2018 Groton Forest Trail Run- "26.5" Mile Race

Sunrise from Boulder Beach in Groton, VT

Pretty good week. The first 5 days of it were spent often questioning my judgement on whether the trail marathon I had signed up for on Saturday was a good idea. Back in May (I think), someone shared a link to a new trail race in Vermont on the TARC Facebook page. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to do it. I don't know what it was, but I HAD to. So it went on the calendar. The only issue was the cost. $60 thru 7/31 and $75 after that. It also had a 100 entrant cap. So ugh. I definitely couldn't afford it when registration opened, but I figured I could probably pull it off by late July with all of the overtime I was working. I kept an eye on the registration numbers, too, just to be sure it didn't sell out. It finally came down to July 26th. Still 28 spaces remaining so I was good. I figured by September 8th, I'd have at least 3-4 long runs under my belt, so when it came down to the distance (15 or 26.5), I made the obvious choice. Long one, of course! Haha. Well, if you follow along with this extremely boring blog then you know those longs runs never happened. The longest I would run was about 14...and that was on Tuesday of this week and not on the road. Hahaha. I was SO undertrained. I had no idea what the hell I was doing, but I was doing it. Could I even finish what would end up being a GPS measured course (meaning it was probably closer to 27 or 28 miles)?! Well, it turns out that I could, and, not only that, I could also finish 1st female and 6th overall, as well. WTF. Haha. How that happened, I don't even know because I suffered for about 10 miles of it. I wanted to die in the last 2. But damn, I pulled it off. Nice to know I can pull that distance out of my ass when I get the mental game right. Now, can I do that on the road in a month? No fucking idea. But anyway, it ended up being a good decision. I didn't hurt myself. I recovered fairly quickly by being pretty smart about it through the following Saturday. And gained a little boost of confidence for the upcoming month of marathon torture in October.

With this race, the mileage for the week was obviously higher. It wasn't the only long run I did either, but that 14-ish mile run I mentioned above was done on Tuesday surrounded by two zero days. And then I ran short, slow miles on Thursday and Friday. So I felt good by Saturday. Ended up with 51.4 miles for the week. My highest mileage week since the 2nd week of May. Haha. 8,212ft of elevation gain, too. All from only 4 runs total. As much as I'd like to up the mileage now, it's a little too late to help me out in the marathon department, although I might put in a couple of longer weeks. Knowing that I'm taking the extended time off after Thanksgiving also leaves me less motivated to build up the mileage. I feel like it's pointless now. And it will probably cause me pain, so I'm probably going to be all over the place mileage wise with all of the racing I still have left...and the recovery I'll need to go with it. I just can't worry about mileage right now. Just do what I can with minimal pain and get through Thanksgiving. The time to pick up the mileage is when I'm pain-free again. That is like a dream to me. The thought of not running with pain in the high hamstring tendons makes me excited. I want to be fast again. Maybe not 2015 or 2016 fast, but faster than I am now. 18:30 5ks, an 38:28 10k, a 1:22 HM and sub-3 marathons are probably a thing of the past, but the fact that was ever able to run that fast is pretty amazing. I got to live that dream. Short-lived, but it happened. Can't complain about that.

Monday, September 3, 2018- Labor Day. One of the most dreaded days to work up here. Moron city. Case in point- Double fatality in a motorcycle accident in Center Conway. Fatal car/motorcycle accidents are really RARE in Conway/North Conway with the slower speeds. The motorcycle pulled right out in front of a truck and boom. Dead. We just happened to be in town after taking our first crazy patient to Memorial when the motorcycle accident happened, but we didn't go there because we were trying to get back to Tamworth. Instead we got stuck in Labor Day traffic compounded by the road closure for the fatality. We witnessed numerous close calls of other accidents. Meanwhile it was tone-afer-tone and all the trucks were out. We were finally almost out of town when we got a tone to Effingham where I got another crazy.

It's funny. Jeff laughs because crazy people love me. We always know who's teching that call. Me. So much experience over the years with psychiatric transfers taught me how to deal with these people. I can almost always make them laugh. The first patient wasn't too crazy, just a little suicidal and at his whit's end, but I had him laughing the whole way to the hospital.

The second one was a challenge. I've taken her before, and she is clearly mentally ill. Her reality is not reality and she is TOUGH to handle. The key with her is just making sure she feels safe with you. And then to make her think you're listening. Her thoughts are SO out there that none of it makes sense or follows any logic, and she can get pretty combative at times. But luckily, she's liked me enough to trust me. I was not prepared for a first for me on this one, though. I won't make it detailed, but basically, she pulled a necklace with a huge pendant on it OUT OF HER VAGINA. Yep, that's right. And I'm talking a jagged pendant with jewels, not some smooth small thing. OUCH. She showed it to me then proceeded to put it back in there. I was like, "Did that just happen?" You can't make this shit up! Hahaha. Yeah, she was hiding it up there since she said the hospital always takes it from her. Ok, then. Soooo....I had to let the nurse know when we got there, and the police officer who had followed behind us was listening in. This was his face...


via GIPHY

Ok slightly exaggerated, but this gif was too funny not use. Haha.

Snacks left for us by the EMS coordinator at Huggins Hospital. I needed candy after that call.

So anyway, at least work was interesting today, but I might have to take Labor Day off next year. It always seems to be nutty. Plus, I've worked every Labor Day since 2011, so maybe it's time I took it off next year. Speaking of, I think I said a year ago for someone to shoot me if I'm still at this job. Well, here I am. But I don't really want to be shot. Just slap me upside the head...and then offer me a job I can't resist. Haha. Yeah, that's the deal. You can only slap me upside the head if you have an offer I approve of. :)

Tuesday, September 4, 2018- John's first day back at school so this meant I had time to get in that Moat Traverse Loop I've been wanting to do all summer. I do miss doing things with him on Tuesdays, but he is in such a good place. He needs to spread his wings a bit, and this school is perfect for that. And he loves it. I didn't do a back school photo the day before because I honestly don't care for those at all. I'd rather share the random photos the school shares or the ones I get of him there doing stuff. Way more fun.

It was nice not having to rush right out from work for my run. I'm always so groggy so it was nice to go home first and get started a little later. I thought the weather was going to be way better than it was, but I still actually brought enough water with Tailwind and some Clif Shot Blocks and maple syrup. I actually brought 1.5 liters of water... and ended up needing almost all of it! It was VERY humid. An unsuspecting humidity that just hit me like a brick halfway up South Moat. I was SOAKED in sweat by the time I got to the summit. I didn't stay long up there, though. There was hardly an ounce of wind, and I just wanted to keep going. It actually felt nice dropping down into the trees again between South and Middle where it was cooler and shady. The climb up North Moat was alright, but then once again, no wind whatsoever on the summit. Nothing but silence. That was a first for me on North Moat. It's a completely open summit, and I've never been up there when it wasn't with some sort of breeze. Pretty wild.

