2018 Mt Washington Road Race

Photo by Mark LaRosa

I honestly couldn't contain my excitement all week for the Mt Washington Road Race. This would my 7th time doing the race, but the first time I've ever been excited about it. Every year, I dread it, then I run it, then I'm disappointed and depressed for weeks. I say, "I'm not doing it next year. I hate that race." Two days before the deadline to sign up with my Mountain Goat entry, I got my tax refund, and while most of that went to bills and basic living expenses, $95 reluctantly went to the Mt Washington Road Race. No, no, no. I won't go on another poor me, I'm poor rant about the ridiculous entry fee. I don't think I need to. It's a basic fact that it's just absurd, so I'll leave it at that. So, I paid for it. Then I regretted it for months. I considered a DNS back in May when the tendinopathy had gotten really bad. But there was no fucking way I was wasting my $95. I would walk the damn thing if I had to. Haha.

What ended up happening was probably one of the most negative things in my running life turning into a HUGE positive. Mt Washington has been my nemesis for 7 years! I'm just not good at it! On Saturday, I enjoyed the race SO MUCH! I wasn't dying and gasping for air for 7.6 miles to turn out yet another terrible result. Instead, I never got out of breath. I looked at the view. I could speak in full sentences. I put in little to no effort and then as I hit the top of The Wall and saw I was going to break 1:40, I busted out laughing. 1:39:35. How the hell?! 10 minutes slower than my fastest. 6 minutes slower than last year. And only 3 minutes slower than my worst. I had so much energy at the end that I even equaled my fastest time up The Wall from 2015. Back when I was SO much faster and uninjured. All of this time, I had been doing Mt Washington all wrong! And I mean, all wrong FOR ME. I've tried running the whole thing...one of my worst times. In 2015, I came into it super fit, healthy...barely broke 1:30.

Like I said, I am not good at uphill-only running. I learned that I really do better at hiking/running. Granted, my injury prevented me from using this method to its full extent, especially most of the 2nd half, but I still barely finished slower than my other times. I can now look forward to using this method when I'm healthy. I found one key for me was keeping my heart rate low. When I did run, it was only very short surges. 10-15 yards maybe. I would walk before I would ever get out of breath or my heart rate started to climb. I had people gasping for air all around me as I walked up the road like it was flat bike path through a park. It's not like this is a new method. I know people who are successful at it, but I just couldn't get myself to try it. My injury was that gift. My entire attitude about this race has done a 180. I've also accepted the fact that I will never be that good at it, and I really don't care. It's just not my strength. I'm just so sick of hating it and dreading it and being so disappointed in myself. In 2018, that bullshit ended. I would rather enjoy myself in that race than let it bring me down. Whereas I said I wasn't doing it in 2019, I'm now looking forward to it. In fact, I can't wait.

So this week was just interesting all around. I came off of 2 weeks of not running a step to a week when I had two races planned. Haha. I was definitely RACING Ribfest. I would end up running 3 times during the week, too. The first run was flat 3 mile run after work on Tuesday morning. The pace was way quicker than planned, but it felt effortless. 21:57. 7:16 avg pace. As I had hoped, getting on the spin bike really improved my fitness. What didn't improve much was my injury. These two things would be so off from each other. The lack of power and speed due to the tendinopathy would actually hold me back from working to my max. Cardiovascular-wise, I could have pushed myself so much harder, but the rest of the body wasn't having it. But I still consider this a huge positive knowing that once my legs can catch up, I'll be good to go in very little time.

Monday, June 11, 2018- Same ole stuff. Walked 2 miles outside. Did abs and glutes. Stayed busy enough but still got sleep overnight.

Tuesday, June 12, 2018- Like I mentioned, it was my first test run. I was really, really nervous about it, too. I was scared I would find no improvement with the injury and planned to put it off until the afternoon, but when I woke up to really cool, perfect weather, I decided to get it over with. Well, improvement varied. I was able to run normally right out of the gate. I haven't had that in SO long. I was slightly stiff from not running, but it wasn't from my injury. Yay! After the first mile, the pain started to become apparent mostly on the left side while the right was barely noticeable. I was definitely sad by the end of the run to find the right side about 80% improved with the left MAYBE 10% improved. Booo. But I had to remember that I had a huge improvement with no pain from sitting or driving or even at the start of the run. That was BIG.

