I thought I'd start this post off with some humor. The above "inspirational" quote was taken from my new favorite website that could literally have me laughing forever if I just kept clicking "generate". Literally had me in stitches.
Inspirobot is the use of artificial intelligence to create motivational quotes, gone awry:
I'm Inspirobot.
I am an artificial intelligence dedicated to generating unlimited amounts of unique inspirational quotes for endless enrichment of pointless human existence.
While I suspect this was done intentionally, it still provided me with unlimited entertainment. Click on it; you know you want to. You HAVE to. Mindfulness mode even provides soothing music as the quotes are read aloud. Seriously, I'm listening to them now and I'm in hysterics. Some of my faves...
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This explains everything! |
I could share these to infinity, but I'll spare you. Seriously, the hardest I've laughed in a long time.
So I intended the last post to include my good week, but the Tin Mountain stuff was just too negative so I decided to separate them out. Well, now I'm two weeks behind, so I'm going to combine these two weeks. BUT, that doesn't mean there's no negativity because the TIN MOUNTAIN SAGA CONTINUES! Haha. But...I'm going to put it at the END of this post. I had another exchange with them, and I wasn't nice, so that will be fun to read. Haha.
As I intended after the XC Championship, I followed through on not running a single step until the warm up before Lil' Rhody Runaround 2 weeks later. Instead, I started the Insanity Max 30 program and continued with the 21 Day Booty Core workouts. For the week that I hardly worked I got in 4 hikes, 3 of which I did as speed hikes which ended up being really good workouts, as well. It was a great week. The following week was the opposite since I worked my regular shifts plus an extra 10-hour one for overtime. My only 2 free days were snowstorms. I was stuck at home, and John's school was cancelled. Fortunately, even with much less activity than the week before, I still managed to lose the 5lbs I'd gained during my two very inactive weeks in between Baystate and the XC meet. Probably due to the shock to my system with Insanity.
So,
Insanity Max 30. It's a spin off of the original Insanity that I did back in 2009. I have to say these 30 minute workouts are much better. I can't believe the change in my entire body in just two weeks. Every single exercise works the core so I have been working my abs again and seeing much faster results than I did with Zuska Light. Don't get me wrong, I loved her upper body and ab workouts to accompany my running, but since I'm not running, I needed something intense that would also work my upper body and abs. This is definitely it. Like most Beachbody programs, it's 8 weeks long which is perfect for while I'm not running. I'm following it every day (except the day of Lil Rhody Runaround, but that was mostly a rest day anyway). On the two rest days the first week, I got on the bike for 30 minutes instead. So I'm actually getting up before work again and getting it done. It has been a great break from running, especially since running still just causes pain at this point. I didn't get a good ab photo from the beginning to show how much they had disappeared over my 2-3 months of slacking off, but I did take some after weeks 1 & 2.
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Week 1 |
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I really hate this pose. It's fake since it makes my hips look smaller than they are. Haha. Abs after week 2. |
You can't tell from the photos, but my arms are significantly stronger, as well. I really don't like posting these types of photos since they scream, "Look at me!" But it's cool to see how quickly Insanity Max 30 has changed my body. I don't feel running fit, but I actually do feel more fit than I had been over the last 2 months before starting this! The workouts are definitely challenging, but I'm not struggling with them (except the push-ups). I was still fit enough to do them, and after having done Insanity in the past, the moves are all familiar to me. Definitely helped me keep up from the start.
I haven't had to modify as much as I thought I would for the tendons. The only moves I have to adjust are alternating high knees and high knee kicks. I can still do them but I have to keep my legs low on the kicks. I'm psyched about this since it means I'm still getting in the whole workouts.
In addition to Insanity Max 30, I continued with the 21 Day Booty Core workouts until finally finishing them this past Saturday. I have to say that this was very effective, and now that I've finished the Series, I've already continued it with my favorite workout of the series. I forgot to take a photo to compare the previous flat ass with it now to see if there is any visible difference. It feels like there is, but I don't know for sure. I CAN say that my glutes are so much stronger than they were, and I've really been trying to focus on activating them randomly throughout the day. It won't fix the tendons, but once those are healed, the glute activation will help prevent it from happening again... at least I hope so. Haha.
I've, unfortunately, not had much, if any, improvement in the tendons after 2 weeks off from running. Lil' Rhody Around did not seem to have made them worse, though, so that's a positive. They just don't seem to be getting better at all. They improved immensely during the 2 weeks I took after VCM, but I guess I pushed them way too much over the 4.5 months following that. So I'm not expecting to be recovered after these next 4 weeks of no running. I'm still planning to run Nooseneck 18K for my last race of the year, but I can guarantee that I won't be
racing per se since I'll be so out of shape, and at the rate it's going, I'm sure the tendinopathy will still be present. Hopefully, improved, but time will tell. I'm almost certain I won't be back running fully until February, but I managed to succeed in finding my alternative to running...
