Rhode Island 6 Hour Relay

This week was all about recovery for the first 5 days after the Manchester City Marathon. I usually can't stand to take more than a day off, but I knew that I really needed the time off when I didn't feel like running at all for those 5 days straight. My mind and body were finally in agreement on this for the first time ever! Haha. It had been so long since I've been sore after a marathon UNTIL this one. I was sore! And on Monday at work, I started to notice a slight pain in my knee (the aforementioned knee injury in my last post). The pain ONLY hurt to the touch, and it was localized to a fingertip-sized spot on the very outer edge of my right kneecap. Even though, it was small, I was immediately concerned, but not overly. I'd never had a knee injury before or anything like this, so it definitely was something new to me. I thought maybe it was just a slight strain that the 5 days rest would help. I was just happy to be over the Manchester hump... or wall! I was so ready to have some fun racing!

Monday, November 7, 2016- Monday was really about relaxing as much as possible. I could feel I really needed a down day and didn't even walk on the treadmill or around the base while I was at work. Had I not been on a 24 hour shift, I probably would have walked somewhere, but it was a good thing to rest completely...for a day. Haha.

Finders, keepers. Found this was left in the ambulance by the previous crew. I enjoyed every bite. :)

My work socks were compression socks today. Haha.

Tuesday, November 8, 2016- I had thought to order an Aquajogger on Saturday and had it shipped by 1-day shipping so that it came on Monday. I really don't like swimming laps. I'm good at it, but it just isn't fun to me. Like I said probably multiple times last year when I was injured, aqua jogging feels like actual running to me. Plus, I can cycle through my thoughts like I do when I'm running. I can't do that swimming laps. So, Tuesday, I went to The Mill and aqua jogged for 45 minutes. The knee was actually bothering me when I started, but within 10 minutes, it was completely gone, and I didn't notice it again until Saturday. It felt good to be in the pool for recovery instead for an injury, and I say this because I really didn't think the knee would end up being an issue. I thought I was just recovering.

It was Election Day, so I drove from The Mill to the Albany Town Hall to vote. As I took a left off of 113 onto 16 at Coleman's, I reminded myself to stop on the way back to take a picture of this Trump sign. It was just too comical not to get a photo.

I walked out of there thinking it was a done deal. No way could a disgusting human being like Donald Trump win this election. I ended up being dead wrong. I'm still baffled! After voting for Al Gore in 2000 only because I didn't want George Bush to win, I swore I would never again vote for someone I wasn't fully supportive of. For the following 3 Presidential elections, I voted 3rd party. Well, I guess I lied to myself. I didn't really like Hillary either; I actually voted against her in the Primary, but I couldn't throw my vote away to Trump by voting for a 3rd party this time. Hillary got my vote. I did NOT want that complete scumbag Trump to win the election. I don't know how ANYONE with any sense could vote for him. I just don't. The "working class" in all of their support for a rich pig who could NEVER relate to them, who would probably treat them like pieces of shit if they were employed under him, just got duped. Trump in his Tower with his gold chairs and his plastic-looking family could never relate to any of us. I understand people wanting a change-up in the government, but Trump is not it! But it's similar to the people who bought into the whole "Hope" and "Change" campaign when Obama was running. It's too optimistic! Trump's ridiculous, empty words are also too optimistic! Where are people's sense of reality?! I don't want to go on about this because it's all been said for weeks now, but I hope he fails and fails big time. He needs to be brought down to the level of the rest of the people so that they will actually see him for filth he is and vote him out in 4 years...if we make it that far. I was at least happy to see that Hillary won my town of Albany and the town of Conway and would end up winning New Hampshire's electoral votes! Rant over. Haha.

Besides following the election results ALL day, John and I also took a walk at Pudding Pond. It was such a beautiful day. The soreness in my legs was almost gone already, just from the aqua jogging that morning, so I felt good on the 2-mile walk. 

