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| Because it's such a terrible, but funny, photo is why I love it so much. Haha. Carrying an imaginary basket across the finish line. |
I'm still struggling to get in the miles, especially with all of the overtime lately. 44 hours of overtime in my last pay period! It's hurt not having a free day, but that's about to change when John goes back to school and I have plenty of time on Tuesdays again. With the 10-Miler on Saturday, I couldn't do a long run on Thursday even though I had it off. If I wasn't dealing with this injury, I would easily be able to still get decent mileage 2 days before a race, but right now, I just can't risk overdoing it. Friday was definitely out since I worked at the track all day and the race was the next day. So it ended up being a really low mileage week. 35.6 miles.
It does make me sad that I'm struggling to get the miles in. I have to nip this injury in the bud if I ever do want to do high mileage again on a regular basis so I'm still committed to the time off at the end of the year. Like, actually serious this time. In a weird way, it's giving me something to look forward to. Not many runners can look forward to NOT running, but if you could experience High Hamstring Tendinopathy on a daily basis, you would understand. And not to mention, the Plantar Fasciitis. It's seemed to take a backseat of my healing priorities, when in fact, it's actually more painful than the tendon issue. OMG. Lately, just killing me. I'm learning that trail running hurts it more than road running. The hard pavement pounding on the foot makes it feel better. So strange. And if you're about to give me advice on how to heal it, don't. I'll just give you advice on how to shut the fuck up. The only thing that will cure it is to amputate my foot. Haha. Really, not running is what will cure it. I had close to zero pain during those 2 weeks I took off from running in June. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the unknown for how long I will have to heal. I'm giving it a good 4 full weeks of not running before I try again, but it could still be back to no running. So that scares me a bit. No idea what 2019 will hold. It's why I'm making no plans. Boston has already been decided for me, which is a good thing since I probably WOULD register for it if I had the money. But, omg, the entry fee went up AGAIN. Funny that I considered running Fox Point 5-Mile Race again this Saturday to possibly win some prize money; that's how I paid for my 2016 Boston. But I wouldn't win this time around, and I'm already doing a different race that morning. So for a 3rd year in a row, I'm out for Boston. 2020, then? Haha.
Monday, August 20, 2018- I just wrote "2019" first. Maybe I really have given up in this year. Anyway. Got in a 2 mile walk at work. Over 2 weeks ago, so I don't remember the work day. Haha. It's very important that I don't forget this week's Monday calls when I write that blog post. You'll be entertained. Maybe I'll catch up on the blog some day so I don't have to strain my brain to remember the blending days, weeks and years. Haha.
Tuesday, August 21, 2018- I only had time for a short run after work this morning so I ran an out and back from the base down 41 and East Shore Dr. 6.1 miles in 45:48. I was a bit sore and tired from Sunday's race still. Plus, I had something important I had to do that I had been dreading for months. It ended up being nothing. Like almost a waste of time and I was in and out. Done. Yay. Went back home, loaded up the bikes and took John mountain biking in the Green Hills. I'd planned a fairly easy longer ride on some of the more gentle climbing trails, but John had other plans. He wanted to do the scary Sticks n Stones course. It's at least scary to me, but John loves it. I couldn't even keep up with him. It was so rough that I couldn't even get any good photos of it until we got on the other trail. I'm sure John was happy about that. Instead of a 3rd time around, we opted for a Pudding Pond Trail Loop. That ended up being worse and unrideable in parts with the bog bridges (well for us anyway). And so many roots. It was still a good time. The Sticks n Stones section was actually a really good workout of me. I was out of breath. Just a lot of twists and short, steep ups and downs. Technical, too. With my bald bike tire, I had to be really careful not swing out my back end to hard on the tight turns since I almost bit it. We biked for over an hour and only rode 4.3 miles. Gives you an idea of the difficulty.
