2018 Trust Trail Fest Half Marathon

John on Mt Washington

Not as much fun during the week as last week, but our weekend ended up being pretty great. Since my work details were cancelled the week before, I had to pick up an extra track detail on Thursday which meant 3 days in a row and less fun. Haha. Granted, working at the track usually means just lying down in the back of the ambulance either reading or falling asleep from reading. So it's easy money, especially since it's all overtime. I hate just sitting there being lazy for 2 days, but it's worth it for the money...most of the time. I still get a walk in during the lunch break so I'm not lazy all day.

So 66 hours at work meant less miles since I don't run on Mondays or most Wednesdays right now, and this week I actually took Saturday off as well. I still got over 40 miles with 43.8 and 3100ft of elevation gain. The only reason I got over 40 was because of the trail half marathon I did on Sunday. There's no way in hell I'm going to be ready for the Hartford Marathon at the rate I'm going, but I'm not backing out. I will be there, and I will finish no matter what, even if it's at the back of the pack. Ok, that wouldn't be exactly ok with me, but if that's what happens in order for me to finish, then so be it. Haha.

I've realized that I have to wave the white flag for the rest of this year. The tendon pain has returned. Not as bad as it was when I dropped out of VCM, but it's there. I'm not surprised; it's not like I took a lot of time off, but it still sucks nonetheless. I'm not going to get faster than I am right now while it's there. That doesn't mean I'm slow as hell, but I'm just not where I want to be ideally, and it's not going to get any better. Since I'm still able to run, I've decided to attempt to finish off all of my planned races for the rest of 2018. I'm going to let my focus on time go out the window and just focus on the effort. If I give 100%, then I have to be happy with that no matter what the time yields. The day after Thanksgiving, I'm making a commitment to take a full 4 weeks off from running. I even put it on my calendar, as if that makes it official or something. Haha. If 4 weeks isn't enough, then I'll add on more. I'm making no real goals for early 2019 until after that. I hope to do my usual fun stuff, but I'm not setting up a big goal race. In fact, I'm not doing that at all for 2019. I don't even know if I'll do all of the USATF-NE Grand Prix next year. That will depend on what races are chosen since I really don't want to run New Bedford next year. But anyway, getting ahead of myself. So that's my plan. A smarter person would stop now, but I'm too stubborn to be smart. Haha. Plus, I'm ok with the slower times. It will be interesting to see how it all turns out. All I can say is that I'm really happy that I have other hobbies and interests to keep me afloat through all of this. If running was my only life, I'd be a depressed mess. Haha.

No real drama to report this week. Yay. Haha. Things have been mostly quiet, or at least not worth mentioning, on the Bryan front. He and John are getting along pretty well, and John is actually having a lot of fun on his days with Bryan. They've hiked up Mt Chocorua numerous times and have generally just had mostly good days. I've had some minor annoyances with him, but nothing out of the ordinary or things I can't just shrug off. I'm trying to stay out of ALL drama by laying low and keeping to myself more than I have the last 4 years. Solitude is just easier for me. Less stressful. Less disappointing. Helps me to remember I have to be self-reliant. There is no one to call when the shit hits the fan; I have to figure it all out on my own. It's a good way to be so that I won't be caught off guard. I might allow other people in my life again some day, but not right now. I don't have the energy to be a good friend to anyone else so I can't ask for that for myself. I'm happy with the many acquaintances I have all over New England. That's more than good enough for me. I love being social, but I also love being alone. I need the mix of both.

Monday, August 13, 2018- So remember all that blah blah about my company in the newspaper article, and I said I'm glad I wasn't one of the offenders? Well, much to my surprise, I WAS one of the accused!!! I was pissed, but not surprised. We were accused on a specific call of not responding in a timely manner. Well...I'm always out the door immediately. The problem was that we were dispatched to an unmarked road in Tamworth. A road with only two houses so it's not a common destination. We followed our map book AND the phone GPS and still went right by it. Continued on to the town line past Chocorua Lake and then turned around. ONLY THEN did one of the rescue guys on scene let us know over the radio that the "road" was actually a driveway and to look for two orange traffic cones in Rt 16. Yeah. Don't recall orange traffic cones being in the mapbook. The douchebag was extremely rude to us on scene by telling my partner to, "MOVE!" as he slammed OUR stretcher into the back of his legs. They took the med list from the patient's family and never shared it with us. And they gave us a piss poor report and had basically done no care. This was a paramedic AND an Advanced EMT on the scene, too. So, anyway, I had a BAD feeling that douchebag was going to try and throw us under the bus so as soon as we got back to the base, I covered my ass thoroughly in my report. Well, sure enough, he did try to throw us under the bus. But with my thorough ass-covering, he didn't have a pot to piss in. Take that, Fucker! I'm not stupid. I anticipated that coming immediately. I just didn't know it was going to be included in their official complaint. We didn't even violate anything. From the moment we signed on the call to signing off on scene was 19 minutes. Within the allowed time, and especially since I documented our response delay. Yeah, that one didn't even make it to the meeting that night. Nice try, sucker, and don't fuck with me again. Thanks. Two of the last people who should ever be accused of not responding appropriately.

We had a meeting with the owner of the company in the afternoon since he came up to attend a meeting in Freedom about the violations. Tamworth would be there, as well. The first time I'd ever laid eyes on the man since I started here 7 years ago. This isn't a big company either. He went over the list of violations and the legitimate problems. I thought it went well, honestly, but has anything happened since then to improve? Nope. Not really. Instead, they're promoting people to Assistant Supervisors who shouldn't be. And all the "assistants" do is the job of the current supervisors. This company needs to break from its 1980s business model and get with times. And how about posting openings for supervisor positions before you give the job to people? I've never had an issue with one of the new supervisors; he does his job, but he was once fired from this company. Hmm. One other had a complaint filed against her for bullying 3 months ago; that went nowhere. A second complaint was filed against her 4 weeks ago. That also went nowhere, but let's promote her. The third is the biggest violator of completing the State mandated EMS reports. If you can't do your regular job, should you really be promoted to supervisor? I guess with this company the only qualifications required are fuck-ups. Damn. I really need to ditch my high work ethic. Not that I would EVER want to be in management at this company. You aren't given the tools to do your job so fuck that.

Really considering putting in to use up more earned time over the next 3 months. At this rate of frustration with this company, I'm afraid I'm going to snap sooner than later and quit on the spot.

Tuesday, August 14, 2018- Woke up to rain, but as good as Sunday's run felt in the rain, I didn't mind it. Decided to run up Bayle Mt from Pine Hill Rd in West Ossipee, a run I've done quite a few times. I start right at Rt 16 and run up Pine Hill Rd continuing on to the snowmobile trail and then up the Bayle Mt trail. It poured rain the entire run to the top of the mountain. The climb up on the trail was SO slippery that the footing was sketchy and slow-going. As soon as I got to the summit, the pouring rain changed to a light mist. There was no view at all so I snapped a few photos then headed down. I would get cold fast if I didn't keep moving. Just as I got back into the woods, I heard an owl hooting nearby. It was like a horror movie. The dense fog, light mist and an owl hooting but out of view. Haha. Ran back down the trail and then to the road for the long downhill to the car. 12 miles total in 1:57:42 moving time. 1,721ft of elevation gain. Pace is a bit skewed since the pace going up and down the mountain were super slow. And the rest was faster on the road. But anyway. Good run.