I found skate skis!! John and I went to the ESSC annual ski sale. I always buy John's gear here since it's very inexpensive and good quality used stuff. We only went to get him new boots and skis. He finally outgrew his favorite skis so it was time. I didn't have much money to spend but we managed to find some Salomon boots for $45. Perfect. As we walked toward the skis, we passed the very small nordic section. I decided to browse for skate skis. The only pair I could find were 167s. As luck would have it, Nate, from Great Glen Trails, was there helping out since he knows the nordic stuff. I was so happy to see someone there I could trust. So I showed him the skis and asked if I could get away with the 167s. They were only $30. He cringed and replied, "It's not awesome." Hahaha. I still carried them around and walked over to him to ask about boots. He seemed genuinely concerned that I was considering the 167s so he went back over to the skis to take a look and low and behold, he found a pair of $25 skate skis in my size range. I had missed them because the tag didn't say "skate" on them. He said, "I would sell you these." Haha! Wow. Total score. He also found me a pair of boots which were double the cost of the skis. I cringed a little but decided to carry them around before I decided. Next, we scored with a pair of awesome skis for John for $30. Before we walked back to pay, I had to check my bank account to make sure I could actually afford $150 worth of gear. It ended up draining half of my account, but I had to do it. We'd never find deals like that again this season. A total score, and I was SO excited to finally get skate skis. Now, I can enjoy winter sports again! Yay! All that was left to complete the package were poles and ski pass.

I'm going to throw something random in the middle of this post before continuing on. Christin Doneski and I have been talking about running as team at
Transrockies for the last year. This is something I've been wanting to do for about 8 years now, but unfortunately, neither of us could ever afford it. I tried to win a free entry into the race with another friend years ago, and even though we were one of three finalist teams, it ended up being nothing more than a Facebook popularity contest. The ones with the most "likes" wins. The team that beat us was made up of two well-known runners in the Seattle area. We didn't stand a chance. Such a horrible way to decide winners and why I will never participate in that type of FB contest again.
Well, it just so happens that Kahtoola now does its own annual contest for free entry into the race for one team, but it's not by popularity. They ask you to have people nominate you (as well as nominate yourselves) and write why they think you would be a good fit as winners of the contest. We have already had some friends willing to do this, but we feel like the more the better. So Christin and I decided it would be a good idea to post it here to reach more people we know.
Here is the link. (Read the Rules and Regulations for a description of what they're looking for.) The catch, though, is that you need our correct email addresses to put on the form for it to be valid. I'm not going to post those here or certain trolls might try to send us a negative nomination. So if nominating us is something you feel inclined to do, just leave a comment on this post with who you are and your email address, and I'll email you our info. Comments go into moderation so they aren't posted publicly unless I allow it, so no one will see your info except me. I hate asking for this type of thing, especially since it's such a long shot, but Christin and I really want to do this race. So thank you in advance!
Speaking of, when I was looking for a photo to submit with my own nomination, I decided to take a screen grab from Millennium's NH 10 Miler finish that captured us (as well as Amy Bernard and another Whirlaway runner) helping the girl who collapsed at the finish. It was cool because you could watch it from start to finish. It wasn't good enough to send in with the nomination, but it's still pretty neat. Christin is holding the girl upright while I'm pouring water over her head.
Hikes/Walks/Workouts
Monday 11/5
Booty Core Day 11 plus 5 minutes of abs
Ambulance Bay Walk- 30 minutes
Tuesday 11/6
Booty Core Day 12 plus 5 min abs
Insanity Max 30: Cardio Challenge
Carter Ledge Trail Hike with both dogs.
The hike was less than enjoyable since it was downpouring rain. Turned around after 2 miles. Both dogs and I were drenched. 3.9 miles total in 1:39:15.
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Brief minute or two of only light rain |
Wednesday 11/7
Booty Core Day 12 + Abs
Insanity Max 30- Tabata Power
Mt Crawford Hike with Phoenix
I had originally planned to hike Mt Carrigain, but I got caught up doing something else that took up too much time. I realized that I hadn't been up Mt Crawford since 2007 when John was a toddler so it was time to make another trek up with Phoenix. The lower part of the trail was flooded while parts up high still had some snow. Windy and cold at the top, but super beautiful. Hiked a little extra north on the trail but turned around after hitting flooded trail. 5.3 miles in 2:10:20. 2,219ft of elevation gain.