I went right from my run to the gym for an hour of spinning. I was only going to spin two days this week so I had to get it in. I don't think I'll be able to afford to continue my gym membership after the month is up so I really want to use it as much as I can while I have it. I need my own spin bike, dammit. Haha.

Since this would be John's second to last day of school, it also meant the end of my Tuesday play time. Haha. This Tuesday had to count which meant I had to make a VERY difficult decision... Go hiking or kayaking. I would choose kayaking! I had plenty of time to paddle Silver Lake end-to-end so that's what I did. Nevermind it was into an insane headwind the whole way out and then a crazy, white-capped waves side-wind the whole way back. Haha. But don't worry. Even through the hard effort of paddling, I was still able to have my first kayak beer of the season. Haha. This did end up being a really good upper body workout, and my upper back would be sore from it the next day. 5.2 miles total. Even though it was tough, I really enjoyed being out there.

Here's a video I took of it. I was getting drenched from waves crashing over the boat. If I had been in a stupid lake boat, it would have dumped me over for sure.

I went home to grab the dogs so I could walk them on the Jackman Pond Trail behind John's school before he was ready to be picked up. They were swimming at the lake all day so I assumed the school dog would have gone along, but nope. Haha. As soon as we got out of the car, she was there. I don't mind walking her, but I was doing the entire walk which meant partly on the road and where I lost her last time. Well, things did almost turn out badly when we got to the road. She waltzed right across it and then decided to step out right in front of car while crossing it again. It was actually so close that I screamed. Fortunately the car was able to stop, but I'm sure they thought I was a terrible dog owner for that. Haha. She just doesn't listen. Great dog otherwise, though. With time I think she'll get better. We walked the full 2 miles. Timing was perfect. John was ready as soon as we got back.

John was so beat from swimming most of the day that he fell asleep in the car. I couldn't get him out of it when we got home so I asked him if he just wanted me to leave him there and just drive him to ninja class when it was time. He told me to just drive him there. Since I had time to kill, I did an upper body and abs workout...not that I needed the upper body part. Haha. Sat on the couch with Phoenix after that and then drove John to ninja. He still couldn't wake himself up so we turned around and went home. Haha.

Wednesday, June 13, 2018- Got myself up early again to hit the gym before work. Another 30 minutes with the most drab "instructor" in the video. Haha. She seemed like she really didn't want to be doing it, but I'm sure she was paid well in order to sell the product. Catherine Marsal led me on a 30 minute ride that still kicked my ass. This would be my last spinning of the week in order to save my legs from fatigue for the weekend of racing.

Off to work for another mostly quiet shift. Three calls withing a span of about 4 hours in the evening and that was it. Hell did freeze over when we somehow pulled off getting North Conway Fire & Rescue to do a patient "sign-off" (Refusal of Care) while we took the "No patient contact". In 7 years, that has never happened for me. Timing was perfect and I thoroughly enjoyed the moment. Role reversal for once... as it should have been. Haha.

I got in a 2 mile walk on the trail out back and then did abs and glutes in the awesome air conditioned room upstairs. I'm actually about to do the same exact thing now!

The rest of the night was quiet and uneventful. Got sleep again! Yay! But our luck was running out with these quiet shifts. See the next blog post for that one. Haha.

Thursday, June 14, 2018- Only had time in between the 24 in North Conway and the next 9 hour shift at the track to go home and shower. Another really nice day there. So nice that it was a bit chilly. I spent most of the day lying in the back of the ambulance reading a book but got out during the lunch break for a walk up the track and then down around the cart track for a total of 2.4 miles. The cloudy skies made the views even more beautiful.

Reading my book

Lupine is my favorite early summer flower.

Rain over the Sandwich Range

It may be a baby cone, but I'm pretty sure it tried to trip me.

