Friday Night Vertical 2021

Friday Night Vertical 2021

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

All It did was snow


While the title isn't completely accurate, it still felt like that's all it did. I felt like I wasted my life shoveling, and I feel like I risked my life driving in that crap. ALL DAY MONDAY, it snowed! And I drove back and forth to Huggins Hospital in the ambulance in shitty road conditions 4 times. The above photo was the worst road conditions we ran into that night on a 911. Although later that night, we had call crazy enough for my upcoming The People of Ossipee reality show. That's totally made up AND the crazy call wasn't even in Ossipee, but it counts. I'm already sick of trudging through plowed driveways and getting people moved about on ice and snow...and then going home the next day and shoveling it. Haha. Seriously, it's a fucking pain in the ass. If I have to hear, "You're so lucky to live here," one more time, I might lose my shit. It isn't just a fucking playground up here when you actually have to try making a living here AND clear a huge driveway worth of snow multiple times a week... all by yourself (although, I have to give my ex-husband credit for shoveling some, but I just consider it part of his driveway camping fee. And he just stole another one of my beers yesterday when I wasn't there so I might take that credit back). Most people who live here can't afford a plow. Only you rich tourists with your second homes can afford that...which is the reason we can't. And summer isn't much better with its swarm of mosquitoes and black flies, although I do thoroughly enjoy mountain runs and kayaking on the lakes...but I don't have to live here to do that; I can just visit... as a tourist. Haha. Can you tell I'm jaded and bitter? Fuck you and all of your fucking "Yay! More snow on the way! I love it!" Facebook posts. There. That should do it. You can tell now. :) Haha.

So anyway, out of the six days I ran, half were on the treadmill, one was on a snowy road, another on dry pavement and trail and the other was nearly all trail. With all of the snow, I'm surprised I got such a decent mix in. I can't say I felt great all week. I think Thursday's road/trail run was the only run I actually felt really good on. The rest, I was either really beat or just slightly off. Struggled to get 50.1 miles in by the end of the week, but I did it. I seriously don't know how I'm going to bring my mileage up to 60 when it's so hard for me just to make 50. We shall see.

Monday, 12/18/17- Walked 35 minutes on the treadmill at work. Allen wrenches I brought were all the wrong size. Turns out I only have the metric and not the American ones. So the treadmill run I planned was out. It snowed and snowed and snowed. Did I mention this already? I drove in it, walked in it and carried patients through it. That was my Monday.

Tuesday, 12/19/17- So there was snow on my car for some reason. Cleared that. Then drove over to Chocorua Lake with no heat and my windows frosting up. It would start off cold but warm up quickly to the point where I sweat my ass the last half of it. I wore screw shoes which only helped so much. Even though well-plowed, the roads were still just slippery enough with a layer of snow to make it slow-going and extra tiring. 12.6 miles in 1:40:24. Still under 8 min pace overall. 912ft of elevation gain.

Chocorua Lake Rd
Drove home frozen to the bone even though I put on a dry shirt. Jumped right in the shower, procrastinated with a cup of coffee, then sweat to death again afterwards while I shoveled fucking snow. Haha. It wasn't too bad this go-round since we didn't get that much snow. That sleigh shovel is a life saver! Seriously. Still took about 2 hours, though. Time that could be spent doing better things. Just because I'm hardy doesn't mean I like to be.




This next one is like a FB or Instagram photo! #lookatme. I'm smiling as I shovel. #sofun #ilovewinter #strongwoman #beast. When it should really say #imdyinginside #wintercansuckit #snowisonlyfunwhenyouhavemoneytospendonskipassesapresskiskateskisfatbikesetc #help #fuckmyluckthatilivehere


I dragged John out for a walk on the Conway Rec Path with the dogs before we ran some errands. I forgot there was a holiday coming up and was shocked by the packed grocery store. Then I remembered! Christmas! Haha. Then it was home. I decided to try the Sandy Morris Ab Challenge which was really difficult and took just over 12 minutes. Then it was dog time and beers.

The Saco River, about 1/4 of the way eaten by winter






Wednesday, 12/20/17- Got my ass up for 5 miles on the treadmill in 36:36. 7:19/mi avg pace. Then it was off to work for my usual 24 in North Conway. No heat in the car so I walked into the base wearing my winter coat, hat and gloves. My friend/co-worker, Jen Sims, asked why I was wearing all of that. So I told her the blower was broken in my car and that it only worked intermittently, although this would be a full week that it didn't come on. I told her it was $800 to fix which was a no-go. She said she'd give this local guy a call to see what he could do it for. Later that afternoon, she texts me that he'd do it for around $240! Wow. I told her that I couldn't swing it now, but hopefully, I could do it soon. That was awesome!

While the hospital ERs were left with mounds of baked goods from the public, all we got was one stale, leftover gingerbread cookie...I ate the whole thing. 