Went to Frontside Grind after the hike for a coffee and a day old muffin since I was starving. I was just waiting for Ladies' Night at Ragged Mt Equipment to start. Other than the wine tasting and snacks, it was a waste of time. The one thing I planned to buy (ski wax) was completely gone. They used to have a huge shelf of the many different kinds, but it wasn't there anymore. Couldn't find someone to help me either so I just left. Even with the 20% discount, everything there is still WAY overpriced. We got complimentary gift bags, which was nice, since I now have something for the Re-Gift Raffle at Nooseneck. A hat that is not my style and way too big. Haha.
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Local wine |
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Yeahhhh....NO. |
Thursday 11/8
Booty Core Day 14
Insanity Max 30- Sweat Intervals
South Moat Mountain Hike w/Phoenix
After enjoying speed hiking Crawford the day before and getting the Strava Hiking CR, I decided to do it again up South Moat Mt today. I would end up hiking it about 17 minutes slower than the fastest I've run it. Snagged another hike CR (1:10:10 to the top). It was definitely a really good workout. Cold and windy but neat skies at the top. We didn't stay long. 5.1 miles in 2:04:51. 2,200ft of elevation gain.
I had time to swing over to Starbucks for a happy hour latte (only $2!) that held my hand during the Tin Mountain meeting right after this. Such a great week and day was ruined. I was angry the rest of the night. Couldn't sleep. I think I finally fell asleep at 3am.
Friday, 11/9
Booty Core Day 15 + Abs
Insanity Max 30: Tabata Strength- Hardest one so far
Middle Mt Hike with Phoenix
I didn't have time for a long hike since I had to pick up John for school so I decided to do another speed hike up Middle Mt, but I did NOT get the CR for this hike, though. Wahh! Haha. It was kind of fun seeing how fast I could hike these, though, since it got my heart rate way up there. Pouring in sweat. 3.9 miles in 1:20:35. 1,314ft of elevation gain.
The cool thing about every hike this week is that I had the summits all to myself, and on only one hike did I see another person. My kind of hiking.
Saturday, 11/10
Booty Core Day 16
Insanity Max 30: Friday Fight Round 1- Saturday for me. The end of the week workout with only 1 break during the whole 30 minutes. Pretty tough. I maxed out twice. Haha.
Tin Mountain Walk w/John
Funny that I chose Tin Mountain since this beautiful place now has an ugliness that overshadows it. I parked on the side of the road so that we didn't have to go near the building. I didn't want to take any chances of running into the people there. The ground was still covered in slushy snow which made for a very slow, slippery walk. We did a 1.8 mile loop.
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He's wearing a sweater that Bryan gave to me that I never wore, and he's wearing my old snow boots. We share clothes now! Haha. |
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Made a fire that night |
Sunday, 11/11
Insanity Max 30: Pulse- 20 minute recovery workout. Still not easy.
Spin Bike- VO2 Max. Video by CyclOps. This one was really hard. 30 minutes
White Ledge Hike with John and Phoenix
We did an out and back up to White Ledge. The trail was mostly clear until we got up higher, but we never needed our microspikes. John played the whole way up the mountain so it was slow going. Haha. Phoenix and I got cold. But worth the discomfort if John is enjoying himself out there. 3.4 miles. Took well over 2 hours total. 1,253ft of elevation gain.
Monday, 11/12
Spin bike- Climbing Intervals. 30 minutes. A full rest day from Insanity Max 30. Got up early to get this one in. I actually wanted to go back to bed during the workout. Haha.
Booty Core Day 17 + Abs- Surprised I even got this one in. We were SO busy today. Even had a patient code on us in the middle of the night and then got our last 911 15 minutes before the end of the shift. Grr.
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This showed up on Facebook. Haha. Why, yes. Yes, I did visit Memorial Hospital recently. 6 times in 24 hours in fact. |
Tuesday, 11/13
Ugh SNOW. Stuck at home all day. John's school was cancelled.
Booty Core Day 18
Insanity Max 30: Cardio Challenge + 10 min Ab Attack. That is hands down the hardest ab workout I've ever done. Omg. With week 2, extra ab work is added on to 3 of the 6 days. I chose to do this particular workout plan out of the 2 given to us.
Wednesday, 11/14
Insanity Max 30: Tabata Power- Got up early to get this done. Did not regret that.
Booty Core Day 19
Thursday, 11/15
Insanity Max 30: Sweat Intervals- Got up early at work to do this. Had to shower then go on to Tamworth for a 10 hour shift. Got home really late so skipped Booty Core today.
Friday, 11/16
Stuck at home again for another snow storm. Torture!!
Booty Core Day 20
Insanity Max 30: Tabata Strength + 10min Ab Attack again. Ow.
