2018 Run with the Beavers Trail Race- USATF-NE Trail Champs Edition

Another good week running-wise. Without pain, I'm finding my speed is very quickly returning! My uphill power/speed is still lacking, but I'm happy with where it is right now considering I could barely run without extreme pain only 2 months ago. I honestly didn't expect to see an improvement this quickly. I had read so much about high hamstring tendinopathy taking upwards of 6-8 months. Granted, I'm still not 100%. My right side is nearly there, but the left varies still from probably 85-90%. So not out of the woods yet and not time to start going crazy on the distance either. Up until this week's Beaver race, I hadn't run over 8 miles since mid-May, so while it appears from the outside that I'm back, I'm definitely not even close. Less than 3 months until the Hartford Marathon, and I don't know when I'll be ready to put in my first long road run. As with VCM (although a failure), I may just have to cram in long runs in hopes of doing well enough not to embarrass myself...unlike VCM where I failed miserably. Haha. To top things off, my plantar fasciitis has decided to rear its ugly head. It was at its worst at this exact same time last year which is really frustrating. It's been around the whole time, but pain was at a minimum for a long time. Now, it's as bad as its ever been. I'll never understand this injury. It's completely unpredictable.

I had originally wanted more miles than I got in this week, but I skipped the Tuesday Whitaker Woods trail race and then got out of work 2.5 hours late on Thursday and then screwed up Friday and missed out on an extra 3 miles I had planned. So my original hope to hit 40 miles didn't happen (when I wrote the last blog post, I already knew I wasn't going to hit 40 this week, in case you notice the discrepancy in what I've written. Haha). It was probably better that way, though, since it kept me from being stupid before Run with the Beavers on Saturday. I still ran 35.9 miles for the week so I'm happy with that. I do think it's smart to continue building slowly. I am hoping to hit close to 50 next week, but if it's too much, I'll drop it back down. I'm still not sure if I'll be ready for the Mansfield Double Up in 2 weeks or not. It's still on the calendar, but I'll decide the week of. It's 12 miles and pretty brutal (you can read my 2017 race recap to get the idea).

Things have been better on the Bryan front as far as he and John go. He blocked me on FB (haha) and will only communicate by phone or email. I don't talk on the phone so it's been email but very minimal. John said things had been going well, and I did overhear a conversation via the phone where Bryan had John in hysterics, so that's good. He did do one dumb thing by publishing a video on FB that should never have been done, but he at least took it down. So for the most part, I was happy for a quiet week with him and no complaints about him from John. Yay. But let's see how long that lasts.

Monday, July 9, 2018-  No running today since I was sore from Loon and felt I needed the recovery.

Mondays always start negatively...since I work in a pig sty and with people who don't know to stock a truck or even do a daily truck check for that matter. A12 was going down to the shop for maintenance so Jeff and I transferred everything over to A4. That took awhile since we also had to replace all of the missing things from the weekend crew. After an hour+ of that, Jeff decided to sweep the bay before we pulled the truck back in and lo and behold he realized he was sweeping maggots. Yep. I realized that maggots are one of those things that actually make me gag. Gunshot wound to the face. No problem. But maggots. Yeah. I gagged.

maggots

The maggots were coming from the giant piles of garbage in the bay that hadn't been taken to the dump. It's disgusting, this place. I texted the manager/supervisors.

Pretty sure a Kindergartner transcribed that. I'm also pretty sure that wasn't meant for Dan, but instead someone trying to backtrack when I reminded him that he's a manager, not me. It's hard to say, though, with the improper grammar. And my "Lol" was me attempting to be nice-ish. Maggots remained until the next day when someone finally took the trash, but that never should have happened in the first place. I had a similar issue with them on Thursday. I wasn't nice then...at all. And I have no problem calling out my manager/supervisors for their incompetence. Fire me...but they won't. I'm not normally a belligerent employee, but when I am constantly working in a hazardous environment, and they continue to do nothing about it, I'm going to say something.

So anyway, the rest of the day went fine at least. We did get woken up in the middle of the night for a tone that made absolutely no sense. We're not really sure how it even happened. We got toned to Memorial Hospital to transfer a patient to Dartmouth. Hahaha. I don't think so! That's like my nightmare since I used to do those middle of the night psych transfers to Dartmouth. Jeff called to let them know that we don't do transfers out of our base, only 911 calls. Never ever heard of a tone going out for a transfer over 911 dispatch before. I have to say that after 5 years of those kinds of transfers it felt really good to be able to legitimately refuse that one. Haha. The one thing that will push me over the edge and get me to quit is if they do get transfers back. I can't do it. I did my time. It killed me. I'll be done here.

Tuesday, July 10, 2018- I got out of that barn and drove to Wonalancet to do a road run on 113A. It's one of my favorite roads to run on since it's hilly and quiet. I think only one car went past in the first 4 miles. I felt really good on this run, almost like my old self, and ran a pretty quick pace for the 8.2 miles out-and-back. 1:00:25. 7:18/mi avg pace. 410ft of elevation gain which isn't a lot, but there are two decent climbs in the run, along with some good downhill. Nice mix. The tendons felt ok even though my muscles were pretty sore, but I'll take muscle soreness over tendon pain any day. It's been strange to be sore again from running, but it's the good kind of pain so I don't mind it.

I drove down to the Sandwich spring to fill up the water jugs after my run and then I went home. John was there already. I showered and then dragged him out for a bike ride and swim in Wolfeboro. Our same 7 mile bike ride on the Cotton Valley Rail Trail with stops at Albee Beach for him to swim on the way out and back. Ice cream of course at the Town Docks. It was so hot out so John stayed in the water for really long time on the way out. I didn't swim, but I stood in the water for awhile to keep cool. We didn't spend much time in town. The ice cream melted so fast that I think it took only a few minutes for me to eat it. John wanted to swim again on the way back so we spent at least another hour there. I actually had to make him get out of the water since it was 5:30pm by then and we still needed to bike back to the car. I skipped Whitaker Woods because there was no way I was going to rush John out of there for it. It's not THAT important to me. He was having so much fun, and that was my main goal for the day.

