Occupation: Governor of Alaska

Age: 45

Residence: Wasilla, Alaska

When did you start running?

I grew up in a running family. My parents caught the running craze in the mid ’70s and we grew up doing family runs. I’ve been running now easy for 35 years.

Do you remember your first race?

My dad was a track coach and he’d get all the neighborhood kids together and take us to Anchorage for track meets when we were very young. Anchorage is 50 miles from Wasilla. And ever since we were little, we’d do 10K races as family fun runs.

So you grew up running with your siblings?

Yes, and my siblings and parents were better runners than I was. My mom and dad were marathoners, and one of my sisters is a marathoner. Dad ran Boston a couple times, Mom would win her age group or at least get a ribbon in the big races, and I would just try to keep up.

Sounds like your skills were more suited to basketball?

Well, I appreciated the fact that in running I needed guts more than anything. I could do fine just being really determined. I was thankful that I didn’t need a whole lot of skills to run.

And running was your first athletic activity, even before basketball?

Yes. My parents instilled in us that fitness and running were going to be a part of our lives growing up. My siblings and I are all still very active. A lot of days I look forward to getting out to run and think and plan.

Was there ever a period when you didn’t run?

Only when I was too pregnant to run. During each of my five pregnancies, I worked out until right before the babies were born. A few summers ago I trained hard and ran a sub-four-hour marathon [2005 Humpy’s Marathon in Anchorage]. That was a pretty intense summer of running. There have been other periods where I haven’t had the time to get out there and run as hard, so it’s waned on and off over the years.

If you go a day or a week without running, what do you learn about yourself?

I feel so crappy if I go more than a few days without running. I have to run. No matter how rotten I feel before or during a run, it’s always worth it to me afterwards. Sweat is my sanity. A great frustration I had during the campaign was when the McCain staff wouldn’t carve out time for me to go for a run. The days never went as well if I couldn’t get out there and sweat.

Did you raise that issue, and put the ultimatum down that you needed to run?

Absolutely, and they would say, “Yes, in a couple of days we’re going to start carving out that half-hour or hour to run,” and too often it never happened, and that was frustrating. But then it also made it sweeter when I did get out. I would run with the Secret Service and Todd [Palin’s husband], if he was on the trail, and it was just such an amazing thing to be running in so many states and communities with such different things to see and experience. But it should have happened more often.

Tell me about a memorable run during the campaign that really stands out.

Oh, my gosh, the one that really stands out I’m embarrassed to death to repeat. I went for a run at John McCain’s ranch a couple of days before the debate with Joe Biden. My favorite thing in the world is to run on hot, dusty roads. I don’t get enough of that in Alaska, so I was in heaven. And there were plenty of hills, so I knew my thighs were going to just throb and my lungs were going to burn, and that’s what I crave.

I like running alone, and having the Secret Service with me added a little bit of pressure. I’m thinking I gotta have good form and can’t be hyperventilating and can’t be showing too much pain, and that adds a little more pressure on you as you’re trying to be out there enjoying your run. Then I fell coming down a hill and was so stinkin‘ embarrassed that a golf cart full of Secret Service guys had to pull up beside me. My hands just got torn up and I was dripping blood. In the debate you could see a big fat ugly Band-Aid on my right hand. I have a nice war wound now as a reminder of that fall in the palm of my right hand. For much of the campaign, shaking hands was a little bit painful.

I don’t remember news reports about it.

Heck no! I made those guys swear to secrecy. And I probably should have gotten a couple stitches. But I was insisting with these guys, “Absolutely not, let’s just wash it out.” I appreciated how much care they took to help me out. So anyway, I have a little scar on my hand, and I’ve seen a couple of pictures from the debate or of me waving to someone on the campaign trail with that Band-Aid and I think, nobody else knows about it.

So the Secret Service guys kept silent?

They did! And I have this great respect for them that they’ve kept silent all these months later.

Tell me about running in Alaska.

It’s so cool to go out on a summer night at 10 or 11 o’clock with the sun still shining and the beauty of Alaska right there at my feet. Winter isn’t as much fun, but even when it’s 20 or 30 below and pitch black, I still try to get out. I just put on tons of layers and bigger shoes so I can wear two pairs of wool socks. There are runners all over our state. I’m just one of hundreds of thousands out there getting that good clean Alaskan air whether it’s 20 below or 60 with the sun shining at midnight.

What was your coldest run?