Despite the crazy dry weather we've had, I was surprised to see the trail with a lot of wet spots. Nothing like the Kismet Cliff Run in 2014 and 2015, but still wet compared to the bone dry trail at this same time the last two years. My foot was hurting me a lot during this run so I ran the downhill very easy to be gentle on it. When I got to the bottom of the descent, I was all of a sudden drained and feeling the weather. I was only halfway at this point, too. But I kept running and ended up on the Moat Mineral Site Trails for another long descent after the climb back up the Red Ridge Connector. I was so hot and dying by this point that I stopped at the brook and dunked my head in it. 2.5 uphill miles from there back to the car. I was definitely at a shuffle. Watch came out to 13.7 miles, but my other runs here have been over 14 so it's somewhere in there. 3:18:48 moving time. 4,007ft of elevation gain. So definitely a lot of climbing in there. Happy I got the loop in this year. Just wish it had been cooler.

The run took a long time so I only had time to shower before heading over to John's school to pick him up. I had time to take Chill and Phoenix down to the pond real quick, and of course, Leibling, the school dog had to follow us. Haha.

John said school was fun which I was happy to hear. He fell asleep on the way home, and I couldn't get him out of the car for about 2 hours after we got home. Totally warn out. REALLY glad he's not doing ninja class for sure now. Once he was awake, I helped him pack up his stuff for his school camping trip to Wolfe's Neck in Freeport, Maine. He and 6 other boys with two chaperones were leaving the next morning for 3 days over there. I was so excited for him. He wasn't because he doesn't like camping, but he ended up having a really good time.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018- Lazy. Didn't get up to bike. Ugh. I think a lot of it is just being unmotivated.

As I was leaving for work, I realized that leaving Phoenix behind meant she was going to be alone for an entire day. Bryan would take care of her by letting her out to use the bathroom, but he won't bring her with him anymore unless John's with him because she hates him and won't follow and then runs away. Haha. I looked at her little face as I was about to walk out. I couldn't leave her so I made it Bring Your Dog to Work Day! Yay! She made my day SO much better! I think I actually need her as my therapy dog to get through working at this job. Haha. We took two walks out back during the day, and she joined me for my abs workout upstairs. She sat in the chair next to me in the office and then sat on the pillow next to me on the couch. And then we shared my sleeping bag that night. I need my dog with me! She has truly been my "therapy" dog since we got her in 2012 on our road trip out west. When our dog, Coy, died suddenly at age 10 in October 2011, I was DEVASTATED. I'm not exaggerating at all when I say this, but I cried every single day for a year over it. On top of that during that year, my marriage REALLY starting going to shit, and that was the first time we almost got divorced. It was BAD time. So on top of Coy dying and this complete destruction of our marriage, I was pretty depressed. I don't know if I knew it then, but looking back, it's so obvious. John and running got me through it.

My sweet Coy on her 2nd long distance thru-hike. The AT'03.

We decided to take a 4 week road trip mostly out West with Thanksgiving at my parents' house in NC first. While in Phoenix AZ, Bryan and John begged me to let us get a chihuahua. I was adamantly against it, but Bryan kept looking on Craigslist and found one that we would just go "look at". Well, I stepped out first, and that was it. Love at first sight. Haha.

Phoenix brought me back to life again. I was able to move past the sadness of Coy's death. The next 1.5 years were tough still, but I had my little dog with me for snuggles. Haha. The last 4 years she's been my very loyal companion who greets me with hugs and sleeps at my side every night. When I'm feeling lonely, I always have my dog there. And today she brought a light into the misery that has become my workplace.

The shift was pretty quiet. We only had one transport, and, of course, the lady was kind of crazy so she was automatically my patient. Hahaha. Me, "When did this start?" Her, "About 2 months ago." Her, "I'm in so much pain...can I finish my cigarette first?" Haha. Her, "I drink a lot of water and cranberry juice." Me, "Oh, so do you have a history of urinary tract infections?" Her, "NO!" When I get back to do the report and see she's already in the system and find this in her medical history...

Jeff needed to go to the pet store and ended up buying treats for Phoenix. All of a sudden she was his best friend. Haha. Jeff also twisted my arm to go out for ice cream at Ben & Jerry's. It had been such a warm day that it really hit the spot.

My horoscope for the day. I hate being lied to. Haha.

Thursday, September 6, 2018- Really did not want to work a regular shift in Tamworth today, but I had stupidly picked it up. I grabbed a bagel sandwich from Big Dave's after leaving my Wednesday shift and headed to the next one. 10 hours. Hoped it wouldn't be busy. I was wrong. Haha. As soon as I got down there, I went right to the truck check. Notice we're low on saline, but there's none in supply. One of the pseudo supervisors goes into one of the bedrooms and comes out some. The other pseudo supervisor sitting there says to him, "Maybe WE should put some out in supply." Come again? So two people who are NOT supervisors are hiding supplies from the rest of us and acting like they have the right to do so. Then I caught one in a complete lie which kind of makes me sad because this person has been someone I'd call a friend for 6 years now. But put someone in a position of power (even if it's not a real one) and they change.

We ended up doing 4 calls, two of which were other crew's calls, but we tagged along to help. One call was pretty interesting when there were about 10 of us (including rescue personnel) all in this guy's bathroom. Haha. Another was a car accident that pissed me off with my coworkers. You'd think they'd never been on a car accident scene before. 5 people, and I almost ended up getting pinned with all 3 patients. I did the sign-offs for two and then my partner tried to pin me with his patient whom I'd not talked to nor even looked at his face. I cut my partner short and said, "I'm letting you take this one." Just baffling the way that scene went. This day couldn't end soon enough.

Knowing I had a big race I wasn't in shape for in 2 days, I opted for a slow 6 mile road run from work. 45:55. Flat and what I normally run fast on. It was the right decision. No need to kill my legs for get miles in. The miles were coming. Haha.

This could SO be a funny meme.

Friday, September 7, 2018- I wanted to get something in so I took Phoenix on a ridiculously slow 4.1 mile run in the Bolles Preserve. 44:11. It probably did nothing for me, but it didn't hurt me either, thankfully. After taking Phoenix home, I loaded up my kayak so that I could take my last kayak paddle of the year. I'm kind of sad at how little I got out this year, but filling up my only free day with work, kayaking took a backseat. I was lucky on this last paddle on Chocorua Lake to have a Bald Eagle swoop down in front of me and fly across the lake before hiding in a tree. I got to see it a second time after I passed said tree when it flew back down to the lake right behind me. Super cool! I also had the pleasure of listening to loons calling the whole time. It was a short paddle around the lake, but so worth it.