Pudding Pond in North Conway

John and Phoenix

Cool dragonfly that John spotted

Before we left for ninja class, I got on a shoe binge since I had shoes spilling out of my closet. I'm a shoe fiend, but I finally had to let them go! So hard, though! Half of those shoes I won. The two pairs of Sketchers from the 2012 and 2014 White Mountain Milers Half Marathon. The La Sportiva shoes on the bottom right that I won at the Kismet Cliff Run in 2010; they don't even make that one anymore. The La Sportiva Helios on the top right that I won at the Kismet Cliff Run in 2013. I got the Montrails in the top center for free from The Clymb back when I had about $2000+ in store credit. The only shoes I paid for were the three Brooks ones. It was hard to get rid of the blue pair of Pureflows since I wore those at VCM when I got my marathon PR. I didn't care for the other two models of Pureflows so good riddance to them! I hate getting rid of shoes! Cry! Haha. But once they are literally spilling out of the closet, I have to bite the bullet.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016- I'll admit that I was pretty upset about the election results. Not because Hillary lost, but because Trump won. But after my initial rant upon walking in the door at work, I was done. Still left me a bit somber for the rest of the day. Just had me shaking my head at how ignorant most Americans are. But oh well. I got on with the day. Usual call volume day. I took a 2-mile walk on the railroad tracks for some exercise. 

Thursday, November 10, 2016- I went by the house quickly after I got off work to pick up Spot and Phoenix then drove straight to The Mill to aqua jog again for 45 minutes. I had an appointment in Portland at 11am so I showered at the gym then drove to Portland from there. The appointment was quick. I stopped to at the Craft Beer Cellar to buy some of the Moat Call it a Day IPA to bring to Scott Mason this coming weekend. (I couldn't find any locally!)  And since I was so close, I just HAD to walk to the Holy Donut where I got two donuts that would be my breakfast AND lunch. Haha. 

I had searched out beaches in the area where dogs were allowed off-leash and came across Willard Beach in South Portland. It took me forever to find the damn parking lot! I drove back and forth and in circles until I finally realized where it was. What a beautiful area right there! It's not a long beach, but it was still a decent walk down and back. 

Barking at crows that totally ignored them. Haha.

I had also promised Scott Mason some Bissell Brothers beer, so that was my next stop. I also ended up going the wrong way and drove an extra 10 minutes out of my way before I got back on track. Haha. I stayed for one drink at Bissell Brothers after I got a 4-pack of Reciprocal. The place smelled SO GOOD in there. Sweet citrus. Wish I could have bottled it up!

Umbra for me. Reciprocal to bring to Scott.

Next stop was the Bier Cellar to pick up my very small (for once!) order. And once again, as soon as I walked in the guy said hi and just walked to the back. Still remembered me! Haha. I don't know how I'm that memorable at a beer store in a big city. Maybe he just has a photographic memory. That would explain it for sure, though. I continued on from there to Spare Time where I bowled two really shitty games. The fake nails were definitely a factor this time since my thumb nail kept catching with every throw, but oh well. I was just looking for something else fun to do. 

I came so close to hitting Austin Street Brewery which was right next door, but I decided I'd skip it and took the dogs on ANOTHER walk at the Riverton Trolley Park across the street. It's just a woodsy trail along the Presumpscot River and another off-leash dog area. We just walked out and back on the single-track trail for 2 miles. 

This was much more vibrant in person. The green was very green and the yellow really stood out.

A quick stop at Starbucks after that and then I headed home. I couldn't believe I was opting out of eating somewhere, but the two donuts and the Umbra were enough to leave me full by the time we left. I took 302 home, which is always a huge mistake. Maine drivers are notorious for being slow drivers in general, but I swear they all congregate on US302 between Portland and Fryeburg. Construction area? Forget it. You'll be going 20 under the speed limit instead of the usual 10 under. And it.is.WITHOUT.FAIL. Hahaha. I was at least treated to an AMAZING sunset for a good 30 minutes of the drive home.

Sebago Lake sunset

Once we got home, I opened up the bluetooth speaker that John had requested to play music in the shower. I made a goofy video and sent it to him. I made myself laugh when I watched it, so I thought I'd share it here. Haha.

Friday, November 11, 2016- The 5th day of no running, but I wasn't freaking out about it at all. I knew the next day I'd be back into it. It was off to The Mill for another 45 minutes of aqua jogging. I got there just as the water aerobics class ended and lucked out to get a space in the pool.

I had to swing over to Sandwich Spring to fill up the water jugs and nearly froze my hands in the process. The wind was whipping. I stopped at the trailhead on 113A for a short hike with Spot and Phoenix up to the Great Hill Fire Tower. I was thankful I had my work coat in my car because it was really cold. I looked like a complete goofball, but I sure as hell wasn't getting shot by a deer hunter. Haha. Only Spot came to the top of the tower with me, and we stayed for a minute, if that, because of the crazy wind.

Spot in the Great Hill Fire Tower

Phoenix was excited for us to come back down.