Drenched from the rain

One of the prettiest road runs around

When I got home, I brought everything in the kitchen and did a double take at the sponge. WTF. It had shrunk. Then I looked closer. Haha. Goofball had replaced the sponge with a Triscuit. I heard giggling from his bedroom. The funny thing is is that the sponges I use (from Trader Joe's) actually look similar to a large Triscuit. Silly prank, but it got me. Haha.

Funny. I have no recollection of what we did the rest of the day. I usually take photos or record walks on Strava to remind me, but there's nothing. Haha. But we never don't do something so I'm baffled. Haha. I do remember working on some paperwork crap that I had been putting off, but that's it until I went to the last Whitaker Woods race. I'm thinking it must have rained most of the day otherwise. But anyway, if I can't remember, it must not have been significant.

So, I didn't really need the last Whitaker Woods race, but I felt like going anyway. Plus my average time prior to it included the 26 min day so I wanted that scratched. I was beat enough that I had no intention of running fast but planned something in between around 22 min. I started off very slowly and picked up the pace a little as the race went on but never went crazy. Finished right where I planned at 21:58. I actually saw the clock close to 22 and slowed down a little to try and cross the finish at 21:59, but I was a little too fast and crossed in 21:58. Haha. Not sure what possessed me to do that, but it just seemed fun, but then I failed anyway. Haha. Still first female, though. Happy to have won the 40-49 again and to have the fastest women's time (20:45) for the Series as well. Tried to not reminisce about 2015 when I ran these in the sub-20s, but it's still hard not to at times.
Full Series Results

Succeeded in bolting. Stopped at the store then went to Discount Beverages for beer only to find they had jacked up the prices $2-4 a pack (4 or 6). Like, it was insane. I could buy better beer for less at the Bier Cellar in Portland. I looked through it all and was horrified. That's the last time I go in there for awhile. They need to take "Discount" out of their name. And they just lost a local customer. I might as well go up to the Scenic Vista if I want to pay that price since they actually have better beer. The only beer I found that was still the normal price was The Grotto from Foolproof. Of course it was. Haha. So I bought that even though I was reluctant to give them any business at this point. Picked up tacos at Jalisco since it was Taco Tuesday!

Wednesday, August 15, 2018- I spoke too soon in a previous blog post about having no problem getting up on Wednesdays to work out. Haha. Well, this Wednesday, I did have a problem getting up. I didn't. Turned off the alarm and slept another hour. Sometimes I just need the extra sleep, but I did pack a bag so that I could run on the trail out back during the day.

My Wednesday partner lately has been someone I used to work with all the time back in the day. We were friends, then had a falling out (I wrote about this in a blog post in 2015; not going to link it, though. Haha). He got taken off the schedule when I came back full time (I had stayed per diem and worked shifts every other week) after leaving my job at the chiropractor. I ended up taking my 24 hour Wednesday shift back which he had had. And then we learned he was taken off the schedule completely. Apparently all of that was my fault, which it wasn't; his bad work ethic just caught up to him. The Wednesday part WAS kind of my fault, though. Michelle and I plotted how to get me back the Wednesday shift and him off of it. We had no idea he was basically going to be "fired" (they gave him shifts with the company at the southern bases, but he was no longer allowed to work up here). But he thought it was us so he wouldn't speak to me for years. Haha. Finally, a year ago, we ran into each other at the 80s night at Cranmore and basically made up. He was allowed to come back to work up here and funny enough, I think Jeff and I are the only ones he will work with now. I'll be honest that even though we made up, I didn't really trust him and wasn't keen on being alone with him at the North Conway base, but after working with him lately, I realized he has changed for the better, as Jeff said he had. He had a cancer scare during those years away from working up here and then he found a great girlfriend who helped him turn his farm into a booming business. He's still the same person in some ways, but he's definitely changed for the better, and I'm comfortable working with him again.

It was another quiet day in North Conway, the opposite of working in Tamworth. We had a few calls. I worked on the billing/report stuff for 2 hours then went out back for a run. I needed that. Only 3 miles, but it felt good. 24:03. Actually a decent pace for that trail. I showered then hung out in the a/c for awhile before going upstairs to do abs. We had a few calls in between. Easy shift.

Thursday, August 16, 2018- I went home, showered and then headed to Tamworth for the Club Motorsports detail. Since it was hot as hell, I pretty much hid in the back of the ambulance attempting to read a book that I finally had to give up on. It was so drab; everything was written in monotone. The characters had no character (hardy har har). The story line seemed good, but it took forever to get going. I don't recommend We Begin our Ascent. Haha.

The book pretty much put me to sleep, but when it was finally lunch break, I sat up and saw my reflection in the shelving doors. Haha. Crazy hair.

Proof that I do NOT work hard at the track. Haha.

Still got in a long walk and finally had to stop at the small pond by the track that is filled with cattails. I've never seen so many in one place.

I also got WAY too excited when I spotted a stick bug (Walking Stick)! I hadn't seen one since I was a kid, and then I see this huge one! Oh my god. I actually said out loud, "That is SO cool!" Haha.

Since I had no book, I played on my phone awhile. All of a sudden I'm being surprised again when reading articles randomly from WCVB because I keep scrolling down to find myself again, just like 2 years ago. Haha.

I know it's an ad targeted directly at me for VCM, but funny that the algorithm probably doesn't know that's me in it since I see the other ad with a guy in it just as often. I'm actually surprised to see them still using me for an ad. I assumed they would have given up on me after dropping out this year. A part of me feels guilty and ashamed of it since they allowed me to be part of it and included in the small group who got a stipend. But that's not coming from them at all since they were super supportive of my DNF. It's just my own feelings about it. But I'm pretty taken aback that they still consider me worthy of their ad. Maybe one day I'll make it up to them.

Obviously a painless track shift unless you want to count how much sitting I did. Haha. It was hot out, but I still had to get a run in after the track. I ran from the base around Soaring Heights and Windsock Village. Kept passing this same woman on a bike who was riding in circles. It actually became comical and we laughed each time. I think it was 6 times total. I wanted to run it quick and planned to run negative splits, but I messed up and went faster than planned for miles 3 and 4 and then backed off for miles 5 and 6. Still a good run, though. 6 miles in 42:22. 7:02 avg pace.

Went home and showered then sat on the couch with Phoenix, as always.

Friday, August 17, 2018- Got up early to run before my next track shift, and while the run the night before had gone well, today would be the day when I would feel the tendon pain back in full force. Fuck. Even though this isn't an easy run with the long uphill on Bald Hill Rd, I still shuffled the rest of it. I never felt good and struggled through the 6.2 miles. Full on ouch. 52:21. 8:23 avg pace. I knew right then that I wasn't running the next day. If anything, I would just get on the spin bike. I wanted to be ready for Sunday's trail half marathon in Maine, and after this run, I was really worried.

Back to the track for another uneventful day. Still hid in the ambulance in the a/c. Haha. Found a better book through the online catalogue with free access via my library card. Took another walk at lunch. Same stuff, different day. Still easy overtime, but even easy at 66 hours was enough for me for the week.

John and I had a big day planned for Saturday so I didn't make him do anything the rest of Friday. He and Bryan had taken a walk already anyway.

