Lazy Wednesday Friends, Not Quite!

Looking down Lazy Mountain trail - April 15

There's an annual mountain running race in the Matanuska Valley called, "The Crazy Lazy." It's held near the end of March just as the sun is starting to extend over the horizon for a decent amount of daylight and the snow is turning slushy. It rightfully earns it's name.  The race entails a steep two mile trail with 3,000 feet of climbing to the top of Lazy Mountain, then descends down another path and finishes on a slightly uphill single track to make an elongated triangle of about 6 miles. Each year, I think about racing it, but usually I can come up with some reason why I won't be on the list of participants. The best and what most people simply nod their head and agree to is, "Who wants to be hurt racing down Lazy before summer even begins?"

Contrary to what the above statement might imply, I enjoy climbing Lazy Mountain and racing, but putting the two in the same sentence makes me breathless instantly, so I avoided doing so.  Enter August 2019 where I met the Lazy Wednesday friends on a Sunday hike. They invited me to join them at 6:00 a.m. to hike Lazy.

"Every Wednesday, all year round, to the top?" I wasn't sure if I spoke those words out loud, but I sure was thinking them. Casually I asked, but secretly wondering if I had a way out without sounding like a wimp. "And when are you back to the parking lot?"  Before 8:00 and yes they confirmed, it was a round trip, on the two mile trail up, and year-round they hiked. While calculating their pace and intensity, I spun through my rolodex excuse file and said, "Sounds like fun, but I have cyclocross races every Saturday until mid-October and I don't want to wear out my legs."

For my abilities, I wasn't exactly telling them lies. I had climbed Lazy enough to learn what fitness was needed to do what they did.  While I could do it that quickly when I'm in good shape, I didn't hike that hard normally or weekly and probably only hiked that hard two or three times a year when I happen to be feeling good and the trail conditions were just right. Furthermore, those early morning exercise days disappeared when the boys graduated from high school. I hadn't woken up on a school day before 7:30 in years.  Their friendly reply, "join us then" silently beckoned me as the weeks went by.

October - First Lazy Morning Run

In October, the vibrating and buzzing sound of my phone alarm on the bedside stand at 5:15 a.m. awakened me and nervously I wondered what kind of commitment have I gotten myself into this winter. It will be like I'm racing Lazy Mountain every week.

Two cups of coffee and a peanut-butter sandwich later, I'm standing in the parking lot with my headlamp taking up my position at the back of the pack, because I hate feeling like I'm holding others back. Soon I realized if I don't talk much on the way up, I can mostly keep up.

A few hours later, I'm rushing through the door at school, hiking gear on, clean clothes in bag, red faced and soaked in sweat. The first time this happened the ladies in the front office looked at me with the strangest of expressions. I explained how I joined up with a group of ladies who are fast, they made me work hard, and surprisingly, I loved every minute of it.

Fall turned into winter and winter into spring.  Go figure. . . . just this morning, there I was in the parking lot with no flashlight even needed for the first time.  I've concluded: these Lazy Wednesday friends are a group of dedicated Crazies, who I can't help but follow up the mountain each week!