2018 Frank Nealon Boston Tune-Up 15K- USATF-NE GP#2

On Mt Washington for the first time in September 1998 during my first Appalachian Trail thru-hike.

It's safe to say I'm in a downward spiral. My body keeps fucking me over. I feel like I can't catch a break, but then I realize, that it's a spiral. It has a beginning but is continuous until a hopeful end, meaning that it's all related. It's not this thing is bothering me. And then this other thing...and then this OTHER thing. Nope it's all of it together. One feeding into another to create this long string of ailments. At least that's my belief anyway. I see the beginning as the stress I was dealing with starting months ago. Long term stress isn't healthy. It weakens you and makes you susceptible to other things, the intestinal distress, the increased pain in my "injuries" that I've kept at a tolerable level for almost a year until now and the head cold. God fucking dammit. Another head cold. 2 head colds in 3 months. (In truth, the first one could have been prevented, but the benefit of that outweighed the cost...even though I was miserable at times. Haha.) This one started with the coughing up of gunk last Saturday and by Tuesday, I was down for the count followed by no appetite all week and dropping 4lbs (which is actually a good thing). I knew I was fucked for the Boston Tune-Up. A course I normally would do well on with rolling hills was not only fucked by the hamstring tendon problem, but now, I would be dealing with lack of energy and the inability to breath well. Bad combination. I had to once again accept that I was going into my 8th GP race in a row not being 100%. A lot of those were on purpose, but this one was not. I was so looking forward to a better race than New Bedford and a new-to-me race, as well. But nope. I had to once again go in with no other goal than to just finish, and, believe me, even that was difficult. But what can you do? Just try. That's what I did. I ran as expected. Left disappointed in the situation, more so than the results. The positive? It was my first time running a 15K on the road so yay a PR!! WOOOT. Haha. A day later, I struggled through a 5.7 mile run at over an 8 min pace. That's when I changed my tune a little. I was actually impressed with myself for racing as fast as I did. I felt like such shit and still ran an avg 6:43/mile pace. I think if I had had a goal and I was healthy, it would have been around a 6:30 pace. So not far off really, considering. That thought actually brought me out of my post-race depression so that I could enjoy my Sunday with John.

As far as an update on the other things, i.e. the intestinal issues, well, in an effort to do something, I ventured low into the dark, dirty black market... of pet meds! Hahaha! Yep. I did that. I contacted my "connection" in a desperate plea for help in getting a "prescription" for some antibiotics from a pet med site. Well, my friend just happened to have 200 tablets of antibiotics left unused that she bought for a litter of puppies. The best part...these were broad-spectrum antibiotics which is exactly what I needed to try since I don't actually know what's wrong. Sure, it could be a virus or, like I mentioned in the last post, microscopic colitis, but free antibiotics were definitely the first thing to try. Having been on them now for 6 days, the jury is still out. I feel like there's major improvement since I haven't had to stop on any run since. Frequency has still varied, though, sometimes making me think they aren't helping at all. And maybe they aren't. Maybe my body was already healing on its own. Who knows. But, anyway, I'll finish out the 7 days on the antibiotics and see what happens from there.

As far as mileage goes, I'm surprised that I made it as many miles as I did. 53.7. 4 road runs, 1 trail/mountain run, 2 treadmill. 4,278ft of elevation gain, which still isn't much yet. The best run of the week was the mountain run since it just felt good on my body. Not strenuous. Quiet. Clean air. One of my favorite places. Good memories with all of my dogs there.

Upper body, abs and plyo took a backseat this week. I still felt good on Monday to get all of it in, but I had no energy the rest of the week for much. I did some upper body and abs at work on Wednesday, but just that left me out of breath so there was no way I was doing anymore plyo this week. I did a very short 12 minute upper body and abs workout on Thursday, but even that wore me out so that was the end of that. At least I did something in that realm.

