Labor Day

9/7/15- Labor Day. Just another day at work for me. I've worked every Labor Day for 5 years in a row now. I don't mind working holidays, though. I'm not too much into any of them. Last year, I worked a 24-hour shift on Christmas and hope to work Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve this year. I'm one of the few who doesn't have family up here (besides John, of course), so I usually like to pick up other people's shifts who might want to drop them to be with family. So Labor Day was just another day at work for me.

Not a bad work day. We ended up getting stuck in Wolfeboro for an hour and a half after our first call to wait on a truck from Manchester to come up and swap out with us. It was SO hot out, but my partner and I walked around and hung out at the town docks anyway.

Wolfeboro Town Docks. Drinking hot coffee in 90 degrees.

We had another call right after we got back to the base, so, by the time we were done with that one, the work day was over.

With all of the racing I had planned for the weekend, I wanted to get my long run in on Monday right after work. I was dreading it, though. It was SO hot out! But right at 5pm, I changed into my running clothes and forced myself out the door. I ran a 19 mile loop that I had done as my last long run before VCM, and I ran it much slower. I wasn't surprised, though. The temperature stayed close to 90 for probably the first 7 miles from the base down Ossipee Lake/Bennett Roads. Once I hit Cushing Corner and started the long climb up Watson Hill and Burnham Roads, the sun started to go behind the trees cooling it off a bit. The humidity was still on the high side for the whole run, so, even though I felt like I was running a decent pace, it was still slower than I would have preferred. I knew that going into the run, I would be moving slower, so it didn't bother me. The effort was high, and I was getting the miles in. I stopped in at The Mill at Purity Spring Resort quickly to refill my water bottle then proceeded on up 153 and took a left onto East Madison Rd. This was a pretty steep, long climb before a good down to Lead Mine Rd. I ran the length of Lead Mine Rd, over a lot of rolling hills. By the time I got to East Shore Drive, it was dark out. I knew this was going to happen, but I didn't bring a headlamp or any reflective gear. It was only about two miles to go, and there was very little traffic, so I just moved way off the road when a car came by. Finished back at the base with 19.1 miles. 7:49/mi pace. 1500 ft of elevation gain. I was pretty drained after this run, so after i got home, I showered and plopped on the couch the rest of the evening.