I went straight from there to pick up John at school. I hadn't heard from him in 3 days since his phone died so I was anxious to hear about the camping trip. He said he a lot of fun. Phew! Haha. I knew he would. I felt really bad about having to drag him to the race the next day after him being gone for 3 days, but then I thought he lucked out when Bryan told me he had put in for the day off and wanted to take John. Well, on the way home from school, Bryan called to let us know that his work had screwed up and he still had to work. Ugh. I felt bad about this one. These longer races are no fun for him. I hoped that with the 7am start time that he would sleep through most of it.

Saturday, September 8, 2018- Groton Forest Trail Run

I couldn't believe how incredibly lucky we were for a day of absolutely perfect weather. I needed all the help I could get in order to finish this 26.5 mile race, and I know the weather played a huge role in that. It also meant I could get away with minimal water so I only had to carry my handheld Amphipod. The thought of not needing my running pack made me so happy. I've complained about it before. I hate it so much. It kills my neck. Even as I'm writing this, my entire neck is in pain from using the pack two days ago. Maybe I should have sought out sponsors when I used to be fast. I probably could have gotten some good packs! Not only that, but shoes! Free shoes! Yes, I was on the Hoka One One NE Team last year, but we only got 3 pairs of free shoes for the entire year. The rest we had to purchase. I need new shoes so badly, too. I just couldn't bring myself to seeking out a sponsorship since it's often such a farce. I'd feel like I was a sell-out. It's too late now anyway, and I absolutely refuse to become an "ambassador" for any company. Give them free marketing for a discount on their products? I think not! Haha. But....that being said, I could have used free gear. Oh well. All in the past.

I wasn't happy to wake up at 3am, but I was happy this meant getting home earlier. We left around 4am to head to Boulder Beach in the Groton State Forest in Vermont. Almost exactly 2 hours away. I was one of the first to arrive. It was cold and dark. I checked in and then went back to the car for a bit before running a mile warm up. I just really needed to loosen up from the drive. The real warm up would be mile 1. Speaking of shoes, I really had nothing to choose from. The tread on my La Sportiva's is shot. The Speedgoats have huge holes in the upper. The Brooks Cascadias are too heavy and the tread is awful. There was nothing left but my Montrail Caldorados. They at least were light and still had good tread. I do like them, but I've never done anything long in them, but today would be the day. Even though it was in the 40s at the start, I knew better than to put on a bunch of clothing and went with a Six03 singlet. I was cold as we waited, but it didn't take me long to warm up. The temperature warmed up just enough so that my hands weren't cold. Seriously perfect.

There had been no entrants list initially, but I just happened to see they made it public a few days before the race. I knew no one except Bridget Ferrin-Smith, who was running the 15-mile course, and Fabienne Pattison, who ended up getting sick and never made it. I perused the other women's results and only found one I thought might give a run for my money. I seriously wasn't going into this to win, but I still like to be competitive since it gives me motivation to keep trying hard in a race. This other woman didn't have many results, but she had finished 1st female at a 36-mile race in early August, and her time was pretty good. Funny. I picked her out at the start line right away. She was the only one who had a confident look about her, and sure enough, as soon as we moved up to the line, she came up right next to me. Hmm.

Since the race started out on a rolling dirt road for about 2 miles, I decided to go out a little fast. I didn't go crazy, but I wanted to see if she would try to hang with me or fall back. It was the latter. The only problem was that I didn't know if she was just holding back and being smart or if I was just faster. This would haunt me the entire race after mile 5. Fortunately, when we turned on the single track, no woman was even close. Three guys were ahead of me. This first single track was pretty smooth and fast. I knew my GPS was off already when mile 3 said 9:54. No way was I going even close to that slow. It didn't matter really, but I was still wondering if this course was GPS or wheel-measured. When I hit every mile and the first aid station exactly at their mileage markers on the map, I knew this was definitely a GPS measured run. This was definitely a good thing to know since it meant I would be running closer to 27-28 miles total.

The single track was technical for the most part, but it still very varied in difficulty. The first 4 miles weren't too bad, so I moved quickly easily. We got to the base of our first climb which was an out-and-back and would be a good gauge as to how far ahead I was of the second woman. This climbed up Big Deer Hill for .8 miles. It was mostly gradual until closer to the top where it got so steep that I power hiked that section. The first two guys passed going at a good clip and maybe 4 minutes ahead. The 3rd guy was right in front of me, and I was gaining on him. After I turned around, I found the next 2 guys only about 2 minutes back. No sight of the second woman! Yay! I flew down the hill because I wanted as much of a lead as I could get. I ended up passing her just before the base of the climb. She was probably about 8-10 minutes back already, and this was mile 5ish! Sweet! Unfortunately this would have me running scared the whole way. Was she just taking it easy only to pick it up later while I was probably going too fast and would die later? Eekk. I had no idea.

The next stretch had some good single track and then a longish dirt road section. I was catching the guy in front of me until we would hit downhill road. He would take off almost at a sprint which pretty much killed him. I was with him by the time we hit the mile 7 aid station. I took a watermelon slice and a small pickle then moved on. We turned onto singletrack shortly thereafter for a more technical trail that was mostly a gradual climb towards Owl's Head. I realized right away that this guy sucked on technical and caught right up to him again. He let me pass, but I don't think he liked it much since all of a sudden he was literally running right on my tail. I hate it when people do this in trail races, and it took me awhile to shake him. I think he was attempting to run it way too fast. By the time we came out into the Owl's Head lot to start the short climb to the summit, I couldn't even see him. I went up and over the summit quickly. Just as I hit the base again, I looked back to see him just coming off the summit. I figured I had lost him for good, but unfortunately, this would be the only poorly marked section of the race. I came off the descent to a marker in front of a picnic pavilion. I went up the steps to find TWO different trails you could take and no markers. I chose one and was in the lot of Owl's Head again. NO markers whatsoever, so I turned around and ran back to pavilion where that guy caught up with me. I told him I didn't know where the trail went so I took the other trail which also brought me out to the lot. Still no markers. It had to go down the road, but I wasn't sure, then I all of a sudden noticed chalk arrows in the gravel pointing down the road. We weren't told of any chalk markers in the pre-race brief, but it was the only thing that made sense, but it was still a good distance down the road before we found our next marker. It seemed like I'd lost a lot of time, but it was probably only about a minute at the most. I had studied the map pretty well beforehand to know all of mile markers for aid stations, but I apparently didn't remember this little section. I was mostly annoyed that this guy caught back up to me, and the two guys behind us had also caught up to maybe only about 30 seconds back here, as well.