Would have to have been when I traveled to Fairbanks for hockey games and tournaments all through [eldest son] Track’s childhood. I’d get out and run while he was at practice or there was a game. Those had to be 20 or 30 below.

How do you prepare for a run when it’s that cold?

After all these years you know what to wear. Just covering all the exposed skin on your face, we’re used to doing that anyway when going outdoors in Alaska. My husband’s a snow machine racer, and they live by duct tape covering every exposed portion of skin. We do the same thing while running, not with duct tape like the snow machine racers, but with different fleece, different layers to cover every exposed part. To me it’s not as much fun because you have to concentrate on your footing and you have the cold conditions to worry about. That’s why anytime I travel or it’s summertime in Alaska, I capitalize on any opportunity to run because it’s so freeing.

Even still you try to get in a run every day, even in Fairbanks?

I wish it were every day. I don’t like to go more than a few days without running, but yeah. And when I travel outside of Alaska, everybody knows, whoever’s traveling with me, that no matter what, I’m going to find that time to run. I don’t like running early in the morning, although I’ll do it if I have to. Taking a lunch-hour run works for me logistically as a mom. Getting out after work means being away from my kids for another hour, which makes me feel guilty.

Do you ever run on a treadmill?

I do, and I don’t like to. I have one in my garage at home, and I do the treadmill when I must. What I need to get is an elliptical. I enjoy it more than the treadmill, and it’s easier on my knees.

Any shoe preference?

I’m into Asics right now. I was into Nikes forever because the way the shoes fit was so predictable. But then a friend of mine put me in a pair of Asics—Gel something, I don’t remember what they’re called—and I loved them.

Ever been attacked by an animal out in the wilds of Alaska?

Never been attacked, but one time I walked into a mama black bear and her cubs in a tree by the governor’s house. On the routes I run in Wasilla and Anchorage, I see moose all the time. I’ve just learned to leave them alone.

Do you wear jingle bells or is that just a tourist thing?

[Laughs] You know it can’t be just a tourist thing because my parents wore the bells when they did trail runs years ago, and they’re the furthest thing from a tourist you’ll ever encounter in Alaska. I’ve never worn them. I get spooked once in awhile when I’m running a trail and I hear a rustling in the woods, but it just makes me run faster and get the heck out of there.

What kind of scenery do you like running by there in Alaska? Is there a particular mountain or glacier that stands out?

Oh my gosh, here in Juneau there’s a beautiful route you can run right along Mendenhall Glacier. You see it right there. In Anchorage we have a coastal trail that takes you along Cook Inlet. You can see the largest peak in North America, Mount McKinley, and active volcanoes on the horizon. You can see whales out in the water. It’s absolutely heaven. I see God’s hand all over this place. As I get out there and run, I see the most beautiful signs of this evolutionary process that has created the mountains and the glacial retreats that have left the valleys and the rivers

You pretty much prefer to run alone?

I do, I do.

And why’s that?

I don’t like to talk while I’m running. It’s the only time I really am alone, so it’s a precious time. If I do a race with friends, they know I’m not going to run alongside them, but it’s fun to start and finish together. Running with [1-year-old son] Trig in the baby jogger is nice since I don’t have to say anything. He likes to hear me sing.

But the most precious experience I’ve had running was a few summers ago when I was training for a marathon and my son Track—and I named him Track for running—would drive out in front of me and plant water bottles along the route. I felt so spoiled, like the queen of the running world to have a kid who was all cool with his pickup truck, dropping off water for me on my long runs. And he’d put a note on the bottles, saying, “Love you, Mom” and “Run hard, Mom.” It was just the most precious summer of my life to have that and then to cap it off with an all-time marathon best [3:59:36]. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the whole world.

What did your parents teach you about running?

They taught me self-discipline and goal setting. The self-discipline it took for my dad to train for and qualify for Boston, eating healthy and getting up in those Alaskan morning conditions where it would be 20 below. To see that example of what it takes to accomplish a goal, the determination it took, taught me so much. He used to tell us to call on the rock during a race when we were hurting and we were tired and wanted to quit. He always told us to articulate what it is we’ve trained for, what it is we’re prepared for, and hold onto it when it hurts so bad in a race. We all have a different rock, but Dad inspired us with the knowledge that we could reach down deep and get strength from it. And that’s not just a lesson when you’re out there dying on the 23rd mile of a marathon but one for getting through daily life. Sometimes you’ve got to call upon your rock to get through the tough times.