Dog walk from home- 2 mile walk with the dogs from home and around the Waldorf School Trails
Saturday, 11/17
Insanity Max 30: Friday (Saturday) Night Fight Round 1- I didn't care about the next day's race so I didn't hold back on this.
Short dog walk before leaving for RI
Race Report- Lil' Rhody Runaround 11/18/18
As planned, I followed through on racing in the Lil' Rhody Runaround. It was the last race I had planned before I would take a full 4 weeks off from running. I just really needed to do this race, but after 2 weeks off, I was actually nervous about running. How would it feel? Eek.
As with the last 2 years, I went down to Rhode Island the night before. The drive to Burlingame from home is 4 hours and after doing that drive once for the winter Brrr-lingame race, I decided I would never do that morning of the race again. I finally had a decent amount of points saved up with my La Quinta rewards that it made sense for me to just purchase the remainder of points I needed for a night since it was significantly cheaper than paying the full night's rate.
John was supposed to come with me, but just like last year, he got invited over to his friend's for his birthday. Except this time it was a sleepover which worked out great. Win-win since I didn't have to find someone to pick John up that night, and John didn't have to be dragged to the race. I was sad to be alone, though. Last year, I didn't have John, but a big group of us went out on the town and had a great time. There was no one to hang out with this year so it was just Phoenix and me. (Bryan wanted me to leave Chill behind so he could take him hiking the next morning, which was so much better for Chill). I couldn't drop John off until 2pm so I didn't get down to the La Quinta until 5:30pm-ish.
I almost didn't make it at all, though. The drive to Rochester was fine, but as soon as I got to the 65mph zone and hit 70mph, I noticed something off with my car. I had gotten my car stuck in the snow in my driveway on Wednesday morning, and after I finally got it out, my tires were running really rough. Like the whole car was shaking. Made me a little worried, but it went away by Friday. Now, all of a sudden at a high speed, it felt like the rear, passenger side tire was riding really rough. It was a loud, rhythmic vibration. The vibration was almost the same you might feel when the tires are out of alignment. I stopped to inspect it all and found nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing looked worn. Tire pressure was good. Looked underneath. Nothing. But I was still nervous about continuing on. I didn't want to get stuck in RI with no way to get home. So I made the decision to turn around and go home, but when I drove back to the Rt 16 on-ramp, I suddenly changed my mind and decided to continue south. The vibration, roughness never went away, but never got worse. I'm thinking I just rubbed one of the tires wrong when they first started spinning after getting stuck on Wednesday. I'm getting snow tires in the next two weeks so I'll have whomever changes the tires over inspect my current ones for damage.
So anyway, got to La Quinta and checked in. Luckily got one of the rooms on the bottom floor which are the easiest for going to and from the car. I'm not sure why, but I got a little dressed up and put on extra make-up. I actually thought I looked nice. It was pointless, though. Should have just worn sweats. Haha.
I took Phoenix with me up to Fellini's where I got two slices of pizza to go, then drove a short distance down the street to Buttonwoods Brewery. They were busy, but not overly crowded. I had looked earlier to see they had two stouts on tap that looked really good so I had to go here. It was the perfect place for a loner to go. I was able to snag a seat by the window where I could look out and not make eye contact with anyone. I felt like a loser, but I'm used to it, and that will never stop me from going out alone. My pizza and beer were good, but I had one of those very strange moments that we randomly get as EMS workers. All of a sudden, the woman who coded on us Monday was in my head. I could see her face. Her eyes filled with fear looking into my eyes. We couldn't really understand anything she was trying to say unless it was a yes or no, but she was grabbing at my hand to hold it when we first got there. This flashback. I don't get it. And I realized she was all I was seeing even though I was looking out the window. The woman was old. Why did this one bother me? So I'm sitting there trying to figure this out, and then I remember, I was the last one she spoke to and the last one to look in her eyes before she coded. I had asked her a question which she was actually able to respond to, although difficult to understand, but I did. And that was it. I wondered if we had done everything we could so I started retracing the entire call in my head. We were less than a mile from the hospital where we picked her up. She coded just before we turned in. We had no time other than for Jen to drop an OPA and then for me to bag her before we got her into the ED. We stayed for over an hour. Jen wanted to stay and help since she also works in the ED. I hung back if they needed extra hands, but I don't generally step in to help out since I don't know their system and would just be in the way. They miraculously got her back and then shipped her off to a higher level of care hospital. She would end up coding again en route. They got her back, but then she coded again at the hospital and died. Looking at what we learned, there was nothing we did wrong. She was old and had fallen ill to the point where she was septic. We did everything right. Why would this one not get out of my head? And what was the random trigger for it to happen right then and there? The only thing I can think of is the names of the two beers: Death to the Author and Done to Death. Such a weird experience that doesn't happen too often. I finally had to force it out by pulling out my phone and writing down some thoughts on my Inkpad app. Then I ordered second beer. Haha. She finally slipped out of my mind and her face hasn't haunted me since.