The run down the road was pretty long, so the guy I was now stuck with again started sprinting down it. There was no way I was sprinting down a road when we weren't even at mile 10 yet. I actually took all the dirt road sections pretty easy since I didn't want to kill my legs; it was too easy to go hard on them. I needed to save my energy for the distance. He was out of breath from running downhill when we passed the next aid station. The course continued down to this beautiful spot in between 2 bogs by a farm with a view of Owl's Head to our left which would have been the most amazing spot for race photos. As it turned out, there was no one taking photos whatsoever. That was kind of a bummer since there were so many beautiful places along this course for great race photography. I actually find race photos to be an important part of my race and always make sure to have a photographer there. There was nothing really to complain about at all with this race, but if I had to make one suggestion, it would be to have people taking photos along the course. (And speaking of, this was the inaugural race, and it was VERY well done. Honestly, very happy with it. The very few kinks were minor, so very impressed overall).

After the bog, we turned onto another forest road the went downhill gradually. As expected, the guy I was STILL with flew down it. And I mean way too fast. I couldn't even see him anymore...until we got to the bottom and it was time to climb back up. Dope. I caught right up to him at the entrance of the trail around Kettle Pond after he started to go the wrong way for the 3rd or 4th time. I had hope this is where I would I lose him since we were told the trail around the ponds was very technical. I knew what they meant because our pond trails up here are generally also very technical. It was no joke. VERY technical. All boulders, most covered in moss. Sweet! My strong point. The more technical the better! And sure enough, I passed him right away and never had to run with him again! I would see him one more time on an out-and-back around mile 18.

One of the guys who had caught up came flying by me early on. The entire Kettle Pond loop was about 3.1 miles total so it was a LONG, slow run around it. With about a mile left of it, the other guy, Ira, passed me. I was ok with that. As long as it wasn't the other guy or a woman, I really didn't care who passed me. Haha. I was just hoping that my technical running skills could keep me in the lead for the women.

Once off the loop, we had to run back on the dirt road we came in on, past the two bogs and back to the aid station. I caught back up with Ira on the road and ran with him until the turn back onto the singletrack. I stopped briefly at the aid station for more watermelon and a pickle that I ended up not being able to eat. I'm learning that running while eating solid food in a race is just not my thing. I can't do it. I had been feeling good up to this point at mile 16ish, but all of a sudden I was feeling it. 10 miles to go, and my longest run prior to today was long past. I started to get nervous. The next stretch was LONG and mostly uphill. Knowing we still had one more big climb and a SECOND pond loop didn't help me feel any better. I ran with Ira just in sight, and no one in sight behind me until all of a sudden some guy came flying up behind me. Totally scared the crap out of me. He was moving fast. It was crazy. I let him by and then continued on to the climb up Little Deer Hill around mile 18. It wasn't long, but it was steep enough to be slow, and it would also give me an idea on whether I had this race in the bag or not since it was another out-and-back. I reached the summit seeing 3 of the guys ahead of me who were on their way down. After I hit the summit and started the descent, I was so nervous. If I saw the second woman, there was a good chance she could catch me since I was fading fast. If not, then it was unlikely she would ever catch me. Every turn, I kept expecting to see her, but I didn't. 3/4 of the way down, I passed the guy who I finally got ahead of at the last pond. He was the only one I saw. Phew! I was pretty sure I had this.

The next mile was fast downhill to mile 20ish and an aid station. I drank quite a bit of ice cold water there that really hit the spot. I made it quick then turned to make way to the Orsand Pond. Mile 21. Hands down the most difficult mile of the entire race. It was so technical and all uphill. My tendons were bothering me enough at this point that I couldn't lift my legs high enough to keep from tripping on the rocks so I stumbled through it. This mile of torture gained 315ft (according to my Garmin), and it was my slowest mile at 12:40. I was hoping the trail would even out a bit as we got to the Orsand Pond loop, and it did. It was still technical, but at least it was mostly flat. On the back side of the pond, I caught back up to Ira and ran right behind him until we completed the 1.8 mile loop of the pond and started another bitch of a climb. Less technical, but a lot steeper. I lost sight of Ira completely here.

We finally came out to the trail we had been on at mile 4 to backtrack to the last aid station around mile 24. This had been a gradual climb on the way out, but now it was a nice downhill that seemed more technical than before. Haha. My legs were SO done. I hit the aid station and was directed left towards the dirt road that would be the final 2.5 miles of the race (and what was most of the first 2.5 miles of the race). I did not remember so many uphills! Omg. I was hurting so badly at this point. What had seemed like all uphill on the way out now seemed like all uphill to the finish. Haha. It wasn't, but there were just enough rollers in there to feel the pain. About 3/4 of the way to the finish, I almost caught up with Ira. I had nothing left to push as we came out onto the main park road for a short climb and then downhill to the finish. I wouldn't have tried to beat him across the line anyway. No need. Our race coincided with the 15 mile racers here. They had started 2 hours after us, and their course was far less technical since it left out the pond loops and other technical single track. The second place woman almost passed me across the line. The 15-mile first place woman was cheering me on as I finished. It turned out to be Bridget!! (Bridget is the one I ran my last 5 miles of VCM with).

I crossed the line 1st woman and 6th overall for the 26.5 mile course. 4:23:21. My watch had 26.3, so it was pretty close to their GPS measurements, which was good. A huge part of me would still love to know the ACTUAL distance. I'm just curious. With the dirt road sections probably being fairly accurate, I doubt it's over 28, but somewhere between 27-28 miles does feel accurate. I couldn't believe I had pulled this off! It hurt bad, but I did it. And wow, what a really awesome race. It seriously had everything you could ask for in a trail race, and it was so pretty. I loved it! I'm so glad I did it, too. I really needed the challenge and the confidence boost that I could actually finish that and win when I really had no business being out there. I'm stronger than I think sometimes. It took 2 days for the results to be posted (one of the few kinks) so I had no idea until seeing them just how far ahead of the second woman I had finished. It turned out to be 24min25sec! I didn't expect so much! I was running scared for nothing, but I'm certain the thought of getting caught gave me the push to keep going. Full Results.

I had amazing luck that I didn't have to stop once during the race to use the bathroom. I couldn't believe it... but that meant post-race was slightly rough. Nothing like the trail half in Maine, though! It just meant a few trips, but honestly, that's par for the course for me after any long distance race. I actually felt fine otherwise.

When I got to the car, John had literally just woken up! The timing was perfect. He didn't want to get out of the car, though. Haha. It was chilly, but beautiful out. I put on warm clothes and then sat in the sun with my burrito chatting with Bridget and a few of the other guys. The winners of both races were there, and it turned out they recognized my name from the Mansfield Double Up in 2017. One of them was also Fabienne's neighbor, so that's how I figured out she wasn't there. Ira and Bridget are climbing friends so he joined us with beer. Yay! I had forgotten mine at home. It was really nice hanging out there in the sun with a group of mostly strangers just passing the time. It was also great catching up with Bridget again.

Post race burritos. I couldn't eat that much food so I gave John one.

The awards actually took forever (another minor kink). I was so ready to leave so John wasn't waiting anymore, but I hung out. I ended up winning a wood bird. John loved it so much that he asked if he could have it. Of course he could.

The drive home was surprisingly ok. My feet really ached, and my tendons bothered me, but not as bad as their worst. I stopped for coffee, but that was it. We were home by 4pm. It felt good to take the dogs out on a short walk, but I was JUNK after that. My ass was parked on the couch the rest of the night. So tired.

Sunday, September 9, 2018- Slept in until almost 9. I needed that. Today was a definite zero. We were still going to hike, but I was in no hurry. Sat down with coffee. Saw Eva Johnson tagged me in a post on FB that had my photo in the latest New England Runner Magazine. Christin Doneski told me about our Hartford write-up, but my subscription just expired with the last issue so I didn't get it. And wow, I have to hand it to Fitz (Bob Fitzgerald). He pulled a lot of good out of my current year of shit. I was actually pretty flattered to see the positive spin he put on my section. It made me feel a little better about myself...until I remembered I actually have to race Hartford, and I haven't trained for it at all. Haha. I will be LUCKY if I break 3:10. But anyway, here's the write-up and the photo enlarged. I remember Fitz taking that last year just as I was turning to the finish. I had had a really good race.

1st female master. 3:02:08. Not my best, but I was psyched to run that last year.

Sadly, my dear friend, Christin Doneski, who is next to me in the magazine, is all of a sudden injured and won't make it to Hartford afterall. Knowing Christin, she'll be back running super fast in no time. She's amazing. I'm the one who shouldn't be toeing the line, not her, so I feel bad. I'll just have to give a little extra that day for her.

After the lazy morning, John and I drove up to Intervale for a hike around Mountain Pond. I wanted to do something flat but also something we hadn't done in awhile. Mountain Pond was the perfect choice! It was another perfect day, and Mountain Pond is so quiet and peaceful. I was so happy when my phone got out of cell service land. This normally bugs me, but today, I needed the break from it other than just as a camera. 2.7 miles around. Loons echoing from across the pond. John discovered how insane his echo was out there. Pretty awesome. 2.7 easy miles in a beautiful spot. We both needed that.

The same leaves he was obsessed with as a toddler. He STILL is drawn to them. Crazy how that happens.

Me with John on my back at Mountain Pond in June of 2007...

So, wow. I think some loser is off his meds. Got a really stupid letter in the mail today....

Seriously? Is that supposed to be insulting? Do you know how hard it is to run with boobs? I didn't think so. I actually had bigger boobs before. Those motherfucker's hurt like hell when I tried to run. I was never happier to have my small boobs back. SO much better for running. And thank you for noticing my pecks. I've worked hard on those. Only a pathetic little man-child would care so much about the size of my boobs that he would waste a stamp on this. I guess I was supposed to feel insulted. Didn't happen. But I like the GoFundMe idea. Maybe I could start one to raise more money for a better gun to shoot you with, you waste of air. You're welcome

Moving on....

2018 Millen Mile

Not the most flattering pic, but I still like it.

Other than the Millen Mile on Friday night at Kennett High School, this was a race-free weekend for John. And I was really happy to sleep in both Saturday and Sunday myself. Got my mileage back up into the 40s for 45.3 miles for the week. Had I NOT had the Millen Mile, it would actually have been more since I would have done a longer mountain run on Friday instead of a slow, short trail run, but that's ok. I wanted to do well at the Millen Mile. After being sick as a dog last year, I needed redemption, and I felt ready. Maybe not 2016 ready, but as ready as I've felt since my last indoor track meet back in February. I really think that's the last race I felt trained for and pretty confident I could pull off. I had minimal pain then. Two weeks after that meet, everything went to shit. But anyway, I've written enough about that. I was REALLY looking forward to the Millen Mile. I had looked up a conversion chart from the 1500m to the mile (the Millen Mile IS an official mile on the track at 1609m) so that I could have some sort of prediction on where I "should" finish for time. 5:36.51. I figured that was doable, but I made a goal of sub-5:40. I would have been happy with anything under that. So I pretty much planned my week's running around this so that I wouldn't be worn out or regretting doing something stupid. Plus, I needed my tendons to be as happy as I could get them. Other than running most of the week was pretty low-key even though we did a few fun things. John's back-to-school potluck, a hike and a water park.

Life-wise, nothing has changed. I did finally get the title to our old 2004 Dodge Sprinter. It was Bryan's in the divorce, but 2 years ago, he bought a new smaller van and asked if he could park the Sprinter in my driveway temporarily. Well, it's still in my driveway...2 years later. Haha. He lost the original title, and I only learned about 6 months ago that my name is still on it. It took awhile to get a duplicate (NH's fault), but I finally have it in hand, and I want to sell this thing, even if just for parts. It's a 9 passenger van that we bought in 2009 with 27,000 miles on it. We ended up living in that van off an on over the two years following that and took it on two road trips. On the way to move from California to Fort Bragg, NC in 2009, the engine and transmission seized up on it at 37,000-ish miles. We were about 1.5 hours out from the start of our drive east and in the middle of nowhere when this happened. Funny enough, we just happened to be 45 minutes east of the ONLY Dodge dealer/service place with an actual Sprinter technician in the area. What are the chances?! Little did we know that we would spend another MONTH in California waiting on the van to be repaired, but it ended up being an awesome "vacation". The reason for the repair delay was getting the Mercedes parts involved in the repair. They had NO idea how both the engine and transmission both seized up at the same time, but they suspected that the last mechanic we took it to for a basic belt change the week before had left a tool or something loose in there that eventually reaked havoc. Luck was on our side (and probably the last time I've ever had such luck. Haha.). Bryan's aunt lived outside of Santa Cruz, just an hour north, so we had a place to stay for the month. His uncle in San Francisco had a second unused car that we borrowed. AND the Dodge dealer made sure everything for the repair (which was estimated at over $30,000!) was covered under the Diesel warranty and Dodge warranty. Insane. We paid $100 deductible that Dodge never took from this dealer so about 6 months later, a $100 check was returned to us.

So anyway, not sure why I'm going on so much about this, but after we got divorced, Bryan moved into the van, lived in it for 2 years and left it kind of a mess. The body needs a lot of work, interior and exterior. It smells like mildew inside (that happened from just sitting there for so long), but I'm going to try and clean that up. It does need some other work like new brakes and a new battery, but other than that, the engine itself is in good shape. The odometer is at 143,000, but the engine and transmission are basically at 106,000 miles. Way less than my car! I'm pretty annoyed that he just left it to rot and didn't try to sell it right away. The parts alone are worth quite a bit, especially that Mercedes engine! I don't know if I'll be able to sell it with the body as it is, but I'm going to try. After that, I'll just have to sell it for scrap. We got $400 for my Subaru, so I'm thinking this would at least be the same. Might be easier just to do that than try to sell it. It will be less money but less hassle. I'll search around for quotes on that and make a decision. Anyway, totally useless information for my blog post, but it was something I worked on this week. I was going to do more with it, but Bryan moved it to the wrong place from its 2-year parking space when he jumped it. I wanted it where the hose could reach it so now I'm just going to have to get jumper cables and move it myself. Haha.

I wanted it moved into the middle of the driveway, not into the yard. Haha. Oh well.

Monday, August 27, 2018- I was extra lazy. Zero running, zero walking. Did abs. Work was the usual so I don't remember it. Haha. It was in the 90s out. That's all I remember.

Tuesday, August 28, 2018-  Another day predicted to be in the 90s and humid. Stop it already. I wanted to get a longish run in so I drove straight from work to Potter Rd to get going as quickly as possible. I didn't do my "long" run from here that included Davis Hill, but I still did the Potter Rd, Brownfield Rd, Gulf Rd loop that I used to do quite a bit back in 2015. I still do it occasionally, but not as much now, and I hadn't done it in awhile so it kind of appealed to me. One of the reasons for that was that we were supposed to have the Kennett Challenge that night where the White Mountain Miles compete against the KHS XC team and the Fryeburg XC team in a cross-country meet. It's always fun and good food after. Even though I was still running 11 miles this morning, I thought the hillier loop would be best since it would keep me running slowly. And that I did! My second slowest time running that loop ever. Haha. I did luck out by beating the heat, but not the humidity. Oh my god. It was awful. 11.2 miles in 1:29:39. 1,003ft of elevation gain. Gulf Rd is a killer. With about 2 miles to go, I ran into this little guy. Mice are super cute except when they're in my house, then all bets are off. Haha.

The only place to spend time in this heat was the lake so John and I went right to Conway Lake. I attempted to put up my umbrella, but after looking like an idiot when it turned inside-out and tried to blow away in the wind TWICE, I gave up. Haha. While we were there, I got a text from Terry Ballou saying the Kennett Challenge had been cancelled by the school superintendent. Seriously? LAME! He cancelled all after school activities due to the heat. I get he was erring on the side of caution, but come on. I ran XC in August in Georgia. Every practice and meet was in the 90s and 100% humidity. It was never cancelled. I wouldn't have cared much if they could have rescheduled, but because school started later this week, it wasn't possible. Huh? I don't understand school starting having anything to do with being unable to reschedule something. It's probably just some public school thing I don't understand since I don't have any experience with public schools other than giving them my tax money which I could go off on another rant about if I wanted to, but I'm pretty sure I covered that already in a previous blog post. Hahaha.

We spent about 2 hours at the lake. John found a pocket knife underwater and became obsessed with it for days. Haha. When we got back to the car, I told him I actually had 2 pocket knives in there...and then I realized that oops, no I didn't. I had a 3rd one in my purse...But wait! I also had a small one next to one of the big ones. Pretty funny that I realized we had 5 knives total in the car.

I had to swim to keep cool today.

Messing with the knife

He stuck all 5 knives into a Styrofoam cup.

I was bummed about the race being cancelled, especially by the time the race would have started, it was in the low 80s. Grr. I'll get over it, though...eventually. :)

Wednesday, August 29, 2018- So much for getting up to use the spin bike every Wednesday morning. All of a sudden, I just can't get up. I couldn't figure out why I just all of a sudden am struggling. It's not from lack of sleep. I actually think it's the darkness. This was the first week it was still pitch black dark out when my alarm went off. I rarely had a problem before with this since I almost always got up to run on the treadmill Wednesday mornings, though, so I think it also has to do with just not feeling as motivated. The treadmill was a big part of my training when I was doing fast runs on them. Once I started only running slowly on it, I kind of lost interest. Now, the thought of running on it in pain over sleeping just hasn't won out. And as much as I enjoyed the spin bike at the gym, I think since I've found no good workouts, I'm also less motivated. But grrr. I love spinning, but I just refuse to get myself up.

This did not end up a zero day, though! I brought running clothes and made a plan to run 3 miles on the trail out back. And I did it! It's not fun; it's monotonous. But I'm getting something in. It wasn't fast. 25:00. 8:12 avg pace, but it was something. I showered after and felt so much better. 3 miles was better than nothing.

Thursday, August 20, 2018- I ended up chatting with the incoming crew for 15 minutes which meant I had to rush when I got home. I showered, grabbed the food for John's school potluck that night and all of my water bottles and made it out in time to swing by Tedeschi's in Tamworth for breakfast and coffee. I was bummed not to see the 99 cent english muffins, but instead I could get one breakfast sandwich for $2.69 or TWO breakfast sandwiches for $4. Hmmm. Easy choice. I'd just save one. Got to the Tamworth base where Ernie and I loaded up the truck for our day at the track. This would be another quiet day there, i.e. just sat in the back of the ambulance. Haha. Since I didn't think I'd have time to run after work before the potluck, I had brought my running clothes to run at lunch instead of walk. It worked out perfectly. I ran two laps around the track. The last two times I did this last year, I used my phone's strava app. It came out pretty accurate. Today, using the watch was a Garmin embarrassment. It was WAY off. It showed me playing Frogger down on Rt 25. It didn't even pick up the two segments on the track. No tree cover at all so I'm not sure why it was so bad, but it just isn't a great watch for accuracy. None are going to be accurate, but most are far more accurate than mine!

2017 run using the Strava app on my phone

Today using my Garmin Forerunner 220

Obviously the data didn't affect my run. 5 miles total. 37:35. 7:30 avg pace. It lost about 100ft of elevation gain with its mess-up. The actual gain is just over 1000ft so some really good climbs in there...and downhills. The heat was glaring off the pavement so even though the temp wasn't that bad, but the track was hot and steamy. Haha. I was pouring in sweat when I got back in the ambulance...and the a/c decided to cut out on me for awhile. Haha.

Dripping in sweat. Like I said hot & steamy. ;)

Of course, within about 30 minutes, dark clouds rolled in, followed by rain, and we were done for the day. Sweet! Out early! That meant I had time to go home and shower and pick up Phoenix. It also meant I had time to fill up the water jugs at the Sandwich spring and even take Phoenix on a walk on the Jackman Pond Trail before the potluck. It all worked out well!

The potluck was good. So much food! I brought cheese and crackers which ended up being a good choice since we set up the hors d'oeuvres by the door as people came in. They were gone by the end of it. So many desserts that I went back twice. Haha. It wasn't big formal event. The only thing we did like that was sit outside in a circle and had everyone introduce themselves. Funny, Bryan and I sat on opposite sides of the circle. Not on purpose, but funny that we didn't gravitate to each other at all. As soon as John got there, he was right at home. It was awesome, and I was so glad that Bryan could see that. John climbed up a tree to help move the swing and then afterward spent forever in the group of boys wandering around and horseplaying.