On Monday, I had gotten an email from Tin Mountain seeking 10 more volunteers for the Mount Washington Auto Rd Bicycle Hill Climb. I had been dying to get John up there since he had only been up two times previously at 17 months old via the Cog Railway and then at 18 months when I took him on the 3-day Presidential hike. So he obviously has no memory of it. He's live in the Mount Washington Valley for 8 years of his life. I really wanted him to get up the mountain. He was initially mad at me for volunteering him for it since it meant leaving the house at 4:30am. But it was free ride up and down, the only way I would get him up there anytime soon. I was super nervous about how he was going to be the next morning and thought maybe I made a mistake. Eek. It would turn out to be awesome.

These pics were taken exactly 11 years ago today (today being 8/27/18)...

2007

John running in the direction of the tower that's in the first photo of this blog post

Saturday, August 18, 2018- I'll admit that I had some regret when the alarm went off at 3:30am. Ugh. What was I thinking? But at least I wasn't racing. That made it easier. The weather prediction was thunderstorms and heavy rain so I wondered why they didn't delay the race the night before. Two more hours of sleep would have been awesome. But they didn't so we left a 4:30am. I wasn't sure they would have food for the volunteers so I stopped at DDs in North Conway since it's open 24 hours and used our gift card for some food and a hot chocolate for John. We got up to the Auto Rd around 5:20am. I'd always been directed in, but since it was early and dark I actually went the wrong way around the field twice, and people followed me. I forgot about the fencing and trenches that blocked us in, but finally found my way back around to park right by the tent. Much to my surprise, just as we pulled in, John woke up on his own and was wide awake. I honestly think he was a bit excited about the day. He had acted mad when I first told him and said he doesn't care about the views. I kept trying to say that it wasn't about the views, but I really couldn't explain what makes this mountain so awesome. I mean there are buildings and a road up it. How could I possibly describe the coolness of it to him? I just hoped he would see for himself.

After checking in, we waited around a bit before the vans came. John stayed in the car. I had him put on his first layers of clothing for the top. I brought SO many clothes and rain gear. Everything! We both could have worn 3 full layers. It turned out we'd need almost all of it.

This would actually be the first time I'd ever ridden UP in a vehicle. I've only run it and taken the Cog once. John had taken the Cog and ridden up on my back. Haha. We got into the cloud quickly. John was already entranced by the landscape, his eyes glued to the window. As we got above treeline we hit the crazy weather. Gusting wind, driving rain and fog, but he could still see the land a little bit. Around mile 4 he said, "Just this part is worth this whole thing." I knew this was going to be a good day. He was already impressed. I would come to realize that seeing this part of Mt Washington was so much better to him than a clear sunny day. He actually got to experience the real deal of Mt Washington weather! Here's a video of him just after stepping out of the van.

I had him walk up to the summit for a photo and snapped one of myself. It as quick, and we both were soaked from the rain by the time we got into the main building. They weren't open yet, so we stayed in the entry way.

We holed up in there while the rain and wind picked up outside. It had gotten twice as strong and then the thunder started rolling. We all looked at each other like uh oh. Someone came in and said there was chatter over the radio of cancelling the race. EEK. But with no official word we planned to continue with our work. We unwrapped all the finisher's medals and hung them on hangers ready to put out by the finish. Then it was sit and wait. John fell back asleep.

They opened up the main building for us where it was warmer, but we had to go out briefly to help unload a truck with all of the posts for the barriers and timing equipment then it was back into the building. John went back asleep on the bench while I walked around a bit outside. I had the Observation Deck all to myself. Haha.

When I came back in, someone came over the loud speaker to let us know that the race was delayed 2 hours!!! Omg. We were going to be up there for a really long time! I decided to pay the $3 for wifi since I had nothing else to do. John eventually woke up and joined me until we had to be back out there at 11:15am. I couldn't believe it when we walked out to find the weather clearing a bit. The sun was peaking through. John got see what it's like above the clouds. Mr. I don't care about views kept going to the edge and looking out. He was truly amazed by it. We got to work setting up the posts and barriers and unloading the water from the truck. Jobs were divied up and we chose to do the water. Handing out water at the finish of the bike race would be a whole new experience for us since it was often chaotic and bikes were coming in fast and in all directions. John was so on it, though. A group of about 10 of us managed to work together doing medals, blankets and the water. Once John got in the groove, he was moving all around finding all the new people coming in. I could tell he was having a really good time. Another sigh of relief from me since I worried about dragging him up here.

The weather would end up going from warm, sunny to cloudy, windy, drizzle, cool back to sunny. I couldn't believe we got to experience so much different weather; couldn't have planned this better. I got rid of layers, then added layers, back and forth constantly. It ended up being perfect weather for the bike racers, too.

As it wound down, the sun really came out. We loaded everything up in the van and waited for the last few finishers to come in. John enjoyed a few last moments with the view and then it was time to ride back down. We spent about 7.5 hours on the summit. The way down was back into the fog, and that was the only thing John really missed out on. The view of the other Presidentials from Mt Washington.

John took this photo, along with many others, of a tame flying squirrel on the summit.

Just like the road race, Hart's Turkey Farm provided lunch. Yay!! As volunteers, we got tickets, so we loaded up our plates and then ate in the car. There was literally nowhere to sit under the tent since it was packed. Once I was done eating, we left. As we turned onto Rt 16, John said, "Not only was that cool, that was also really fun." For me, it was one of those moments where you realize you made the right decision. SO worth it!

By the time we got home, I scratched plans to get on the spin bike. It was just so late in the day for it with the race the next morning. We had been on our feet walking back and forth for over 2 hours handing out water. That was good enough exercise for me. I took the dogs out and pretty much vegged. I was tired early from getting up early. The next morning was another early one, but 4:30am didn't seem so bad now. Haha. Ugh.

Sunday, August 19, 2018- Trust Trail Fest Half Marathon- I'm not sure how I learned about this race, but I think it was just seeing it on Facebook. It caught my eye because it was new to me, and the date worked well. Plus, I need the longer distance races if I'm ever going to run a marathon. I really didn't want to do a road race since those beat me up, and this would be a fast trail race so I figured it would be a good in between. I hadn't run over 12 miles since May and that was only this Monday. Prior to that, nothing over 11 miles. So I was a bit nervous about the last two miles on such a fast course. Good training no matter what.

Got John out easily. He wasn't as cheery as the day before when it came to getting him out of the car, but he was actually really pleasant after about 20 minutes of waking. Haha. I'd never been to Kennebunkport, ME before so all of this was new to me. You really can't get there from here when it comes to Maine coastal destinations. The drive usually includes many different roads and a lot of turns, and this was no exception. Not long after crossing the Maine border from Freedom, I noticed a pickup truck with fire plates behind me. This truck would take every single turn as me; there was no way this person wasn't going to the race, and I HAD to know them. Sure enough, as I pulled into the field lot, I saw it was Tom Zotti from Wolfeboro. I know him and his wife, Katja Fox. And just as we parked, the next car to park was Freddi Triback and Brian Walfield! They would be the only people I knew here. Haha.

I let John sleep a little more and walked the 1/4 mile (pretty sure it was more than this) with those guys to the start to pick up my bib and use the bathroom. I walked back and took Phoenix on a 1 mile warm up. I only did about 1/2 mile on part of the course, but it gave me a good idea of what to expect. Very short constant ups and downs and twisty trails. Once back at the car, I had to pack a bag for post race and get John up. He wasn't pleased. The car was too far from the start and in a sunny field so he and Phoenix couldn't stay in it. Instead, we walked back to the start/finish. I felt bad about the walk since John had literally just woken up, but the shuttle van they said they had going wasn't going. Haha. I carried the bag and the chair, and it wasn't long before my neck was in agony. Ugh. As we walked up, I saw these two older guys look in my direction and one immediately says to the other, "Wow. Looks like some competitive runners showed up today." Haha. I pretended not hear and to look past him, but they were both looking directly at me so I assume it was me they were talking about. I purposely dressed NOT to look competitive. Six03 singlet and running skirt! So I'm guessing the one guy just knew who I was. I had no idea who any of my competitors were coming into this so I wanted to lay low. Guess that didn't happen because they weren't the only ones. I set John up in the shade in the chair with Phoenix. Gave him his snacks and then hurried to the start.

