Friday Night Vertical 2021

Friday Night Vertical 2021

Friday, June 21, 2019

Short Recap 6/3-6/16

View of the Presi's from Black Mt
Believe it or not, this will actually be a short recap of the last two weeks.The longest part will just be the photos. I was supposed to do the Ascutney Mountain Race on June 8th but found out that Wednesday that John had a mandatory day at school for the seniors' graduation. So that was out. No big deal really. I had planned to do the Mountain Series and the All-Terrain Series, and now I'm knocked out of both since Ascutney was part of both. But honestly I'm perfectly ok with it. This way I can just do the Mountain Series races that I really like, and the All-Terrain Series has been so "dumbed down" this year that it didn't appeal to me much anyway. I'll only do it again if they are races that I want to do.

June 3-9, 2019

So that left me with another race-free week except for the Friday Night Vertical race which was more than enough. I needed the recovery week anyway so this was a slightly lower mileage week at 50.2 miles. Funny that hitting 50 over the winter was a struggle. Now it's a recovery week. Kept everything very slow all week. Still managed 8,281 ft of elevation gain.

Monday, 6/3- Zero. Walked on the trail out back at work. Just shy of 2 miles by .05 due to a 911 call. Did glutes, abs and chest/triceps as usual.

Tuesday, 6/4- 8.4 miles. Loop run through the Mineral Site trails and up Whitehorse Ledge with Phoenix. Met two crows on the ledge who greeted us with a caw. 1:34:46. 1,495ft of elevation gain. Hit a small stick with my foot along the way and thought it just poked me until my next step, it was still there. Went right through my shoe. I was beat, but it was still a good run.






Finally got my kayak out on Chocorua Lake for a brief 2.5 mile paddle around the lake. I've missed kayaking so much! No days since this that have been nice enough to go back out. Boo. Psyched to learn that I can keep my kayak on the Kia Soul all the time now since it fits in the garage. No taking it on/off every time I want to use it. Yay.


Lifting weights has made it appear like I have cleavage. Guess I'll stick with it. Haha.

Little car is the adventure car now
Picked up John at school after kayaking. All the sheep escaped the pen.


John and his schoolmates
Wednesday, 6/5- 3.1 miles. Trail run out back at work. Getting old. Motivation is low to do it, but I have been. 26:01. 8:22 avg pace. Probably my slowest run out there in a long time. Also did glutes, abs and back/biceps.

Thursday, 6/6- 8.4 miles. Two runs.

First was at Club Motorsports since I picked up the detail. Brought a pillow to sit on this time, and it actually worked to keep my hips from being in pain. Cool. Ran the track twice at lunch. 5 miles in 40:52. 982ft of elevation gain. Pavement was a bit warm and I I was a little sore in the tendons today.

Bored
Track closed early so I was home around 3pm. I had planned to do the Tuckerman Pub Run, but it didn't start until 5:30 so I decided to skip it and instead take Phoenix on a run on the East Bear Paw Trails right on the NH/ME border. I realized when we got out there that it's probably been 2 years since I'd used the trails so I had to grab the map. Nice to see they have added some new trails since then. The trails are pretty easy mountain bike trails so it's a quick run. The only issue there is that it's EXTREMELY buggy. Just don't stop and you're good. But what about when I need to look at the map?! Haha. Only needed 3 miles. We got in 3.4 miles. 37:06.




Went to Saco River Brewery from there
Friday, 6/7- 13.3 miles. Morning run and then the Friday Night Vertical Race up, the run down and a warm up.

I had originally planned the full Moat Traverse Loop, but I didn't have time... because I had a nail appointment. Haha. (Literally got done with the run, changed and to the nail place with only 5 minutes to spare). Did the short loop which was more than enough. I was still feeling pretty beat today.

South/Middle Moat Loop instead. 10.1 miles. The mosquitoes were worse than I've ever experienced while running. Swarming my face even. It was so bad I almost quit and turned around. Kept going and made it out of mosquitoes and into the black flies. You can see them in the photo below. Ran over Middle Mt and down Red Ridge then only had time for the Forest Service Rd for the return to the car. 2:15:34. 2.828ft of elevation gain.

Pollen cloud

South Moat with black flies

On the way down Red Ridge
Friday Night Vertical Race was a fun course tonight. I warmed up .3 miles because I ended up so stiff from the earlier run right to sitting. Got back just before the start. Small field tonight due to the Chocorua Mountain Race the next day. Some of the guys there were doing the race so they didn't run hard. Took it out super slow so I was with all front guys for awhile until they kicked it up a notch. Finished 1st woman. 1.89 miles. 1,082ft of elevation gain. 24:57. Rewarded with some amazing views as always. I didn't stay long due to the bugs. Ran down 1.1 miles. Stayed for the raffle and pizza. Brought beer. Fun time. Full Results





Earlier in the day, I took Chill and Phoenix on a walk behind John's school since we were there early. Only a mile. On our way back, we ran right into a young bear. The dogs went nuts barking so I tried to move them around and ended up stepping right in a huge pile of fresh bear poop. Haha. The bear had some food with it so it actually followed us a bit to get us away from it. I tried to get a photo, but you can barely see it in the shadow.



John at school



Came home to Chill just hanging out in the yard. Hmmm.


Saturday, 6/8- 9.3 miles. John had to be at his school at 10am so I planned to run from there. Had 12ish miles planned, but I guess I probably ate and had coffee too close to run time. Had actual stomach cramps for half the run. Ugh. They got a little better, but I just wasn't feeling the run so I cut it short. Not sure the last time I've had stomach cramps. Years probably. Usually it's intestinal, but nope, this was stomach. It was better anyway since I got to hang out with John and the everyone for the after party. Got to try the cake John helped make. That made less miles worth it.