I had to stop at the store on the way home which made us get home SO late. It was worth it, though. I love days like this with John.

Wednesday, July 11, 2018- I was really tired but managed to drag myself out of bed and get in 3 miles on the treadmill in 22:38. I couldn't wait for my spin bike to be delivered so I could get back to spinning on Wednesday mornings instead. I found 30 minutes on the spin bike that early in the morning to be far more effective than a slow, short run on the treadmill. And I also enjoy it more that early in the morning.

I was very happy to have a good partner today. Jared is one of the good ones here. The shift was quiet as Wednesdays often are lately. I did the usual 2 mile trail walk and then did some abs and upper body stuff. I've stopped posting these on Strava, but I'm still doing them. Got to sleep all night since we had no calls. It was great.

Thursday, July 12, 2018- I had every intention of getting up and running on the trail before I had to leave this base and continue to Tamworth for the next 10 hours. I told myself that I was running after work anyway so I didn't need to run this morning. Hahahaha. I was wrong! This day would be the opposite.

But first!! What do I see when I walk in........

You really can't make this shit up. Once again, The Complainer (that would be me) texts the managers/supervisors (I don't know what to call them really) with that same photo above. The response, once again transcribed by a Kindergartner...

And on a side note. A week later, the pulse ox has still not been replaced and a second one went missing.

Thankfully this was an overtime shift for me. We ended up pretty busy today, so much so that I got out of there 2.5 hours late!! Ahhh!!! I was RANGRY (runner who is angry from not getting her run in). The call that came in just shy of 5pm (when I was supposed to be off) was worth being kept over. Our patient and his family were the nicest people. He was in severe back pain so we ended up blending services with Stewart's Ambulance because we needed a paramedic for pain control. Even the pain meds barely touched his pain. He was such a trooper, though. And the Stewart's crew was great to work with. The part that wasn't great was how long this poor guy sat there in the ED in excruciating pain. Pain so bad that his eyes were tearing up. It was at least 45 minutes, and the Ketamine the paramedic had given him had completely worn off. We all stayed by his side for this. He asked me to hold his hand so I did. He told us stories to try to keep his mind off the pain. We talked to him the whole time, never leaving his side. He was even able to laugh some as his eyes filled with tears of pain. The hospital waiting that long to provide care to him was inexcusable, but I was so happy when the nurse finally got orders for more pain meds. We left our patient with his wife by his side. The Stewart's crew helped me clean the stretcher and the ambulance, and we finally left.

I figured I'd be back to the base by 7pm, but nope, the other crew never called in the stipend crew. We just happened to hear a tone go out and noticed no one signed on. ARRGGHHH. I was so mad. Jen's new partner was just back at the base sitting on the couch. Three people failed to think we might need the 3rd crew so now, Jen and I had to go on the next call!!! I was so mad!! Jen called the base over the radio and had the couch dweller get in A4 and meet us on scene so that I could leave. Worked out great (sarcasm). He got there about 2 minutes before we were cleared from the scene. I was still already in A4 on my way to freedom!

Got back to the base just before 7:30pm, quickly changed clothes and went out for my RANGRY run. That's what I titled it on Strava. Haha. I ran it fast since it was only 4.4 miles and fairly flat. I'd been cooped up at work for 36.5 hours. I was about to lose my shit. I needed this run! 4.4 miles in 30:07. 6:42/mi avg pace. I haven't done a regular run that fast in a long time. It felt good.

Unfortunately, I realized I couldn't go straight home. CRY! I had ordered a battery charger/jump pack from Walmart to use camping this weekend. I had to pick it up tonight since it needed to fully charge before we left. Picking it up in the morning wouldn't give it enough time to charge. Dammit to hell. It didn't add on too much time, but it was enough that I wasn't home until after 9pm. Ugh. It was right to beer, food, shower then bed.

My spin bike was delivered tonight so I brought it inside. Yay. I'd have to wait until Sunday to put it together, though.

Friday, July 13, 2018- I must have woken up with a brain fog this morning since I set my morning plans all wrong. I wanted to get on the road early to Connecticut with plans to arrive around 1pm. Well, silly me messed that up thinking that leaving at 11am would get us there then. Looks like I need to go back to 1st grade math. Haha. I actually needed to leave at 10am, but I didn't even notice that I had calculated that wrong until we were already driving. Haha. Oops.

I got in a 3 mile run from home before we left. For the first time ever I decided to run the length of Ledge Pond Rd which is basically running through Coleman's pits. It wasn't too busy with trucks this time of the morning, but the dust from the few that did pass me by reminded me why I hadn't given this run a try before. It wasn't horrible, though, and if I had longer, it actually leads to a few trails I've run a lot in the past. I ran pretty slow in 22:42. With the race the next day and another 5 miles I had planned for later, I didn't want to destroy my legs.

We hit the road at 11am. I brought Phoenix with us, but left Chill since it's just too hot to bring him along. He would be too hot in the car. Phoenix is fine and she's easier to take care of. Bryan really didn't want to take Chill out, and I had planned to bring him, even though I thought it was a bad idea. But this morning, Bryan's difficulty in comprehending things led him to having John ask me if Chill was still coming with us. Since he gave me a choice, I said no. Haha. I'm sure that caused a few "selfish bitch" comments to come out, but I felt that not leaving Chill in a hot car was probably an UNselfish move on my part. But, I could be wrong. He wasn't getting anymore exercise with me than he would staying in the house. I was relieved to leave Chill behind so I didn't have worry about him constantly. Plus it actually gave us room in the car to pack all of the camping gear.