I made a cozy fire in the woodstove that night and drank one of the best beers EVER. Prairie Birthday BOMB! Phoenix hung out with me while John stayed in the other room doing his own thing. It's kind of weird not being needed as much anymore, but it's nice to see John growing up and maturing (when he's not acting like a 4 year old haha) and being capable of entertaining himself. It's hard to even remember when it was the opposite and my life was 100% just being a mom. I remember the feeling of having just an hour of quiet to myself if he fell asleep. Or 30-45 minutes to go for a run alone or an hour at the gym while he was in the gym daycare. I'm glad I was able to find my own interests as he grew into his; I wouldn't want to be one of those moms whose only life is her kids. Once they're grown and gone, they must be left lost.

The BOMB! is the bomb!

Don't judge the cement floor covered in rugs. That was not what I wanted. Haha.

Saturday, November 12, 2016- I was able to sleep in a little since we weren't leaving for Mass/RI until 1-ish. After coffee, it was finally time to do my first run back since Manchester! Woohoo!! NOT! It was the typical boring neighborhood run, and as soon as I started to run, I felt the most insane soreness in both hamstrings. WTF?! I've had sore hamstrings before, but nothing like this. I could barely run the first mile and was happy I had Chill with me to keep it super slow. I had no idea why I would have such soreness after 5 days off....except maybe I'm not meant to take 5 days off!! Haha. Ok, doubtful, but nothing explained it. I'd felt nothing all week, then bam. I had to run the entire 5 miles very slowly. The hammies were so stiff and tight. I was glad I did this run the day before the next day's relay so I wouldn't have been caught off guard then. 5.1 miles. 8:09/mi pace. SO slow. I didn't know what was going on and it made me a little nervous about the relay.

We left for Marshfield, Ma where I would be dropping John off with his grandparents until Monday. I drag John to nearly every race, but a 6 hour race would have been asking way too much of him. Plus to drag him to the bar after the 6 hours would have been like torture, so it was off to the grandparents' where he ended up having a great time. He and his 3 cousins went to Plimoth Plantation on Sunday, and he said he loved it. Phew. I love it when things work out.

I stopped at Trader Joe's on the way there to buy snacks for the team during the relay and then dropped John in Marshfield. I didn't stay long because I was starving by this point and wanted to get to Providence for dinner. It was a tough choice since there are so many good places to go, but since I had never been to Federal Hill, I decided on that. Knowing where to find the free parking was key. It took me only about 2 minutes to find a spot after getting off the highway. Of course, it had me in a slightly sketchy area on quiet streets, but it was literally like one street off of Atwells Ave and a 5 minute walk to the Federal Taphouse and Kitchen. And OMG! How cute is Federal Hill?! Wow. Reminded me of downtown Athens, GA where I grew up. I was in heaven. Haha.

The place to park in Federal Hill. I don't need no stinkin' valet parking. Haha.

I had considered making a reservation since I knew it would be packed, but since I didn't know what time I would get there, I decided to wing it. Sure enough, the place was pretty much "booked" for the entire evening. My only hope was a seat at the bar. I got there just as Appy Hour was ending so I was hoping some of those people would be heading out soon. I waited maybe 10 minutes when two seats opened up at the bar! Unfortunately, two seats meant another single person would be sitting next to me. Sure enough... I was joined by an older guy who had come down from Vermont to watch his son run in the New England Interscholastic XC Championships at Ponaganset earlier that day. I really, really, really didn't want company, but what was I to do? He was a super nice guy, but he literally talked my ear off the ENTIRE time. I couldn't even eat my dinner in peace, but he had an interesting life back there in Vermont so his story kept my attention at least. I SO wanted to enjoy those Saigon Pork Tacos because they were SO damn good and served with tots, too, but it was difficult with someone talking in your ear the whole time. I just didn't have the heart to demand quiet. I'm only that mean during a marathon. Haha.

The only picture I took at the Taphouse because I never got a second of quiet.

I was finally able to leave there to follow through on my plan to hit Long Live Beerworks not too far away. It was a bit of a walk down there, but I was good. Long Live was a tiny place and still had a decent crowd for the last hour. It was a good vibe. I had their Course Grind Stout that was so good that I wanted to take a crowler with me, but the cost of the crowler itself deterred me. I also had a tasting of their Wesside IPA which was also excellent. Top quality brewery there, for sure.