This was a mass start with the 5K, 10K and HM runners, but it was done differently in that the 5k/10k runners started together off to the left in the grass while we started on the road. It was only about 100-200 yards before the 5k/10k veered left off the road so this start made it so that when we merged, they stayed left and we stayed right to continue straight. No one would be crossing back and forth in front of each other. I thought it was pretty smart and liked it. I lined up near the front and eyed the serious-looking women near me. One had sunglasses on in the shade unnecessarily and looked like she was trying to be serious. I wasn't buying it. Another woman in her late 40s was dressed in a "Canada" singlet and her husband was talking to her very seriously and coach-like so she had me a bit worried. The third serious looking woman was doing those leg swings on the start line. Something about when people to do those things in the starting corral that make me want to beat them even more. Haha. This is probably rooted in jealousy since I can't do those leg swing things at all. One swing and I'd probably injure myself. Hahaha. These things at the start of this video...

So anyway, I was actually little nervous so the conversation from the guy next to me was welcome. He lives in Durham, NH and said he goes to Six03 pub runs and that he should join the club and then we talked about the difference in these trails than what I'm used to up here. Just convo like that. He introduced himself and I introduced myself as "Leslie", as I always do. I rarely give my last name, but then he said, "I think I've heard of you. What's your last name?" I told him and then he smiled and said, "Yeah, I know who you are." Dammit. Cover blown within earshot of competition. Haha. This guy's name is Ernst Linder and damn if he isn't one quick 63 year old. I'm surprised I've never heard of HIM. Haha.

Me talking to Ernst with serious sunglasses girl behind us. Canada to the far left and if you look closely at the far right, you can see the leg and butt of the leg swing girl who was actually doing leg swings when this was taken. Haha.

Since this course was new to me and looked like it followed numerous different trails, I did actually study the course map a bit. Glad I did because I didn't notice until I studied the map that the first 1+ miles was on a mostly flat road, part gravel but mostly paved. I also might have gone the wrong way at the only point on the course when a trail went straight when we continued to the right and it wasn't marked. I don't think the straight trail was an actual trail but it could have been easily taken by mistake since it was a "trail", but I remembered that this section was white-blazed so I knew I went the right way.

Once I realized it started on the road, I planned to take the first mile out hard to see either how much of a gap I could get or who could hang with me. I was hoping for the large gap scenario so that once we turned into the woods, I wasn't visible to anyone. Luckily, it was the scenario I hoped for. I dropped a 6:36 for the first mile, and after looking at Strava which had most of the women around me on it, I saw that I had around a minimum of a minute lead by the time we hit the woods. A short part of the 2nd mile was on the road, and the first part of the trail was on non-technical, flat doubletrack so it remained quick. I purposely slowed down as soon as we hit the woods. Ernst would be right behind me this whole time. I kept a quick pace in the low 7s through this section, and then we hit the twisty, rocky singletrack that went up and down, up and down. It was constant. I was still able to keep a quick pace through here and felt like I was running under 8s easy. I started to drop Ernst in this section, but he was still visible through mile 4. Due to the tight turns and general nature of the trail, I knew my GPS watch would be way off. I didn't really pay attention to my watch after the 2nd mile mark because of this, but for some reason I looked at it at what I thought was mile 5. Um, my watch said mile 4. I actually thought I was closer to mile 5. I would in fact be right around mile 4.5. The pace on the watch was too slow, too. This was confirmed when mile 5 on my watch took way too long and showed a 9:20 pace. There was no way in hell I was running over an 8 min pace at this point. Haha. This is a wheel-measured course so the distance is as close as you're going to get as accurate.

The start. Canada thought she could keep up with me. I would gap her by 1.5 minutes in the first mile and finish 30 minutes before her. Turned out it was her first trail race ever so I think she just didn't know how to pace it (I looked at her Strava).

Mile markers began at mile 6 on the course which I was happy about. My watch was right around 5.5. I liked being able to gauge where I really was on the course. Mile 7 would be even worse since I hit 6.3 miles on my watch at that marker. Unfortunately, it was during mile 8 when I had to give in to my unfortunate intestinal issue and make a quick stop. Out of curiosity, I hit the lap button to time the stop. 12 seconds! Victory! I beat Shalane's porta potty stop at Boston by a second! Hahaha! Fortunately, this would be my only stop.

In mile 9, the course looped back on itself to the smooth, flat double track. No one had been in sight behind me for about 4 miles, but once we hit the double track, Ernst must have been able to pick up the pace. By the time we hit the road, I saw Ernst right on my tail. Mile 10 was fast back on the pavement and gravel, but I was losing steam. I anticipated this since I hadn't run this far on a trail with any kind of speed in a long time. I had a feeling I was going to suffer the last two miles, and I did. It was back to the singletrack where I had warmed up with Phoenix as it wound around behind the finish line and continued to a bridge for a .6-ish mile loop. Ernst was basically at the start of the bridge as I exited it, but being back on the singletrack caused me to gap him again. I was so bonking as I got back to the bridge to head back toward the finish. This last part was on flat grass and I had nothing left. Ernst caught me and passed me like I was standing still with about .3 to go to the finish. If he had been a woman, I would have mustered up some sort of attempt to pass him back, but I honestly didn't care. I came through the finish in 1:40:56. 1st female and 6th overall. Actual average pace turned out to be 7:42/mile which made way more sense. I have a little better sense of feel still on trails so my feel:pace guesstimate is actually pretty accurate. I was amazed to see the elevation gain at 513ft! It was probably even more than that (Mine seemed to be close to the majority). SO many little hills that just added up. My watch had 11.8 miles while the most I saw was 12.5. Overall, this was a really fun course and event. I love the change from the long climbs I'm used to and would definitely do this again if it worked out.

Terrible photo.

Unfortunately, even though there was also an additional photographer in front of me taking finish line photos and another one out on the course in in the last 2 miles, they didn't share them. I was hoping for at least a better tape breaking photo. Once again, why take photos if you don't share them? And both were photographers with really nice cameras. Sometimes just having selfies gets old. Haha. Oh well. Full Results

I grabbed a water as soon as I finished and made a beeline for the beer tent. I never do this, but I needed something COLD NOW. I was still out of breath and pouring in sweat when they handed me my beer. Haha. I walked over to John to find him perfectly content with Phoenix. It took me a bit to stop sweating.

Never heard of a New England Pale Lager, but this was good, and I don't normally like lagers.

The plan was to drink my beer, get my award and then leave. Hour tops. Well, I made it to the point of changing clothes and getting my award just fine. I had only had a few sips of my beer so far.