The drive wasn't too bad. We hit the usual traffic getting onto I-290 from I-495. This is the most baffling traffic back-up ever...SINCE THERE'S NO REASON FOR IT! Every time you get to the on ramp, you see there is no back-up at all. It's smoothly flowing. I can't for the life of me figure it out. Must just be Massholes hitting brakes for absolutely no reason causing a domino effect. One thing I've learned about drivers from Massachusetts is that they LOVE to hit their brakes...FOR NO REASON! They also love to make up new rules for proper traffic flow when they decide to be "courteous" and come to a complete stop to let people out...thus impeding the flow of traffic and causing an unnecessary stoppage. I've seen SO MANY near accidents from people doing this up here. DO NOT STOP THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC TO LET PEOPLE OUT!! Got it? Good. Haha. Ok. I'm done...for now. :)

So, unfortunately, we didn't make it down to CT/RI until well after 2. I ended up with only 1.9 miles instead of 5. It was probably better that way, but I was kind of mad I screwed that up. We went to Stop n Shop in Putnam, CT first to buy food for the weekend then checked in at our campsite at the West Thompson Lake Campground, the same place we stayed last year for Run with the Beavers. It's a really nice campground. Very quiet. And it only cost $30 total for 2 nights. You can't find that anywhere anymore. We got to our site and I made dinner while John got the fire going. He told me he hated building fires because it takes so long. Haha. Well, I showed him my cheating method using at fire starter block, and he got the thing going right away. Haha.

Sharing turkey meatballs with Phoenix

Stealth beer

We had a good evening together out there which was nice. John often likes to sit in the car and not get out. We doesn't really like camping. I don't blame him since where we live is basically like camping. We aren't like most people who go camping to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. For us it's the only thing I can afford for a place to stay when we travel. Our house is just as quiet as this campground. I don't really love camping myself. I used to, but after doing it so much, it's not a novelty anymore. I still enjoyed this time with John, though, and I'm glad he took the initiative to get out of the car on his own and help with the fire and hammering my tent stakes down.

We both went to bed pretty early since it was an early rise for the Beaver race.

Saturday, July 14, 2018- Run with the Beavers Trail Race-

I got up at 6am to make coffee and hot chocolate for us. I noticed that my back hurt and thought it was from sleeping wrong until I remembered bruising it the day before. Huh. I didn't realize I hurt it that bad at the time, but I was distracted when it happened and didn't think much about it after. Hopefully this wouldn't affect my race.

We left a little after 7am for Pulaski Park, just over a 10 minute drive away. We were one of the first to arrive, even though, my plan to be at the bib pick-up table at 7:22am on the dot failed (this was when registration was scheduled to open and I wanted to the first jerk there at 7:22). Hahaha. I didn't realize until it was pointed out to me back in the lot that I had kind of parked in a handicapped space. It wasn't actually the space, but the area they usually mark out to give extra room next to the handicapped space. The painted lines were so faint that I didn't even notice until it was pointed out to me. The lot was over half full by now and I thought I'd screwed myself over until I realized no one had taken the very first (and closest to the race) space so I quickly moved my car over there. Score! Haha.

I ended up catching up with quite a few people before heading out on my warm up. It was good seeing everyone, and I was happy to be back at this race for a 3rd go at it. I was a little nervous this time around for a few reasons. First off, it's a 10 mile race, and hadn't done a run over 8 miles since mid-May. Yikes. I was also nervous with it being the USATF-NE Trail Championship, I didn't know who might show up. I had looked at the entrants list maybe once or twice or 20 times, and there were a lot of names I didn't recognize. Who could be a dark horse?! I didn't come in expecting any certain place finish, but my high goal was 2nd overall and 1st master. I really didn't expect the 2nd overall to happen, though, but I had hopes.

I only warmed up a mile since I didn't want to do a lot of extra mileage before running more than I'd run in 2 months in one clip. I just needed to get the legs ready to race and nothing more. Mileage is obviously not my main concern right now. After gabbing with some more with people I knew, we lined up on the line in the field. This was new start this year, and I actually really liked it better. I eyed the field as best I could to see if anyone I didn't know looked fast. It was hard to see so I would just have to wait until we started and see who went off in front of me. Bob gave his usual race speech and you could tell by the crickets chirping that this wasn't the usual Beavers crowd who got his sense of humor. Haha.

Once we started it was a mass of people running through the field much like the smaller version of a cross country race start...except this time only ONE woman wearing a size too small bun huggers was in front of me. Hmmm. Who is this and why is she keeping up with Kassandra? As we turned onto the dirt road she put quite the gap on me right away. I was kind of stuck in a big crowd of guys which wasn't good since I knew some of them would slow way down once we hit the single track. It happens every year. And this year was no exception, except that included in the mix ahead of me was this unknown woman (I deleted what I originally wrote here because it was very unkind. Although I didn't mean it as unkind. It was actually more of a compliment. but it was taken the wrong way and I can see why. So it has been deleted.) As expected, a lot of people slowed down on the single track. This section isn't the easiest to pass on either, but I can't stand running right behind people since I can't see trail ahead of me, so I decided to push my pace to get around all of them. It was nice actually knowing a lot of them since I could say their names to let them know I was going by, like Ralph, Brad, Corsi, Seth and Steven. The others just got on "on your left" as I came by. Fortunately, the 2nd woman was definitely not good on the technical trail so I caught her quickly and went by. She still had me worried, though, since I knew I could easily be caught by anyone fast on the dirt road sections. After passing Steven, I finally had some open space in front of me. It was such a relief. I was running way too fast here and should have slowed down, but I really wanted to get a lead on the (now) 3rd woman so I kept my pace up. I caught up with 2 more guys and passed them just before the water stop where John was working the water table and handed me a cup of water. Phoenix was there and barked at me as I went by. I yelled out, "Hey, girl!"

Shortly before I caught up with the last two guys I'd passed, someone caught up to me and ran behind me for quite a ways. It sounded like someone very tall and the breathing sounded like a man (you'd be surprised how often I swear the person catching me is a woman just by listening to the breathing, only to be relieved that it's a man). I hoped this wasn't a woman because she would have to be very manly. Sure enough, just after exiting the bridge, it was Ralph Lufkin who was passing me back and quickly moving on ahead of me. I was 100% correct that the person behind me was a very tall guy. Haha.

I basically died at this point. I had gone out way too fast and forgot I was out of shape. I do always go out fast here to get ahead on the single track, but based on certain segments from the 3 years, you can see I actually went out FASTER than the last two years. So needless to say, I suffered through the back half of the first loop. Ralph disappeared, and then a group of 3 guys was catching me, two of which I'd just passed. I definitely wanted to quit. Haha. Instead, I just went with the slower pace in hopes of regaining a bit so that I could muster up a second wind for the second loop.