Long Live Beerworks

I walked back to my car and drove to Scott Mason's where I would be crashing again for two nights. The empty studio apartment makes a great crash pad, and I paid my fee in beer! Haha. I didn't tell Scott I was able to get the Call it a Day IPA, so that was a good surprise for him. I had a few other beers in the cooler for him, too, including the Reciprocal and some other Maine beers.

It was off to bed after that since I had to get up early the next morning for the Rhode Island 6 Hour Relay (combined with the Ultra). I had had way more to drink than I normally would the day before a race, but I was looking at Sunday as just a fun, non-competitive event with my Six03 teammates.

Sunday, November 13, 2016 - Rhode Island 6 Hour Relay

I never intended to do this one this year, but when I found out it was going to be the last one, I had to find a way to do it. When I first moved back to New Hampshire in 2011, I had just run my first ultra a few months before and really loved it. So I started perusing the Ultrasignup website for ultras in New England. I found the Tarc Spring Classic 50K that I registered for and DNFed after only two loops. That still didn't keep me from looking for more. I registered for the Nipmuck Trail Marathon (not an ultra, but looked just as challenging), then got really sick late summer, knocking me out of my training, so I never made it to the starting line of that one. I still wanted to do a long race before 2011 was over and remembered reading about the Rhode Island 6 Hour Ultra in Ultrarunning (way back when I subscribed) earlier in the year, so I looked it up. I'd never thought about doing a timed race before, so this went on my some day list. I wanted to do it every year since then, but it just never seemed possible with my life as it was. This time, I had to make it happen, so I posted on the Six03 FB page in hopes of filling a team for the relay. As much as I would have liked to do the Ultra, I didn't think it would have been a good idea a week after Manchester. Plus, I thought the Relay would be way more fun. I had very little interest at first, but then tried again about a month out. And just like that, I had a team!! I would have one person drop out, but another joined right up. I was super excited about it. I couldn't wait to run, then sit around in my sweatpants while I watched everyone else. 2.7 miles 3 or 4 times. Easy! So I thought. Haha.

I stopped at Starbucks on my way down to Warwick City Park since I was feeling the night before. Oops. I needed coffee! Since I was doing the Relay, I parked over by the baseball field as planned. I knew I had a bit of a walk so I brought along my hiking backpack to put everything in. I still had my arms full with the food bag, gallon of water and my chair, so it wasn't the most comfortable walk, but it wasn't far. haha. When I got down there, I found my teammates, Chris Straub, Joel Turcotte and Frank Nordaby. Alex Shaffer was running late but on his way. We checked in and got our bibs, shirts and relay bracelet. I was pretty excited about the day and so were my teammates. We weren't expecting to be competitive at all and just planned to have fun. We found a place to set up. I passed out the bibs...which were hilarious.

We didn't really have a plan in place, but it was almost unanimous that we wanted to do one lap each instead of running all of our laps at once. I thought that would be more fun so none of us was sitting around for hours doing nothing. I never realized how hard this would end up being for me. Haha. We took a quick group shot and then realized we only had about 20 minutes to the start. It was decided that I was going to go first since I was the only one dressed and ready, i.e. not in jeans, slippers, etc. Haha. I actually wanted to go first, so I was happy with that.

Team Six03 Endurance. Me, Frank, Chris, Alex and Joel

We had about 15 minutes to the start, so I really needed to warm up. And, whoa, wow, I was hurting! The hamstrings were worse than the day before!! I was planning to run all of my legs as fast as I could, but this was looking iffy. Hmm. I ran just over half a mile. I only just finished my grande coffee, so I could feel that in my stomach. I was kind of a mess, but I was still excited to get started. Fortunately, I felt pretty good when we lined up. Andy Neil was lined up there next to me so I talked to him for a bit. I saw Eric Lonergan and knew who would be finished the first lap first. Haha. I already knew his team would win with him starting and Steve Brightman anchoring. And then seeing Andy's team, I didn't think we stood a chance.

The race started and I went out hard, as planned. The hamstrings were really noticeable, but they didn't seem to be an issue in this first loop. Eric was out of sight by the first mile, but I was still hanging just behind Andy and this other guy. The other guy was doing multiple loops, so I would end up passing him just after the second mile. My splits on the first loops were ridiculous since I went out way too fast. 6:13, 6:37, 6:24 coming through in an even 17:00 and in 3rd place so far, tagging off with Chris. The loop was much more difficult than I thought it would be with its hills in the second half and a few sections with slippery leaves. I knew I wouldn't be running that fast again. Haha.