But as soon as I sat back down with John after getting my award, my body decided it hated me. Omg. I had to almost run into the woods! And it was awful. Chowed by mosquitoes the whole time. Then I left my sunglasses back there and had to go all the way back when I realized they were missing. Got back to John. Started packing up and walked over to get him a hamburger and drink. Even though my body did NOT want food, I still wouldn't have paid for something for me. Too pricey. Got back to Phoenix and all of a sudden, I had to run to the bathroom AGAIN. This isn't unusual for me after a long hard effort, but "long" is usually a marathon distance. But since I wasn't really in shape for the half marathon, my body pretty much treated it the same. So I wasn't shocked by this, just annoyed. FINALLY got everything together for the walk back to the car. As soon as we got there, goddammit, I had to run back to the woods. This was getting bad and it only got worse. I was in agony the whole way home. Had to stop 3 times. The last time was at the trailhead behind Purity Springs where I would proceed to leave my sunglasses for a SECOND time. I didn't notice they were gone until a mile from home and just hoped they'd still be there on Tuesday morning when I was back that way. I lucked out....

John and Phoenix on the way home

By this point I was really shaky so I stopped at the Community Market in Madison and used my $20 prize money to buy beer (haha) and pizza slices for John and me. Not sure why I thought I could eat since I was in doubled over pain and in the bathroom at home 4 times!! How is this even possible?! I don't know! It was so bad that I actually considered the possibility of an ER trip. Instead... I forced myself to eat the pizza. And wouldn't you know it. I went from bad to perfectly fine and full of energy. Showered, then went outside and mowed the yard. Came back in and swept the whole house. I'm not sure what was in that pizza, but I'm buying stock in it. Haha.

Other than being understandably tired from the race and an extreme sleep deficit, I felt pretty good the rest of the night. Did the usual snuggle with Phoenix on the couch. I even did the dishes! Haha. Probably because there weren't many. I folded the laundry... but did not put it away. Half-assed for the night was good enough after full-assing it all day in more ways than one. Sorry. I couldn't help myself with that one. Hahaha. I have no shame. Pretty sure those friends I don't want that I talked about in the beginning of this post were already non-existent after reading enough of my blog posts. :)

Upcoming races on the agenda...

NH 10-Miler. USATF-NE Grand Prix race.
Groton Forest Trail 26.5 mile race. Seriously. Don't ask what I was thinking. I have no answer.
Downtown 5K. USATF-NE Grand Prix race.

Two songs from The Decemberists...

Less Work, More Play

Mount Adams

With John gone to the Cape still and my track detail cancelled, I had a little more time to run and play than usual. Only 2 days of work! That hasn't happened in awhile so I definitely took advantage. (I would unfortunately pay for it the next week since I had to pick up TWO track details to make up for it. 66 hour work week. Yuck). I needed a week like this since I've had so much less time this summer to run in the mountains and kayak since I need the overtime. One thing I learned when I became a mom was how to spend free time to its fullest. Some think I'm an overactive spaz, but when your time is no longer yours as a parent, free time becomes precious and you use it properly. Haha. I wish I could smack my younger, childless self upside the head sometimes for wasting all of that free time.

This would end up being my highest mileage week since May! My goal was to hit 50, and it wasn't until after I had showered Sunday (My week is Mon-Sun ;) ) that I realized I only hit 49.9 miles. Hahaha. That's the second time I've done that. I could have fixed it, but I didn't. I'm not that anal. Funny that this same week in 2017 was my highest mileage week ever in my life with over 100 miles from doing the Ragged 75 stage race. This was also my highest elevation gain week this whole year with 10,020ft.

I had so many race options this weekend, and I'm kind of kicking myself for not going down to Bobby Doyle, but I didn't want to gamble on spending the money on gas and the entry fee in hopes of winning first master. Well, dammit. I would have easily won 1st master and $300! Oh well, I was happy to stay local anyway. It was mostly a rainy weekend, and I enjoyed sleeping in and not having anywhere to be.

Highlights of the week: A second attempt at the Mt Adams Challenge; it went much better this time. My first attempt in 2016 was a bonkfest. I also made it to the final Friday Night Vertical race at Black Mt which ended up being great. I got in a mountain run with Phoenix. And a paddle on Silver Lake.

I didn't see John again until Thursday night! It was weird not seeing him for 8 days, and I definitely got that feeling of just going through the motions of a single woman in her 40s with no kids; I had this same feeling when he was gone for over a week to the Cape in 2016. I really can't imagine a life without my kid in it. It's like having no purpose in life, and it felt so self-centered. Haha. Not really a bad thing since that's how we all are for the most part before having kids, but it feels weird to have all of this free time once you've had kids; I almost felt guilty for having it. Hard to explain, but I think the mothers out there would get what I mean. I LOVE my dogs immensely, but it still isn't the same thing. My dogs are not my children; I'm not their "mom", and I cringe when I hear people say that. A child is a deeper love only a parent can understand.

Monday, August 6, 2018- This wasn't a very good morning. The incident with the dog nasty gram and then me being an asshole to someone the night before left me in kind of a somber mood today. It was crazy hot out so I didn't even get a walk in. The work treadmill needs to be tightened again so I couldn't use that, but it was so hot in the bay that I didn't want to anyway. I ended up just lying in bed half the day. Getting to visit the dogs around 1pm to let them out perked me up quite a bit. I wanted to stay home with them.

Chill greeting Jeff while Phoenix barked

I was motivated to at least get half of my blog done before Jeff and I went over to Madison for the Old Home Week Ice Cream Smörgåsbord. Perfect for such a hot day! And you got as much ice cream as you wanted! All by donation.

As we were leaving, one of the volunteers wished us a "quiet night". Haha. Don't ever wish EMTs a quiet night because we were about 4 miles down the road and only 2 miles from my house to let out the dogs again when the tone dropped for Effingham! Argh! That lady had jinxed us! So we pulled a U-yyy and headed to Effingham and then transported to Huggins. Totally the opposite direction of the dogs so we had to drive all the way back up after clearing the hospital. It was past 9pm by that point, but I got them taken care of.

Tuesday, August 7, 2018- I went straight home from work so that I could take care of the dogs, and I was in no hurry anway. I had an extremely rare free Tuesday! I really wanted to run in the mountains. The BIG ones! Since I knew it would be cool up there, and I could escape the 90 degree temps in the Valley. I was thinking of running up Mt Washington, but I thought it might be crazy crowded. Where to go? I finally remembered I wanted to make a better attempt at the Mount Adams Challenge. In 2016, I didn't fuel properly and ended up bonking hard at the end. I basically stumbled the last mile to reach the summit in 1:55:19. At the time, I was in such good shape that I probably should have done it in the low 1:40s. Today, I was in much poorer shape, but I made sure I had more than enough water with Tailwind and plenty of Clif Shot Blocks and a Honey Stinger Waffle.

Drove the hour up to Appalachia, a little concerned about using the gas since I only had $2 to my name until sometime Thursday. I had plans to head to Mass on Thursday and wanted to have enough gas to get down there in case my direct deposit came through later in the day again. Eek. Fortunately, it really didn't use up much so I figured I was in the clear. Haha.

The lot was jam packed. Not surprised since I think a lot of people wanted to get up in the cooler air. I didn't dilly-dally in getting started and quickly hit the trail. I planned to go out less hard in the first mile this time. Last time, I remember really pushing myself hard the first mile and hurting by the second mile. The weird part is that I would end up doing the first mile in nearly the same exact time as 2016. This time I ran the whole thing, but at what I thought was an easy pace. Strange how I seem to be doing better with mountain stuff this year than 2016. 15:02 today; 15:04 in 2016 for the first mile. I thought I was moving so much slower for the first part before hitting the Watson Path. I remember struggling up the crazy steep and technical second mile, while this time I felt like I was taking it easy. I even stopped for a selfie. And wouldn't you know it, from the start at Appalachia to the Watson Path, once again almost the EXACT same time as 2016. 43:27 in 2016. 43:29. How crazy is that? I was actually thinking that I was moving so slowly that I wouldn't even beat my time from 2016. It only got better from there. I hadn't actually studied my run from 2016 so I had no idea I was moving at the same pace since I felt so much slower. I guess I started bonking very early on in 2016.