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| Blurry. Haha |
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| The Pudding Pond section |
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| He couldn't get any momentum after walking over the bog bridge. |
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| Walking at Whitaker |
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| All of the award winners of the Series with Bernie and Eileen Livingston |
Wednesday, August 22, 2018- This would be the last morning I've been able to get myself up to and get on the spin bike. This week's video was SO bad that I stopped following about 7 minutes in. I only kept it on to use their music and their timer on the screen. I did 2x 30 sec sprint intervals for 5 min each and two long climbs. Plus the warm up and cool down. I don't know what the hell they were doing in the video, but it was one of the dumbest things I'd ever seen. The woman had no resistance on her bike. Upper body zig-zags to the beat. Huh? If I had been in an actual class like that, I would have walked out. My own workout ended up being pretty good so I felt like I worked hard for the 30 minutes. Watch from 8:00-8:20 minutes to see what I mean about the upper body stuff...
Work was pretty slow. I have been good about getting an ab and upper body workout in every Wednesday so I did that. I have been doing abs and upper body stuff most days, just not many set workouts. Just stuff throughout the day. It was too hot to walk outside without sweating to death.
Thursday, August 23, 2018- I had plans to go mountain biking in Massachusetts early afternoon so as soon as I got home from work, I changed clothes and took Phoenix to the Moat Mineral Site for a short trail run. Not too much steep climbing over the 6.4 miles, but just enough at the end to feel it. 56:53. 722ft of elevation gain. I got home, showered, loaded my bike on the car and then made it just out of my neighborhood, when plans went sour. It wasn't a definite so I kept driving, but I knew I should have just turned around to begin with. The plans were a no-go. I was disappointed but not surprised. I actually had a feeling this would happen, not because it was the fault of the other person, but because that's how my life goes. I had a feeling that morning that things would fall through so I was already prepared. I turned around and went home. I put the bike back in the garage, loaded up my day pack and took Phoenix on a hike up Mt Kearsarge North. It was such a beautiful day to be up there. The hike up seemed quick and then I realized that it wasn't that much slower than my run up. Haha. Definitely not surprising. We hung out at the top for awhile. There were people in the fire tower so I just signed the book then went out to the rocks to lie in the sun. Phoenix wandered around a bit so I got some good photos of her.
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| My Hoka One One Speedgoat 2s. I stopped running in them a long time ago. They've since become my go-to hiking shoe, but they are so ripped on the upper now that it's almost time to say goodbye. 417 running miles on them so probably close to 600 total. Still the best grip soles I've ever used in the Whites. The ONLY Hoka One One shoe that I loved. |
So despite the change of plans, I still made the most of my day. I even did an upper body and abs workout when I got home. I was definitely disappointed because it always seems like things never workout for me. I know that's not totally true, but it feels like it most of the time. Hard not be defeatist sometimes. But even when I am, I won't just sit around and sulk. I'll do something fun.
Friday, August 24, 2018- Unfortunately, it was back to work this morning at the ambulance. Club Motorsports at least so we all know it's more like "work". Haha. I did a really slow easy 3.1 mile run around the neighborhood when I got up. I was sore and did not want to aggravate anything more than it already was. I wanted to be ready for the 10-Miler the next day. So 8:22 avg pace for 3.1 in 26:00. BUT...264ft of elevation gain over those 3 miles. I struggle so badly now if I have to start off a run from my house. I really need to start my warm up on my flat trails and then make my way up the hill. I'm being serious. I think it would really help alleviate the pain in the tendons if I were warmed up before going uphill. It might even make the entire run better.
Took my usual lunch break walk, but since we had extra time, I walked all the way to the top of the road for 2.1 miles total.
I was baffled by the haziness over the mountains. It wasn't that hot or humid out. It didn't make sense. I learned the next day from the Mt Washington Observatory that it was actually smoke from the wildfires out west! Crazy!
When we got back to the base, my day was made!! The newer truck we've been running out of the North Conway base was FINALLY brought down to Tamworth!! Hahaha! I'd been saying for a long time that that truck should be in Tamworth since we have a ambulance age requirements in the contract down there. It made NO sense for that truck to be in North Conway. And finally, it happened. But the best part is that we knew it would upset Minion to lose "his" truck, and I guess it did. Oh what a happy day! Haha.
