Training Week- Fer Realz

John turned 12 this week!

A really nice break from racing this week led to a good training week and upped mileage. 66.5 miles. 3,665ft of elevation gain. Two treadmill runs, 4 road runs and 1 trail run. AND...my first real workout ever off of the track that was just as hard as I thought it would be. Haha. No wonder I never did those. Why do something so hard? :) Crazy, though, by putting my running schedule in someone else's hands, he can pull so much more out of it than I could. I guess I was kind of stuck. Haha. It's motivating me. I did feel a little beat up by Sunday, but I kind of expected that with the workout and the mileage increase.

USATF-NE posted the results for the Indoor Points Chase. Kind of disappointing to see only 23 people completed it and only 6 of those were women. I was 11th overall which I'm pretty happy with considering I suck on the track. Kind of a fun competition, but it needs a little improvement in some aspect to get more people involved. Maybe 3 events instead of 4? More publicity? Not sure, but 23 is a really low number. Haha.

My results. 100 bonus points for my highest scoring event being at the Championship.

On the home front, things were a little more settled with Bryan. He and John had a falling out on Wednesday which was rough, but it led to the most civilized conversation Bryan and I have had in AT LEAST 4 years. A 30 minute phone conversation with no anger or yelling. He seemed to somewhat get it and was able to mend his time with John, and so far, there haven't been any issues since. I'm not holding my breath, though, since I know the pattern, having lived it myself. On a side note, I'm starting to question whether or not I should have written so much of this in details here, though. A local stranger who apparently reads my blog decided to get involved in Bryan and John's argument at Frontside Grind, and I don't fucking like it. I don't need you intervening in my life, stranger. I don't even know you or how you got my number; stay out of my business.

The week was pretty low-key. Nothing crazy. John turned 12 on Sunday which is just crazy to me. All he wanted to do was play his games, go to the movies and get Chinese food, so that's what we did. His birthdays are actually getting less expensive. Haha.

Monday, February 19, 2018- Second week that I had no problem getting up to run on the treadmill before work. I "couldn't" do it before. Now I can. Haha. I think knowing that I "can" run these easy and it's ok has helped me get up and do it. I've never allowed myself to run easy on the treadmill, but now that I'm giving in a little bit, it feels much better. 5 miles. 39:57. 7:59 avg pace.

A surprisingly quiet day at work considering it was Massachusetts school vacation week. Our morning started out right off the bat with a 911 and a transport to Frisbie Hospital in Rochester. 40 miles! Not an emergency if you ask me, but we're allowed to take patients there and to Lakes Region in Laconia, as well, if they request it. So breakfast ended up at Dunkin' Donuts instead of having what I brought. It killed the morning, though, and the rest of the day was quiet.

There was another Bryan incident that afternoon, this time with Phoenix. I got a call from someone saying that they found Phoenix running around in Portland and that she almost got hit by a car. Ummm, why is my dog running around Portland?! I was pretty pissed at first until I found out that Phoenix jumped out of Bryan's friend's sunroof while they were off doing something else. I kind of gave him a pass for that one since that could have happened to anyone really. It did end up keeping him in Portland too late to pick up John from school, though. Luckily, I was working in Tamworth so I picked John up in the ambulance and brought him to work for 1.5 hours until Bryan came to get him. It was actually kind of nice having John here for a bit. Made my day better in the long run.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018- I hadn't yet come up with a plan on where to do my long run so I got on the work computer to plot out a map. I wanted to run in Tamworth, but I didn't want to run flat. I wanted HILLS. The side and back roads were all covered with ice so it definitely limited my options, but I finally came up with a route that I made on Strava. Funny, it came out looking like a seagull.

I was a little nervous about the run, though, since I had felt so awful the week before, but this one started out well and continued. I felt great. The hills were definitely a challenge, but what goes up must come down so I had some nice long downhill reprieves. I'd never run on Turkey St or the full length of Page Hill Rd, so those were new to me. Nice boost of confidence with this run. 18.5 miles in 2:18:42. 7:28 avg pace. 1,334ft of elevation gain. Snagged two Strava CRs while I was at it. Unfortunately, my run wasn't over. I had orders to do 6 strides again.

I stopped my long run on the hill so I stopped my watch and walked back down to where it was flat. Not far, but it was just long enough that my legs were like WTF. My legs didn't want to move for these, and I was told later that I ran them too slowly. Haha. Oops.

