Or say they say. We started off our Greenland trip at the tiny Reykjavik Airport. If you think Rapid City airport is small, you have not seen anything. We tried checking in but for some reason our tickets were "unpaid." After a few phone calls to the travel agent we eventually got our tickets. This airport is so small it only has 6 gates but they are all outside. There are two security guards at screening and I made the metal detector go off because of my underwire bra...I guess they take security serious. LOL!

Propeller Plane

Like a blast from the past, WAY past, we boarded our small propeller plane. Outside my window was the propeller...not very comforting seeing it spin...it could spin off and tear me in two! Before we took off I had to laugh at Air Iceland's magazine-which described the aircraft as quiet. Ya right! It was ear shattering at take off but once airborne it was actually pretty quiet. They served us real food. We had ham and cheese croissant and it was pretty good. The flight was uneventful but two hours long. It seems like an eternity!

Gravel Runway...seriously!

It was very cloudy so we could not see much on the approach into Kulusuk. It was not the most pleasant landings, I knew going in that the runway was gravel. But it was really weird landing on something other than pavement. We taxied to the one door.

Kulusuk

Once we deplaned we meet our tour guide inside. We walked into town from the airport which was about 2 miles. Along the way we could see the Glaciers and mountains. Once in town we walked past tiny shacks. They got electricity in 1988. No indoor plumbing and a communal bathroom. Not something I could live with. We meet some very friendly puppies. They were so cute and just loved us up. They will be sled dogs soon. Another thing that was different was the smell of rotting seals.   They live on seals as that is the only animal on the island besides artic foxes. In order to keep the them "fresh," they tie them up in the water. Yuck!

Kulusuk

Dead seals

Friendly Puppy!

The Store

Our first stop was the store. Nothing too exciting. They had Heinz ketchup which made me laugh but mostly it was just essential foods...and it closed at noon! We bought some candy and made it over to a house. This is where we had a choice. We could watch a drum demonstration or take a boat trip out the Glacier and Icebergs...we chose the latter.

Boat tour

Well one of the local fisherman, put us in his tiny fishing boat (which we had to climb down the rocks on the shore to get in) and took us out to the Glacier and Icebergs. He did not say much and at one point we were taking in water so he was dumping it out with a bucket. Not very comforting! We got close to some of the iceberg and they were awesome. He brought us back to the airport. Again he just pulled up by the rocks and we had to climb up to the road. I would say that was quite adventurousness!

Flight home

We went through "security" to the one gate to board our flight back to Reykjavik. Again we got a ham and cheese croissant. It was nice to see Reykjavik from the sky. An added plus of the trip.

We stopped for some food and crashed at the apartment the rest of the night.

It was such a busy day. We boarded our Icelandair flight at 8pm and we set out for our adventure. The flight was full and uneventful except for the baby who cried in front of us for at least an hour or two. We both tried sleeping but we did not do too well. Thankfully the sun was shining in Reykjavik when we landed and it was awesome. The sun kept us awake! After getting our bags we headed to the rental car place for our tiny new ride. It is tiny and cute...I guess.

A Hyundai i20 (if you were curious)

The Golden Circle
One of the most famous tours in Iceland is the Golden Circle.  Here is the route we followed (and so did all the other tours from Reykjavik! We ran into the same people over and over again. I'm so glad we have a rental car!

Thingvellir National Park
Our first stop after picking up a MiFi (internet pack) was to the Thingvellir National Park...part of the Golden Circle Tour. This National Park is the sight of the first Parliament in 906 AD. It is also a spot on the Almannagjá, the continental drift between the North American and Eurasian Plates. Basically Iceland is breaking apart. Hence the earthquakes and volcano spewing ash. There was a very nice waterfall called Öxarárfoss. Here are a few shots from the beautiful National Park.

The Bumble Bee
There was this bumble bee that loved me.  We stopped at three different places in the National Park and bumble bees were at all of them. They were attracted to me. At one point Eric was laughing as I ran in circles to get away from them.  Next stop was the Geysir area...and another bumble bee!