As we went by the pond, I heard Josh Fields tell me to look up. I didn't realize until then that I was staring at the ground. Josh snapped some good shots here.

I got passed by one of the guys who had been gaining on me here. He passed me like I was standing still. I thought my race was doomed. Once past this section and steep hill, it was onto the rolling double track which has to be the most challenging section for me. A look back saw one of the guys I'd passed before the water stop gaining on me quickly. I didn't like this and thought it meant I had slowed way down so I made an effort to really pick up the pace. He shouldn't be gaining on me this quickly unless I'm going too slow. Just as we were about to cross into the field, he came flying by me, crossed the line ahead of me....and then stopped. Oh shit. He was just doing to the 5-mile race! Argh! He gave me a fist bump as I went by. Dammit. Here I am thinking I'm going too slow when he was just gearing up for his push to the finish. Haha. He must have thought I was doing the 5 mile race, too, and put in that effort to beat me across the line. If I had been, I would have finished 3rd overall if he didn't pass me. So lucky for him, he still got 3rd overall and I continued on for the second loop. My first 5-mile loop split was 36:48. Some photos by Michael Scott from the first loop.

I struggled up the dirt road at the start of the second loop. Brad passed me back (he and Ralph were the only ones I passed in the beginning who would pass me back), and then Michael Narcisi came running easily by me. Other than seeing Mikey occasionally, I never saw anyone else in front of me until the end. I did a look back as I turned onto the single track and saw two people close. For some reason, I thought I saw the second woman there. She had been wearing a fluorescent top so I thought it was her, but it must have been someone else since she was already 2 minutes behind me at this point (I didn't know this until looking at the lap splits post-race). This was probably a good thing since it made me pick up the pace through the single track again. I felt it was slower than the first loop, but I was still going pretty hard through here and not holding back at all. I naturally slowed here since I a)was out of shape and b)had gone out too fast. But I was giving 100% of what my body could muster. I was sweating like crazy from the humidity and it felt like a million degrees out so I wasn't sure if what I could muster was going to be good enough. I had a feeling I'd be finishing at least 2 minutes slower than last year.

As I approached the water stop, I took a look back and saw no one behind me. I think I'd gained on them through the single track. Now was the hard part with the dirt road section. I took water from Beth Lazor-Smith since John was busy playing with Phoenix. I yelled to him jokingly, "John, you're failing!" Since he wasn't doing his job. Phoenix barked again, and Shawn Whalen told me later that she whined and cried for a long time after I left. Poor girl.

Surprisingly, I had gotten a second wind and felt pretty good on this section this time. Part of it may have been due catching up with people who were still on their first loop. Just having other people in sight ahead of me pulled me forward. As I came out of the woods from the single track section in between the two road sections, I looked back and saw two guys not far back. I couldn't tell who either of them was. No woman in sight. Phew! She could still be close enough, though, so I didn't hold back at all. I was relieved when I got back to the technical single track in the woods since I knew the finish wasn't far away. As I passed Josh here, he mentioned something about being in bug hell and looked miserable. This was the second race (my race was the first) where he endured awful bugs for hours while shooting photos. Haha. This reminds me. I need to ask him if he'll take photos at the new race I'm putting on next June...although maybe I should leave out the name of the race when I ask him.

Josh took more great photos here including this one....

As I exited the single track and started up the big hill, I could tell one of the guys was right behind me. As he passed I realized I knew him. It was Mike Norton. We had come in 1st and 2nd overall in the Massasoit 10K Trail Race I had done in 2017. He had beaten me by quite a bit there, so I wasn't too upset for him to pass me. I still hauled ass through this section since I didn't really want to get passed again. The climb up the final hill hurt, but it was nice to have Freddi Triback there cheering me on. As I turned onto the field and saw the clock I was shocked. It was almost the same time as last year! Sweet! Totally unexpected, so I was psyched. Finished 2nd female overall and 1st master female. 1:15:37 compared to 1:15:16 from last year. Exactly 2 minutes slower for my second loop which was a lot worse than last year since they were only a minute apart, but not bad at all and way better than I expected. I also won prize money! Woohoo. I even got to double dip for being top 3 and 1st master. I couldn't be disappointed at all today. And it turned out that I never had to worry about the 3rd woman. She would end up finishing about 5 minutes back. But the unknown on her whereabouts definitely helped keep me on my toes the whole race. Full Results

I couldn't believe how much I was sweating when I finished. The race continues to live up to its humid reputation every year. Haha. I got caught up chatting with people for way too long post race, but it was fun. So many people to catch up with. I finally got away to take a quick dip in the water at the beach, but then I had to run back for the awards. Just as I entered the parking lot, I heard Brandon Newbould's name being announced as the overall winner. Even though my car was right there, I had to bypass it and get out to the field so I just had a towel and the rest of me was soaked. Haha. I made it just as Brandon was walking back. I was happy he made the trip down and took the win. He and Scott Mindel both broke the course record. He thanked me later for talking him into coming down. Brandon is definitely one of my favorite people in this running community. Just so laid back and kind. As someone who had an injury he thought might keep him from running again, I think he views racing in a humble way. Although he's extremely successful in the sport, he seems to have a true appreciation and gratitude at just being able to be out there in the first place. A breath of fresh air from some of these cocky youngsters who need to have their heads deflated a little.

I also hung out with my CMS women teammates here. Barb McManus, Kim Gordon and I took the team win! Yay! We won beer and split it among ALL of our women teammates.

Central Mass Striders women's team winners and Bob

Photo is a bit edited to remove the Snake that just happened to be behind me.

I finally peeled myself away to change into dry clothes. While at the car, Tony Wild, Michael Crutchley and Steve Brightman loaded me up with so much beer to take home. They're so nice! After changing, I stepped out of the car to find John and Phoenix back from the water stop. John immediately got in the car to charge his phone and Phoenix napped.

I went back out to the field to get my first aid box and just to hang out until everyone was ready to go out to lunch after. Serge had been the first aid guy on hand and said he actually had quite a bit of minor injuries. He even had to use some of my benedryl for a guy who broke out into hives. I was glad I brought it.

