2018 Barrel House Z 5K- NER Pub Series Race

John with Phoenix on Cathedral Ledge

This was a tough week. I really needed the overtime at work so I ended up working 4 days this week. 4 days for me was 68 hours. It wouldn't have been that bad had we not been busy overnight Monday and Wednesday. I just couldn't catch up on sleep at all. I was able to sleep in Saturday, but then Sunday was another 4:30am morning to go to the Barrel House Z 5K in Weymouth, MA. I still got in some running and spinning, but I was junk for most of it just due to the lack sleep that started with the weekend before. I feel bad complaining, though, knowing a friend of mine is in a vortex of work with no end in sight right now. No life and very little sleep. It's really no way to live since it literally sucks the life out of you. I had worked a lot of overtime the week before, too, so I can't complain that this next paycheck will have 39 hours of overtime attached to it. I'll get hammered on taxes for it, though, so I really won't bring home THAT much extra. I can at least catch up on some bills and have a little spending money for our trip to Texas for my grandmother's 90th birthday. It may be my last paycheck ever since I'm probably going to melt in the 100+ temps in Texas. Haha.

It wasn't much, but I ran a total of 21.9 miles this week (last week was 27.4, if you want to count Mt Washington as a run. Haha.). I'm trying to do it right and work my way back up slowly. I ran 4 out of 7 days which is basically what you're supposed to do with this injury when you are running again. Most of the mileage was low, but I put in 8 miles on Friday and found it was a little much. I did race hard on Tuesday and Sunday, but they were both 5Ks so short distance at least. I went to the gym to spin 3 times. So if you add the 2 5Ks and the spinning, I actually did 5 high intensity workouts. It's kind of what I need since I can't do high mileage yet. No long, easy runs. Maybe next week on a mountain or trail, but no long road runs yet.

I'm pretty happy to have so much improvement in the tendons. Still no pain with sitting, driving or when I start running. It's become mostly a dull ache while running except on hills. Even then, it's not bad pain-wise. I just still have no power or speed. I'm trying, though. I thought I lost a lot of speed last year. Haha. Not in comparison to this year! I can't believe some of the times I'm running right now. I wasn't this slow back in 2011 when I ran maybe 3-4 days a week and maybe 30 miles a week, if even. It's kind of depressing, but I'm trying not to think that way, and I've mostly been good about that.

Monday, June 18, 2018- Most of the morning involved training of the new (old) hire, a returning former employee. She didn't need the full training program, but she did need something. It seemed like the half the day was over when we finally relaxed and then a car accident came in. That ended up being a cluster and I got stuck out in the POURING rain. I was soaked to the bone. I looked like a wet dog. We had a family in our ambulance and while I was out trying to get the other carseat, it turned out a patient in the other car had been missed by the rescue crews on scene. This left me out in the rain even longer while I did an initial assessment on the patient and then had rescue call for our second ambulance.

I had mostly dried out already here.

I was happy I brought an extra shirt, but I had to stay in the wet pants for hours. Most of that was from the rain, but I had to carry a 2 year old with an overflowing diaper at some point so I'd be lying if I said it was all rain water. Haha! Over the radio we listened to police chasing somebody and had a good feeling that was our next call. It was. Haha. Welcome to crazy land. This patient was bipolar and off her meds....so naturally, she loved me. I guess she usually hates all the women who show up, but for some reason if you're bipolar and off your medication, you love me! What is it with that? Haha. I will say that it made patient care much easier since she was very cooperative. I could barely get a word in, though, since I had to listen to the story of how she was just taking a peaceful swim in the river when the cops showed up. In reality, she ran through the river during a foot chase with many police officers in pursuit. Hahaha. A cancelled call to the jail sent us back to Ossipee, but it ended with Jeff buying me ice cream at the Dairy Bar. On the way back, we saw constant blue lights and assumed we'd be heading back down here soon, but it didn't happen. Instead, someone decided to code around 1230am and we ended up in a small dark bedroom doing CPR. Fortunately, it was in Freedom so Rob was there on scene. Helpful to have a paramedic for a code! I ended up sweating my ass off in there. It was so hot! I had my first experience with the LUCAS device for chest compressions. It was pretty cool since it does that part for you and is way more effective than say someone like me who doesn't have a lot of body weight when trying to do compressions on a very large person. The only issue is that you have to get the proper placement so it takes a little work initially, but after that it's a super sweet tool to have. I'm glad Freedom Fire has one! They're over $15,000, though so definitely not cheap!