I was too beat to do abs or upper body which is becoming too common lately so I skipped it. Still getting in 3 days of abs at least, but my upper body part is slacking. It's so easy and so little time, but I have a huge lack of motivation to do it. Part of it is seeing that I was more ripped back when I did ZERO upper body and ab work. My arms even looked more muscular. My back is really the only thing that has really improved a lot. But my arms just got bigger and less defined. They look fat. My abs are definitely stronger, but they look worse. Grr. I know that I'm definitely stronger and fitter than I was before, but it sucks seeing the now photos that look worse. Oh well. Every bit of me just looks worse and worse every day. Might as well just accept it but keep working out anyway for the actual benefit of being stronger; how I look isn't really the point of it anyway.

Took Phoenix on a 1.7 mile walk up Corridor 15 before we picked up John at school. It wasn't really my plan so I was wearing the wrong shoes, but, fortunately, I didn't fall on my ass.

Picked up John then went home until it was time for ninja class at 7pm. I stayed and watched the whole thing this time. Although I'm super happy the class is back up and running again, I still hate the late time. It makes it difficult for me to get to bed at a reasonable time...not that I do that anyway, but this definitely doesn't help. :)

Wednesday, February 21, 2018- Got up for an easy 4 miles on the treadmill in 31:24. 7:51 avg pace. Work was really quiet. One lift assist and that was it. No transports. I had two different partners throughout the day. It was absolutely gorgeous outside, which bugged me since I really wanted to be outside running! We did wash the truck, and I sat out in the sun awhile until it clouded up.

Our typical mud pit in the Spring. It's actually thicker than it looks. So annoying.

Like I mentioned before, I also spent some productive time on the phone with Bryan today after the latest blow-out with John. I'm writing this a week later, and, so far, things have been good. Crossing my fingers that it stays that way.

Started to realize by the end of the day that I might have some sort of "intestinal upset". This would end up lasting a week! I don't want to go all TMI, but let's just say, I haven't digested much food. Haha. I didn't have any nausea or stomach aches at least, but it was probably one of the reasons I started to feel really tired today, and the fatigue only got worse through the weekend. I felt fine during my runs, for the most part, though, which was weird.

Thursday, February 22, 2018- I stayed at work an extra 1.5 hours at work to cover for Jen until she got there. I unfortunately had to listen to the usual stories of my coworker there who in general thinks the exact opposite of things than I do. He told me a story about how he held the door open for a guy and his young son, and when the son didn't say thank you, the dad slapped him in the head and yelled at him to say thank you. As he finished the story, I could tell he thought it was awesome with this big proud smile on his face and expected me to have the same reaction. How he doesn't know by now (6.5 years!) that our views are the exact opposite, I don't know, but my reaction was one of horror instead of cheering on, "Yeahhh! Teach that kid some damn respect!" First off, I've never once laid a hand on my kid, and I also never forced apologies or "please" and "thank you's". I modeled that behavior and he learned to do it by that. Often "teaching respect" leads to nothing but empty words coming out of a kid's mouth. Just something you're supposed to say and without any meaning. When you explain to a kid the meaning the behind it and do it yourself, it tends to be a little more genuine.  Just my view, but you will never hear a meaningless apology come out of mouth. If I apologize, I most certainly mean it. As you can imagine, I was happy to get out of there when Jen arrived. Haha.

No rush today so I got in an upper body and abs workout, showered and then headed south for a trail run at F Gilbert Hills. Predicted heavy rain actually held off surprisingly until the very end of the run. Not sure how we lucked out with that one, but I was happy. The run was on dry trails which is awesome. Part of it was on a new section of trails I hadn't been on yet that had a nice overlook. A lot of ups and downs with this one so ended up with a lot of elevation gain. Snagged 5 Strava CRs, and there are still quite a few more I'd like to take down in the near future. Haha. 7.2 miles in 1:10:37. 745ft of elevation gain. Got a little trail carnage in the process. My knees have taken quite a beating in the last 4 months. You can actually see some of the scars. Haha.

The rain caught us at the end, and then the snow started after we finished. Phew. Glad I missed that. I'm sick of snow under my feet. Haha. Didn't hang out long after. Made my way north, stopping at Trillium for a drink and some cans to take home, then drove up the road to Whole Foods in Dedham for what's becoming a tradition, pizza slices for my drive home. I struggled to stay awake for the drive and went right to bed as soon as I showered. A lot of driving, but it's always worth it.