John and I didn't do anything that night since we had an early morning drive to Lake Massabesic in Auburn for the 10-Miler. He ended up falling asleep at 7pm anyway which is so not like him.
Saturday, August 25, 2018- NH 10-Miler-
I was actually surprised that John got right up at 4:45am to leave for the race. He would end up cheerful and stayed wide awake for the drive. We talked a lot. I love it when early race mornings work out like this. It eases my stress a bit when he's happy. The drive wasn't bad at all, and we arrived just when I planned. With over a 1000 people pre-registered, I knew I had to get there early to get a spot not on the road or a half mile away. We lucked out with an awesome parking place at the end of a row next to the rail trail. Exactly my plan. Yay! I walked over to pick up my bib number. It was so pretty out with the sun rising and the fog on the lake. I ran into Emer O'Donoghue and talked to her for a bit. She was here for the ATR series (I was also, but it was secondary to the Grand Prix for me). I was feeling really nervous by this point and planned to mostly keep to myself for pre-race stuff. I did enjoy running into Christin Doneski, though. I consider her a really good friend, and she was the only one I had told prior to the race that my tendon pain was back. People kept asking me how I was doing so my answer just became, "Not a 100%." It wasn't that I wanted to hide it, but I just didn't want to sound like a sandbagger pre-race and then use it as an excuse post-race. I had no idea how today was going to go so I also didn't want to start it off with the negative chatter.
Back at the car, I got ready for warm up, and John decided to go back to sleep. Haha. It was actually perfect since he wouldn't be bored during the race, and then he would be rested for our bike ride after. As per my usual this year, I stuck with the 2-mile warm up. I knew I would be doing a little more running around closer to the start so I didn't need more. And this was just an early loosening up of the legs to see how I felt. I went out on the rail trail and actually felt pretty good. I had a tiny bit of optimism that this might go ok, but in the back of my mind, I was actually afraid that I might not be able to finish the race. That I would go out too fast and then end up in too much pain and have to drop. This is going to be a fear of mine from here on out for any race over 5 miles. It's not helping my pre-race mindset, but at the same time, I think it's good to have that sense of reality to hold me back at the start. I went over to the start with about 15 minutes to go. I ended up talking to Apryl Sabadosa for a bit and then Dave Principe. He asked where John was. I told him he was in the car sleeping. He said his wife, Denise, was also in their car sleeping. Haha. I know Dave isn't a big fan of me dragging John to so many races so I made sure to throw out that we were biking after just so he didn't think I was being a truly terrible mom...this time. Haha. Good thing he missed the post-Beavers race outing, though! Hahaha. I didn't really have much of a team up front in the women's elite start (which I was in the back of), but I found Laura Brustolon and lined up with her. Good to have one teammate to start with.
The race started pretty quickly after the National Anthem. The crowd seemed to thin much faster than it did 2 years ago, and I found myself not far behind Amy Bernard, Lindsay Close and Lauren Tilton. I felt comfortable at their pace and had no intentions of passing them. I did catch up to run right behind them about a half mile in. We hit mile 1 in 6:35, which I was happy with. What I wasn't happy with was my decision to wear a singlet. It was far warmer than I expected, and I felt like I was wearing a blanket. Bad decision on my part. As soon as we hit the first hill in mile 2, they all left me in their dust quickly. Quite a few women did, including one woman from the Ben Running Club. They've really hit the scene this year, and they're no joke. They're a Chinese Running Club out of Boston, and some of the women in their late 40s are pretty fast. So I basically fell back for most of mile 2, but I wasn't worried about it. I knew the course this time around. Last time I killed myself in mile 4 only to be hit with the long hill at the start of mile 5 (basically). Lauren and Amy were pretty far ahead at this point so I didn't expect to catch them, but I found myself quickly gaining on Lindsay, passing her. And then I passed two more women ahead of me. I was actually feeling good! There's a slight downhill to the right turn right at mile 5, and I was surprised to find myself catching up to Amy. I crossed mile 5 in 34:04. (Way slower than 2016 which was 32:51). This out and back is a good section to see how far people are ahead of you and see who's behind. The only one who concerned me was Nina Caron since she wasn't far back and looked strong.