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Death of the Author |
We went back to the hotel for the rest of the night. I took Phoenix out and thought how Spot had been with us the last time we stayed here. I still miss her. Watched TV and snuggled with Phoenix until falling asleep. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well at all.
I completely forgot to mention earlier that I woke up on Thursday at work with the absolute worst neck pain ever. Excruciating. Pain in the c-spine and the muscles, radiating down into the shoulder blades and down my right arm. I hadn't been able to turn my head very far in either direction. It was so bad that when Phoenix lied on my chest one morning, just that pressure caused extreme pain. I was now on day 3 of it with no relief whatsoever so I couldn't sleep well at all. I had no idea how it would feel running the next day.
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Under the covers |
I woke up early and decided to shower. The hot water would feel good on my neck. Plus I just felt like a hot shower. Had coffee, packed up and headed south. Stopped at Allie's Donuts again for a donut. Perfect pre-race food, in my opinion, as long as you have it no less than two hours beforehand. Got a second donut to bring home to John. Got to the race REALLY early which I like because I can pick a good parking space. I like the end spaces so I can change clothes on one side of my car without someone peeking in at me. Haha. Plus, I just like space from others. :)
I checked in and contemplated dropping down to the 4-mile from the 8-mile. I was nervous about the distance. I didn't even know if I could run that far. I didn't even know if I could run, period, with my neck pain and still the unknown of what running itself would feel like. Haha. But once I was handed the 8-mile bib, I was committed. Scared, but committed. Haha. I went back to the warm car. It was chilly out, but nothing compared to the last two years with the cold wind blowing off the lake. 2016 was brutal. This was mild compared to that. I put on my running shoes then took Phoenix out for a 2-mile warm up. It was slow, but I wanted to get her some decent exercise and really loosen up. Fortunately, running actually made the neck feel much better. Unfortunately, the tendons felt exactly the same as the last time I ran. By 1.5 miles, I was already done. I could feel how out of shape I was already. Eek. I would have been interested to know what my heart rate was at the end of that slow warm up because it felt like I had just run hard. Not a good sign. Good thing I didn't care at all about racing today. My main goal was to finish, but I also wanted to see just how out of shape I was so I planned to go out smart but to also run hard. At my max. See where my fitness is. There were two other women there who I assumed would beat me no matter what so I had no interest in racing since I didn't care where I finished today. It was more of an experiment.
Once we lined up on the line, the cocky woman stood in front of everybody fixing her shoes and then walked to the start line. She looked familiar. Took me a bit, but then it donned on me she was the 3rd woman at the Beavers race. (Once again, I probably was being unkind in this post as well. And after I reread it. Yep. It wasn't nice. Even though I was trying to be humorous, it certainly didn't come across that way. Sometimes, you need someone else to point out when you've crossed a line. )
The other woman I knew would be fast was a young college xc runner. Her results were pretty decent, but I wondered if she would be able to hang past the 3 mile mark. I honestly assumed both women would be long gone ahead of me within the first mile. I was only going to run my race today, and that's exactly what I did.
Right off the line, both women sprinted out super fast. I ran quick, but much smarter than the last two years. Sadly, 8 miles was now a long way for me to go. Although still sub-7, the first two miles were definitely slower than the last two years. But I was feeling the quick pace. I had major lung burn as we climbed the hill to the playground. I was nervous about this until I remembered this first hill always hits me the hardest since we go from such a quick pace to a deceptively painful hill. I still had no speed nor any power so I didn't push it. Backed way off. No point in killing myself in the first mile. As soon as we entered the woods again, we started to hit the slippery bog bridges, and I found myself right behind the first two women who seemed to struggle on these. They slowed everyone down for sure, including me, but I was probably only 5 seconds behind them at this point. Once the course became dirt again, they both increased their lead. Mile 3 is quick in parts, but still has a few inclines in there and I found myself once again right behind them. Once we start mile 4, the course is mostly easy and fast. I continued to push myself as fast as I could since I wanted to give 100% of my effort, but I could feel that my actual pace was much slower than it felt. Still, all of a sudden, the second woman (the xc girl) started falling back to me and right at mile 3.6, I passed her easily.