We were only busy all at once with 3 calls within an hour. A back up crew actually had to come in for the 2nd one since we were still on the first one. Nothing too exciting except I finally got to see the inside of a house I'd always admired from the outside. That's happened a few times. Obviously didn't really get to look around, but it was still neat. Wednesdays have been super quiet lately with our calls coming in later in the day and often back-to-back. 

Thursday, 12/21/17- About 10 minutes before the end of my shift this morning, Jen showed up to drop off a Christmas card for me. I felt bad and said, "I don't have one for you because I don't do them." She then said, "I don't either. That one is special for you. Open it." Yep. The tears came as I read that my appointment with the mechanic was set and paid for. Jen had taken up a collection from anonymous to me people in Bartlett to pay for a new blower for my car for me. She got a huge hug as I cried tears of thankfulness. It was unreal. So unexpected. Jen's been in my shoes before. Probably the only one I know who can relate to my life. She was fortunate to finally get on her feet and make her life 100x better than it was, but she remembers what it was like to struggle. I still can't believe it. I'll never feel like I deserve it. I don't like being a charity case, but in this case, it was different. It was more like Jen paying it forward. I hope I can do something like this for someone else some day. I really do. 

Today was actually a beautiful warm-ish day. Got out for just over 6 miles for a road/trail mix wearing shorts! I felt good on this run and was happy with the pace that averaged 7:17 pace. 44:04. Saw a lot of fat squirrels. Just hung out relaxing the rest of the day then went out for a beer later just to get out. 


Friday, 12/22/17- Slept in later than planned, had a small cup of coffee, then got out for a trail exploration run. Lots of rollers combined with longish climbs that beat me up, but still fun and great scenery. 8.5 miles. Despite changing clothes, I was still frozen for the drive home. The next snowstorm decided to swoop in that afternoon dropping nearly a foot of snow. Ughh. I drove in it once then didn't leave the house again until Sunday when the snowstorm and icy conditions finally subsided, except to go a mile down the the road for beer the next day.

The beginning of the storm on Friday
Later that evening, I did another round of the Sandy Morris Ab Challenge, and it actually took me longer this time!! Ahh! It is really challenging. I can do it, but I have to take little breaks here and there since my abs are on fire. I added in push-ups, pull-ups and shoulder press sets after it just to keep my upper body fit...even though it's less than I have been doing. Kind of want to do this Ab Challenge 3x week for the next month to see what happens. Then I'll get back to the Zuzka Light workouts.

I was low on beer so I opened a year old 12-pack of Von Trapp beer I never planned to open. I don't like lagers, but there were 3 Dunkel Lagers in there that I decided to chill. Surprisingly ok. I actually liked it. I wouldn't buy it, but I wouldn't refuse it either. 


The evening was spent just hanging out with John and dreading the snow clearing I was in for the next day. It was supposed to turn into a mix of freezing rain so I doubted my snowblower would even work. Just the thought of it made me cringe. The snow was still beautiful and all powder that night, though, so it was fun taking the dogs out in it.

Yes, those are my pajama pants. I was holed up for the weekend. Who cares? Haha.


Phoenix brought her tether ball to bed.
Saturday, 12/23/17- Woke up to ice pellets with freezing rain in the afternoon forecast. The once powder snow was already turning heavy. I decided to have coffee and then clear the snow before running on the treadmill. Road running was not an option, and I wasn't about to drive anywhere to run in those conditions.

Reluctantly, I decided to give the snowblower a try. It was useless, so I decided to shovel. What took me 10 minutes with my snowblower attempt, took about 1 minute with the shovel. Too bad that minute turned into 3 hours! The freezing rain began the last hour and the snow became nearly impossible to push. It was SO heavy and then began to stick onto the shovel. Although it wasn't perfect, I got it done, but I was fucking exhausted. I ate something then tried to wait awhile before the treadmill run, but it wasn't long enough. My treadmill run ended up being pretty terrible. I felt the food in my stomach and struggled through what I would consider a really EASY treadmill run for me. 6 miles in 46:33. 7:46 avg pace. Kept it at 1% grade the whole way. So odd that I struggled so badly, but shoveling for that long I guess wore me out.

The rest of the day was a wash. Everything outside turned to ice, and I found out the roads were really awful so I didn't even attempt to drive John anywhere. I made him take out the dogs, but that was it. Such a waste because I'm so lucky to live here. Stuck doing nothing. I could have done the house project that's been in waiting for 4 years of scraping the popcorn ceiling off, but I had absolutely no interest whatsoever. I don't like house projects and yard work. I like to be out doing stuff. This place doesn't jive with that. Paying for my past decisions every day. If I had just left Bryan 2 years earlier like I wanted, we would never have bought the house. I wouldn't be so stuck. But I was weak and scared and needed 2 more years to grow some balls. Haha. Oh well. At least I DID eventually do it, right? :) I'll get through this even if I have to complain about it in every blog post. Hahaha. 