It was time to relax for the next 1.5 hours while my teammates ran. I decided to change outfits for each leg just for fun so I changed and then got in my comfy Six03 sweatpants and parked it on my camping mat. I broke out the snacks. Cheese, crackers and salami, cookies, chocolate covered almonds and corn chips. Too bad none of us would be really hungry the whole time. Haha. They posted the first results so far at some point, so I decided to take a look. I was shocked to find we were in 2nd place!! That was totally unexpected! The downside was that this now changed from a fun race to a serious one!! It took a few laps to convince Chris that he had to stop running for fun and take it seriously, but he did. The rest of us continued to bang out decent loops.

Stupidly, I didn't warm up for my second loop, and my hamstrings were killing me as I ran over to the transition area to wait for Joel to come through. He passed on the bracelet and off I went feeling majorly tight. I felt I ran a smarter loop this time with my splits at 6:25, 6:40, 6:38 and only came through 12 seconds slower than the first loop in 17:12. My hamstrings were a mess, though, and I was feeling pain in the right knee! Ugh. Oh well.

Second loop. I actually look pretty rough in all of the photos. I can see just by looking at them that I was hurting. Photo by Scott Mason

It was such a beautiful day, so I went right from the finish of my second lap out to the beach for awhile. The sun was SO warm, and it was really pretty. I didn't have my sunglasses, though, so the glare off the water got to be too much, so it was back to the sweats and my mat. I was loving the lazy part. I brought along that speaker I got for John and got some tunes going for a little bit, but I felt bad about bothering the other teams so I didn't leave it on.

Halfway through the 6 hours, and we were still in a pretty strong second place! The other teams would catch up to us in laps, but our time ahead of them was pretty strong. I was worried I was going to screw it up since my hamstrings were just getting worse. Fortunately, Frank would end up running faster each loop, as I slowed, so that helped even it out with me. Alex ran pretty much even the entire time. Chris got much faster once we got him to, and then Joel who was the fastest slowed like I did, but still ran good times. I had a feeling we were going to pull off second. This was getting exciting. I was pulling the live results up on my phone every 15 minutes (when I wasn't running) to see where we were.

At 3 hours, it was my turn again, and this time, I could barely run! My hamstrings nearly seized up on me in the first mile. It was SO bad. I've never experienced anything like that EVER. The right more so than the left, but it was still both! And then the knee pain! Wtf! I couldn't run this lap fast at all! My hamstrings literally wouldn't let me. My first mile was actually my slowest! They warmed up a bit so that I could pick up the pace a little for the next 1.7, but it wasn't much. 6:43, 6:42, 6:35. 17:31 for the 3rd lap. Ouch.

Photos that Chris took from the hand off to start my 3rd lap.

By the time the whole team finished 3 laps each, we were way ahead in second place, and we started to figure out that we were staying really consistent with all 5 of us getting in a lap every 1.5 hours. It was just a few minutes under 4.5 hours when I started my 4th lap. My 4th lap sucked bad, too, but it was nearly even with my 3rd lap at 17:35. Splits: 6:45, 6:44, 6:39. I had been smart enough to warm up before the 4th one, but I didn't even know if I could run the last lap. That's how bad it hurt. OMG. By the time I finished, I was SO done. If I had been up for another lap, I wouldn't have been able to do it. No way. No how. I was hurt. After my lap, we figured out that we had plenty of time for us each to get in that full lap with Joel finishing up our 20th lap just a few minutes before the clock struck 6 hours! The next two teams down wouldn't have enough time for their last runner to complete a 20th loop, so we knew we were going to come in 2nd!! I was so excited!! With the clock passing 5:56, Joel came running through to finish our 20th lap and seal 2nd place team in the relay! A total of 54.02 miles in 5:56:29, an average pace of 6:36. We did really well!! I was so psyched for all of us. Six03 invaded the Four01 and stopped the Rhode Runner sweep. Buwahaha!!

Frank handing off to Alex

Alex handing off to Joel

Frank

Chris handing off to Frank

Joel finishing off our 20th lap

Joel's monster costume

Six03 with our 2nd place beer winnings!

We packed up our things, then Frank and I walked back to our cars at the baseball field. I got completely changed. I wanted to look halfway decent for the post race party at Jacky Boy Pub. There was a guy in a car parked right in front of me who was probably wondering what the hell I was doing, but I didn't care. I got dressed then drove over there, getting behind the slowest people from Mass (turned out they were from the race, too). Steve Brightman was behind me until I saw him go a different way. At the time, I thought I should have followed him to get around this Masshole, but he ended up getting stuck in traffic lights the way he went, and I beat him to the pub. Haha.