The RD sure does love the beaver.

Once everything was packed up a group of us went down the road to Mr Z's Pipasa. This was the same physical place we had gone last year post-race, but that place had closed and Mr Z's moved in. It was SO much better. The beer was good enough, and the food was good. I really liked it. Tony and I got chocolatini's for dessert. Haha.

I snagged a photo with George Ross's truck while we were there...

The rest of the day was unplanned and I had to make a deal with John that when we got home on Sunday, he could do whatever the hell he wanted if I could go out for the rest of Saturday. He wasn't happy about it and refused to come in to any of the places we went, but it worked out the next day when he woke up at home and did what he wanted all day.

From Mr. Z's, I went with Bob, Mark and Jackie to Foolproof Brewing where we randomly ran into Eric Narcisi! It was crazy. I mean, it is SO Rhode Island, I've learned, to run into someone you know everywhere so I can't say it was totally random. Haha. But it was so good to see him since it's been 1.5 years! He was there with a bachelor party. We got a few photos.

I hate it when I end up in the front of photos. I always look twice my size. Or maybe I am that big.

From Foolproof, we went to Bayberry Beer Hall. I definitely paced myself on the drinks since I still had to drive. Time seemed to fly by and next thing I knew it was probably close to 10 when we ended up at Wickenden before finally calling it a night.

The drive back to the campground wasn't bad at all, but when we got there, I realized that things weren't good. We'd been locked out. I had no idea the gate closed at 10pm. None. I had no literature stating this nor was I told this. Grr. I parked the car in the lot outside the gate. It was such a small area that it was only a short walk to the campsite, but John wanted to stay in the car to sleep like he usually does. If it wasn't a super safe place, I would have said no, but it was fine. I honestly was probably only 100 yards away. This was just annoying since I didn't know about this and the gate didn't open until 9am! I had originally had plans to get up and run the trails around the lake. I had no idea there were so many. One alone was 9 miles and right from the campground. But since I didn't want to leave John in the parking lot for an hour while I went running I decided we'd just drive right home once I woke up.

Sunday, July 15, 2018- Well, I woke up around 4am and proceeded to be half awake until finally calling it quits 6:30am. I got up, packed up my tent and unfortunately had to leave the firewood behind. I packed up the car and we were on our way home by 7am. The drive was great. No traffic at all. We got home by 10am. John was psyched. I was glad I opted out of staying for the run. It was his day to do what he wanted.

I unpacked and finally got my ass out for a run... or a "run". Omg. I was so sore. This perpetual soreness post-races has been so weird. I haven't been sore after racing in such a long time. And I mean really sore. I'm sure I've had some light soreness over the years, but not major soreness after every race. It took me almost a mile before I felt like I could even run. It didn't help that I started off going up Heavenly Hill which gains almost 500ft in .6 miles. Phoenix had joined me and we continued on to Tin Mountain. I ran a lot the trails backwards from what I normally do, and about 2.5 miles in, we had to cut it short by taking the new trail down to the Waldorf School and then home through the neighborhood. A huge thunderstorm had rolled in, and I did NOT want to be out running in it. Still hobbled 4.3 miles which was good enough for me.

Phoenix during the run. It was hot and humid.

After procrastinating after the run, I finally decided to put the spin bike together. I was so happy to find most of it already put together and that they had included all 4 tools I need for the rest of it. Yay! It should have been quicker than it was, but one of the pedals was stripped and took me about 20 minutes and WD-40 to get it on there. It's definitely not high quality at all, and the instructions were in broken English, but it will do. The only problem with it is that the bike seat is too low for me at its max. No one taller than me could use it. I was able to rig it up higher, but it could still go up another inch. Good enough, though. I'm so happy to have this at home to use.

Since Sunday is the last day of the week :), that meant back to work the next day. Ugh. I just find it so sad how happy I was to come back to this job full time in 2015 after being per diem for 7 months. Things were great for probably the following 1.5 years, and then things just went to shit. I never dreaded going into work really, but now, I just want to quit. They did finally make a change that will benefit us. The first move they've ever made towards our pay since I've been here. It doesn't give me back the $1000s of dollars they stole from me in the last 7 years, but it will make things better from here on out. The previous policy meant we weren't paid our full 24 hours unless we went out overnight. We only got paid 20 hours even though we were required to be at work. Yes, there is a loophole that makes this legal. Just because we're sleeping doesn't mean we're sleeping soundly. Light sleep is almost always a guarantee since you're body expects a tone. If there's a tone for Wakefield or Tuftonboro, we hear it. It wakes us up. I've been awake for hours at night while Wakefield had 3 calls in a row. But because I didn't go on a call, I wasn't paid those 4 hours. Well, in lieu of raises (which we've never gotten since this company bought North Conway Ambulance in 2009), we are now getting our full 24 hours. I'll take it. It's something. And they've never done "something" for us so it's a step. It may be the only one, but it will have to do for now.

2018 USATF East Region and NE Masters 1500m Championship

Start of the 1500. I'm 3rd position

I'm posting this and the Loon recap backwards. I had intended to keep it as just one post, but I got on a roll with the Loon one last night and decided to just keep it separate. This post will be the week leading up to Loon that includes my first 1500m on the track. I finally got my total mileage for the week over 30! Woohoo. 37.1 miles total. 7,159ft of elevation gain. Happy for the gain since I like to do as much climbing in the summer as possible. The increased mileage and two races (well, 3 races technically) really didn't seem to affect my injury much at all which is a good sign. I'm hoping to get in another 35 miles this coming week and then go for 50 the week after that. 50 is going to be my stopping point. It seems to be my happy place for weekly mileage so I'm going to stick with it for awhile. I'll add in a workout or two on the spin bike a week, as well.

So, the spin bike. I decided NOT to rejoin the gym. Instead, when my CMS Women's Racing Team reimbursement check came in, I made the decision to buy a bike. The weird part was that I needed to order my 5lb bag of coffee, as well. The bike and the coffee came out almost to the dollar of the reimbursement check so I decided to just do it. I could have definitely used that money elsewhere, but I felt that the bike would be smart purchase for me. It's cheap, like I said in the last post, but I have to settle for that right now. I'm so excited for it to arrive. I'm not excited about putting it together, though. Haha.