Monday, March 26, 2018- Another day, another dollar. Haha. Got up for a 5 mile run on the treadmill in 38:49. 7:46 pace. Felt ok. Noticed that my gunky cough was slightly worse. Thought I was getting a chest cold at first. Still had a lot of energy today for some reason. We had one super fun call to a gross residence in the middle of the day and then nothing until night time. I had a rush of energy and did some abs and upper body stuff. I had taken off my shirt since it's like a heat box (teflon in the fabric) and no one was upstairs. I had on a sports bra style bra. My "supervisor" showed up and came right upstairs. I decided to make him uncomfortable and keep my shirt off. Haha. Ugh. He's annoying. Got in 100 reps of plyo stuff after. Felt good. I still had an appetite so I also had a good dinner. Tried to get to bed when we got toned out for a lift assist, followed immediately by a odor investigation call. Both totally easy calls, but it got us back around midnight. By this time, my head was heavy and my throat burned. Managed to get some sleep, though.

Not sure why this caught my eye for a photo since the back of the ambulance looks like this after every call, but it did. Dirty gloves that the Rescue people throw in our truck before we transport a patient.

Tuesday, March 27, 2018- I woke up with sore throat and a headache from the sinus pressure. Yikes. On one hand I was happy to know this was a head cold and not a chest cold, but on the other, I knew for sure I was doomed for Saturday. I was a little worried since I had 15 miles to do today, and I should have said something, but by the time I got to where I was running, I felt fine other than a little tired so I decided to go with it. Stupidly, I picked one of my harder long-ish courses for this run. I was so excited for clear dirt roads to run on that I wasn't really thinking through how challenging this run is on a good day.

I knew from the get-go that I was tired, but I felt that was probably due to the race two days ago. The run actually ended up going ok. It cleared out my sinuses which made my head feel better. I got through a run without stopping for issues! Yay! I still ended up stopping, though, around mile 3 to read a text from Bryan. I stewed for the next 4 miles until I finally had to stop to reply. It was eating away at me so I couldn't wait until the run was over. He didn't do anything really wrong, but he was asking me for something without thinking of anybody but himself. I'll keep it short, but it was basically him asking my approval for permanent change in the Parenting Plan set in the divorce. I absolutely refused. I said the only permanent changes to the Plan will go through the court. I left it short since I didn't want a discussion during my run, but it wouldn't be the end of it. I felt better getting that shit off my chest and continued on for the second half of my run... the hard part of it. It was ok, but like I said, I felt tired so it was a bit slower than my previous runs on it. Beautiful morning, though, and these back roads through Tamworth are just so pretty. Finished off with 15.6 miles, just over the planned mileage to finish the loop. 2:03:20. 7:54 avg pace. 1,226ft of elevation gain. I keep meaning to do this loop backwards to see how much faster it is. Next time! Look at the elevation profile and you'll see what I mean. Still some tough hills in there backwards but it's mostly a downhill slope. Haha.

The only ice left on the road was this short stretch on Great Hill Rd.

As soon as I finished the run, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Oops. I got home, showered and then sat around for a long time in a haze. I really needed to exercise the dogs so I left early enough to get a walk in before picking John up at school. I went back to Tamworth (Wonalancet) to walk on the Brook Path with them. It was so nice out still, but I struggled through this walk, and it was only 2 miles. Mostly flat. I was out of breath and just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep. I had to turn around at the mile point. I was so done.

In mid-air

I got my wish to curl up in a little ball since I got to John's school a half hour early. By this point, I was coughing a lot. Ugh. We went right home where I curled up in a ball again on the couch. I was SO tired. And groggy. I didn't want to go back out, but John had ninja class. I was almost passing out in my chair and basically went to bed as soon as we got home. Fortunately, I got a solid 7.5 hours of sleep which is rare for me having to get up at 4:30am.

Oh and to update with Bryan's text. I did spend at least an hour later in the day in the Circle of Manipulation while he tried every technique he learned as an interrogator in the Army to get the answer out of me that he wanted. It was kind of entertaining, actually, although I did eventually get frustrated and admitted to him that I almost took him to court a few months prior. I think he was floored and hurt by that. Like I said before, Bryan is not a bad person. Deep down he really does mean well, but he's just got this selfish, manipulative side that I don't even think he realizes he has. After the long drawn out attempt at finding some way to get the answer out of me that he wanted, I ended it with the exact same sentence I started with. "The only permanent changes to the Plan will go through the court." His tactics haven't worked on me in years. I know how to play the game since I played it for so long, so I don't know why he keeps trying, but he did finally stop...until Wednesday when he tried one last ditch effort by having John message me asking me to allow for the change. Grrr. Using your kid to get what you want and in effect making me the bad guy when I say no. Well, bad guy I am, then. I wrote the same thing. Exact words: "I do not agree to a permanent change in the Parenting Plan without going through the court." That was the last I heard of it. You have to give him credit for not being a quitter, though! Haha.