Knowing that I was running in the 3rd master spot and then seeing Nina gave me a reason to pick it up. I didn't expect to catch Amy, and I did NOT want to be pushed out of the top 3 for a Whirlaway sweep (Christin was first). Even though my uphill is more of a shuffle right now, I mustered up a pretty good shuffle with enough speed to start gaining on people. As soon as we crested the hill just before mile 6, I noticed I had made up a significant gap on Amy. She didn't look right, though. Both hamstrings were taped, and I know she has off/on hamstring issues. Her stride just wasn't right. I could tell she was hurting, and on the downhill after the water stop, I found myself passing her easily. I asked if she was having hamstring issues, and she said she was having sharp pain in both. Ugh. I felt like she was running 2016 all over again with a disappointing race. I really picked up the pace here and found myself running with ease up the next steep hill to the mile 7 point. I felt really good. I was surprisingly in good hill running shape and was gaining on more people. I passed a guy and then set my sights on the two women in front of me as we made our way down the hill to mile 8 and passed them just before it flattened out. Two miles to go, and I felt like I had all the energy in the world. I remembered these hills being steeper and harder in 2016, but I was dying at this point then. Today, I felt great like I was giving 100% of my effort and feeling strong. The last hill is a bitch, but I found myself catching up to the last woman I would pass. I was right behind her as we crested the hill for the final mile and then cruised on by. I was passed by a couple of men in these last few miles, but I was happy to say that not one woman passed me the entire race after mile 1. I came into the finish in 1:07:53. My second split at 33:49 (15 seconds faster than the 1st). I was a very unexpected 2nd master female and 1st in the 40-44. 24th female (in 2016, I was 21st female). Full Results
As I crossed the finish line, I noticed Christin was standing off to the side right near the line so I grabbed a water and made my way over to her. I was still catching my breath and watching the women who were behind me finish when all of a sudden I see Christin running over to the other side of the chute. I couldn't see what she was doing at first because a crowd of people had just finished and blocked my view. Then I see this poor girl just lying on ground just by the finish. Christin sat her up, and I started pouring my water over her head. She wasn't totally with it. Her eyes were rolling back in her head. John Mortimer went off to grab an EMT from the tent while we tended to her. It took her a bit, but she started to become more alert and was able to answer my questions. She couldn't get the words out on where she was at first, but when I asked her again a minute later where she was, she said, "At the Craft Sportswear New Hampshire 10-Miler." That made me laugh and said something about her definitely being oriented to place to add the sponsor in there. Christin, an EMT and Amy helped walk her over to the tent while I grabbed the EMTs monitor and jump kit. She seemed good so we left her there with them.
I walked with Christin and Brandon, who joined us, over to the results. I loaded my arms up with as many snacks and chocolate milks as I could carry. Haha. I so needed a bag, and a few people commented on that. Haha. I printed out my result receipt and claimed my coaster award. Haha. This will probably be all I get. In 2016, I was 3rd master and won $100, but I'm not holding my breath for a dime. Millennium cut out all prize money for masters at Ribfest, so Christin and I are expecting the same here. I don't agree with that. 1st master should at least win prize money. But I have to say, that's my only complaint about today's race. Millennium always puts on a good event, and this was no exception. I briefly talked to Denise, Dave's wife, and then made my way back to the car. I ran into Ed Ithier for the walk back. He shared a table with us, John and Jen Mortimer and Christin at Tom and Ellen Raffio's wedding in 2016. It was nice catching up briefly.
I woke up John once I got to the car. As I was changing, Dave Dunham came by to give John his race shirt. He always gives John his race shirts when he can, and John loves them. Wears them all the time. I didn't catch up with anybody else after Dave left since it was time to bike with John. Knowing the bike path was there, I thought bike riding would be the perfect thing to do with John after the race. It would be a good "cool down" for me while getting John exercise. We went out and back both directions for 6.6 miles total for about an hour. I was actually kind of fatigued or I might have made him ride longer. It was still good, and he seemed to enjoy it.
