WORKING, running

So, since my last blog update, I've reentered the work force. Yikes! After over 5 years as a stay-at-home mom, it was a little scary, but it's been all good. I'm enjoying finally making money, and it's been working out great for Bryan and I to get time with John. It's definitely cut down on "family" time as a whole, since Bryan and I have to work opposite schedules, but I'm happy with it.
The only downside has been fitting in my runs. I'm getting it done, but it's been a struggle. Sometimes, I'm just not able to run due to our work/school schedules, but I'm trying. I'm a little nervous about the Nipmuck Trail Marathon that I have coming up in a month. I am definitely not ready. I haven't run over 15 miles yet. This past weekend was supposed to be an 18-miler, but Bryan's new job and Hurricane Irene disrupted that. So, this coming weekend, I'm going to have to manage a 20-miler somehow. I'm actually even considering bagging this marathon. The entry fee wasn't so much that I'd lose a lot of money, so I'm seriously considering it. I know I could go out there and finish the race, though, so I'm torn. It just wouldn't be a very good performance. We'll see.
I've had to cut my races down a bit, but I'm still getting them in as I can. In June and July, I ran two mountain races, the Cranmore Hill Climb and the Loon Mountain Run. The Cranmore Hill Climb was also the USATF Mountain Running Championships, so all the fast people were there. My training had been a little lackluster, due to sitting in my Wilderness EMT class 8-12 hours a day for a month, but I eeked out just enough mountain training to be in shape for the race.

Cranmore Hill Climb 2011

I was pretty happy with a 16th place finish and a decent time. I feel I can definitely do better next year and plan to actually train for mountain racing. My goal for next year is to do the whole New England Mountain Running Series.
A week after Cranmore, the Loon Mountain Race was held in Lincoln, NH. I made a last minute decision the night before to do this one, and I'm so glad I did. It was really tough, but I loved it. The weather was perfect and the course was torture, two of my favorite things about races. LOL. The race started at the bottom of Loon Mtn and made its way 5.7 miles up to one of the summits. I was really happy with my run here managed a 5th place female finish. While most people chose to take the lift back down, I chose to run back down, and it was amazing. I finally got to see the view!!

Loon Mtn Race 2011

Running back down Loon after the race

After Loon, I took a break from regular races and just stuck to our local weekly trail 5K at Whitaker Woods in North Conway. It was a 9-week race series, of which I ran 5. Unfortunately, I had to run 6 in order to count for a series win, but it didn't matter. I got to run two of the series runs with John for the kids one-mile, and I would much rather have done that than do the race for myself. In the 5 that I did run, I finished first female in all of them, so I'm happy with that. I think my fastest time was 20:40. I really enjoyed the series and plan to do it again next year.
That racing series left me happy not to do any other races for most of July, but by the beginning of August I was getting antsy so I signed up for the Bradbury Mountain Breaker 9-mile trail race in Pownal, Maine. I came to this race after working 11 days straight, on 5 hours of sleep and very sick. My lungs were so congested that I could barely breathe. So needless to say, this race was a struggle. At one point after the second loop, I considered dropping out. I was wheezing from the lung congestion. But I decided to just back off a little on my speed instead for a couple of miles. There was a decent flatter section that I planned to pick the speed back up around the 8th mile so I just went with it. Fortunately, the fast first loop kept me ahead of all the other women, so my slower pace didn't have any repercussions  except for a not so great finish time. I managed to still pull off 1st female by over 3 minutes. I was happy with that and glad I decided to finish the race. I already signed up for the next race in the series, the Bradbury Bruiser, and I'm hoping to come out healthier. The crazy thing is, is that 3 weeks since the Mountain Breaker, I'm STILL congested, lungs and sinuses, and coughing up a storm. This cold has been one of the worst I've had in a long time. So I hope I'll be all clear in 2 weeks.

Bradbury Mountain Breaker 2011

So anyway, I have quite a few races planned for September and October. If I decide to skip Nipmuck, I'll find a shorter, more local race to do instead. Heck, I might even sign up for the New Hampshire Marathon. It's only 1.5 hours away from here, and I'd be in somewhat decent shape for it. We'll see. Hopefully, I'll update my blog more often again.

Two Local Races and a Relay

Get a Running Start women's 5-mile race

In late April and early May, I managed to run a race every weekend. Two were local here in New Hampshire, the Spring into Spring 5K and the 14th Annual Get a Running Start 5 Mile Race for Women. The other was the Cape Relay, and what a blast that was.
I managed to finish first female in the 5K with a time equal to my PR 19:28. I felt great and just ran hard. 5Ks are easy, so it's almost like doing a 3 mile sprint. The 5 mile race was a women's only race held here at Cranmore. I'd never run a women's only race, so it was cool to be first in the race the whole time. I shot right out of the start and held the lead the whole, finishing in 32:32, way better than I expected. I was going so hard, I thought for sure I was going to puke in the middle of mile 4. I was so close. The best part about winning this race was that I won $100!!! My first real monetary award. Sweet!! And I'll take it.
In June, after finishing my WEMT course at SOLO, I ran in the There's a Black Fly in my Eye 10-mile trail race at Great Glen Trails. It was so fun, and I finished 2nd female overall. I felt great in this one, especially after sitting on my ass for nearly a month. It was good to get back out there for a longer distance trail race.

There's a Black Fly in my Eye