Wednesday, March 28, 2018- I woke up with a horrible sinus headache and totally congested. I should have skipped the run because it ended up being really bad. I had to run super slow on the treadmill and it was still a struggle. Only 3 miles in 24:13. 8:04 avg pace. It was all I could muster. I broke down and took a Sudafed for the sinus pressure and congestion. It did wonders. I actually felt so much better and had some energy for most of the morning at work even though I coughed my fucking head off ALL DAY LONG. It was so nice out that I got a walk in on the clear trail out back. So excited for that. I actually walked 3 miles.

Found this full can of nastiness in the woods. Haha.

My energy was zapped after the walk. I just wanted to lie in the sun, but there isn't anywhere not covered in dirt so I climbed up on the roof of my car and lied in the sun for over an hour. While I was up there, my "drug deal" went down when the goods were delivered. Haha. She was totally laughing at me on top of my car since I'm always posing for photos on cars....and ambulances. Haha.

Calm down, Kevin Beck. It's a sports bra. Haha.

The goods. Haha.

Funny. When I got to work, I found Jolly Ranchers in my mailbox. "Chummy", the wheelchair van driver, always leaves me Jolly Ranchers and/or "love notes" in my box. Haha. It's cute. He's a sweet old guy. I joke with him that he's trying get me into his van by luring me with candy. Haha. It's pretty funny.

I tried to workout a bit by doing upper body and abs, but then Jeff wanted to clean the garage floor and one of the trucks. It took awhile and actually left me totally worn out. I was doing WAYYYY too much. We only had one 911 call, fortunately, but it's always around 8pm on a Wednesday when I'm trying to follow along with something else. Haha. That's how it works often. I never ate dinner. I wasn't hungry at all. I tried to go to bed, but ended up coughing up a storm so much that I had to get up and sleep in the room upstairs so that I wasn't disturbing Jeff in the room next door. We aren't supposed to sleep up there since there's no egress, but I had to. To stay downstairs would have been rude. I did manage to sleep most of the night surprisingly.

Thursday, March 29, 2018- Since I was sick, I was under orders to only run 4-6 miles and very slowly. I decided to take a gamble and try out Middle Mt. since I was dying to do a mountain run. I knew it would be tough with the head cold, but it would also be at a very slow pace which would be less strenuous. You would think the opposite to be true, but if you're in shape for mountain running, it really isn't tough on the body, especially if you keep the pace easy. I haven't run up a mountain in months, but I was still able to run the entire way up both Middle and Peaked. I really wanted to bring Phoenix, but she was still with Bryan so I went solo. It was so gorgeous out, and I ended up totally overdressed for the way up. 3/4 of the way up the Middle Mt trail was solid and perfect with microspikes. Past there, it got a little soft but not bad. These are small mountains in North Conway so it's only about 1.9 miles to the top. After Middle, I ran down to the Peaked Connector Trail and ran to the summit of Peaked.

View of Mt Washington from the Peaked Mt Trail

The trail back down on the Peaked Mt Trail was a total mess. Footprints in mush the whole way so it was pretty slow-going. 5.1 miles total. 1:13:41. 1,682ft of elevation gain. Glad I opted for this over a road run today.

I'm not used to being home on Thursdays with nothing to do so I was kind of bored. I did eventually get back out for a walk on Dugway Rd from the Albany Covered Bridge with Phoenix. It's closed to motor vehicles in the winter so it was still covered in snow. It was also very mushy and slow-going. I was kind of tired so we only did 2 miles.

In the Albany Covered Bridge

Even though I was tired, I mustered up some energy for an upper body and ab workout. I ended up spending a lot of time in the kitchen after that making brownies for a function at John's school. Omg. These were seriously the best brownies I might have ever had. I can say that since it wasn't my recipe. I found it on the King Arthur sight. Definitely going to make these again sometime since I could only eat one of these ones. Such torture! 