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| Huge dork. Had no pockets in my clothing so I had to tie my rain jacket around my waste like a fanny pack. Haha. |
I had planned a stop at Kettlehead Brewing in Tilton which is just off the highway and on the way home. I really wanted to try some place new, and why not. John didn't want to come in at first, but I begged him to so that I wouldn't be alone like a loser. I literally begged. Hahaha. He finally agreed, and he was happy he did since they make their own root beer there. He wanted a pulled pork sandwich, but at $14 that was a no go. We just ordered a basket of fries, and I got a flight. I didn't want to drink too much there. The beer was good. Not totally awesome, but good enough that I would go back. The brewery itself was really nice, as well.
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| One of Dave Dunham's race shirts. Haha. |
We went straight home from there. After I unloaded the car, I took the dogs for a walk up Heavenly Hill. As I was crossing the bridge over the brook, I felt something stick to my leg. I looked down to see that SAME GRASS that had stuck to my legs during the failed run in Massachusetts! I've seriously never seen this shit before and now here it was at my house!! Aaaah. Fortunately it only stuck to my skin a little bit, but by the time I got up to Heavenly Hill, I had red marks where it had touched me. Crazy.
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| Right after it touched my leg |
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| Less than 20 minutes later |
Hung out on the ledge for about 10 minutes then headed back down. I was so ready for a shower.
You can probably guess what I did the rest of the night...Yep. Snuggled with Phoenix on the couch.
Sunday, August 26, 2018- Sleeping in was first on the agenda and checked off. I actually felt pretty good and decided to do that same trail run from home up B&M Ledge and Whitton Ledge but just cut off the out-and-back to the Madison Boulder. I guessed it would be around 7 miles. I just ran easy since it was pretty warm and humid out. Made only short stops at the ledges and then ran home. It came out to 7.7 miles in 1:10:50. 1,199ft of elevation gain.
I had gotten a late start to the day, but that didn't deter us from going for a hike. I wanted to show John South Moat Mountain since he hadn't been up there since he was 17 months old. It's shorter than the hike he does up Chocorua at 2.7 miles, but I'll admit it. There's something about the climb up South Moat that is a total ass kicker. Although John was a very good sport and didn't really complain, he did find the hike difficult. We ended up starting right around the same time as this cute couple. They would end up taking breaks almost in the same places we did, so we talked to them a bit. Most of the people were finishing up their hikes while we were on our way up, so other than the couple, it was just us. Once on the summit, it was kind of like the Mt Washington experience in that John understood why I took him up here. He really liked it. We were also treated to some crazy weather moving east but just south of us so it made the skies pretty awesome. We ended up talking to the couple, and I took some pictures for them. Just really sweet young people. They would end up giving John and Phoenix beef sticks when we passed them on the way down. Haha. We would end up running into Eva Johnson and her friend who were doing a mountain run so that was cool. I love running into people I know when I'm out there.
Sorry. Photo overload. And the weather pics don't do it justice.
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| He took the cairn apart so that he could rebuild it. |
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| The reroute that I still refer to as the "new trail" is now 15 years old! |
It was a long afternoon. Probably close to 4 hours total with all the stops. Only 5.4 miles round trip. I was definitely beat by the time we were back to the car. Definitely glad we did it. I don't think John will do that one again anytime soon, though. Haha. But, seriously, he never really complained about it either, so that's good.
I finally decided to open my last 2017 Fat Alberta that I'd had since December. I usually save one to have later in the year, but this one definitely aged the strongest than the other two. Wow. I'm not sure I'll save this year's batch as long. Chill was dropped off while we were gone; he always hikes up Chocorua with Bryan on Sunday mornings, so both dogs were beat.
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| He's not technically allowed on the futon, but I keep busting him on there. I couldn't make him get off of it tonight, though. |
So all-in-all, a good week despite the low running miles. If you add in the biking and the hiking, it's safe to say I wasn't slacking off. Haha. Hopefully, I can catch up on the next's blog post over the weekend so that I'm caught up before the start of the new week, but we all know I probably won't. Haha.
Heard this interesting Cheap Trick cover and can't stop listening to it...
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