As we approached mile 4, I found myself gaining on the first woman. I wasn't even trying, but I found myself only about 10 seconds back at the most, but then we hit the first stretch on pavement. It was short, but it was enough for her to gain probably another 10 seconds on top of her lead. I had absolutely no speed whatsoever on the road. Fortunately, I knew the more technical and hilly section was coming up and after I watched her enough, I realized she wasn't a strong technical trail runner so I figured I would gain on her again (edited here, too. My choice of words wasn't good). I wasn't actually trying to catch her. Like I said, I was running my own race and just trying to go as fast as I could. I had lost so much speed that I actually never thought I would catch her because there were just too many fast, smooth sections of trail. And knowing that even if I did catch her in here, she would definitely pass me back on the road. So at this point, I was certain of finishing 2nd female unless someone caught me which was possible. I slowed significantly through miles 5-7. But, still, I was consistently within 10-15 seconds of the 1st woman. My technical skills were better so I could keep up, but any fast, easy trail, she put on a decent gap. It was just interesting how I ran behind her the entire way without even trying. And I was hurting. By mile 5, I was really feeling it in my stomach and wanted to barf as I was passing Beth.
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Photo by Beth Lazor-Smith |
I definitely struggled through the last miles, but I was surprised that I was still able to run with some sort of speed, and I stayed right behind the first woman. By the time I hit the road, she was about 20 seconds up on me and would, as I expected, put about 30ish more seconds on that gap. Like I said I had no speed at all. I honestly couldn't believe it when I came through the finish line only about 2 minutes slower than last year. Wow. Not bad at all! In fact, I was really happy about it. Over 4 minutes slower than 2016 was depressing so I tried not to focus on that. 57:53 was what I had today, and I'd take it. Still pulled off 2nd and finished less than a minute behind 1st. It really isn't bad at all. I know getting back into shape is going to take a lot of time, but knowing I can run these decent times without training and while injured is evidence that I can still kill it out there again... as long as this injury heals. If it doesn't, then I'll have to settle forever for mediocre.
Full Results
Thoughts about the race. The course was wetter than most years with quite a few deep puddles, but I didn't think it was that bad, but it definitely did cause the times to be slower in general. My slowness, of course, was mainly from lack of fitness from literally not running. Haha. Plus, the tendon issues, obviously. Looking at the splits for miles 5, 6, and 7 compared to the last 2 years shows just how much slower I was going. It's sad to look at, but it's not a surprise.
2018- 8:12, 8:31, 8:11
2017- 7:49, 7:59, 7:43
2016- 7:20, 7:35, 7:18
Huge difference between all the years. 2016, I was in phenomenal shape. 2017, I was in good shape, but my quads were not quite healed from the Hartford/Baystate double and burned through this whole race. This year, I had only run 10 days in the previous 1.5 months. I stupidly did the Hartford/Baystate double again but without any marathon training at all and have paid for it. I dug my own hole so now, I'm having the to take the time off and then start it all back over from scratch. Oh well. It is what it is.
Post race, I declined all cool downs. Screw that. I wasn't running again for a month. I went to the car to change. My neck felt so much better, but that would be short-lived since the drive home stiffen it right back up and the pain was excruciating. After I changed, I talked to Beth and Steven Dinsmore a bit. Beth gave me some beers which was awesome. Then I headed down to the pavilion for the awards. I picked another water bottle because I love Hydroflasks.

I mostly talked to Jonny Hammett and Beth down there and then it was time to head to the annual get together at Jonny's house. His wife always leaves the race early to go home and cook us all food. They are such nice people. I think I say this every year. It was another good time. I had one beer and a few sips of another then realized I needed to head out since John was going to be home alone for awhile. I had a long drive and two stops I had to make. So I told everyone goodbye. I'll see them all in about a month at the winter trail series so I'll see them all again really soon. It was fun getting to hang out with people and be social. I need that...even if I sometimes claim I don't.

I let Phoenix out before we left and then drove up to the REI in Cranston to pick up some ski poles I ordered. $23! Couldn't beat it. Nothing fancy, but I only need functional. Skate ski package is complete. I headed north. The drive was easy. Hit a little traffic on 95 but not too bad. Stopped at Trader Joe's in Newington, but made it quick. Home by 7pm. John was there since Bryan had picked him up and dropped him off at home before leaving for work. I didn't have too much time with him tonight, and he would be leaving for Thanksgiving in Marshfield the next day. Boo. He at least joined me on the couch for a little bit.
Random other things and photos
Scott Gordon came by again for another Reiki session. This time John was quiet, but Phoenix was a little annoying at first. Once she settled on the couch, I was able to relax and enjoy the session. Another interesting experience with being in between that state of consciousness and sleep. Not quite either. Like a dream state. Very relaxing. Scott has such a positive energy that he brings to each session. I highly recommend his services if you're in the Dover area.
Scott's Reiki page and biography.