The section on the Watson Path is short, and then you move on to the Scar Ridge Trail for a traverse across to the Airline Trail. I like this trail. A nice break from the steep stuff, and no people. Plus, there are some pretty sections filled with moss. Once on the Airline Trail the steeper climbs begin and once above treeline the trail becomes steeper and rougher. I felt good here, and even though I didn't remember my time at this point in 2016, I checked my watch and thought that maybe I would actually beat my time. I wasn't sure, though. I had doubtful moments. I passed a guy at one point who said, sarcastically, "Oh you're up here without gear. Cool." I had gear. Just because my pack is small doesn't mean I have no gear, you moron. I just kept running. It seemed like FOREVER before I reached the sign to turn off on Gulfside, but I checked my watch. Hmmm .8 miles to go, and I still feel good, unlike the last time when I was tripping and stumbling across Gulfside and then totally gave up and casually walked up Lowe's Path to the summit. My only goal was to beat my time, and I thought could probably just make it. Then I was all of sudden at Lowe's Path with .2 miles to go! I could break 1:50 if I pushed it. Crazy how much energy I had this time! I made it to the sign beating my old time by 9 minutes!! 1:46:17! I was so psyched....and ready for a rest!

The weather up there was in 50s with a cool wind. It felt so great. I was drenched in sweat from the humidity, but now, I could cool off and enjoy some time at the summit. It was very hazy up there, but the views were great, nonetheless. I had the summit all to myself until just before I was about to head down.

Auto Rd. I heard crazy people run up that thing!

Looking over at Mt Madison and Starr Lake

Lowe's Path

I did the same as last time and took the shortest route down which was the Airline Trail from the summit back to the trailhead. This route is only about 3.8 miles. The first 1/4 mile is steep as fuck and just basically climbing down boulders, so it was slow going. Fortunately, I wasn't trying to break any records on the way down so I ran comfortably the whole way. I was drenched in sweat by the time I got back to my car, but unlike last time, I wasn't beat to shit. I was tired, but I still felt good. Changed clothes then drove home to take the dogs out just making stops at the Pinkham Notch spring to fill my water jugs and a quick stop at Shop N Save on the way.

I took the dogs to the Albany Town Forest for a 2 mile walk. I felt bad leaving them behind most of the day, but it was SO hot anyway. By the time I was back, the temperature had dropped, and clouds had moved in. There were thunderstorms moving in. My kayaking plans would have to wait for another day.

Stealth beer for the walk

Tree that is about to go down. Hope it's soon. It's blocking the view. haha.

Chill!

Wednesday, August 8, 2018- Got myself up for a 30 minute spin on the bike. A better video this week, but I'm still searching for more. I might just have to buy something. I honestly thought I would find good videos on YouTube, but so far it's either bad or mostly mediocre.

Very quiet shift. I was with someone I've never worked with before (except when she was a trainee once). She was alright, but never had a pen. Huge pet peeve of mine. I'll lone one of my three pens to you ONCE. If you fail to have a pen next time, then you're on your own. And she did fail. Haha. Instead of giving her my pen, I took the paper from her and wrote it myself. :) I don't carry extra pens to be loaners; I carry them for myself when I set one down in the back of the truck during a call and can't find it and need another one stat. They're for ME, not YOU. You've been working here for almost a year now. Having a pen is something that should have become habit on day 1. Ugh. We only had one transport in the middle of the night which she did fine on it care-wise. I did most of the patient care, but I didn't have to tell her to do anything except when we first got in there when I had her gather information from a family member. So it went ok.

I got in a 2 mile walk outside and abs and upper body stuff during the day. So not totally inactive.

Thursday, August 9, 2018- Original plans to go back down to Mass to finish up trail recon fell through as expected. It was probably better anyway. Saved me over $20 in gas and 6 hours of sitting in the car. I do this all the time and like going down there, but I'd rather not if I don't have other plans in addition to just doing this trail recon. And since I didn't, I opted to stay home and do other things I wanted to do, like kayak.

I drove down to Tamworth for a run late morning. The temperature wasn't bad, but the humidity was pretty awful. We've all been running in this insane humidity way too much this summer. I opted for the shorter 10 mile loop from Remick Farm up Cleveland Hill Rd to Brown Hill Rd to Pease Hill Rd and then Great Hill Rd to complete the loop. I always do this loop clockwise, and it's tough because it's mostly all uphill except for the last two miles. It's a good challenge, though, and definitely helps with hill training, which is why I chose it. With the NH 10-Miler coming up, I needed to be doing hills. I had super sore quads and calves from the Mt Adams Challenge, but I felt decent otherwise and was pretty happy with the run. 10.3 miles total in 1:19:25. 7:42 avg pace. 834ft of elevation gain.

I went right home, showered and then took Phoenix to Tin Mountain for a walk. It had gotten really warm by this point so it wasn't a very comfortable walk. I couldn't wait to get out on the kayak later. We did a 1.6 mile loop and then drove back home.

Yay! Kayak time. I'm kind of bummed at how little time I've had to kayak this summer. And no kayak races either. I was really happy to be out on Silver Lake today. There was a strong breeze that made it perfect. I also brought along a kayak beer since today was like a mini staycation. Haha. Paddled end-to-end of the lake which was 5 miles. My upper body was feeling that. I love being out on the water. No kayak selfies. I've become less photogenic in my kayak selfies this year. Haha.

I wasn't home long before Bryan dropped John off. My first time seeing him since Tuesday the week before. And omg, when I saw him get out of the car, I screamed! Like literally screamed. His long hair was gone!!!! I couldn't stop petting his head and made him pose for a pic. Haha. That's what moms do! :) He looks SO different! And so much older! I guess after the first day swimming in the saltwater his hair was so tangled that he asked Bryan to cut his hair, so he did.

It was flipping awesome (see the shirt he's wearing ^^) having him home. He really just wanted to get on his computer, but I made him tell me about seeing the shark in the ocean. Crazy since it was the same place some guy gotten bitten by one the following week! I felt whole again having him back. I don't know how I'm going to be when he's 18 and goes off on his own, but I have a good guess...

Friday, August 10, 2018- It felt weird having John leave for half the day again, but it was still his time with Bryan until 2pm. I had actually slept in to take advantage of the unexpected day off and then finally got myself out the door and over to the Thompson Rd trailhead to do the longer Black Cap run with Phoenix. The weather was actually beautiful today! Cooler temps and much lower humidity. I didn't need to bring any water for this one! Yay! I was still really sore in the quads and calves, especially my left calf, but this was just a mindless type of run where I didn't think about pace, etc. Fortunately, this loop has water throughout the entire thing so Phoenix would be good this time. I was stiff and sore for the first mile and then once I warmed up, I felt pretty good. Took the Black Cap Connector Trail up which meant...no people!! What I hadn't even considered was that it would be the opposite on the top of Black Cap. OMG! The crowds. As soon as I got up there, I picked up Phoenix, tagged the summit with my foot and continued down the other side. This would begin the Phoenix barkfest for the next .3 miles. Haha. She ran right behind me but barked the entire time until we got to the Red Tail/Kettle Ridge turn off. It's just what she does. She just barks. Everyone we passed thought it was funny because it kind of was. Haha. Just a little annoying with the noise, but I was the only who had to endure it the whole time.