Night & Day Stout

Friday, February 23, 2018- I had planned to sleep in this morning, but John woke me to let me know his dad had picked up a shift at work and that I needed to drive him to the "bus" stop. John can normally take the path through the woods but not on Fridays since he has to have all of his ski stuff. He left with the van then I went back home. I was actually happy for the early rise since it got me up earlier. I still procrastinated on getting my run in, but since it was only 8 miles, I wasn't too worried about getting out early. I planned to run an out-and-back from Conway Village and down Passaconaway Rd and back, but just as I headed out, I ran into Suz Laughlin and a friend on their way back from where I was headed. They told me that High St was completely clear and the dirt was still frozen so it was perfect running. I changed my route to add in High St and Cross Rd on my out-and-back because it's much nicer than the paved road. I felt pretty good today. Ran a little faster than planned, but most of that was due to the downhills. I ran the uphills at the pace I had planned. 8 miles in 58:46. 7:19 avg pace.

High St

I changed clothes then went right to the nail salon to get my nails done. I really do love this pampering. I admit it.

I picked up the dogs and the trash/recycles, made a stop at the transfer station then went on a walk down the snowmobile trail (same walk as the week before) for 2.5 miles before we picked up John at Cranmore.

That night, I'd just settled down on the couch when John, who was playing video games on his TV next to mine, started complaining that my TV was too loud. Haha. So I told him to come up with a solution. And he did. He finally moved into his room for the first time ever. He's always preferred the living room and then it was the futon in the wood stove room. I was kind of ready for him to move into his room, but at the same time, I didn't like that he wasn't going to be in the same room as me in the evening so I'll admit I'm a little sad. But the kid was 2 days shy of 12. It was bound to happen. He was going to want his own space. But still....CRYYYYYYY. Haha. After helping him move the big stuff and making sure he found a place for things instead of on the floor, I left him alone and went back to the now "empty" living room and sat back down. My bottom lip literally came out. Haha. First full time school and now wanting his privacy!! What the hell! It's definitely a good thing, but still makes me a little sad to see his childhood going by so quickly. Speaking of school. Got some more photos of him at school. The apron in baking class is cracking me up. He brought me back a piece of his dessert pizza that he saved just for me. :) And oh, oh! I got him to comb his hair when he gets out of the shower. So I've made progress on the hair front. It has actually made a big difference. Hahaha.

Dessert pizza

Saturday, February 24, 2018- Woke up super nervous. Why? Because it was the day of my first workout!! EEEEEEK! Haha. Seriously, I was expecting it to be far outside of my comfort level, and oh, it did NOT disappoint AT ALL. In fact, it wasn't just hard; it was fucking hard. Haha. The weather was amazing for it at least which definitely helped. Sunshine and warm temps. Started with a very slow 2-mile warm up (mainly due to the snow/ice covered road section) into Cranmore Shores. I stopped at Poole Circle where I changed shoes and then stashed my bag. Probably did this a little slower than was necessary, but I'll admit purposely procrastinating. :) Finally lined up and started my 3 x 2-mile workout. Plan was to average 6:40, 6:35, 6:30 for each of the 2 miles. No, the answer is no. I did not hit the goal pace. Haha. But it wasn't too bad. I'm just not really that good at pacing.

The first one I screwed up. 6:41 for the first mile, thought I was going too fast and slowed, but way too much for a 6:48. 13:29. It actually didn't feel that bad. 3 min jogging rest.

The second one felt ok for the first mile. 6:38. Figured I'd have no problem running the second mile around 6:32. Nope. 6:37. But still better than the first one. 13:15. 3 min jogging rest. Spent 3 minutes trying to come to terms with the fact that I did actually have to do one more of these. Why?! Why?!

First mile, once again, felt ok, but dammit, 6:38 again. WTF. That meant a 6:22 for the second mile. Last one. I can really push it. Should be nooooo problem. Passed by the same women walking for the 5th time. I think they thought I was a nut. That would be a correct assumption. Turned the corner. I'm going to do it! Nope. 6:35. Haha. 13:13. Had an I want to barf moment then jogged for 1.5 minutes before I retrieved my bag to changed back into my other shoes. My legs were slightly shaking as I did this. Like WTF.

I was SO happy to be jogging back home the 2 miles. It was REALLY slow, but my legs were beat. Total mileage was 11 miles. I wasn't really disappointed since I at least ran each one faster, but it was still sad knowing that I'm slow fat-ass right now. Speaking of, I think I'll go stuff my face with some carbs now.

