the words we have used here not be stumbling blocks in the communication of our faith but rather that our words reflect the Truth that we know."

There are many sites on the internet where one can find information on Quakers, both the Christian kind and the universalists.

Here are some of my favorite Conservative Quaker links:

www.quakerjane.com
www.quakeranne.com
www.ohioyearlymeeting.org
www.conservativefriend.org

These will certainly get you started.