As soon as I stepped out of the car, I could barely walk. My hamstrings hurt, but so did the right knee! And badly! Oh no! This was a knee injury!! Fuck!! Oh well. I wasn't going to worry about it tonight. It was time for beer! My teammates were there already so we had sat together and had some beers. They all had to leave shortly thereafter to get back to New Hampshire. I had taken half of my Monday shift off so that I didn't have to drive back. I knew I'd be drinking, and it would be late. Not a good idea to be driving back to pick up John.

Six03 at Jacky Boy Pub

The rest of the night ended up slipping into a blur after the 3 Floyds Brewing Dark Lord was brought out. We each had very small glasses which was more than enough with this beer being at 15%. I had already had a couple of beers! But then Rachel Flaksman poured the rest of the bottle into my glass, and that's when the night turned into a blur of memories. That beer sent me over the edge. Yikes. I haven't felt like that since Vancouver in 2002. Seriously. Wow. Rachel, Scott Mason, Tony Wild, Jason Ashley and I left the bar to go upstairs to Fellini's for pizza. I pretty much forgot how to eat, and I guess they were laughing at me as it took me about 20 minutes to eat one piece of pizza. And then Jason and I had decided that we were going out!! Haha. We were going to hit the bars/clubs/I have no idea in Providence. We were doing this! So funny since we had absolutely no way of getting to Providence and back without paying a small fortune to Uber. All I knew is we were going out. Thank goodness for Tony who thwarted my 21 year old self from doing something really stupid by saying we all needed to go for coffee. We all hopped in Tony's car and went to a Dunkin' Donuts where we sat until we got kicked out. They turned the lights out on us. Hahaha. By the time we got back to Tony's car, we had sobered up enough to realize we were tired and just wanted to go to bed. Phew! Back to age 40.

When I got back to Scott's, Rachel messaged me saying that she had my beer. Hmmm. Beer. What beer? Oh yeah, the beer she and Michael Crutchley had given me at Jacky Boy. Apparently I left it on the bar or something. Well, let's just say I only made it inside with 3 out of the 4 beers. I smashed both of Rachel's beers in Scott's driveway. The G-Bot fell victim, as well. Sorry Crutchley!! The only one to make it out alive was the Sip O' Sunshine. I cannot be trusted to carry beer in that state. I went upstairs, brushed and flossed, sent messages I shouldn't have to someone, then fell asleep. :)

The evidence. I picked them up and put them in the trash.

Monday, November 14, 2016- Woke right up at 4:15am and couldn't go back to sleep, but I stayed in bed until 7am. I'm up at 5:30am every Monday for work, and the time had just changed the week before, so my body was waking up on Monday like it always does. This happens every time I take a Monday off. I was definitely feeling the night before, but a venti coffee at Starbucks on the way out of town did the trick, and I actually felt fine by the time I got to Cambridge to meet John and his grandparents. The drive home wasn't bad at all, and we were back by 1pm. That left us plenty of time to take a walk up Heavenly Hill with the dogs before I had to go to work. John didn't complain once about the walk! I couldn't believe it. My knee hardly bothered me on this, so I felt optimistic about running the next day.

I ate an early dinner before leaving at 4:30pm to go into work for a 14 hour shift which would start off busy since I was working with the black cloud, Cody! Haha. 2 nearly back-to-back calls, but then it was quiet for the night. I needed the sleep after Sunday night's lack of.

Looking back on the weekend, I realized that I probably would have been better off just running the ultra after all. It would have been slow and constant. Running hard, then resting repeated 4 times over the day ended up doing me in. I thought it would be an easy, fun day, but the competitive nature crept in, as well. Probably not the smartest move, but I had so much fun. I really don't regret it. I loved having my teammates there with me. It was great getting to know Alex and Chris a little better and actually getting to know Joel and Frank. I wish I had gotten myself to the 6 Hour years before this! I guess Six03 will just have to settle with invading the Grog & Dog Jog in 2017! Haha!

Sunday night made me realize that I either need to get out more with other people or just stick to flying solo. I get to go out with other people so rarely that I end up overdoing it every time. It's like I'm trying to fit in months all in one night each time. Get it all in while I have the chance! But it just isn't healthy or safe. When I'm alone, I'm much smarter. There has to be a balance in there somewhere, but I'm not finding it...yet. Haha.

I had to edit my post to add this video since it's great: