Road and Mountain

Yesterday, I didn't get myself up at 4am (as usual) for my treadmill run so I decided to try running at lunch. The wind was still insane, but Haley Town Rd was pretty protected, so I headed that way, changed clothes as quickly as I could and then headed out. I only had about 30 minutes, so I just ran out for 16 minutes (mostly uphill) and then turned around. 4.6 miles at 6:42/mi pace. Quickly changed clothes and went back to work sweating like a dog. I was able to pull my look together for the most part, but my hair gave me away. Sitting in my office around 5pm, I heard the sound of an ambulance siren and knew it was "my" truck, A6, coming through Fryeburg, so I knew I was going into work at 7pm. (A6 is the only truck I used to work on when I was full-time up until last September, so I still call it my truck.) At 6p, I hoofed it out of work back to Haley Town for a quick 3.2 mile run 6:18/mi pace and then made it to the ambulance with 10 minutes to spare to change into my uniform. And, yes, I ran twice without showering. Baby wipes are awesome, except for my hair, which stayed under my hat.
The night was pretty quiet... until about 15 minutes after I'd fallen into a deep sleep. Tone dropped. I was so out of it. Once in the truck, I grabbed the mic and signed us on to the call. No response from dispatch. Huh. So then switched channels to call Memorial to let them know what we were going out for. No response. My partner, Eric, looks at me, laughs and then picks up the CORRECT mic and throws it to me. Yeah, I had just grabbed the PA mic and blasted my idiotic voice through the neighborhood and down the street. Ha ha ha. One woman shit show. Nice. Absolutely hilarious, though. I would by lying if I said that was the first time I've done that. Our call just ended up being a sign-off, so we headed back to base and enjoyed a quiet night. (Ok, not totally quiet. A little work place drama did ensue after we got back to the base, but all I have to say about that is #iwin.) The other crew got back at 3:30am, so I was off the clock then, but, as usual, just spent the night. Got up, hit Starbucks for a coffee. Pulled up at the drive-thru to find my two friends (and former Starbucks coworkers) arguing that one knew it was me and the other was convinced it wasn't me because I didn't order my drink through the drive-thru the way I normally do. Ha ha.
I had been planning to hit Mt Kearsarge North today since I knew the trail would be in prime condition after the cold temps. And it was perfect even with my dull microspikes. I ran all the way up without stopping in 50:16 and was surprised to only be about 45 seconds off my fastest time. That's hopeful since I ran 49:32 at the end of September when I was running mountains pretty hot. The wind was whipping big time up there, but the view was awesome. Totally clear and beautiful. I stayed in the tower for a bit, but once I started to get cold, I knew I had to get moving down. I decided to run down FAST to try to catch Jim Johnson's Strava CR which he ran 2 years ago in 21:19. I was flying and took a pretty big fall at one point that had me rolling and ending up on my back. Hurt a little, but I always seem to start laughing when I find myself in an awkward position sprawled on the trail. Got right up and kept moving finishing in 23:37. Over 2 minutes off, but I'm good for second (booted Kevin to third ha ha).