3/21-3/24/2016

My double race weekend left me feeling pretty beaten up, and, in hindsight, I really should have taken Monday off. I don't think the run I did after work helped me in anyway. In fact, I think it hurt me to the point where I ended up with two zero days before the weekend. It was only my usual 4.5 mile ZERO elevation gain run around Windsock Village from work. The problem with this run is that is so damn flat, that running it at quick pace is easy and takes very little effort. So even though it was short, I ended up running it at a 6:56/mi pace. Definitely not a good thing. I had little choice in routes since I was on call and couldn't venture further. Otherwise, I think a short, easy trail run in the Albany Town Forest would have been a better choice if I just HAD to do a run.

Tuesday, I got up and procrastinated way too long only leaving me enough time to run from the house. And yet again, it was a run I shouldn't have done. I was feeling pretty beat and in a little pain in both glutes and my right hip. But my stubbornness always beats out my common sense... pretty much every time. The run ended up feeling ok. Not great, but I still managed to run it quite quickly, which I'm finding I have trouble NOT doing. I don't know how to slow down when I'm on the road. I've been more of a trail runner in my adult life, and now I'm seeing why I avoided injury all of that time. I never pay attention to pace or time when I'm on the trail. I tend to stop and take in views. But throw me on the road, and every run is a race. Racing myself constantly. I've only been wearing a watch consistently on my runs now for about 3 years. I didn't even race with a watch for a long time. But now, I'd better have those stats at the end. I need to know how I did compared to last time. I need to beat that time. If not, I need to know why. I am now understanding the danger of it. But, like I said, I'm stubborn, so I won't stop. Isn't recognizing the problem good enough? Haha. I won't be laughing when I'm injured again. So, anyway, I ran up Bald Hill and back down to the Kanc for a loop home of 10.1 miles at a 7:23/mi pace and 866ft of elevation gain. As soon as I was done, I was really feeling soreness in my glutes and right hip even more. That's when I decided there would be no running on Wednesday morning. When Wednesday came around, I had no regrets in skipping the run. I knew it was the right choice.

The rest of Tuesday, I was going nonstop. I had a few errands to run. John and I picked up his friend, Grace, during our travels so that they could hang out for the afternoon. They had such a good time, and it helped since I spent hours organizing all of my Treasurer stuff from the White Mountain Milers. After nearly 4 years as Treasurer, I was finally handing it over, and I wanted to make sure it was organized better for the person taking it on. Too bad I never did that for myself. Haha. The meeting that night was our annual meeting, and it was held at Tuckerman Brewing, which ended up being a great choice. The meeting went smoothly. The new officers were elected, and I breathed a sigh of relief to finally get that off of my shoulders. They shocked me with a $100 gift card to EMS as a thank you for my work with the club. That was very sweet and unexpected.

John and his friend, Grace, taking a selfie from the computer

Drinking through the White Mountain Milers meeting

Wednesday night was another brutal all-nighter. We went out for a chimney fire at 11pm, and while on scene got the dreaded call that as soon as we cleared we had a transfer to Brigham & Women's in Boston. Anytime a transfer comes in for Boston, it's almost always in the middle of the night, and it just sucks. There's no two-ways about it. It's nearly a 6-hour round trip drive. We left North Conway at 12:30am and got back at 6:15am. So another night of no sleep. Which also meant my body wasn't recovering as quickly as it should. I had to go right into my next shift at the Tamworth base. I was originally out at 1pm and had planned my long run for that day, but with two people calling out, I ended up staying until the usual 5pm. My long run had dwindled to 11 miles, and by the time I got out to Potter Road and started running, I knew immediately that I was cutting it short. I was SO beat. Plus the road was covered in snow and ice and slippery. I put my microspikes on within 5 minutes. I had no desire to do a long run in microspikes, so that really sealed the deal on cutting it short. I had seen Paul Bazanchuk's truck as I parked and wondered if I would run into him and sure enough, I did. Paul has been a fixture on the local running scene since he moved up from Western Mass, and I've gotten to know him through years. I hadn't seen him since the snowshoe race at Whitaker so we spent about 10 minutes chatting. I was happy to stop and for once take the run easy without a care about my time. After we went our separate ways, I continued on up Greeley Rd to the most amazing view in the area, imo. I turned around and ran back to the car. 6.8 EASY miles.

Photo by Kim Proulx of this awesome view

Towards the end of the run, I was hurting. Not just lack of sleep but my right hip and right glute. OUCH. I must be so out of whack. Funny, both of these particular pains are something I've had off and on since 2010. The pain in the glute is in a similar place as my injury on the left was, but the pain is different, and it feels like it's affecting my sciatic nerve. I've had this on both sides before. It's weird, and I don't know what it is, but I could probably us a chiropractic visit (to a different chiropractor) and a deep tissue massage. I had that one massage after my injury, but I'm in dire need for another one now.

Going on no sleep, I was pretty much a zombie the rest of the night. I don't even remember what I ate for dinner. No idea. I woke up from a deep sleep at 8:30am Friday morning feeling pretty refreshed, but with absolutely zero desire to run. When I opened my door to let my dog out, I saw everything covered in a layer of ice with freezing rain still coming down. That pretty much sealed the deal. Another zero day. I wasn't worried about it. I just wanted to take my time, run some errands and then get packed up for our drive down to Rhode Island for the Brrr-lingame 10-Mile Trail Race the next day.