By the time we were back at the base it was probably close to 3am. I was able to catch some sleep, but it wasn't much. I was already in a sleep deficit from the weekend.

Tuesday, June 19, 2018- I was SO GROSS by the end of the shift. I was happy to change into workout clothes and hop on the spin bike for an hour before heading home. Hopefully, I sweat out all of the grossness from work. When I got home, I showered off all of the grossness from the workout. That was one of the best showers ever. Haha. John was dropped off by Bryan just after I pulled in. He was carrying Phoenix, but when she saw my car, she jumped out of his arms and jumped in my door for hugs. Haha. She literally hugs and then lies on my chest. Every Tuesday morning is like this. I hate being for 24 hours at a time. I just want to be home every night.

I sat out on the deck in the sun with Phoenix and the Flat White I got at Starbucks on the way home. A surprise $10 Starbucks card had appeared in my email the day before from an EPICLY awesome person. :)

As much as John would have loved to stay inside all day playing video games...that wasn't happening. Oh and, just a quick sidenote on that. Haha. He told me his dream job today. "Did you know that there's actually job where they pay you to sleep? Testing mattressing! That's the job I want." Dream big, John. Dream big. Haha. He told me this on our drive to Cathedral Ledge where I was making him hike! Haha. I only made him do the climbers' trail which is less a mile climb up. It can be steep, but it's actually really easy for us...well, me especially, since I've gotten into good hiking shape so quickly. It honestly didn't phase John at all either since he's been hiking with his dad a lot. The kid pretends to hate it, but he always seems to enjoy himself when he's out there. Haha.

We went straight home from there, and I decided to mow some of the yard before the Whitaker Woods Summer Series race. The yard really did look horrible, and I hate walking through tall grass. I only planned to do the part in the front and the sides and then just a path where we walk for the back. The yard is just so big, and we don't use most of it, which is a shame really. I was almost finished when I stumbled upon wild strawberries. I kept looking and realized I had my own wild strawberry field!! No lie! They were everywhere. I stopped mowing since I didn't want to mow them down and started picked. Phoenix joined me since she loves berries.

Haha

I changed clothes and drove over to Whitaker Woods. The weather was super nice, a rarity for the Summer Series. It was nice catching up with people after I ran a mile warm up. I really didn't know how I was going to feel and wasn't sure if I just wanted to run it easy or push a little. As soon as we started, I realized I felt pretty good. I ran with Terry Ballou and Dominick LaPorte at the start and then picked up the pace as Dominick did. I still didn't feel like I was going all out cardio-wise, but the speed felt decent. First mile on the course (not on my watch) was 6:29 which is around what I normally run it when I'm making an effort. I was surprised! I ended up staying behind Dominick and another guy the whole way and helped them navigate the course a bit since they didn't know it, and the signs really aren't as obvious as they used to be. I fell back a bit in the 2nd mile since I cut my speed way back on purpose. I didn't want to push the tendons hard here at Whitaker Woods. I'd save that for a real race. Haha. As soon as the climbing was all done, I picked the pace back up and stayed right behind those two guys the rest of the way. I finished 1st woman (which I really don't care much about here) in 21:13. I was very happy with that! It's right around the time I always run here. I rarely ever go race pace at these races anymore. I think I've only done it 3 times in the last 3 years. I always do something in the mornings so I'm never 100% here. This morning was no exception with an hour spin. I was really happy to see my time right where it usually is. Yay!

As soon as I finished, I chatted with Dominick again and met his new wife. I didn't get to meet her at Mt Washington since she was already at the summit by the time I got there. They were going on to Maine to finish their honeymoon and then headed home to Tennessee after that.