Friday, March 30, 2018- Slept in as long as possible since it was very much needed. I felt like today was going to be easy with "only" 6 miles to do. Well, they turned out to be 6 very miserable miles. Talk about losing even more confidence about the next day's race. I was really excited to get out on Potter Rd for a run. I knew the unplowed section of Potter would still be covered in mushy, wet snow and very slow-going, but it was only a total of about 1.4 miles out of the 6. The rest of the dirt road was completely clear and solid. This run did not work out well. As soon as I started running, I began a coughing fit that basically lasted the entire 3 miles out. I stopped nearly every 2-3 minutes to have a major coughing fit and then ran through the minor ones. I'm sure it sounded like a goose running down the road since I have the WORST cough in the world. It sounds like a terrible smoker's cough. I've had it my whole life, and even John inherited it from me, the poor kid. I should have turned around sooner since it was pretty pointless to keep running, but I ran out to the 3-mile mark and turned around. Crazy enough, I didn't have to stop to cough again for the next 2 miles. I thought I was good, but, no, the last mile was the worst of them all. I coughed the entire way when I ran and had to stop many times once again. Got the 6 miles in, but it wasn't worth it and probably just made things worse. 54:57. 9:07 avg pace. I ran slowly, but the snow-covered road is what really made it over a 9 min pace. I was curious to see how much "moving time" vs "elapsed time" on Strava differed. I only stopped to cough today. About 7.5 minutes!!! Crazy. And that didn't include all of the coughing I did as I ran. So yeah, it was bad. I didn't know if I was going to make it through the Boston Tune-Up without having to stop and cough!

The unplowed portion of Potter Rd

In desperation, I drove right to Walgreen's to get a cough suppressant which I never, ever, never, ever, never, ever take. Haha. I planned to go against my fears and take it for the race. This shit honestly scares the crap out of me. Maybe I'm just overly cautious because I've seen the overuse (and overprescribed!) of medications in my job, but I know there is a cardiac risk by taking cold medicines combined with strenuous exercise. I decided I would risk it. It took me probably 15 minutes to figure out which one I needed since there aren't many for head colds. I know I had a look of fear and concern on my face while doing this because I could feel it in my furrowed brow. Haha. Finally settled on one for head decongestant and a cough suppressant. I took it as soon as I got home. It quickly took affect with the decongestant part, and I was very dried me out, almost too much, but funny enough, it did nothing for the cough, absolutely nothing. Maybe cough suppressants really only work with chest colds? I don't know since I only ever take expectorants. Anyway, I figured being able to have a clear head and breathe well for the race would still be worth it.

I was early to pick up John at school so I took Phoenix and Chill for a short walk on the Jackman Pond Trail. The school dog spotted us headed out and decided to join in on the walk. Thank goodness she's a female dog since Chill is terrible with male dogs (He's unneutered; Bryan refuses to neuter him even though I think it would be so much better for Chill). It was really fun. She and Phoenix ended up playing chase just totally cracking me up. Made our walk more fun.

Love this pic of Phoenix mid-air

John showed me the lambs that had just been born a week before at the school. They were unfortunately sleeping, but the mama sheep was awake and so cute.

I made another batch of paleo banana bread and then forced myself to eat a good dinner. I also got to bed at a decent hour. Even though this race was closer than the previous two, I still had to get up at 4:45am for the drive down to Upton, Ma.

Saturday, March 31, 2018- Frank Nealon Boston Tune-Up 15K

My Guest Race Recap written by "Coach Person"-

"I didn't want to run...I knew I would suck. I coughed a lot in the race and after and now. I suck and I should give up...I keep having issues. That coach person fuck him. Can't wait until my next race."

Yep. He knows me so well that he can sum me up in just a few sentences. Hahahaha. But, I like to draw it out with the long, boring details. So here's the Blabbity Blah Race Recap.