As soon as the shift was over, I changed clothes then headed to Wolfeboro for a new Six03 Pub Run. It's actually a pub run that has been going on since the winter put on by Burnt Timber. I was going to do some of those runs but never got there. I figured tonight would be perfect for another test run.

I started off with the group until we got to Sewall Woods for a trail loop. Since the pace was way too slow, this other girl, Jess, and I split from the group and ran together the rest of the way. I've never met her before, but I've known her fiancé for a few years since he's the Center Ossipee Fire Chief. This ended up being a really good run. I was happy for the company, and she isn't slow, so it worked out well. The injury was a little bothersome for this run, but still not too bad. I did discover that I'm a bit out of shape on the hills, but I kind of expected that. I was already slower on them from the injury anyway. We got in 3.9 miles in 32:42. I'll have to see if I can meet up with Jess again for some running this summer since it would be nice to run with someone occasionally around here.

As soon as we finished back at the pub, I looked by the fire pit and found my work supervisor there. Ugh. Can't get away from work! Haha. I ended up having two beers. The first beer was supposed to be $3, but I got charged $10 after 2 beers so I think I might have been overcharged or else the beer is regularly $7! If that's the case, I'll have to pass on the second beer next time. Haha. Decent beer and nice little spot there. The fire pit totally made it. The people there were super nice and really comfortable to be around. Too bad they're changing the pub run to Tuesdays. UGH. Yet another Six03 pub run on a Tuesday. The only the Thursday one is in Rochester, and it kind of sucks. The run is somewhat unpleasant, and while I like the bar, it's a little overpriced. Not really worth the hour drive. They're changing the pub run to accommodate the 3-race series on a few Thursdays at the Abenaki Ski Area. Grr. Annoying since I would never do those races for personal reasons. Haha. Looks like I'll be sticking to the Whitaker Woods Trail Series on Tuesdays like I always do. Just gotta work on turning it into a pub run somehow. Heehee.

I look like I have a gut with the stuff in my pockets.

Friday, June 15, 2018- What was just supposed to be an easy day of walking or hiking turned into me deciding it was a good idea to go for a run. I just had that itch to get out on the trail and run. Craving it. I planned something short and slow on the mountain bike trails in North Conway. It wasn't a good idea. I was actually in quite a bit of pain. Not as bad as it was when I dropped out of VCM, but bad enough that I should have aborted the run halfway through. I couldn't get myself to do that, though, so I kept running.

At one point during the run, I saw through the thick trees another runner and a dog coming towards me. As they rounded the corner, I was like wait a minute; that's my dog! Haha. It was Chill and Bryan out on a run. I could tell by the look on Bryan's face that he realized he was busted since John was with him...and John wasn't with him. Haha. I can bust him without even trying. :) I honestly didn't care, though. Him leaving John behind in the van at a safe place is no different than me leaving John at home or in the car when I run and race. So it would have been hypocritical of me to be mad about it. It was fine. I'm sure he breathed a huge sigh of relief. We did stop and talk for a minute about John's summer reading. A very pleasant conversation, actually. But still weird to run into your ex-husband randomly in the middle of the woods. Haha. 5.2 miles total in 53:11. Like I said. Very slow. 515ft of elevation gain. Mostly just rolling hills. No harm done to the tendons really. Just definitely more painful than I'd hoped for.

I made a quick grocery store stop then headed home. Got in upper body and abs stuff, showered and then waited for Scott Gordon to arrive for a Reiki session. Scott has been doing part of the Mountain Series the last few years, and I randomly ran into him while doing the Mt Adams Challenge in 2016. We didn't know each other; just said hi in passing. Scott figured out who I was shortly thereafter and read my blog post about my experience doing the Challenge. He wrote an article/story about both of our experiences that day (with my permission) and reached out for help with editing/feedback on it. It was fantastic read, by the way, and Scott is still searching out publications for publishing it. So anyway, in exchange for help with his article, Scott, who practices Reiki, offered me a session. Today worked out since Scott was coming up my way for the MWRR already.