I had to bolt after that to get home and take John to ninja class. This was the second to last class of the session. Thank goodness! John has been taking ninja here longer than any other kid. He started it from the very beginning of when it was offered here. He's the only one who has gone year round (thru the summers) the entire time. So, needless to say, I've been ready for a Tuesday break from it. He decided he wanted the break on his own, and I was so relieved. Haha.

John's new thing. The T pose. The default pose for video game characters. haha.

Wednesday, June 20, 2018- I did not catch up on my lost sleep at all. I was up at 4:45am to make it to the gym to spin before work. I actually like this routine for Wednesdays, and it's the one thing that has me considering keeping the membership going. But do I want to commit to a year?! Ugh. I've just found it really easy to get myself up and out the door for it. Way more motivated that early to bike for 30 minutes than to run. It's not like spinning is easy, but I do find the bike to be easier than running in general, so maybe that's why I like it.

Got in 30 minutes. Crazy how just 30 minutes can kick your ass. I was able to shower there for a change, but I ended up sweating my ass off in the bathroom since there's no a/c in there. It was a good way to start off this shift. THIS was not a good way to start off the shift...

I saw that and panicked! We rushed to the nearest gas station. I texted my manager who replied that the gauge is broken and has been for a few days. WTF. Then why didn't you let everyone know?! Typical of this company. I sent a snarky reply back suggesting all employees be notified of an issue like this next time. I shouldn't have to tell my manager this since you'd think it would be common sense.

It wasn't crazy busy the first half of the day. I attempted to write the Mt Washington blog post, but I kept getting interrupted and just couldn't think clearly with my tired brain. I did get in a 2-mile walk and abs and glutes before we got hit with 3 back-to-back calls. Then it was quiet until 1am. Nooooo. I wanted to cry. Drove half asleep to a lift assist all the way across town only to get there and find North Conway Rescue had already assisted the patient and didn't need us. So back we went. I was happy it was short, but then at almost 4am on the dot, we got another tone! Waahhhhh! Cryyyy! Never thought in a million years I'd be working a job that would have me standing in a jail cell at 4am. Haha. We didn't transport this one, but we spent long enough on scene that it was almost the same amount of time. We were actually able to help our patient without transporting him which is great when that happens. His need was legit which is rare for 911 calls to the jail, and I actually did spend a lot of time standing in the cell talking with him. The officer on duty even told us he was a nice guy, and he was. Just paying for the rough life he's lived.

As soon as we got back, I would normally have snagged another hour of sleep, but instead, I put on my running clothes and ran 4 miles on the trail out back. Not a bad time, but definitely no near my fastest. 34:09. 8:19avg pace. I was pretty beat.

Thursday, June 21, 2018- After my run, I showered then drove to Starbucks to use the rest of that gift card. He bought me breakfast today! It was the first good food I'd had in weeks.

From there it was on to the Tamworth base for another 10 hours. My partner and I were training someone so I was the faux patient for her 12-lead placement. That was kind of fun and nice to get a free ECG since something like that would cost me probably over $1000 if I had been a real patient somewhere.

It's actually not abnormal. I had a paramedic read it. A low HR can cause the computer reading to be skewed. 

I was SO tired after now 5 days in a row of little sleep. It's why I'm behind on the blog. I had planned to finish the Mt Washington post today, but I couldn't even think straight. Other than when we were on calls, I was in a chair half asleep.

I was off at 5pm and decided to hike up Green Mt. I needed the quiet after the 34 hour shift. The weather was warm but the breeze up on the fire tower was awesome. I took the High Watch Trail up and back this time.

Putting my shoes on to hike and realized I'd forgotten these. Haha.

Bought a beer on the way over 

On the way back down. 

I was SO happy to go home for the night. I showered and vegged then went to bed early.

Friday, June 22, 2018- My 4th day of work this week. I got up early and decided to run from home up Tasker Hill Rd and back. It was 8.1 miles total and turned out to be a little too much. My tendons were sore from the get-go and got worse. I don't know when I'll be able to really add in some distance to my runs, but at least I'm running. 8.1 miles in 1:04:31. 7:53 avg pace. 642ft of elevation gain.