After Friday's run, I realized this was not going to go well for me. I made no goal other than to finish. Making any other goal would have left me disappointed in my performance, which like I said, I was still disappointed in, but more so due to the circumstances and not the actual outcome. It was tough to accept, but I really did accept it...eventually. I would give 100%, and whatever result came from that, I'd have to be happy with. I was sick, and I wasn't going to race well. It was just a fact. On the drive down, I freaked out a bit about my decision to take the cold medicine and decided against it. I would rather have a bad race than die. Yes, maybe I'm being overly dramatic, but I don't care. It wasn't worth even the slightest risk to me, and the biggest problem wasn't even the congestion; it was the fatigue and shortness of breath with even light exercise. The cold medicine stayed in the bag and I still haven't used it again. $13 down the drain. Ugh.

The drive wasn't bad at all except for these two crazy chicks on Whirlaway passed me on the highway. Haha. It was actually just Heather Mahoney and Amy Bernard. I saw this car passing me on the left and then it slowed down to my speed next to me. I was afraid to look over, but when I did, I saw it was them just messing with me. Haha. I followed them the rest of the way and we walked to the registration to get our bibs. I had planned to join them for a warm up, but like a hunting dog, I tracked down the scent of a trail that was just above where I parked. I took Phoenix up there to use the bathroom and scope it out, and sure enough, there it was. A XC trail through the woods. I knew it! I just said fuck it and took Phoenix on a warm up on it. Definitely not the plan, but a much better choice. 1.4 miles following the loop. When we finished, I went back out to feel my road legs. I stopped and chatted with the race announcer, Andy Schachat, briefly as I headed out. Andy has been very supportive of my running the last three years, and I always appreciate his accolades that accompany my name as I cross the finish line. Even when I'm finishing a bad race, to hear "a former New Hampshire runner of the year" or "a top mountain runner" makes me feel good even if just for the few seconds it takes me to cross the line. My favorite was when he greeted me at the finish of the 2016 Boston Marathon with a smile and dragged me over for a brief WMUR tv interview (which I never saw!). How cool is it to be recognized at the finish of the Boston Marathon when I'm just a small fish in a big ocean of 25,000-ish other racers?

I had planned to run only 1.6 more miles to make 3 total for a warm up, but when I saw Amy and Heather on their way back, I turned around and joined them instead. Ended up with 1.1 miles. What did it matter anyway? I could feel already that I was struggling.

It was a beautiful day but still a bit chilly at the start so I waited until 10 minutes beforehand to strip down to my singlet and shorts then headed to the start line. We had women's elite start, as usual. I normally would have lined up with Christin Doneski and Amy, but not today. I went pretty far back and stopped about where I thought my pace would be today. I was around Amanda Watters and Deb Slason, both of whom beat me at New Bedford, with Tammie Robie right behind me. This seemed like a good spot. I didn't expect to beat any of them today, but I hoped to be closer than NB at least.

After the race start, I still went out too fast and found myself just a few steps behind Amy and Heather. I was surprised that I felt good, though, so I just kept at it. The pace for the first 2 miles actually matched feel this time around so I was happy about that. 6:14, 6:18. I knew it was too fast still and planned to cut back the pace in mile 3 since it actually a much longer, steeper climb than I expected. I felt good for the most part, but I found I was reduced to a shuffle up the hill with pain in both high hamstring tendons. Shuffling used less energy which I was lacking from the start, but it also meant I wasn't using much of my power muscles in my glutes. This would quickly tire out my mid-hamstring muscles that I was relying on for probably 80% of my power up every hill. I still hung in there and while this split was up there, it was what I felt like I was running. This was good. Better than NB as far as that goes. 6:51. That would be the end of feeling good, though.

Even though mile 4's pace was faster since it had quite a bit of downhill, I was all of a sudden beat and had to cut back the effort a bit. My breathing was getting out of control. Where I would normally hammer out the downhills, I was now just using them as a recovery for my breathing. My respiratory rate was extremely high and it felt like I was trying to grasp more air than was possible. 