I've had one prior experience with Reiki, and prior to that, I was highly skeptical. There are many non-believers out there since it hasn't been scientifically proven that it works. It's energy healing so there's nothing really tangible there. But does it really matter? Do you need proof before trying it? Nope. My first session with it 4 or 5 years ago was only because I won a free gift certificate. I didn't believe in that fru-fru stuff. Haha. Well...I walked out of that session a believer. I really wish I was writing this blog then so that I'd have my memories of that session written down. It's been so long that all I remember is that it put into this amazing meditative state and that my body felt so strangely better after that. Hard to explain it now since I probably couldn't put my finger on it at the time. I still can't. All I know is that I vowed to go back. I never did due to the cost. Here's a link about Reiki: Reiki Really Works

So anyway, Scott showed up and set up his table in my kitchen. He explained the process, did a little meditation and then got to work. First thing I noticed was the extreme heat coming off his hands. I remembered this exact same thing from the woman's hands the last time. It's so hot, it almost feels like a hot pad being placed on your skin. It's pretty crazy. What happened when he moved to my abdomen was what kind of freaked me out. And I'm not making this up, but as soon as his hands moved over my stomach, it cramped up. Like instantly and stayed that way until he moved them. And when he moved them, he put them in more of a cupping shape over the midline of my abdomen and with the change of hand position, the cramping followed but went specifically to my midline and felt like it was pulled up towards his cupped hands. (Take this out of context and it sounds like I'm writing a romance novel! Haha. Sorry, Scott. ;) ). I couldn't believe it. So crazy. The second he moved his hands away, the cramping stopped. Like instantly. So yeah, I don't have any proof to show that happened, but you'll have to take my word for it that that experience was real and not made up in my head. I definitely felt relaxed and just an overall increased sense of well-being. Finances are tight, but I'll be booking another session with Scott when I can. If you're in the Seacoast area or like to travel, I highly recommend it.

After Scott left, I quickly changed clothes so that I could head up to the Mt Washington Auto Rd to pick up my bib number and meet up with Mike King to give him my runner tag so his wife could drive the car up the next morning. I was already riding down with the Kirsch's who had like 11 potential tags so I knew I could give mine away. John didn't want to come so I left him at home and headed up.

As soon as I got there, it was like social hour. This always happens. Christin Doneski and her husband showed up just after I did so I talked to them until Mike showed up. It was fun seeing so many familiar faces. This just made me even more excited for the next day!

Tom Hooper messaged me letting me know that he and few other Six03 people were at the Moat so I decided to stop in and join them for a drink. I wasn't there long before I ran into Jodi Hall on the way out. She said she had just met Seth Acton and told me where he was sitting so I decided to go over there and scare the crap out of him, which I did. It wasn't long before more Rhode Island friends showed up. This wasn't planned so it was kind of funny. Sarah Chapin and Mike Radz, then Rachel Flaksman and Derek. Seth moved over to join us. I felt kind of bad because I sort of ditched the Six03 group, but I had already spent some time with them. I had to hit both groups! Haha. Also ran into Rich and Andrea Leonard on their way out so it was a fun time seeing everyone. It was, however, short-lived when a blight on the landscape showed up and joined the RI group. I left shortly thereafter. :) I had to go anyway. Other than a few pieces of Roxanne's leftover pizza, I still needed to eat dinner AND drive my bag for MWRR over to Paul's house. It was almost 9pm by this point. I was glad I stuck to my one beer rule tonight. Still too much to get done!

Seth, Sarah, Mike, Photobomber, me

I went home and ate ramen quickly. It's had to be my diet staple during my extra poor two weeks. Haha. Then I drove to Paul's. He came out when I got there and we chatted a bit, then I headed back home. I was in bed way later than I wanted to be, but I didn't care. Tomorrow would be laid back, and I didn't really need the rest.

Saturday, June 16, 2018- Mt Washington Road Race-

I think I've written most of the emotional part about today's race, so I'll get right down to the details. I was up super early so that I could drop John off at his grandparents' at 6am. This is the 4th year in a row they've helped me out with this one, and it's very much appreciated.

I got to the Auto Rd early as planned to beat the traffic and was once again successful! I got a much better parking place than ever before that was close to the tent and also with more privacy. Emer O'Donaghue was parked right near me and loaded me up with two more huge bags of clothes for John. This one included a Calvin Klein suit!! Omg. John will be so stylish!