This week was kind of weird. I had more Bryan drama. I had disappointment that led to me pouting half of Wednesday and all day Thursday...and maybe Friday...and I might as well just admit I'm still pouting. Haha. It wasn't anything horrible. Just plans I'd been looking forward to for a week (well, more like almost 3 years to tell the truth ;) ). It was totally random that they fell through so I wasn't really mad or anything, just disappointed. I allowed myself to pout, and I'm mostly kidding that I'm still pouting about it now. Haha. It was actually a mostly good week with crazy stuff thrown in there to keep it interesting. Better than sitting bored in a hotel room in Texas.

I do have to say that my body felt super gross from the trip. I was so bloated from flying and just the sitting around and eating too much did not make my body happy at all. It took until probably Thursday to feel normal again.

Tuesday, July 3, 2018- John and I both slept in until almost 9am. I went to bed around 2:30am so it made sense. Woke up to heat and humidity outside. It was so gross. I did my usual morning routine then took some laundry down to the basement. Omg. It was probably in the 60s down there. I decided I had no shame. I was running on the treadmill this morning. I brought down my wind tunnel fan and enjoyed a really good 3 mile run. 22:02. I upped the elevation like I used to do before my injury and anemia put a halt to my progress in March. I felt great. No pain in the tendons at all.

After Bryan's crazy behavior the day before, I was worried about him having Phoenix and really wanted her to be dropped off, but when John asked him, he said he had both dogs on the river. Great. I expected a phone call from a stranger later in the day. I was certain he would lose her. I really was.

Thanks to a text from John's dentist, I was reminded he had appointment at 11:30am. If they hadn't sent that I would have forgotten. So off we went. It was a long appointment so I read my book. I didn't really mind sitting in the a/c today since it was in the 90s out. John came out, and I immediately cracked up at his face. Totally numb on one side.

From here we planned to go right to Conway Lake, but just as we got in the car, the call I was expecting came in. "I'm only a mile away. I'll be right there," was my response to the stranger calling from First Bridge to let me know he had Phoenix. So fucking predictable and so irresponsible. As I pulled in a guy walked over carrying Phoenix. She was panting like crazy and HOT to the touch when he handed her to me. He said he had just pulled in the lot and noticed her panting like crazy while sitting under a tree. She was probably close to heat exhaustion. No telling how far she had run along the bank of the river until she got to a place she knew. My poor little dog! The guy said he was trying to get her to cool off in the water but she refused to get in. I was so thankful he had found her and for calling me. I put her in the cold a/c in the car. She looked scared and traumatized. I decided just to bring to the lake with us. She didn't seem to be cooling down, so I made a stop at another place on the river and put her in the water. Once she was cooled off and back in the car, I could tell she was exhausted.

I stopped at Frye's to get us some pizza since we were starving and then drove to the lake. Dogs aren't allowed on the beach so I set up our stuff on the opposite side of the bridge where dogs are allowed. It was actually the perfect spot. Phoenix slept a lot next to me, and I made sure she stayed cooled off. John swam with some other kids and jumped off the bridge.

Oh so we never let Bryan know we had Phoenix. I wanted to see how long it took for him to let me know she was gone. I'm not sure when he lost her, but it was probably a few hours before I got a voicemail that just said, "I can't find Phoenix." So John took a photo of her and sent it to him. His only response was something like, "Ok." Wow, but not an unexpected response.

I took them both home and then got dressed to run Whitaker Woods. It was SO hot, but that's not unusual for a summer Tuesday night. I ran a half mile then stood in the shade with Roger Marcoux and Joe LaRue until just before the start. I expected this to go badly in the heat, but right off the line, I felt really good and took off. For some reason the heat didn't affect me much and I ran the first (marked) mile in 6:27, faster than the two previous weeks. I even felt good on the climb in mile 2. As I started the first downhill, I felt my car key fly out of my pocket. NOOOOOO! Fortunately, I heard where it fell and only wasted about 5 seconds backtracking before I found it. I was lucky with that one! The last time that happened, I was in the middle of nowhere in Maine, and it took me 15 minutes to find my key. So phew on finding it and carrying on. I had no one near me for the final mile and finished in what I thought was a second faster than the first week. Turned out, I was wrong. 21:15, as opposed to 21:13. Had I not lost the key, it would have been faster. Very good sign! I left immediately after since I just wanted to go back home, shower and relax the rest of the night.

Phoenix seemed super sad all day. I was so angry at him for being so irresponsible. My poor little dog. Since then she's been extra clingy, and not just with me, but with John, too. I don't even want Bryan taking her with him again unless John is there to make sure she's taken care. Kind of sad that the child has to parent the parent.

My sad dog

Wednesday, July 4, 2018- Not a holiday for me unfortunately, but I couldn't complain since it was the only day I was working this week, and I got holiday pay. This turned out to be one of the most excruciating days at work, and I very much regretted not getting my ass out of bed this morning to run. The 4th stuff didn't start in Schouler Park until 3:45pm, but I received word that we were required to begin staging at 12:30pm. WTF.

Since we had two trucks staffed for the day starting at noon, I chose A3 for our truck thinking I was taking the better one. Well, I was WRONG. I spent two hours doing the truck check and getting it fully stocked and then washing it. When I was done, I went to back it in and realized the a/c was barely working up front. Hmm. The back was fine, so I didn't think much of it. It was going to be in the mid-90s again today, though, so I had a feeling the truck would not keep up just parked and running for almost 10 hours. I was right. What a miserable day. Michelle and I at least snagged the hidden spot while the other truck had to sit in the middle of the park with the crowd. We had no calls other than two fire alarms. We only left once to get food and iced coffee. But other than that, I sat in the back sweating my ass off. I read my book, stared at my phone. Talked to a few people I knew including Jennifer and Steve Brightman. We had to move over to the crowd area briefly while the other truck transported a patient and I talked to some other people I hadn't seen in awhile. That part was good. We watched the fireworks, then hung out until the crowd dissipated. What a waste of day.