In mile 5 there was a fairly steep uphill that looked daunting from a distance. You could see that it eventually turned right, but I had no idea what came after the turn. More uphill or downhill? It ended up being a downhill, thankfully, since I struggled badly on this hill. I just had nothing. Right after this, a guy passed me. Oh yeah, I remember him. I ran with him during the Manchester City Marathon in 2016. I remember he annoyed me a bit because he criticized the way I ran. Today would be no different except this time he fucking pissed me off and I ended up yelling at him. I still don't feel bad about it. I was struggling even more by this point, and as he passes me, he says, "You need work. You're not good on hills. You need to run more hills." If this were the actual reason I sucked on the hills, then I would have accepted his criticism, but, no, not this time. I'm fucking sick and I have these tendon issues, and I'm out here still trying to just finish this race and this guy has the gall to criticize me without knowing anything about it. I literally yelled at him that I fucking live in the hills and run hills all the time, but I'm having issues that are affecting that and "don't tell me what I need to be doing when you don't know a thing about it!" I have to give him some credit, though; this did actually give me some short-lived umph to pass him back and not let him pass me again. Haha. Take that, fucker! :)

The course continued rolling for the last 4.3 miles. I struggled up the hills, then recovered my breathing on the down. Steps before the 7 mile mark, I felt slightly dizzy and like I suddenly needed to stop. To stop now! My body literally felt like it couldn't go on. For a short moment, I slowed and put my hand on my watch ready to stop it. It was like my body's natural reflexes had temporarily taken over any thought process. I really felt I couldn't run another step, but it was just a fleeting moment. It was the flight of fight or flight! My mind caught up to what my body was doing, and I told myself I could finish even if I had to slow down. This moment really only lasted a few seconds, but it was so strange. I've never felt anything quite like that in a race. It's usually the mind that quits first, but not this time. Crazy. Miles 7 and 8 would be my slowest miles. I got passed in droves in mile 8, but it didn't matter. I was giving every bit of effort I had today.

Once we crossed the mile 8 marker, I knew I was going to finish, but I was caught off guard as we approached the school and I realized we approached the finish from the opposite direction than what I thought. Haha. We ran around behind the school and finished on an uphill. Awesome. Haha. The first part around the school was downhill, and two people passed me. A really young girl with a big red bow in her hair and an older runner on Whirlaway. I couldn't stop staring at the damn bow for some reason thinking how little I cared about getting passed at the end by a super young girl with a giant bow in her hair. Haha. Strangely enough, though, as soon as we hit the uphill, it was as if both her and the older guy gave up. I barely gave any effort and passed them both shortly before the finish. I crossed the line and felt like I was going to die. I couldn't catch my breath at all and had to lean over on my knees. I felt bad because Amanda Watters tried to talk to me and I had to give the "wait a minute" motion with my hand. Once I caught my breath, I stood upright to find a cup of water being brought to me. That was awesome because the water table might as well have been 5 miles away since it felt like it already was. Haha.

Because they use chip time for results, the guy behind me that I beat across the line would end up being ahead of me in the results. I really don't like that. 

I finished in 1:02:34. I'm still not sure what I would have run had I not been sick. Probably something between 1:00:00-1:01:00? Who knows. I don't know my place and I really didn't care. My time? Well, whatever. It was an average 6:43 pace. To run that speed feeling like shit is pretty awesome, if you think about it. Plus, it was a tough course. I knew it was going to be rolling, but I thought it would be more like Seasons 20K. These hills were much longer and tougher, in my opinion. But, still, I did like this course a lot! And I would love to try it again when I'm 100%. On a bright note, I still helped our CMS women's masters team come in 2nd earning another $200 for the team. Every little bit helps to keep our team going so I'm happy to keep doing my part in that. Full Results.

Amy and Heather would join me for a cool down loop on the XC trail after the race. I was done after that while they went on another 4 more miles. I'll never understand long cool down runs. Any cool down is still sometimes hard for me to bother with so when people do more than 3 miles, I'm baffled. Haha. I know I'm the one who's the weirdo, but still. Why? I'd rather get to post-race beer sooner. :)

I had to stay for the awards because those of us who won something in the 2017 Grand Prix were being presented with our plaques. It couldn't have been more perfect with the weather for this. The sun was so warm so I enjoyed hanging out after while we waited. I chatted with Christin Doneski and Kasie Enman while we waited for it to start. I normally don't love plaques, but this one meant a lot to me since it will probably never happen again. I won the 40-44 women's age group. It was basically by default, but whatever. I was psyched for the honor, especially on a day when I had just run a crappy race. Once we all had our plaques, I photobombed Whirlaway's group shot. :) I haven't seen the real actual photos, but whoever was taking the USATF-NE photos snapped one of me being goofy. Haha.