And so what’s your rock?

First and foremost, like my Mom’s inspiration has always been, I have my faith in God. Then I have all the preparation, so I know I can get through it. It’s kind of like I’ve been there before and the best part of the rock I can call upon is the preparation that allows me to know that I can get through it. Looking back, I’m really thankful for all my less-than-pleasant running experiences because I learned through each one, and I can put it all to good use being the CEO of a state full of diverse views and personalities and issues. My social fabric was forged through running. We like to be active and outdoors with friends and family, whether it’s running or skiing or snow machining. We live on a lake, so it’s awesome to play in the water in the summertime and to build an ice rink in the wintertime. We like to have other people participate in these activities with us because, as Plato said, “You learn more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” Todd has had businesses all these years, and he’s brought potential employees with him out on snow-machine rides and up to our cabin so he could see what they’re made of. So we’ve put that love of sports into how we run our businesses, and that’s worked well, too.

So are you one to invite political friends or foes out for a run or a game of basketball?

Yes, mostly, though, with my kids. When my three teenagers have their friends over, we play one-on-one or H-O-R-S-E and I like to see if they’re going to whine and hack and cuss and foul or if they’re going to be out there having a good time and working hard.

In terms of wanting to get out there with political friends, I used to joke around with John McCain during the campaign about coming jogging with me. And once I asked him what his favorite exercise was, and he said, ’I go wading.‘ Wading. He lives on a creek in Arizona, so he goes wading. That cracked me up.

So he didn’t take you up on your offer to run together?

No, but we still want to get him up to Alaska to take him skiing or snow machining. He’d have a blast doing that.

Have you run with other famous people or politicians?

I have not because I usually sneak out to go running, or if someone offers I usually shoot straight with them and say, “I gotta go run by myself, I’m sorry.”

What has running taught you about politics?

Same thing it’s taught me about life: You have to have determination and set goals, and you don’t complain when something’s hurting because no one wants to hear it. You get bummed and burned out sometimes in running and in politics, but if you’re in for the long haul and you’re in it because you know that it is a good thing, then you get out there and you do it anyway. You know, [former RW columnist] George Sheehan really could articulate what running means in terms of applicability to life. During the campaign, when people asked me about my favorite authors, I said C.S. Lewis, John Steinbeck, and Dr. George Sheehan, and people would look at me, these reporters, like, “Who in the world is that?” But his books and columns so inspired me 10, 15, 20 years ago, and still do. I remember what he wrote about applying the lessons of running to relationships and families and businesses and, in my case, running a state. He was a brilliant man.

Can you think of some specific passages you remember or lessons learned from his work?

I remember reading one of his columns about the beauty of where he was running that day. And I thought how lucky I am to be in a place that has these protections of our environment and that has stuck with me ever since—to not take for granted that Alaska has such beauty to offer.

If the campaign had turned out differently, you would have been in Washington D.C. much of the time. Was there a part of you that was a little reluctant to leave behind the landscape of Alaska for four or eight years?

Alaska would be hard to give up because it is such a part of who I am. So much of my life revolves around the great outdoors that that would be kind of tough. But on the other hand, I think of being in D.C. and in a position to promote physical fitness and the benefits of making good decisions healthwise and being an example to others, and I know that could do some good for our country.

Favorite running movie?

“Chariots of Fire,” of course, is absolutely beautiful. My favorite movies are sports movies, “Hoosiers,” “Rudy”. They both were about the underdog working hard and being successful because preparation met opportunity at the right time. I love those movies.

The day you were picked for to be the vice-presidential candidate must have been quite world-shaking. Did you feel like running or did you go running that day?

I had gone running earlier that day, and when I got the call from the McCain campaign, I was at the Alaska State Fair walking with my kids. And, yeah, those earth-shattering times of life for runners, isn’t it funny that going for a run is one of the first things we think of doing? For me it’s like, right on. I like to go celebrate by taking a long, hot run.

So running is celebratory when good things happen in your life?

In May, Todd asked me what I wanted for Mother’s Day. I said, “Give me an hour for my run and I’ll be happy.”

What’s your thing with liking heat so much? It’s a little contrary to being such a devoted Alaskan.

I don’t know. I’m always running about 10 degrees colder than everyone around me; I’m always cranking up the heat. I think because we do have so many cold days here, it’s such a luxury and a pleasure to go somewhere warm. I think you guys who get a lot of warm weather take it for granted and you shouldn’t. I thought that was a great part of the campaign—we’d be out there at events or up there on stage just sweatin’ like pigs, and I loved it.