I was so happy to leave the staging area and head back to the base, but about 1/2 mile shy of the base we got our second fire alarm back to the same place we went earlier in the day. So I turned around and back we went. We cleared quickly since it was just a faulty system. We were back maybe 15 minutes when we got a tone for paramedic intercept with Fryeburg Ambulance. We met on the road, and as I stopped, I looked in my side mirror to see smoke coming from the driver's side rear tires. The smell of burning brakes soon filled the ambulance. Haha. I was glad Michelle was getting into their truck, but I still had to follow all the way to the hospital with this disaster of an ambulance. I was just happy it made it back to base where I quickly put it out of service and wrote my 3rd maintenance request of the day for it. Haha. It was after midnight before I got to bed, but we slept all night! Yay!

Thursday, July 5, 2018- I had made loose plans a month before to run with Steve Brightman this morning while he and his family were up for the 4th and Loon. We solidified plans on Tuesday, and I decided to have us meet up at the Moat Mineral Site right after I got off work at 7am. I had done this since I had plans to go away for the rest of the day and night. Unfortunately, those plans fell through the day before. I was pretty bummed, but the plan change was for a good reason so I couldn't be too mad. But I did decide to pout all day and hung out alone after the run with Steve. Haha.

I was really glad I had made early plans with Steve, though, since it was going to be a really hot day out. The earlier the run the better. I decided to take him on a loop starting at the end of High St at the trailhead that would take him by (the nearly dry) Thompson Falls and then climb up to the top of Whitehorse Ledge. It's good mix of mostly non-technical mountain bike trails so it was runnable. We ran a pretty easy pace the whole way. Steve tripped a lot. Haha. He managed to recover every time before hitting the ground, though. I'd promised close to 8 miles and lots of hills. I was close to accurate with 8.3 miles in 1:33:56. 1,432ft of elevation gain.

Steve had to rush off to meet the family for breakfast and then Storyland, but not before giving me some beer he'd picked up and a whole 4-pack of PUFF that Jennifer had found for me. The beer that Bryan stole!! Jennifer saw my post on the beer page about it and snagged some. So cool of her!

 I went home and enjoyed a little downtime before getting in an upper body and abs workout and then loading up the kayak for a paddle on Moose Pond in Maine. This wasn't the first time I'd paddled on Moose Pond, but the only other time I had was during the now defunct Great Adventure Challenge, an off-road triathlon that included kayaking, mountain biking and a mountain run. (My first kayak race and my one-and-only mountain bike race ever.) I was looking forward to checking it out at a leisurely pace today. The lake was super busy with motor boats which I normally don't like. I'm always afraid of some moron running me over, so I stuck close to the shoreline and paddled out and back for about 4 miles. There was a strong wind on the way out, but as soon as I turned around, all I felt was hot air so I stopped on the shore to take a quick swim and then carried on. It's a nice place to paddle, but I would definitely pick a less busy day next time.

Pleasant Mt (Shawnee Peak Ski Area)

I drove into Bridgton to hit the Standard Gastropub since I hadn't been there in awhile. They have a great beer list, and, even though the portions are way too small, their food is good. Unfortunately, I hit it on a bad day. Service was REALLY bad. Like really, really bad. For such a small place, you wouldn't think they'd have trouble, and I've never had an issue there before, but today. It took over 15 minutes just to have someone come by, and then it was a good thing I didn't want a second beer because it was almost 20 minutes before anyone ever came by after I was done eating and my drink emptied. I'm hoping that maybe they were just new or maybe it was a bad day, but I'm not likely to go back anytime soon.

Instead, I decided to check out a new brewery that caught my eye on the way into town. Bear Bones Beer. The place was pretty cool. And I liked the beer list. I was only having one here, as well, so I picked an interesting stout, the Ex Cadis Stout that was gin barrel-aged. I hate gin, but I'd never had a stout like this so I had to try it. And wow, it was really good! Way better (to me) than bourbon or whiskey-barrel aged. So, I shared a photo on the Runners Love Their Beer FB page. And omg, you'd think I'd committed a crime. I was immediately informed that my glass was dirty. And it was followed by subsequent comments. Well, guess what? I.DON'T.GIVE.A.FUCK. I said that in a much nicer way, although "nice" is debatable. So sick of beer snobs! I thought I was one until I saw what a real beer snob was. Sooooo...I proceeded to leave the beer page for a second time. I was reminded why I left it in the first place. The beer was good. That's all I care about. I don't need to break it down like I'm at a fucking wine tasting. I don't even know the difference between any of the hops. Not a clue. And who doesn't have dirty glasses?! You're delusional if you think that glass that just came out of your dishwasher is sterile enough to go into an operating room. So to the beer snobs...Fuck all y'all! And I'm from the South. I can say that with legitimacy. I sat back on the cozy couch after that and enjoyed my dirt infested stout. By the way, I liked this place and plan to return.

I'm allowed to post this goofy selfie. :)

When I got home, John was already there so I hung out with him and Phoenix and continued to pout the rest of the night since I was supposed to be somewhere else. I still had a good day. I can easily fill my day, but I was disappointed, nonetheless.

Friday, July 6, 2018- I was so tired that I had to sleep in this morning. I woke up to this sweet face. Unfortunately, this was ruined by the sound of a horn honking in my driveway. Seriously, Bryan?!

I assumed he was honking for John who was still asleep, so I woke John up and told him his dad was waiting for him in the driveway. John got right up and walked into the room to put his shoes on when Bryan called him via video chat so I could hear the call. He was mad that John wasn't up and kept asking him what was going on. John finally got a word in and said, "I didn't get up." OMG. A 12 year old boy who didn't wake up early? NO! Bryan responded with, "Then you lied to me, you piece of shit. You little piece of shit." I was HORRIFIED. Like my mouth fell open. It was awful. I didn't really know what to do. I told John he didn't have to go with Bryan if he didn't want to, but then I realized that this was Bryan's time, and I actually had no say over that. So John left with Bryan. Who says that to their kid?! We all lose our shit and get angry sometimes, but this crossed a line. But in the moment there was nothing I could do about it. And in reality, it really has to be John who makes a decision on where their relationship goes in the future. I talked to him later, and he said that he does have fun with his dad half the time. He doesn't want to end his relationship with him. I have to respect that. I just made sure he understood that Bryan calling him a piece of shit isn't ok. It's downright WRONG. I think John knows that. But, wtf. I feel like this drama never ends!