Today would bring me back to the track for the Club Motorsports detail. I was happy about that since I could lie down in the back the whole time. I dozed off a few times, but mostly spent the day reading my book. It was nice outside, but the black flies were swarming so I was happy to stay in the truck.

I did take a walk during lunch and decided to work on my Baystate Marathon PTSD therapy by actually holding the cone this week. Baby steps...

The track shut down for the day at 4:45pm so we went to leave and found the ambulance completely dead. Wouldn't start. Jumping it from one truck did nothing. Jumping it from 2 trucks at once did nothing. Jumping it from a battery pack and a truck didn't work. We had to wait for another ambulance to come and by this time it was almost 5:30. The ambulance jump didn't work either. So we finally had to just leave the ambulance behind and ride back with the other crew. Ugh. By this point, my plans to make to the Friday Night Lights Vertical Race at Black Mt had been thwarted. There was no way I could make it. Boo. At least one of my coworkers, Joe, made my day. He didn't know I had a 12 year old and when I told him he said he didn't think I was old enough to have a 12 year old. Haha. I told him I was 42. His mouth dropped open and he said, "You're my age?!" He said all of these years he thought I was in my 20s. Haha. Thank you, Joe! And it turned out, I'm 3 months older than him. :)

I was happy to get home and somewhat thankful I wasn't making the drive up to Jackson for the race. I'd hardly been home all week.

She looks terrified. Haha.

Photo by John

Saturday, June 23, 2018- I slept in until 8am. I was so tired still when I woke up. I procrastinated and then finally went to the gym to spin. I had planned 45 minutes on the bike but put on the 1 hour video just in case. My legs were so trashed that I stopped at 45 minutes. I'm not sure why they were so beat, but there was no way I was doing the 3rd block of the workout with a 5K the next day.

I came home and did some upper body and abs then John and I left to go hiking up Mt Stanton. I still can't believe I've never hiked the Mt Stanton Trail. It starts right in Intervale so I'm not sure why it's been skipped. It's not a difficult hike up to the ridge. Only two steep sections and then once you're on the ridge the trail is an easy grade except for the last part up to the summit. Only 1.4 miles up to the summit. I'm planning to come back and run the whole Mt Stanton Trail out and back soon.

The hike back down was quick and we just missed the pouring rain as we got into the car. I stopped at the Vista store to get some beer. I didn't have a lot of money to waste on beer so I only bought a few things. One of those was a can of Sixpoint Puff which I love and had been searching for for 2 years. They had two cans left. I bought one. (Remember this. I'll revisit it.) I also bought Founders Green Zebra which is the best summer beer. A quick stop was made at the store and then we went home.

Sunday, June 24, 2018- Barrel House Z 5K-

I was planning to keep this a race free weekend, but when Fitz offered me a free entry for winning their first race here in February, I couldn't resist. Plus, this time the race was part of the New England Runner Pub Series so I was guaranteed fun people to hang out with. It was yet another early morning and a 3 hour drive, but I was up for it. I really wanted to see how bad my 5K time had gotten. I didn't even know if I was going to break 20 minutes.

John slept the whole way down...and through the race...and through post-race. I could NOT get him out of the car. I found out why. He had stayed up until 3am. Grr. So once again I felt like a terrible parent, but if he wanted to sleep, I guess he could. It definitely wasn't my plan, though.

I arrived early and took Phoenix out for a short half mile then went out for 2 miles for myself. Normally I would run the whole course, but I didn't want to irritate my tendons too soon. They were actually bothering me a bit so I had a feeling this race wouldn't go well. I saw Kristen Shaw and Holly Madden, both of whom I beat at Doyle's. Holly beat me at Ribfest the week before, and Kristen has been improving a lot. So I expected them to beat me today.

After my warm up, I realized I was sweating to death from the humidity and decided to just wear the sports bra. It ended up being a good choice, since this would be the first race in a long time where I actually felt like I was giving a full on effort cardio and leg wise. I think it was mainly due to the humidity.