I had so much time to kill so I made the rounds to chat with people at the Six03 tent and the acidoticRACING tent. Caught up with Dominick LaPorte who was getting married at the summit after the race. I also talked with Josh Fields and a few other people. I haven't talked to Scott Mitchell in forever, but it turned out that we have the exact same tendon injury AND plantar fasciitis. Me thinks it's ALL related for sure!

It started to get warm out so I went back to my car to ditch my layers and get ready for a "warm up". I caught up with Suzie West, Dawn Roberts and Donna Smyth for a bit before I attempted a run.

Dawn was one of the first women I noticed during my first two mountain series races in 2011 because she is such an amazing uphiller. I've watched her run up the entire length of Upper Walking Boss!

I started my warm up jog. I kept it super slow...ok, at a shuffle. I just wanted to see how I felt. I was a little stiff overall at the start and then felt ok. I only ran 1.3 miles and kept it on flat ground. On the way back I ran into Jackie Shakar and talked to her briefly about my injury. It was hard not to get run into people I knew and ended up chatting with Roger Marcoux and Brad Klinedinst before I realized it was only 15 minutes until the start! It was so nice not being nervous and hanging out with people. Not that I wouldn't have been social, but I would have kept it at a minimum pre-race.

I meandered up to the start and lined up with my teammate, Barb McManus. Funny. We started together and would end up finishing 6 seconds apart! I guess I lined up correctly. So my plan was to run the first mile so that I didn't get trampled at the start and then to get a little headstart on the easiest part of the climb before I started hiking. Mile 1 felt easy, and I ran it slower than I normally do. I wanted to keep my heart rate lower and my breathing easy. The end of mile 1 came easily and quickly in 9:55. I started to walk but then realized it was kind  of flat so ran maybe another .1 or so before walking again. Hmmm. Something I learned right away. The Auto Rd isn't steep when you're walking it. When I realized it wasn't steep enough to power hike, I was like, "I'm bored," and decided to incorporate running surges like I've watched many people around me doing in the past. Funny. I never remembered all of these flat sections before! Seriously! I only remember the one just after mile 2 with the water stop. Turns out that if you're taking it easy, you realize there's a lot of flat! Short-lived, but those were the sections I chose to do my run surges. 10-15 yards maybe. My goal was to run these without getting my heart rate up and without getting out of breath. I'm sure the people I was playing leapfrog with were hating me since I've always hated the people that did this to me. Haha. Crazy how fast I could run and keep up with most of the same people through the entire 1st half. It was so easy! And fun. And all of the people sucking wind around me made me feel sorry for them. Hahaha. At one point, I got slapped on the ass really hard from a passerby. I was about to scream out that I had been sexually assaulted when I realized it was just Amy Rusiecki. Haha. Only kidding about the screaming out part. Haha. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw my half time. 45 minutes and change. I should have hit the split on my watch, but I forgot. How the hell was that barely slower than my previous races when I've run the entire 1st half?! Oh, I know! Because I suck at uphill running!

This year, I got my wish for that cool wind once we got above treeline. Yes! This year's weather was absolutely PERFECT. I know people complained about the wind, but, I'm sorry. NO. It was strong in parts, but it wasn't bad at all. I'll take that any day over stifling, windless last year. It also bode well for my powerhiking plan anyway. Bend down and tuck into the wind. I did end up powerhiking almost all of the second half. I ran a few surges early on, but I noticed I was starting to really feel it in my tendons and thought it best just to hike. I will admit it...mile 5 and half of mile 6 are still steep when you're hiking it, but I still never got out of breath for these sections. Since I was walking so much the second half, I did get caught and passed by a lot of people. I honestly didn't care. I wasn't out there to be competitive today. I actually took in the view and talked to people I knew who were passing me. It was amazing. I ran the section across the cow pasture because it was flat and it was actually a crazy sideways wind here. I wanted to get out of it before getting cold.