View from the run
 That afternoon/evening was the aforementioned date from my previous post. Haha.



Saw this on Instagram and thought it was fitting
Sunday, 6/9- 7.3 miles. Took the dogs on a run up Heavenly Hill first for 1.3 miles. Chill doesn't do the whole thing. He stops about 3/4 of the way and waits for us to come back down. Haha.

Ran from home to the Madison Boulder so part road/part trail run. 6 miles exactly which was my plan and happened to work out that way. 52:12. Saw a guy target shooting illegally in the Coleman's Pit. He had a very high powered rifle that was facing the pit opening to Ledge Pond Rd. I was going to call it in, but I changed my mind.



Took John to Conway Lake later where he met 4 local boys his age there who were super cool and included him in their group. He hung out with them for 4 hours there! I was wishing I had brought my kayak, but I just waded in the water. Took him for ice cream after.




June 10-16, 2019- 60 miles. 10,577ft of elevation gain.

Monday, 6/10- Zero. Walked 1 mile on the trail out back. Glutes, abs, chest and triceps.

Tuesday, 6/11- 10.9 miles. 

Planned to run the Sawyer Pond Trail with Phoenix, but when we got there, the river was really high and moving way too fast. No way could I ford that safely. Plus carrying Phoenix across was risky. So we got back in the car and drove to the East Pond Trail. I wanted something that was a gradual climb instead of a steep climb today, and East Pond fit the bill. Phoenix protested at first because it was raining, but the rain stopped within 5 minutes. Really nice run. This brook was even running a little fast for Phoenix so I carried her across. One of my favorite ponds. So clear and clean. Sad to be swarmed by bug so we couldn't stay longer. 7 miles. 1:28:34. 1,854ft of elevation gain.





The first Whitaker Woods Summer Series race was tonight. As per my usual, I made it a tempo run. Sadly, it was way slower than my last year's tempo runs, but whatever. I just consider these my speed work for the week. The course was wheel-measured again and came out to 3.006 miles so just shy of a 5K but good to know the exact mileage currently. 21:20 for my time. 1st woman.



Wednesday, 6/12- 3 miles. On the trail behind work. Very meh. 24:54. Guess it's better than a zero (and speaking of, I should go do that now but I probably won't). Glutes, abs, back/biceps.

Thursday, 6/13- 11.8 miles.

Ran the Green Hills starting from Hemlock Ln. did a loop in the Outer Limits and up to Middle Mt and back. Didn't bring Phoenix because it was supposed to pour rain. Turned out not to rain at all until the last half mile. Grr. Good run, though. 8.3 miles. 1:38:39. 1,782ft of elevation gain.


I wanted more miles and decided to go to the Tuckerman Pub Run. I was the only one who showed up. Haha. Ran 3.5 miles in the pouring rain. 29:33. I'll admit that I was half drunk. Got photobombed while I tried to get a group photo. Haha.


Opened my mailbox today and literally said outloud, "Oh come on! What bill am I getting now?!" Much to my surprise, it was a check! Yay! Rare occurrence these days.


Phoenix in two different blankets over the course of the day. She hates rainy days.



Friday, 6/14- 6 miles. 

I wasn't running until 1pm so I took Phoenix on a Heavenly Hill hike in the morning. 1.4 miles.



Met up with Dave Dunham and Kevin Tilton at the Mountain Division Trail in Fryeburg at 1pm for a 6 mile run out and back. Brought John along so he could ride his bike as we ran. That worked out perfectly. We ran at chatting pace. 51:45. Perfect for the day before Mt Washington.

Took John to the lake right after. Dave was there, too, for a quick swim. Way too cold and gloomy out for me so I just watched. Talked to Dave a little bit before he left. John didn't want to stay much longer either so we headed home. I covered the rest of the day in the Mt Washington post.

Phoenix and Chill sitting together
Saturday, 6/15- 17.8 miles. See my Mt Washington Road Race post for the recap from today.

Sunday, 6/16- 10.1 miles. I was set on hitting 60 miles this week so I had to do 10 today. Ran the dogs up Heavenly Hill first for 1.4 miles. Came back then ran from home through Coleman's to B&M Ledge then out to Whitton Ledge then back up B&M Ledge where I ran into a family that I know. I never run into people out there so it was funny I knew them. Had a watch fail when I tried to save it. Plus it shorted me .5 miles on the way back. Crazy that much difference. Had to add .1 miles manually to Strava to make it 60 even for the week. Haha. Very slow run. Just enjoyed it. Wore my 2017 Ribfest shirt to celebrate not having to run that race the day after Mt Washington for the first time in 2 years. Thank you! I was actually really sore today especially in my butt. That was a good thing because it meant that I used it. Finally!





We waited out the rain for a few ours before going on a 4 mile mountain bike ride in the Albany Town forest. I can't get any photos because John is literally too fast for me. I can't keep up. Haha. Nice, laid back day.

Decent two weeks. Coming up are some very low-key races for me. A 5K and then a local race, followed by Loon. I'll be at the Friday Night Vertical races, as well. Just have some mountain runs planned. Nothing crazy on my schedule for awhile...until Escarpment, basically. I like that way.




2 comments:

  1. Very Well Captured And Documented. Again, John is growing up so fast during this past Spring ( Happy Summer ) Season. That "stick" thing piercing through your shoe was a bummer and a half. Dig the tie-dye shirt by the way. Enjoy the rest of the work week and keep snapping off those photos from the trails. Run On

    Cheers

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! Fortunately, the stick didn't do any real damage. I can't even find where it went through the shoe. Haha. So far so good with them. I love that Sport Science tie-dye shirt. It's gotten a little tight since I started doing more upper body work, but I still wear it every now and then.

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