Someone else got a photo that John and I are in.

I wasn't going to make John leave until he was ready, but I was getting cold as the sun set so I went out to the car to sit where it warmer and to take selfies with Phoenix. Haha.'

I wasn't close to where we sat in the circle, but I was close enough to hear someone all of a sudden crying. I look over and see a kid lying on the ground surrounded by adults and all of the boys, including John, sitting quietly at the picnic table next to it. It looked like they were all set, but then I was worried that maybe it was my kid that did it so I figured I should go over. Haha. The kid on the ground was surrounded by so many adults and along with the darkness I couldn't see what was going on. I asked John if he did it, and he said no. Phew. Well, it turned out all of those boys were playing on that bench in the above picture when someone kicked it and they all fell. This poor kid landed on the edge of the bench with his wrist, and when I was finally let in to examine it since they remembered I'm an EMT, I was like oh damn! His wrist was an s-shape! Definitely broken! The poor kid was a trooper, though. We were about to load him in a car to take him to the hospital when the ambulance showed up. Still unsure of who called them, but it was two of my coworkers. I gave them the run-down and helped out a little. I tried not to overstep and just assist as needed. All ended up well, but the poor kid. I felt so bad for him. He is new to the school this year and had been having so much fun. Exciting night, though! Haha.

Friday, August 31, 2018- Millen Mile- Slept in and it felt SO good. As I said before, I wanted to do well in the Millen Mile tonight so I didn't do my usual race sabotage and actually ran short and easy. Phoenix made sure of that! It is prime chipmunk winter prep time apparently so she was busy being a bad dog. Haha. She had been so good lately that I didn't bring the leash which I hate running with anyway, but it would have been a little better of a run with it today. It didn't really matter much, though. This was basically just a "shakeout", although a little early in the day to technically be called a shakeout, but kind of close. We just did an easy trail run in the Green Hills from Hemlock Ln. No crazy climbs and only 4.7 miles. 47:03. A wicked slow 9:52 avg pace. Haha. But still gained 527ft. Funny. The last time I did this exact run was in December of 2013. Without the leaves on the trees, my old watch got 5.1 miles that day. There is also a short reroute in there that is now tight switchbacks so that would also make the GPS show less mileage this time around. It was a crazy slow run, and if my memory serves me correctly, the trail was slippery with a very thin layer of ice on it. Oh yeah, on the way out, we stopped at Spot's sign. For the first time EVER, Spot's swimming hole was bone dry. It was the one place we could always count on for water even if the brook on either side of it was dry. It was always the one place for Spot to swim and cool off. Strange to see it dry.

CHIPMUNK!

I know we ran some errands. Pretty sure Walmart since I always need something at Walmart, unfortunately. I remember the time when I could snub Walmart and only shop at Target. Now, I'm one of THEM. Someone even got a photo of me and put it on People of Walmart. Cover blown!

I really wanted to make sure I was rested for the mile, so I did a lot of sitting in the afternoon. I was so bored. Haha. I was SO ready to race, and it didn't start until 8ish that night. Ugh. Finally 6:40pm rolled around. Still too early, but I just needed to get moving. For the first time since 2011 or 2012, John didn't have to go with me. I wanted him, too, but he was so bored last year. He was very happy to stay home. When I got to the track, I was met by Dave Dunham who would be racing with us for the first time. The race is typically only open to locals or those who grew up here, but Dave is a legend, so when he asked Bernie if he could join in, Bernie didn't hesitate. It was great to have him join us. He greeted me with a hug and was happy to find a familiar face. Dave probably rarely goes to a race where he knows almost no one. Haha. I didn't even know the majority of the people there. High school football really isn't my circle. Haha. We chatted for a bit, then I walked down with one of the high school girls to our spot to set up on the track. For the first time in 8 years, the high school kids were able to join us. This race is usually the weekend after Labor Day, and they always have a cross-country meet the next day, but with the race being a week early this year, they could join in! And they were very much needed. Sadly, the numbers for the Millen Mile keep dwindling every year. Without the addition of the 6 high school runners, there would only have been five of us total. Zach Switaj, Kelton Cullenberg, Dave, Terry Ballou and me. I don't know if it was just because it was Labor Day weekend that we had fewer or if people are just too intimidated or what. It is nerve wracking racing under the lights in front of the football crowd, but it's really fun. They all cheer for us. It's meant to be competitive, but also fun and a different experience. The high school girls were very nervous, but so was I! Haha. Every year. It's less every year, but still 7 years after I ran the first one, I will always be a little nervous.

It was still early, but I decided to go ahead and hit the Conway Rec Path for a 2-mile warm up. I actually felt pretty good. My plantar fasciitis had been throbbing, but after about a half mile, I could barely feel it. Same with the tendons. It was there, but at a minimum. I had a good feeling about tonight. Once back at the track, we all did our usual pre-race chatter. I did some stride warm ups in my spikes. Spikes aren't the best for plantar fasciitis so I was feeling it a bit again just walking around in them. Fortunately, running in them make me run with a little better form so the PF actually bothers me less. Still had me slightly worried. I had a feeling that I would be able to beat Terry this year, just based off her recent 1500m time, but you can never be sure with her. She's a smart track runner. There was also a pretty fast high school girl there, too, so I certainly didn't think I was going to "run away" with this one.

Half time of the football game arrived and it was a quick introduction of runners to the line. I like that it happens quickly with no time to be nervous on the line. I got cut off a bit by Terry and one of the high school girls, but quickly made my way past them. I actually wanted to lead today. I ended up right behind Dave Dunham whose back would become my eyes' focus the whole race. He was the only one I could see ahead of me the whole time, and I had to have someone else to focus on so that I didn't get distracted. I had talked to Roger Marcoux earlier in the day and he had asked me my game plan. I told him that I was leaning towards going out hard for the first lap and just seeing how I felt from there. I followed through on that plan and ended up right behind Dave for the first lap in 82 seconds. It was a little fast so I decided to back off a bit since I also already had a gap on Terry. I still felt good like I had a lot of energy, but I didn't want to blow it in the 2nd lap. Dave had gaped me by a lot in the 2nd lap and would continue to, but my eyes were still on his back. I don't know my splits for the rest of the race, but I decided to continue with my current pace for the next 200m in the 3rd lap. Normally, I wouldn't pick it up so soon, but I still felt good and knew that I could so with 1.5 laps to go, I added it on. I could see Terry still far back enough that I knew I would beat her when I hit the bell lap. Even if she put on a faster surge than me in the last lap, I was too far ahead, but I still felt like I had more so as soon as that bell rang, I pushed it even faster. I never looked back. I knew I had the win! I came through in 5:36 just milliseconds from 5:37. Almost exactly my predicted time! Yes! (I never got the official time so I'm still working on getting the milliseconds from Bernie). Terry came through in 5:45 which really wasn't that far back. Dave ran a 5:21 while Zach passed Kelton across the line for the win. Another photo finish just like Terry and I had in 2016. The high school girls ran well! The fast came in right around 6:00 and the other two about 15 seconds behind her. It was great. I was so psyched with my time. Not my PR of 5:26.1 and not even close to my second or third best times there either, but today, I ran fully to my potential, and I was so happy with that. They decided to do with the crystal bowls as awards this year, but Zach and I were ok with that. While they were beautiful and I loved them, this would have been my 4th crystal bowl. We got $50 gift certificates to the Black Cap Grill instead which is great! I love food!