Barb caught up with me around the 7 mile mark and moved ahead very quickly. I saw her catching up to Nancy Cook with whom I had been "racing" with for most of the second half of the race before she got ahead of me. They were quite the distance ahead of me, but I had already planned to run the last section of the race so I decided I would also catch Nancy since she was on a competing team, WMDP (they would end up taking the masters win anyway with Ashley Krause and Dawn Roberts running well). I started to run right where planned but forgot about the short, steep hill just before you get to Cowbell Corner so I powerhiked that then got to running! Crazy how much energy and speed I had here. Plus, I was laughing and enjoying the crowd. I waved at people and smiled for the cameras. Haha. It was awesome. The Wall was so easy unlike last year when I went up it 25 seconds slower than today! What an opposite experience here than 2017! As soon as I got around the corner and saw the clock, I laughed! I was about to go sub-1:40. I crossed the line just behind a guy and Barb in 1:39:35. I welcomed the blanket this year since it was chilly. I was glad I wasn't out of breath or worn out this time because Barb was struggling so I stopped and tried to help her get her medal. Some other people helped walk her out of the shoot. I ecstatic over my experience. This had never happened before. I'm usually dying here and upset and hating this stupid fucking race, but not today!! I would end up finishing 44th woman. Hahaha. Still not bad considering I had walked most of it. I was 19th last year and that was only 6 minutes faster!

Photo by Dave Dunham who yelled at me for running. Haha.

Photo by Mark LaRosa

I love this photo by Mark LaRosa so much that I had to put it in here twice. :)

I was talking to Matt Lipsey for a few minutes right after I finished when Steve Laska came hobbling over to tell me there was something wrong with Barb. I told him to get EMTs while I stood there holding Barb steady. We needed to get her out of the wind, but she was so out of it and couldn't move. I was finally able to get her moving and held onto her as we shuffled over to the building. Once she was sitting and somewhere warm, she started to come back to life. Phew! We sat there together for awhile until we were both ready to go back out in search of our cars with clothes. It was really cold up there!

For the first time ever, I spotted Paul's truck from up high. Thank goodness because the purple blanket wasn't helping much by this point. Paul was down there so I talked to him, got a beer and then changed into my warm clothes. I actually packed more than I thought I would need, but I needed all of it. I walked out of the lot to watch more of the race finishers and spotted some CMS guys and Kim Nedeau so I went over there for a bit. I had a beer I needed to give away so it went right into Todd Callaghan's hand. Haha. I chatted with Kim for a bit until they announced they were going to start letting cars down. As I passed by this group with really good beer a 2nd time, I was fortunate to be offered two awesome beers. Yay! Thanks, guys! I went back to Paul's truck. Catalina was driving, and Kevin Tilton and I sat up front with her. I had opened a second beer by this time. The first one had already gone to my head so I was excited to have food soon, but it wasn't as soon as I'd hoped. I think we sat there another 45 minutes. One of the last cars to come down the Auto Rd. It was still fun hanging out with Cat and Kevin.

I was starving and burning up by the time we got down there. The temp difference was crazy so I changed into shorts quickly and got in line for food. This is the first time I've ever been hungry for the turkey dinner. I think since I usually run back down the Auto Rd after the race, my appetite is still suppressed. Since I basically did nothing at all today, I was hungry. Yay! Haha. I sat over at the Six03 tent. I had one more beer that Roxanne gave me and hung out with Michael Narcisi and Rachel. I didn't stay long after that. I got my award and headed out. John needed to be picked up from his grandparents since they needed to go back to Marshfield.

This really cracked me up. Haha.

First time I've seen this, but in all honesty, women are the ones who pee all over the toilet seat so I'd rather not have a women's only porta-John. #stophoveringladies #cleanupafteryourself

I picked up John and took him to Conway Lake to swim for an hour. He needed it. It was really hot out, but I didn't get in. The lake is still too cold for me. In a month or so I'll be able to tolerate 5 minutes. Haha.

I pretty much vegged the rest of the night since it was a double race weekend and I was actually going to try at Ribfest the next day. I was somewhat nervous, but not really since I kept my expectations low. See the next blog post for the Ribfest recap. :)