I decided to do a mountain run this morning. I'm not sure why I chose that since I had the Loon Mountain Race in two days, and I was kind of sore from the day before. I guess I felt it would be slow enough that it wouldn't wear me out for Sunday. I was half right. Haha. I drove to the Thompson Rd trailhead and ran up Middle Mt and then over to Peaked Mt before looping back to the car. It's a run I've done a million times. I was happy to find I could still run the entire thing, but I was nervous at how slow it was when thinking about Loon. I had a feeling I was going to suck really bad at Loon and pretty much gave up any thought of doing well. Phoenix joined me for this run and was so good! No photos since I didn't have my arm band for my phone. Haha. 4.7 miles in 1:01:38. 1,687ft of elevation gain.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Just hung out at home.
 

Saturday, July 7, 2018- USATF East Region and NE Masters 1500m-

Since I wanted to count for the whole All-Terrain Series again, I realized that I had to do the 1500m on the track. Except for the Wachusett Mountain Race, I was already doing the rest of the Series. This would be the only I'd have to fit in, and since I didn't care about Loon, it sounded reasonable to register for the 1500m the day before. I didn't think a 1500m would be too taxing. I was kind of excited since I hadn't done a 1500m before, and this would be my first outdoor track race since the 10,000m one in Lowell in 2016 (BARF). 1500m sounded super easy in comparison. I was also excited to do it at the Masters meet where the vibe is always so much more laid back and less women wear running underwear, although, funny enough, the two women seeded ahead of me in the 1500m were wearing them (see the photo at the top of this post). They could pull it off, though, so more power to them. They were both over 50.

The drive down wasn't bad at all, but it took me awhile to find the track at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. Google Maps sent me down a dead end road. It wasn't wrong. The track was at the end of the road. It was just that there was a fence in between them. Haha. I finally found it. And wow. What a beautiful facility!! The track was on the top of a hill, a really beautiful spot. A cool breeze was blowing over it which made the sun feel less hot. The weather was actually ideal for a July track meet.

I got my bib then went back to the car to change for a warm up. I had intended 2 miles, but after I ran down a HUGE hill and knew I had to run back up it, I cut the warm up to 1.5 miles. I noticed my quads, the left especially, were pretty sore. Oops. Back at the car, I packed my bag and grabbed the umbrella for John then we both walked over. I set John up, then put on my spikes and ran around a little bit while the women's steeplechase finished up.

I missed it that the meet was running behind so I had already done some strides before I learned I still had about 30 minutes left. Haha. I ended up talking to my CMS teammates, Scott Leslie and Scott Mindel, who were also doing the 1500 (well, Scott Leslie had already done the 5000m earlier). They were funny talking about how there was no way they were doing Loon the next day. Scott M. had no desire to ever do it, and Scott L. had already done it twice and would probably never do it again. Haha.

When it was finally time for our race, I realized every other woman was wearing sunglasses, and I was dying in the sun so I ran back to get my sunglasses and made to the line with about 20 seconds to spare before the gun. Haha. I was seeded 3rd since I had no idea what time I would run today. My last mile was indoors in Providence in January so I decided to just put something close to that time. 5:45. I knew it was too slow, but with being out of shape and hardly running, I wanted to err on the side of caution.

As soon as the gun went off, I quickly passed the 2nd woman and fell in behind Jennifer Hegarty whom I had raced at the Masters indoor meet. I had finished far ahead of her there, but I knew she would be more experienced at the 1500m than me so I want to follow her lead. By almost the 100m mark, I realized I had made a mistake. The pace was too slow. So I passed her and then crossed the lap mark where they called out, "3 to go." What?! That's it?! Haha. This 1500 thing already seemed way better than a 1600. It was almost over before we completed one full lap. Haha. Unfortunately, I found myself in the lead where I had no one to try to catch and no one to pace me. I'm clueless when it comes to pace on the track. It's why I sucked so bad in Providence at the 3000m this year and last year. Since I knew it was only 3 laps, I tried to go almost all out for the next two laps, but it definitely wasn't fast enough. When I hit the bell lap, I realized I had a lot left in me so I put all of that out there, finishing the race in 5:15.69. 1st in the 40-44 (by default since I was the only one, and this was the only heat haha). Full Results

Coming through the finish

I was really happy with my effort on the last lap, and I also really, really enjoyed this distance! I felt like I definitely can run that faster. Not sure it would be a lot faster, but I would think under 5:10 easily. I really wish I had my splits, but hitting splits on my watch in a track race is extra difficult for me since my watch isn't left-handed. The reach is just too far and awkward to hit the lap button. Never even realized why this was so difficult for me when I'm doing track workouts until recently. I need a left-handed watch. Not even sure that's a thing, but it should be. Haha. And the funny part is that I'm not even left-handed. I'm slightly ambidextrous in that I do a lot of things left-handed although I'm predominately right-handed. I've always worn my watch on my right wrist. When it comes to using my watch, my right hand feels like my left hand trying to write. Kind of weird, but it is what it is, and I doubt you'll ever see me hit my splits in a track race.

I hung out just a bit after talking to Jennifer Hegarty and watched the men's 1500. The two Scott's would finish 1 and 2. John and I packed up and went back to the car. I love track meets. They are so quick. Haha. From there we drove to Westborough to the Skyzone Trampoline Park for John to get some exercise. I hadn't taken him to one in awhile since they're so expensive, but he needed to have some fun today. The parents there were so nice. I had conversations with two of them. You'd think we'd known each other. I really enjoyed that.

We headed home from there. John slept almost the entire way. I made a very quick stop at Garrison City Beerworks (my race sponsor!) to buy some cans so that I'd finally be able to share some beer with Steve and Jennifer Brightman the next day after Loon. They've been so generous, and I needed to reciprocate. It was home from there and time to get in the Loon mindset.

The beer I bought to share with the Brightman's