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John with his bio shelter group at school |
Just some random photos. As you can see, I chopped my hair off. It had to be done. I don't like having short hair, but it was so damaged. I asked Stephanie to cut away all of it. It was weird at first because I like having long hair, but I'm kind of liking it now. Still struggling with how to fix it, but it doesn't look bad. I'll grow it out again, but it's going to take time. Starting back over from scratch much like my running next year.
We finally received our gear from the USSSA as members of the 2018 US Snowshoe Racing Team. I'm not going to go off on a long rant, but I have to say something about the president of the US Snowshoe Association. He sent out numerous emails asking for a $100 team donation from the 22 of us who were on the team to offset the cost of shipping our jersey and sponsor gear. We were literally sent email after email asking for this money. First off, I didn't ask to be on the snowshoe team. I just finished the race in that place. I've paid $30 membership dues for many years including 2018 so I'm not sure why he would lack the funds. Plus, I didn't have $100 to "donate". And finally, I calculated the cost of the postage from the return address to mine. It was just over $17. I do believe my membership paid for that, and he had some left over to spare. Just really put off by that and shocked that 15 people actually paid him the $100. He sent out an email after the boxes were shipped saying how he didn't quite understand unisex sizes and how some people might not receive the correct size. I actual said to a friend that I bet those of us who didn't pay the $100 will probably be sent the wrong size on purpose. Sure enough, the box arrived Friday and in it was my jersey sized men's large. Very predictable. And they were also disappointing. Hideous. And nowhere on the top did is say US Snowshoe Racing Team. The only thing added to it was sponsor logos and the USSSA logo. The worst part, though, was that he actually ordered bike jerseys with 3 huge open pockets in the back! If you snowshoe race, you know that you kick up a lot of snow. Where will that snow go? Into those pockets where it will ball up and then proceed to hit you in the back. Just not impressed. I found his behavior shady and would love to know where all of that money he received is going. I'm so glad I didn't pay him a dime. My membership fees over the years was more than enough.
On a positive note, the sponsors' items in the box were awesome! 4 pairs of socks, a massage roller, a huge bag of Ritual Energy bars, a Choucas hat. To the sponsors I say thank you!! Very generous.
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This is actually Jennifer Van Dongen's photo of the jersey from her FB page. I forgot to take my own photo. |
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These are yummy. |
Ok. The moment you've all been waiting for! The next installment of the The Dirty Girl Trail Race vs Tin Mountain! So the director obviously was shown my post on the Facebook page about our meeting. It wasn't a very flattering post from me, but I wasn't trying to hide it. I didn't care if they saw it. You can read the post
here. It's pinned at the top. I was straight with my racers, and I don't regret it one bit. But I ended up getting that email from the director asking to meet again to move forward in a positive direction. I ended up not responding at all. So she ended up sending another email. This time I responded. First off, her only care is that she is getting bad press from my race and is just trying to end that. She doesn't care at all about anything else. No way was I going into another meeting there. Guarantee you she would have had more than just one person there for back up this time, and I was not about to walk into that trap. So I have copy and pasted her email and my reply. And dammit. I did proofread, but I STILL missed a typo at the end. I hate that. Makes me look incompetent, but oh well, nothing I could do about it after the fact. She never responded to my email. I was definitely harsh. I did not hold back. This person never took the time to get to know me over the last 5 years or else she would have known better than to attack my race. She would have known there would be a fight. Now, she's in a position to make a decision. The best one she could make is to leave us alone, let us continue with the 2019 race and then leave on our own as planned because if she doesn't everyone is going to hear about it, thus bringing more bad press to Tin Mountain. I honestly don't know what she's going to do, if she even knows how to reply to barrage of words. I'm sure she's quite taken aback by me, but, honestly, what did she expect by using her power to change my race into something she wanted. I'm not backing down, lady. You just picked a fight with the wrong person. Could I have been nicer? Sure, but where would that get me? And it would be dishonest. I actually am a really nice person, believe it or not. But I also won't tolerate bullshit.
Her email copy and pasted:
Leslie,
I am feeling like we did not have a very good understanding of each other’s viewpoint when we met last week. I appreciated your suggestion to change your logo in order to continue to have your race at Tin Mountain. It is apparent that you are quite upset at TMCC for that decision. I am trying to understand your perspective .
Tell me if I am on target.
The logo empowers women to run.
The logo embraces many women’s different body type.
You feel censored.
You are very upset with the woman who started this complaint.
My perspective differs from above.
The logo objectifies women by the pose.
TMCC is a business that works with children and families and even though it is not our race, by association we get a lot of press.
TMCC is getting bad press from the Dirty Girl Race at this point because of our opinion regarding the logo.