Eyeing her next bark victims

Once we turned off, we ran into a couple with a little dog that was off the trail a bit. Phoenix barked until this dog ran back onto the trail and called her bluff. Phoenix went from tough dog to chicken dog and started running with a look of fear on her face. The other dog wasn't doing anything, but Phoenix was still scared. Haha.

We continued down to the Cranmore service road, tagged the summit then ran down the service road almost to the bottom. It's so steep and fast that Phoenix can't really run as fast as me down it so I stopped periodically to let her catch up. This is where I think leashes are not good when running with your dog and why I hate running with them on leash. With a leash, you're basically forcing them to run your pace continuously. Phoenix can't do that downhill. I would have been dragging her. I like for them to be able to run their own pace and stop for a second if they need to. So I'm glad that I don't have to leash my dogs here; there are times I do, but it's not often.

Just shy of the base of the road, we hung left onto the unmarked trails that would take us back up to the Black Cap Connector Trail and then ran back down to the trailhead. 10.1 miles total. 1:53:00. Tad slower than the day before at 11:07 avg pace. Haha. 2,412ft of elevation gain.

I ran a few errands then went home. John was there early. I showered then lounged around for the afternoon. I was really happy that the detail was cancelled since this meant I could make the last Friday Night Vertical race after all. Yay! One of the errands I ran was to the White Mountain Cupcakery to buy cupcakes for the  post-race raffle. I felt really bad not having a raffle the week before so I wanted to make up for it with something good and (hopefully!) unique for the raffle.

I tried to talk John into coming up to Black Mt with me, but he wouldn't do it. I was ok with that since he'd hardly been home in over a week. The amazing weather continued into the evening for the race. It was perfect! The crowd was much larger this week than the week before which was cool and I knew about half of the people there, too. Pretty much socialized right up until Andy called us over for the start. I never warmed up. I didn't the week before either, but it didn't really matter since you start uphill immediately and warm up fast. This week...I should have warmed up. As soon as we started, it was like a major OUCH. Omg. So sore and stiff. Wow. I felt the morning's run kicking me in the ass. Haha. My breathing was out of control, too, so I had to slow it down considerably until I did actually warm up. Oops on my part there. It didn't take too long to loosen up and get into a groove, though, and I found myself catching up with Paul Bazanchuk. We both got passed by a guy who would fall in behind Jeff Walker up ahead. Another guy ended up in the mix as he started to fall back. The course was pretty fun and similar to last week's course with it cutting across the mountain and mixing in a lot of downhill with the uphill. The more downhill, the better for me. Haha. I finally ended up right behind Paul after a longer downhill, but I still couldn't quite catch him on the next climb. Paul has always been a good climber. I finally caught Paul on the next downhill and he fell off after that. Also caught the next guy and then focused on the guy who had flown passed me early on.

On the way up a steep black diamond slope.

I guess he went out a little fast and totally lost it just before we got up to the midway lift stop area so I passed him. All that was left here was just Jeff Walker and me. Jeff is also a good uphiller, and as hard as I tried I couldn't catch him before the lift summit, BUT... today's course didn't finish at the lift summit. Muwahahaha. It was a mostly downhill to the finish from here so I told Jeff I was going to take advantage of his injury and beat him. Haha. So I passed him and ran back down to the midway lift stop, all the while regretting wearing my X-Talons because of this one section of rocks that I felt every bit of with those thin soles. Oh well. They were perfect for the rest of it at least. Just before the finish, the course turned right to go back uphill until we passed the lift and took a sharp uphill left into the trees for the finish. And talk about an amazing finish spot! I had no idea it existed. Granted, most of my time at Black Mountain over the years was spent skiing, but still it's right there where I skied past so many times. Andy got a great shot of me just before crossing the finish line and damn what a view! I stopped for a second as soon as I finished and just stood there looking out before I recognized the voices to my right and made my way over to them.

I had finished the 2.1 mile course in 27:12. 1,159ft of elevation gain so pretty similar to the week before. Finished 1st woman, as well. Spent a good 20 minutes up there at the finish chatting and staring out at the view. It was such a perfect evening. I could have stayed up there longer, but I was starting to get cold from the sweat.

Jeff Walker

Selah, whom I've known since she was a wee pup

I ran back down making up my own route since I couldn't quite remember the way we went down the week before, but I think I hit most of it. It totalled .8 miles since I took mostly a straight shot down.

I changed clothes then headed into the lodge. I was actually cold outside as the temperature dropped so inside felt good, the opposite of the week before. This week, I had enough money to buy a beer. Yay! And one I really like, too, Working Man's porter. Pizza was brought in so I snagged a piece. Everyone was like vultures so it was gone quickly. Jeff joined me at a table for the raffle. The table was full of stuff so Andy went through it all so that we would know what was up there to pick from. He held up a tiny gift card and I heard the words "Cider Company"! I got all excited and said to Jeff that's the one I want! Funny since that was the raffle he brought. Haha. I sat there as the numbers were called off and the table was nearly empty....but thar she lay, the Cider Co gift card! FINALLY, I was one of the last people called up! I practically ran up there ready to elbow the girl at the table out of the way, but she was grabbing something else. I snatched that gift card up so fast and cheered as the group next to me all groaned. hahaha. They must have had the same plan. The table behind mine all whined, "We didn't even see that!!!"  Heeheehee! I win! :) And speaking of win. I also won another baguette that would be my dinner when I got home.

I finished my beer then talked to Andy and Hilary for awhile before heading out. What a fun time. I was so glad I made it up there tonight. I'm looking forward to their November race that's tentatively planned.

I went home, ate my baguette and had another beer. It was a good day.

Saturday, August 11, 2018- Took advantage of the no race weekend and slept in again. Any chance I get to sleep in, I will. My sleep is so messed up from work most of the time that getting any extra solid sleep is always a good thing.

The whole weekend would end up being gloomy and rainy, so we didn't do anything exciting either day. This morning, I really wanted to get a track workout in and decided to bring John and the dogs along so that we could walk the Conway Rec Path after my workout. I told John he didn't have to run on the track, but that he did have to put away his phone and read his book for school summer reading. He was good with that. Anything is better than running to him. Haha.

My legs were pretty beat so I didn't want to do anything short and fast, and I also have the Millen Mile coming up so mile repeats sounded like a good plan. I was originally going to do 5x mile like the coach person I failed had me do in early spring, but my legs were too beat. I'm just not in good enough shape right now. So I planned 3x mile with 400 rest in between. Ran a mile warm up then got to it. It wasn't horrible. My goal was to do that thing where you get faster with each one. You know, that thing I suck at. Haha. Although I still don't really understand why this is a thing. I positive-split the hell out of my sub-3 marathons and, well, I still did better than my goal both times. I mean I'm positively splitting in life, too, right? Might as well continue that trend. And the book, it's going to be a best seller quicker than any other book! Oh you just wait. It will be tremendous! The most book sales in all of history! It's going to be YUGE! How to Positive Split the Hell out of Life by Leslie J O'Dell (haha. my middle name does actually start with J, so it works!).