Unfortunately, there were two professional photographers there snapping away, but neither shared their photos except the one for the newspaper that is at the top of this blog post and one other of Zach and Kelton finishing. This is typical every year, though. I just wish some regular person would stand out there and take photos of everyone, but it's never happened. At least Roger always comes out and does his video which he did this year with a new camera. I thought it was much improved over previous years' videos. Link to Roger's video. Sorry. He only put it on Facebook, but you can still watch it...kind of.

Right after a group of us, Zach, Dave, Kelton and Terry went out for a cooldown. It was so dark that we had to run around the school. Terry only went about a mile while the rest of us did two. It was good chit-chat along the way. I said goodbye to Dave, and then joined Zach to get our stuff still on the track. As I got back to my car, Terry invited me to Barley & Salt for a drink with her, her sister and someone else. I was like, "YES!" I just had to call John first to let him know. And guess who picked a bad time to let his phone die? Mmm hmm. Couldn't get ahold of him. Tried him on Google Hangouts which he ALWAYS answers. Nada. I had to go home. So I texted Terry and said I couldn't join them and went home. He was fine as I assumed. For some reason Hangouts didn't pop up on his screen like it always does so he never saw it. I was a little bummed not to be able to go out, but it was ok. I knew John was ok, and I had beer in the fridge to drink.

Saturday, September 1, 2018- Slept in until almost 9! I never do that! Had coffee, made John pancakes, then got ready to run. Although I would have preferred a short run today, we had plans to go to Maine the next day so I didn't want to run longer that day so today was the day. I decided to make a loop through Conway and back into Madison. Not really a long run at 13 miles, but for me, it would equal the longest distance I've run since May, and only about 14 hours post-Millen Mile. I wasn't sure I'd make the whole loop so I made up to other options to shorten it, but when I hit my last bail out point around mile 6.5, I felt good enough to continue on to finish the 13. I had run a mostly easy pace for the run so I figured I had another 6.5 in me easily. Well, I had another 3.5. The last three miles, I was all of a sudden feeling beat, but I made it the 13 miles in 1:42:31. 7:53 avg pace and 831 ft of elevation gain.

View from my run

As soon as I took my shoes off when I walked inside, I all of a sudden felt awful and ended up with another series of post-run trips to the bathroom that left me feeling completely drained and tired, but the day had to go on. I showered and then got John and the dogs in the car. I was hoping this would pass, but it didn't, and we were hiking up Peaked Mt. I struggled badly through the whole hike and felt like I could lie down and go to sleep. It was almost like the hike up Mt Major when I was anemic and felt out of shape. I struggled up the trail. I was so glad I was able to pull it off, though, for John's sake. He had a really good time. When we got to the summit, I was finally able to stomach an RX bar which did actually help a little energy-wise, so the hike down was fine.

I even looked tired.

After the hike, we went home where I proceeded to feel awful again. My stomach just felt woozy and achy. This lasted for hours so I just laid on the couch the whole time just hoping it would go away, and then suddenly, it just did. I have no idea what that was about, but it never came back, thankfully, but it was kind of a miserable night. I had to make John take the dogs out since I couldn't get myself up. Ugh.

Sunday, September 2, 2018- Woke up feeling ok but still a lack of energy. I didn't even want to run at all, but I forced myself out for 3 miles into Coleman's and back. 24:14 for the miles. The struggle was real.

After I showered, we drove over to Splashtown/Funtown in Maine for Public Safety and Military Appreciation Day. It was free admission for me and $15 for John. It would have been $60 otherwise so I figured this would be a good way to get John to the water park. We came here once when he was 7 or 8 so I couldn't remember much about it. I was bummed there was no wave pool because that's John's favorite thing at Whale's Tale and Kahuna Laguna, but for $15, we couldn't complain. We did the scariest water slides that were actually pretty fun. The ones that drop you in the tube are just crazy. Haha. John swam in one of the regular pools for awhile and we ran into Terry Ballou! We chatted and then we realized we were thinking the same thing. Come to a water park in Maine on Public Safety day if you want a boost of self confidence. I felt like a super model here. Haha. No lie. It was crazy. We laughed about that, and I was glad I was alone in that thought.

John actually got bored so we only stayed about 2 hours. I stopped to get him an ice cream and then we drove to Nonesuch River Brewing which was about 10 minutes away. I had literally just watched a show on the Maine channel on Thursday night that featured this brewery. When I looked it up and saw it was right near the water park, I knew we had to make a trip. This place was really nice and huge! Two floors. We sat outside on the deck since it was such great weather. I talked John into the pulled pork poutine since I have a love of poutine ever since I first had it only 3 years ago. I couldn't believe what I had been missing most of my life! I tried two of their beers that were pretty good. Definitely a good choice to stop here.

We went home from there. I took the dogs out and had another lazy night on the couch with Phoenix. So predictable. Haha.

So sorry for the pretty boring, drama-free blog post. Believe it or not; most of my life is actually pretty dull. Haha. There will be drama to come, though. Work drama, not Bryan drama. Yes, it's true, but you have to wait since I can't catch up on this damn blog!

Races (completed and upcoming)-
Sept 8, I ran the Groton Forest Trail Race "26.5" mile. That will be the next blog post.
September 16- Downtown 5K. So happy to just be doing a 5K this weekend. I'm hoping for redemption at this one after still being sick at last year's race.
Maybe something long and crazy the following week that isn't a race, but we'll see if I'm up for it.
September 23- Kismet Cliff Run, after a 2-year hiatus, I'm going back...that is unless I do that crazy long run 3 days beforehand. Then I'll just volunteer instead. So that's all up in the air.
September 29- Lone Gull 10K for the 4th year in a row and hopefully the last for at least one year.
The GP really needs to change next year or else I'm only committing to 3 races. I have other races I want to try that keep ending up on the same dates as the NEGP races so I'm probably going to choose them over the GP if we don't get new ones.