I would like to talk to you again to try and move forward in a more positive fashion. Again, I am in the office all day today, Friday, November 16, and will be here on Monday, November 19. After that I will be out of town for the week.
Lori
MY REPLY:
Lori,
First off, I only changed the logo in order to have the 2019 race continue at Tin Mountain. If it were just me I was thinking about, I would have ended the race right there. And yes, I'm upset. I actually told you that I was angry. I was very transparent.
As far as your take on my perspective, there are some inaccuracies. Your use of the word "empowers" indicates this because its use is actually huge pet peeve of mine. Empowerment comes from within a person's self. I can provide an environment (or shirt logo) that makes people feel good and do their best, and if they feel empowered from that, then that's great. So I wouldn't know if the logo empowers people or not. Although not my intent, a better word might be "inspire". Since the logo did, in fact, inspire people to sign up for the race. At the basic level, though, the logo was far more simple. Just a play on words with the word "Dirty".
I don't know if the logo "embraces many women's different body types". I only told you of one example where one of my larger women racers said, and this is her quote, "I do like the logo because it is a more curvy lady." I'm not sure how one logo could possibly appeal to many women's different body types, but I do know that it has had appeal.
Yes, I do feel censored. This IS censorship. The Oxford Dictionary definition of the word "censorship" is "The suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security." You are using your power as the director of the facility where this race is held to basically say change it or else. You had complete disregard, as you so stated, for the opinion of the majority of the racers that did not match yours. Your words were, "I don't like it." You also feel threatened by it because you fear negative repercussions for Tin Mountain. In the three years this has been the logo of some variation, how much negative press/feedback have you received? ONE woman's complaint I presume, although correct me if I'm wrong. Which brings me to your next statement.
I am upset with the ACTIONS of the woman who started this complaint. Harassment by telling me what I should be doing with the logo because she didn't like it. And after asking her to stop the harassment, when she did not, she was removed from access to the Facebook page. When she did not get her way, she sought out an ally (Tin Mountain) to further push her agenda. While on the face of it, her actions may be to help a cause, her actions were actually self-centered. Instead of walking away and choosing another race to run, she set out to hurt this one, because it didn't fit in with her beliefs. And just like your decision was made, it was with complete disregard for the 100+ women who do in fact like the logo. The women whose MONEY you have received for the 5 years.
You bring up families and children with whom Tin Mountain works with. I'm well aware of that since my son participated in your homeschool group program for about 3 years. I'm just curious as to what bad press has occurred from this current logo. I know of none other than one woman's complaint. When you had no knowledge of the logo for 3 years, how did it hurt Tin Mountain? It seems like the only negative press you are now receiving is due to me making my racers aware of your decisions. I seem to recall a very positive Conway Daily Sun feature from the 2016 race. I've had racers tell me they had never heard of Tin Mountain before they "discovered" it while at my race. I've had nothing but positive feedback from my racers, even after a volunteer sent them all the wrong way which resulted in people running different distances. A race director's nightmare. I've also had many families with children accompany them at the race, and there was no issue with the logo. Parents were not covering the eyes of children.
One thing that bothers me the most about this entire issue is that you have taken ZERO interest in the race in its 5 years except only in a negative manner. Being told not to use the Lunch Rock Trail after the first year, the issues with clearing the trail...which were NEVER clearly outlined by Tin Mountain in the beginning. A complaint about why you didn't get as much money from the 2017 race as usual... and all this via Jotham. So always indirectly. The race has received nothing positive from Tin Mountain. Never a thank you for the proceeds. And, trust me; I'm not one who needs a thank you, but just no acknowledgment whatsoever proves to me that Tin Mountain does not care about the race. Never an offer to help out on race day. Nothing. Literally, nothing but negative, including now. Your lack of interest in the race was made apparent during our meeting when you asked me questions about basic race necessities that have been happening already for 5 years, i.e. insurance, porta potties, trash removal. This was all set for the first race in 2014.
I understand that you want to move forward in a positive way, but considering there has been nothing positive on your end in 5 years, I'm not really sure how to go about that other than continuing minimal involvement by Tin Mountain. The logo is being changed. It's actually already been designed by my shirt company. Other than that, it seems like it would be best without much more interaction, especially since it is my understanding (and correct me if I'm wrong) we are now paying customers for use of the facility for 2019. The original agreement of supporting each other is now null and void.
One last thing that I did not think of until yesterday is that I have no idea if this entire issue is over the correct logo. Like I said previously, this particular decision(my typo; this was supposed to say "logo") had another variation for the 2016 race. I decided I wanted it to be a more active-looking woman, I asked for her, and these are my exact words from my email, to be "running instead of sitting". I'm attaching a photo of what has been the logo for the last two races just so I can make sure we are on the same page with that.