It was such a nice day that I had to get John out for a walk...but somewhere not packed with people, so I decided Hurricane Mt Rd would be great. It turned out to be the perfect choice. We only saw a few people, 3 of which I know, of course. Haha. Most of the walk, we had the road to ourselves. I had planned for us to continue up to the summit of Black Cap, but I'll admit that I was all of a sudden really super tired. Felt quite drained. Walking to the top of the road was enough for me...and of course for John, too, since he asked to turn around before we made it to the top. Haha. It was 4 miles total. Before every walk, he asks me how long it's going to take, and I have the same answer, "I don't know. It depends on how much you walk vs stop." I reminded him I said this as I took the following photo... Haha.

The evening was super weird. I felt extremely restless yet extremely tired. Like I didn't want to sit at all but I could barely keep my eyes open. After watching some stupid cheesy movie on the Hallmark channel, I was so done. 8pm. I went to bed. Like I mentioned before, I think it was a combo of the workout and whatever else was going on with me. I was on day 5 of hardly keeping any food in me.

Sunday, February 25, 2018- John's 12th Birthday!!

A huge part of me wants to fix that crooked lampshade.

I know. I know. I think I've posted this before, but I can't help it. It was my favorite photo 2 days after he was born. I still remember the perfect weather and feel the breeze blowing through the house. The peace and quiet since we'd just gotten home from the hospital on Fort Hood. I had literally just walked in the house a few minutes prior to this moment. Two days prior to this, I was in tears about to leave my house for the hospital saying that I'd changed my mind. I didn't want to have a baby now. Hahaha. Now, I was content with a newborn in my arms. (Just don't try to hand me any babies now! Eeek! Babies are not my thing. Haha.) 12 years!! Seems like it went by so fast, but then again, it's like a lifetime. To think I only have 6 more years until he's an adult is just crazy, but I welcome his continued growth and independence.

I got up super early to get my run in before the snowstorm hit. Supposed to get 5-8in starting at 9 so I got out before 7am. I ran an out-and-back up Tasker and Allard Hill Roads and back. One of my same old boring runs from the house. Although I actually felt completely refreshed from all of the sleep, my legs were tired, so I just ran super easy. Quite a bit of climbing forced this on me anyway. 12 miles in 1:38:49. 8:13 avg pace. 1,014ft of elevation gain.

John didn't really want to do much for his birthday except play video games, go to the movies and get Chinese take-out. Haha. The snow started right at 9am on the dot, but it never got bad, so I went out around 11am to pick up his Oreo Blizzard Cake that I ordered at Dairy Queen. It was way too big and most of it is still sitting in the freezer right now. Haha. We did the cake thing when I got home.

3-4 inches of snow had fallen by this point so I decided to go ahead and shovel the driveway so that when it was done dropping another 3-4 inches that night, it would be much easier to shovel. Crazy though, the snow pretty much stopped when I went out there around 1pm and it would only drop another very light 1/4 of inch the rest of the day. Yay! Since the snow was all powder and not that much, it only took me about an hour and half to get it done. By then, it was time to head to the movies to see Black Panther. Due to the weather and it being the beginning of NH's school vacation week, I expected a line out the door at the movies, but no, we were the first ones there. 40 minutes early. Haha. Oops. At least we got first dibs on seats. We were so early we ate the entire large bag of popcorn before the movie started. Haha. I had a free medium popcorn on my movie card so I got that before the movie started. The movie was really fun and was a nice change to the typical Marvel Comic movies since it was a little more unique in its creativity.

I was stuffed for the rest of the night from the popcorn, but I still got John a PuPu Platter as requested. Oh, and I did eat the egg roll. Haha. I tried to get everything done around the house for the night when we got home since it was the mid-season premier of The Walking Dead. That was not the best thing to watch right before bed since I cried through the ENTIRE thing. Haha. Sometimes I can be such a girl. But they killed Carl, dammit. WTF. That with the dramatic music is just a sobbing mess waiting to happen. Haha. Not really a good way to end one of my weekends of isolation. Tears might have been partly for myself after this and rightly so since I woke up to being out of oil again and the puffiest eyes I think I've ever had. Haha. I'm sticking with Impractical Jokers. They make me laugh so hard it hurts.

The Vermont City Marathon is doing things a little differently this year in that they're posting the Invited Runners as we send our information form in instead of waiting until 3 weeks out to release the list. Nice way to see who I'm racing ahead of time! Well, with some of them, "racing" might be too strong of a word since they'll be cooled down and showered by the time I finish. Haha. Glad I'm a master now or I wouldn't have been accepted. :)

2018 VCM Invited Athletes

A little bit of cheesy, country-ish song, but sometimes you have to embrace the cheese. Haha.