We lined up on the line. I saw John Gorman who had just messaged me the day before about Loon. I laughed since we could have just talked in person today. The last time I ran this race I finished in 19:31, and I was pretty disappointed. Today, I would have been happy to run that. I kept that time in mind as we got set to start. Two women went out ahead of me. I was back even with Holly and Amanda Watters (whom I didn't even know was there! haha). Since I knew the course was a fast first mile, I decided to push it while my tendons weren't holding me back. I passed the second woman and kept my eyes on the first. As we hit the 1st mile and the hill, Holly caught up with me. I wasn't surprised since not only was I feeling the tendons and slowness on the hill, but my fucking intestinal issue decided that I needed to stop just before the mile 1 marker. WTF. I didn't stop, though. But omg. Just like Ribfest, I didn't know if I could make it. UGH.

Fortunately, I had Holly there to pull me along and once off the climb we stayed even and were only like 5 yards behind the first female. She unfortunately turned around and saw us there and put on a surge that I certainly couldn't match. I ran next to Holly as long as I could. I actually felt like I was going all out here. My quads started burning. Ugh. Seriously? Kristen caught up to us, and the three of us ran side-by-side for a brief moment before they both moved ahead of me. I couldn't match it. I was at my limit and as we approached mile 2, my tendons said NOPE.

They make me look FAT.

Molly and Kristen moved ahead with Kristen putting on a surge to catch the 1st woman, which she did. They ran side by side until maybe the last 1/4 mile. In the meantime, Holly put on a surge in the last part just before the finish. I was sucking badly and needed a porta potty ASAP so I just watched the show unfold in front of me. Holly ended up outkicking Kristen just before the line. Great effort by both of them. Shitty one by me. And speaking of, I ran to the porta potty as soon as I crossed the line. I barely made it. 19:41. 10 seconds slower than February and almost the same time I ran at the Downtown 5K when I was sick as a dog. Really sad, but I wasn't disappointed. I had hardly run in over a month so a 19:41 was respectable today. Finished 4th female and 1st in the 40-49. Full Results

Post race was fun. My old friend and coworker, Vickie, drove over from Hull to hang out. We hadn't seen each other in years. We were both dog walkers for South Shore Pet Nannies when I lived in Hingham, and then I house sat down the street from Vickie in Hull in 2007. It was so fun catching up with her!

I was planning to leave as Vickie was leaving, but those damn people on HFC. Haha. I ended up hanging out longer. Those people are fun and I kind of needed it.

Today's award and February's award

I actually love the shirt.

I made a quick trip down to Marathon Sports in Norwell to use up my gift certificate from February's race here and a gift certificate from New England Runner that I was given in exchange for a Q&A you'll find in their latest issue July/August 2018. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure I sound like an idiot. Anyway, I was in dire need of new trail shoes. Their selection was weak, but I ended up going with the Brooks Cascadia 13. So far so good, except the lacing. The laces won't stay tight, but that will just take some finagling.

I got John food on the way home. I forfeited food for myself by buying that beer the day before. Haha. I forced him to walk with the dogs and me up Heavenly Hill when we got back. It ended up being absolute bug hell, but he and the dogs needed the exercise. Haha.

At the race, Michelle LeBrun gave me a beer from a brewery in Scituate so as I put it in my fridge, I noticed a beer in there that I didn't put in there. A beer I can buy anywhere. And my Puff was gone! Bryan stole my fucking beer. He admitted to it the next day. This was probably the 5th time I've had to ask him not to steal my beer. I was so mad. He just doesn't get it. And it just got worse over the next week. That will be in the next blog post. I'm certain now that there really is something clinically wrong with him.

I was pretty tired tonight and in still such a sleep deficit that I was totally out of it. I don't even remember the rest of the night.

No races the following weekend since I would be visiting hell on Earth... Texas. Haha. Loon is still looming for the weekend after that. Not expecting much at all and with the ridiculous amount of entrants this year, it's probably going to suck anyway. I'm not a fan of the huge field that's going to be toeing the line. If this trend continues, you won't see me back at many Mountain Series races again.