Sunday, 12/24/17- No more snow...for a day! The land was a sheet of ice so I didn't even attempt a road run so it was back to the basement for a LONG treadmill run. I needed 12 miles to hit my week's goal. I rarely run more than 5 on the treadmill, but when it has to be done, I just buckle down and do it. Put on some music and zone out. I felt much better than the day before, but I didn't want to run too hard. Somewhere in between easy and hard. Still a progression run, but I increased the speed less frequently than usual. Also still alternated between 1 and 3% grade, but skipped about 1.5 miles of the 3% for a total of 4.3 miles at 3% and 7.7 miles at 1%. Still came out to about 1,088ft of elevation gain. 1:29:06 for the run. 7:26/mi avg pace. Much faster than I would have run outside on the ice. Definitely not ideal, but I like having the option.

Oops. Didn't realize my treadmill was so dusty. Haha.
I showered then finally dragged the kid beast out for some exercise. We stopped at the Madison transfer station so that I could use my non-resident pass before it expired on the 1st. Turned out that no attendant was even there to check. I wonder if it's like that all the time since this transfer station is so much closer than Conway's where I have a pass. Hmm. 

From there we drove down to where the road to the Madison Boulder ended its plowing and parked for a snowshoe walk out on an unmarked trail to Ledge Pond that I run sometimes. Since the top layer of snow was basically ice, it was a little slow-going so we never made it to the pond. John was going his usual John pace so I decided to turn around at the hour mark. Definitely a good workout breaking the icy snow with my big snowshoes. John wore a pair of my Dion's and was kicking stuff up onto his head. Haha. That's one of the things I don't like about running in Dion's on unbroken snow; it always kicks stuff up and knocks you in the head. 2.2 miles total for our walk.









John's dad had a mix up at work and was waiting in the driveway when we got home in order to head down to his family's in Marshfield, MA. He normally works 3p-11p, but this worked out for them to leave tonight instead of during the snow storm the next morning. So John had to go right in and pack his stuff up. It was a bit rushed, but I let him open up his two Christmas presents under our tree. One from me and one from my parents. They were the only two things he asked for so he was super excited. The hoody and sunglasses, both from one of his favorite animes. He would end up wearing both all the next day, too. Haha. 


It was a bit rushed to say goodbye to John before he left, but I had forgotten about Christmas Eve hours at the store and HAD to leave to get food for the next day. It wasn't crazy crowded this time, and I only needed a few things. Then it was back home. I ate a whole pizza because I had basically eaten nothing all day by that point. Had some beers. Then before bed, I did the Sandy Morris Ab Challenge again. This time almost 2 minutes faster than the first time!! So it's already getting easier. 

So the week was kind of low-key. No race, but I knew I was doing Nooseneck 18K the following Tuesday, so I didn't want to race over the weekend anyway. It was still a good week despite being holed up most of the weekend. 

I was surprised to find a $10 Starbucks gift card arrive in my email from Rachel Flaksman. That was cool. Thank you, Rachel!!

Speaking of Rachel, she passed along a message that the Coward (see the end of my Baystate post) wanted to wish me a Merry Christmas and that it was stupid what he did and asked if she could pass it along since he had no way of contacting me. First off, he's lying. He has my email and phone number. He's just trying to play himself off as this really nice guy who cares. Bullshit. I'm guessing he's running out of good Tinder swipes and that his circling back to his former women is failing him. I've learned a lot about this individual in the last 2 months to know that he's a fucking narcissist. And that he also loves to play the victim card. Oh poor me. Wah wah wah. Dude, you are mentally NOT right. And I'm not pining over you. I never did. I was pissed that I didn't get to end it first! The truth is, I planned to end it the following weekend in person! Yes, that's right. In person. Not the cowardly way with the "path of least resistance". And my response for Rachel to give back to him was to fuck off. And I told her he was lying about not being able to contact me. Nice try. And if you want to keep contacting Rachel to pass along your fake caring, you'll earn yourself another blog post bashing and maybe with your name attached to it next time. Stick with Tinder where you belong. And I'll stick with someone who puts you to shame.




2 comments:

  1. You are loved. Never forget that. It has been shitty, I don't deny you that, what-so-ever! The pictures of the frozen pine needles are pretty and Chili look so fucking happy in the snow bank. Think of that? Hugs!

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  2. Thanks, Beth! You're the best. I always appreciate your kind words and comments. I just get so frustrated sometimes with my life since I feel like I'm in limbo just waiting until I can find a way to make it better. And you're right! I was enamoured with Chill for about a minute as I watched him lying there eating snow before I decided to take a photo. I think our upcoming vacation will mellow me out a bit. I need the break. Haha. See you at the beach race, I hope!

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