Anyway, geez, I sure can get off topic easily, and then I think I'm so funny when I only crack myself up. I did do my goal of making each one faster. 6:37, 6:32, 6:24. Ideally, I would have preferred them to be about 10 seconds faster each, but I was happy enough with that, especially on tired legs. I know I won't be hitting my 5:26 1600m PR, but based on my 1500m, I should run about a 5:37, 5:38 which I would be more than happy with.

Ran a mile cool down then went back to the car. Well, the book reading was a fail. He was sound alseep. Only got through 12 pages. Haha. Oh well, at least he tried. I have the same problem when I read; off to night night town quickly. I changed clothes and then we took the dogs out for a walk. John and I always talk during our walks, but we have nice quiet moments, too. Today, we had good conversation pretty much the whole way. It was great since I don't get to talk to many people during these race-free weekends, and he's old enough now that we can carry on real conversations. We walked almost 3.5 miles and almost 2 hours. Just casual walking at John's pace. It had actually been a long time since we walked this longer stretch of the Conway Rec Path together.

I hit the store again before going home since I make at least 3 trips to the store a week. Haha. I just told my work partner, Jeff, that I'm too ADD to buy it all in one trip. Even lists don't help me much. I also can't really afford to buy groceries all at once. I have to buy a little at a time since by the last trip, I'm counting every dollar as I put stuff in my cart to make sure I don't go over whatever it is I have to spend. I know I write about money a lot, and I'll kind of go off on a tangent here a bit.

I probably sound like I'm always complaining about money, but in a way, I'm not. After my divorce was final, all of my expenses DOUBLED. ALL of them, and I was paying for everything. I got the car with the car payment. I got the house. I got all the bills that go with that. Etc. My pay did not increase. So I turned to credit cards to supplement me as needed. For 2.5 years I did this. At the end of June 2017, I was done with them. I stopped using them. I don't even have a single one anymore (this is sometimes a pain in the ass since hotels will sometimes hold a $100 deposit on my debit card now for up to a week!). Living within my means 100% for the last year has actually been pretty liberating. No more throwing down a credit card for something I just really, really want but don't need. It's made life so much more simple in a way. Do I want this? Yes. Do I need it? No. I don't buy it. That doesn't mean I don't ever buy things I don't need obviously (beer? restaurants? Etc?), but if I do want those things, I have to plan it. I have to make it fit in. It does really, really suck at times, though. I'll admit it. I could have registered for the Boston Marathon last year. I could have paid for it over a few months rather than all at once which I couldn't do. But it's a fucking slippery slope, and I had to stop that. It's been a learning process and a very humbling experience. There may be a week where living within my means means eating ramen, rice and a can of beans for dinner, Walmart brand shit, very little meat. It's crazy, but it's taught me a lot. It's also taught me about desperation in a way. I could never imagine stealing someone's food, but now, the thought crosses my mind when I see other people's food at work. That being said, if the previous shift leaves a candy bar in my ambulance, like say, a king size Kit-Kat, it's finders keepers all the way. Haha. I scrounge for free food. I've learned the value of a dollar. And you know who else is learning the value of a dollar? My kid. John used to say, "I want..." multiple times a day. He never asks for anything except for a few things at the grocery store. He's learning that money doesn't grow on trees. We can't just buy it because we want it. And yet he still wants for nothing. Yeah, being poor as fuck sucks, especially when you didn't grow up that way, but it's been a good life lesson. I appreciate more the things I can afford. Ramen never tasted better. Haha. However, you can bet that if I won the lottery I would sure as hell splurge a little, but I would also go down my list (and this list actually does exist in my head) of people I would share my money with and visit them all with a check in hand. So anyway, I really wrote all of this because I was worried I sounded like a complainer or like a "poor me", but it really isn't like that all the time. I do stress about money A LOT, but at the same time living like this is also good for the soul. When the material wants become unattainable, you focus more on yourself and what you truly need to survive. Would I have chosen to live like this? Hell no. But has it changed me for the better? Definitely.

It rained the remainder of the day. I worked on the last blog post and then sat with this blanket on the couch.

Sunday, August 12, 2018- Sleeping in until 8am for a 3rd day in a row? Yes, please! It was easy with the gloominess outside. Did the usual routine. Get the coffee going. Take the dogs out. Drink coffee. Think about running. Think about running. Think about running. Think about changing into running clothes. Think about running. Start a new project. Finally go running. Haha. This is all accurate.

I'd pushed myself pretty hard this week compared to my weeks since mid-May so I was tired and sore. I had no idea how I would feel so I planned an out-and-back so that I could just turn around when I needed to. Plan was to go no more than 6 out, though. Ran Cranmore Shores, Tasker Hill to Allard Hill. Felt ok enough to go on to the 6 mile mark. Right at 6 miles, it started to rain. I had no desire to turn around so I turned it into a loop since it would actually be only 5 miles back this way. The loop took me through Eidelweiss and out to 113 to loop back home. And it literally poured rain the entire time. It felt so good, though! I would take cool pouring rain over the 100% humidity with no precipitation like the first 6 miles. Finished up 11 miles in 1:27:31. No goal time with this one, just getting in the miles. 7:57 avg pace. 836ft of elevation gain. I was definitely going to need Monday's rest day.

Waited out the rain, then John and I took the dogs to the Bolles Preserve for a walk to Chocorua Lake and back. 2.7 miles round trip. We stopped at the lake awhile because John wanted to destroy a dead tree stump. I'm noticing that destroying/knocking down dead trees is definitely a thing that boys/men do. Can anyone confirm this because I've seen males of many different ages do this. Hahaha. I forced John into a selfie. Took a few attempts, but finally got some good ones. One is my current FB profile pic so I'm putting a slightly different one in here.

Attempt one

I love his eyes. And yes, he's wearing the same clothes as yesterday. He showered when we got home.

On the way home I remembered the Dunkin' Donuts card that Tony Wild had given me. Remember what I said about free food?

Ok. Obviously not the wisest choice of food, but I just wanted to eat fucking donuts. And we had a little bonding experience over the donuts at home while John showed me these funny YouTube Software Gore videos. So, yeah, I ate 3 donuts. I'll admit it. Haha.

The rain started back up for the rest of the evening so I finished up the blog post. John came over and wanted to get on my bike, but since he was barefoot, he didn't stay on long. From there, he moved to the couch to torture Phoenix. Pretty sure her eyes are screaming, "HELP!"

Her food is in a Chill-No-Steal Zone

So it was a good, quiet weekend. We both needed that. I was only slightly bummed not being at Ragged 75, but really only slightly. I'm not upset I missed the national championship part of it at all, but I was really happy to see Kasie Enman win, but even happier to see Liz Ryan come in 3rd. She had messaged me a few months before asking about it so I gave her a lot of details and basically talked her into it. I was hoping I didn't talk her into something awful, and it turns out I didn't. Phew. I've always liked Liz. One of those low-key VERY fast runners who keeps a low profile and isn't the least bit cocky. You could pretty much say that about the entire top 3 women, actually. Haha. Another person I was glad to see do well was Brandon Newbould. Knowing he was going into that race with Plantar Fasciitis like I also had there last year meant it was going to be tough. Until you've had PF, you don't realize just how BAD it hurts to run on it. He pulled off 4th behind some super fast runners.

Stupid random thing from the week...dumb Facebook quiz. I only believe the ones I agree with. Haha. This one was where I would fit in. And since Iceland is like my TOP dream trip, I agree with this one. They're a little off on that last statement, though. Haha.

Found a photo that Bryan posted on Facebook of John at the Cape. I thought it was cute so I'm sharing.