It such a gorgeous day that I decided John and I would walk there on the xc trail... again. It was a really nice trail that went by some ponds and vernal pools. We got to hear peepers which won't happen up here in NH for another month or so.

The race had a great selection of food options post-race. I couldn't resist snapping this photo with the Devil Dogs. Haha.

We left for home after our walk. I didn't want to go out anywhere. I didn't feel very good. I had forced myself to eat some pizza but couldn't stomach anything else until probably 6 or 7 hours later when I forced myself to eat some sweet potato tots. Sad, but the only thing I could tolerate was beer. Haha. I didn't have much, but seriously, though, a dark beer is often all I can tolerate after a lot of races especially road marathons. When we got home I took both dogs out then did just that...opened a dark beer and sat in the sun on the deck.

I was surprisingly not feeling that run down. I was wicked congested, but other than that, I felt pretty good. That would not be the case the next morning.

Sunday, April 1, 2018- I planned to sleep in, but I was awake by 7am. Today was $11 day at Wildcat Ski Area, and I had purchased tickets for John and me to go. This would be the only downhill skiing I would do this year so I was excited. I wanted to be out of there by noon, so I opted for a short run. Well, any run was too long. I barely got through it. 5.7 miles through Cranmore Shores which is mostly flat. I wanted to stop and walk. My head was so congested and I had zero energy. 46:12. 8:05 avg pace. I should have taken a zero to rest. My body was beat, and now I was bumming thinking I would struggle to ski, but I turned out to be wrong. My quads ended up telling me to quit before anything else. Haha.

The weather didn't seem ideal, but it turned out to be nearly perfect up there. Mostly sunny. Crazy windy at times, but it really wasn't cold until just before we left. We only did 4 runs, but at Wildcat, that took 2 hours. Haha. As always, I stick to the Pole Cat because I downhill ski to have fun, not die. John did two more difficult runs on his own. Talk about a major quad burner when you haven't skied all season. Wow. I wanted to do a 5th run, but I think the quad fatigue could have caused me to get hurt. I was happy when John said he was done after the 4th, too.

We hit apres ski afterwards. It was nice sitting out in the sun. We ended up running into a ski club group and got to chatting. While we were doing that, John managed to get his ski boot stuck in the railing. It was pretty hilarious. Laughter from the deck below us revealed the Zarbo's! Haha. I always run into people I know when we're at Wildcat. One of the guys from the ski club ended up helping John by taking his ski boot off for him. It was pretty funny.

By the time we got home, I was definitely feeling beat. No abs, yet again. I haven't done much at all. As I'm writing this, I think it's going on 6 days since I last did any workouts. I just haven't had the energy to do anything other than weak run attempts. This next week will set me back a bit. I need to keep it slow and the mileage low and let myself recoup a bit. I doubt I'll be 100% for Doyle's Emerald Necklace on Sunday, but I'd like to at least feel mostly better. Hoping I can ramp the mileage back up the following week and have a good race (time-wise) at Merrimack River Trail Race on April 14th.

So April 1st marked the 20th anniversary of the start of my first thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, hence my photo at the top. While it was a life changing experience for me, I don't get all reminiscent about it. I know so many fellow thru-hikers who constantly live in the past wishing they were back on the trail. They go to Trail Days in Damascus every year trying to relive it all. That's just not me. I wrote this on my Facebook page which I'm copying here because it's really all I have to say about it:

"20 years ago today, I started my first thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. It's been so long now that it almost feels like someone else's life. It was definitely a life-changing experience for me, but unlike many former thru-hikers, I don't long to be back on the trail again. I'm not one to live in the past. I'm always looking forward to my next thing. I do believe, however, that my 3 thru-hikes did send me in this forward-thinking direction and will always be grateful for the experience."

October 7, 1998

Another song that is NOT my story. I just really like this song.