The Geysir

The Geysir area reminds me of Yellowstone. There are geysirs everywhere emitting steam and it smells! The Stokkur erupts every few minutes. It is like Old Faithful. This is the only one that still erupts. The other ones just steam. After Geysir we stopped at the café for food. It was pretty terrible food and cost a ton. Oh well...Here is Stokkur:

 

The Gullfoss

After we went to Gullfoss, the most popular waterfall in the country. I hate to compare it to something in the US but it Iceland's version of Niagara, They even compare it to Niagara on the sign, They say this one is more powerful. It was very impressive, we did not see the rainbow as it was cloudy when we got there. See:

The Kerið

On our way back to Reykjavik we stopped at the Kerid...the crater. This was the only place we had to pay to see. It was $3...yep, we used dollars. It was not that exciting either so that was a pity. Here is what we saw:

Reykjavik

We finally made ​​it to Reykjavik and our apartment. The owner was great. He showed us around and gave us helpful advice. Even he provided a cell phone to take with us around the country ... I wish I had know that before I paid for the MiFi!   It is a nice studio apartment and when I say studio, I mean studio...it used to be an artist studio! There are no windows but there are lots of skylights and it is huge. And the location is right on the shopping street but our unit is behind the main unit so we do not get the loud street noise which Reykjavik is known for. It is awesome! I love it.

Updated 9/9/14 to fix numerous gramatical errors. I was having trouble with blogger trying to translate this page over and over and was messing up the wording.

So maybe doing a long 6 mile run the night before a transatlantic flight wasn’t the smartest thing I could have done. But lets be honest, I ran 6 miles three times in August and never really had any problems afterwards, why would last night’s run be any different. Well it was.

The Soccer Game

At the last minute, Eric got switched to a different game at a different time. He had to get to Holy Family in Victoria by 5pm. Well there is no way he would get there if I didn’t come with so he could use the car pool lane. So I had a couple options, one was drive home…but that didn’t make any sense because as soon as I would get home from Victoria, I would have to turn around and go back and get him. I could have watched the game but not really of interest to me. I could also go shopping but I didn’t feel like it. So I did what I thought was a great idea…run. But not just a run…a LONG run.

The Run

I dropped Eric off and drove to the Carver Reserve Park. A beautiful park with lots of lakes and a paved running path. I had never been there before so I thought I’d give it a shot. The first mile my feet were burning. I have toe issues with long runs where my toes hurt or go numb. The running store suggested ball cushions. I think they are the reason I’m in pain today. I stopped running after the first mile and took them out. They didn’t work, they made my shoe too tight. I was so relieved when I put my shoe back on. The course was very hilly, much more than I expected (reason 2 for my pain). I struggled through 6 miles. I felt lost for 2 miles because the map at the various intersections had the “you are here” mark in the same spot so I wasn’t really sure where I was during that time. My phone was useless too because it showed me in the lake! Fortunately I found my way back to my car.

The Pain

Almost immediately the pain started on the top of my left foot. It swelled up and now it hurts to walk. Great! I iced it last night and Eric put some Icy Hot on it (he is obsessed with Icy Hot!). That did nothing. I didn’t even feel the cold/hot sensation like I usually do. My foot is still swollen. I have been icing it at work and I’m wearing compression socks to hopefully keep blood flowing and reduce swelling. I think that is the right thing to do but I’m not really sure. I like to self-diagnose and I think it is Extensor Tendonitis.

So to recap, I have a swollen foot and I’m going to board a plane in a few hours for a very long flight with no way to elevate or ice my foot. See the trouble there?  

Not only that but the treatment is to not run...I want to run Iceland. I hope it heals before the last day so I can go run again (before another long flight...maybe not wise!)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…I’m vacation cursed! 

Runs: 16

Miles: 64.6
Races: 4 (Chili 10K - 1:19; Fifteen’s 5K - 35:13; Minneapolis Duathlon - walked; Women Rock - 36:13)
Outdoors: All!
Indoors: None

Longest: 6.3 miles
Average Pace: 12:37

August was awesome!!  I started out ill prepared for a 10K but finished with my most miles ever and my fastest pace ever! The Chili 10K was a tough race as there were only 10 participants but I got 3rd in my age group! After that run, I realized I could run longer again and be just fine. I did many 4 and 5 miles runs. My average run distance was 4 miles! Including the 10K race, I ran 6 miles 3 times! The Fifteen’s 5K was my best race for overall time at 35:13 and Women Rock was my fastest pace with 11:16. My last mile being the fastest! So it was a good month.

Trophies for August