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.