When you run, what do you imagine you look like to passersby?

When I run, I’m totally incognito because I’m not wearing the trough full of makeup. I can go running through a mob of tourists and they don’t recognize me.

So you’re almost another person because you look so different and people don’t recognize you as the person you are the other 23 hours of the day?

Yes, without my makeup on. What I’ve been doing lately is bringing Piper—she just turned eight, and she’s really starting to get into running. We do a goal-setting thing where we pick a spot on the road up ahead and that’s our goal, then we set another goal. It’s been a blast bringing Piper into this these last couple of months.

Has running gotten harder as you’ve gotten older?

For me it’s getting harder just because my life is much busier. But physically I go through stages of having some bum knees and then the knees will heal up if I ratchet back a bit on the miles and maybe do the elliptical for a few weeks. I have a really bum ankle from a high school basketball injury. It still swells and gives me some grief, and the older I get, the worse it feels. I don’t know if I attribute it to age or having five kids. That takes a little bit of a toll on one’s body, too.

Have you kept running through your pregnancies?

Um-huh, I do. But like with this last one with Trig, I was pregnant with him in the wintertime, so I didn’t run as much. But I still went to the gym and did the elliptical and lifted and did a couple different classes. With each of the kids, I worked out until they were born.

How long after giving birth before you’re running again?

It wasn’t like the very next week, it would be weeks. With Trig, it was relatively soon because I felt so good throughout the pregnancy and so great recovering, it was just a couple of weeks later and I was running again.

What’s the funniest thing that happened on a run?

In Anchorage on the coastal trail there have been many times where I’ve had to stop right in my tracks and turn around because there’s been either a moose standing there staring at me or a moose’s butt plopping on over into the trail. I have to turn around and leave, or I’m going to get clobbered.

Is running nonpartisan?

Oh, thank God, it’s nonpartisan. It doesn’t matter your background, your demographics, your race, your political affiliation—it’s such a uniting, healthy, fun, awesome activity. It cracks me up going to some running event and seeing some dude who campaigned so hard against me, or a lady who’s been blogging some mean comments about me. But we’re all there together and we’re smiling and we’re having a good time because we’re going to do something healthy and active. We need more of that. That’s what sports are able to do. It’s a wonderful kind of diversion from the divisiveness that is politics or that is life. And my parents, they’ve got so many friends from so many different political bents because of all their years participating in races and organizing races. I was lucky enough to have been brought up in that atmosphere where I see the value in that.

Our president, I’m told, is a runner. Would you ever run with him?

I would, absolutely. I would and people have asked if I’d ever challenge him to one-on-one because we both love basketball. But look, he towers over me and I wouldn’t be complaining about an unfair advantage there, but maybe I’d do better playing H-O-R-S-E with him than one-on-one.

What about in a race? Could you beat the president?

I betcha I’d have more endurance. My one claim to fame in my own little internal running circle is a sub-four marathon. It wasn’t necessarily a good running time, but it proves I have the endurance within me to at least gut it out and that is something. If you ever talk to my old coaches, they’d tell you, too. What I lacked in physical strength or skill I made up for in determination and endurance. So if it were a long race that required a lot of endurance, I’d win.

In Alaska or D.C.?

I’d like him to come to Alaska so he can see the beauty of this 49th state.

Do you listen to music during your runs?

I go through cycles there, too. Right now I’m not listening to anything, but probably in a month or two I’ll start craving music. That’s the way it’s been for 35 years. Parts of the year I want to listen to something, parts of the year I don’t. When I do listen, I crank up old Van Halen, old AC/DC. I have a nice routine: I kick off my runs with the old Van Halen and AC/DC, then I get into my country music, then I always wrap it up with a couple of mellow Amy Grant songs.

You program the music into your iPod?

Yes, I finally stopped carrying around the clunky CD player. The kids finally convinced me, not only was it not cool, but it also wasn’t practical.

Is there anything else the world should know about you as a runner?

The only other thing I’d like to add is I’ve been very fortunate to be a recipient of all the efforts people put into Title IX all those years ago where girls got equal opportunity to participate in sports and extracurricular activities because sports growing up were my world. I’m so thankful for Title IX allowing equal access to these opportunities, and I’m a huge proponent of girls being able to realize what they’re made of by participating in sports, and whatever I can do there I’m going to be doing.

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