2019 Buck for Bernie 12HR

Beer #1 during the Bucks for Bernie 12HR

I'm a week behind on the blog, but I hope to have that nipped in the bud this week since I want to write my Escarpment Trail Run post while it's still fresh in my head. I'll only give a quick mention of it now. I FAR exceeded my goal of breaking 4 hours. Not only did I do that by 31 minutes. I finished 1st woman!! And my time (3:29:01) is the fastest women's time in 17 years when women's CR was established in 2002. Just an amazing day and an important win for me since this was my goal race for the year. But details to come in the next post!

Soooo... it had been awhile since I received a letter from the loser (coward attempting to be creepy) who had been sending them regularly. I mentioned this in a previous post. Not sure how many letters total. 5 or 6. So I called out this coward, and I thought I was clear when I said I don't read them. I was actually surprised to see another one in my mailbox on Thursday morning when I got home from work since it's been at least 2 months I think. Just so happens I have a lighter in my car so to prove that I don't read these ridiculous loser's letters, I videoed me burning it; right from the mailbox to the fire. Due to the dampness in the air it took FOREVER, and the loser will be happy to know that I burned my finger doing it. It was worth it, though. I don't expect everyone who reads this to watch the video (well, in 3 parts) since it's really just meant for the loser sending them. I wasn't fucking kidding. I don't read your drivel. PROOF...

Burning Letter Part 1
Burning Letter Part 2
Burning Letter Part 3

So maybe you'll take me seriously now. You're wasting your time. Whatever you wrote went up in smoke never to be read.

Burned finger

I got the miles back up this week, but only because of Bucks for Bernie. I had intended to run longer on Thursday than I did, but I was glad for that. Although it was a super easy effort that day, it was still a lot of miles and a long time on feet so I kind of wanted to go into it fresh. Granted, I did the Friday Night Vertical Race the night before, but I'm in such good shape for those, and they're short, so it didn't affect me.

62.1 miles total for the week 7/15-21. Down on elevation gain again this week, but it was fine. I had a big week coming up the following week with more elevation gain over half the miles. 6,591ft of elevation gain this week.

Monday, 7/15- Zero. I was feeling pretty tendon sore after all of the road running the week before so I planned this zero day. Walked 2 miles on the trail at work and did 10 minutes of glutes.

Went by Walmart to buy more of those Haribo watermelon gummies.

Another super busy day at work for both bases. I took this photo of all three of our trucks at Memorial at the same time that night.

Tuesday, 7/29- 12.9 miles. I went right from work to Thompson Rd to do the Black Cap/Cranmore Loop. Today's variation from the top of Cranmore was down Charlie Doesn't Surf and Pinball. Then I looped back the regular way. I love this run because it's 100% runnable and good training for Escarpment. 9.5 miles in 1:52:26. 2,469ft of elevation gain. Good run.

In the afternoon, I took John to Emerald Pool in Evan's Notch. We had never been here. I had passed right by it numerous times during Baldface loop runs, but the sound of so many people always turned me off. Don Fredrikson had messaged me about it the week before, and this reminded me that we had never been there. I thought today would be perfect since it felt like 90 degrees at my house. By the time we got to the trailhead, it was cloudy and probably low 70s. Definitely not swimming weather for me. Haha. John complained about the nearly mile walk out, but when he got there, he changed his tune. Wow! This did not disappoint at all. He had a new jumping spot!

Phoenix made a friend who followed her around.

What a great spot! And John loved it. Yay. I love it when that happens.

Another Whitaker Woods Summer Series race that night. Once again, no intention of going race pace, and my tendons were super achy for the 1st half mile. I felt good once they loosened up and continued with a tempo pace until Tim Charboneau got on my heels for the last mile+ giving me a boost to pick up the pace. 21:15 for today.

John playing with Phoenix that night.

Wednesday, 7/17- 3 miles. I was definitely running today at work so I decided to forego a morning shower since I had just taken one the night before. I brought my stuff to shower after my run so that I didn't show up at the wake we were going to later a gross mess. Since it was cool and pouring rain, I went for my run before I had breakfast. It felt great. Just the usual 3 miles on the trail out back. 23:24. 7:39avg pace.

It was a good thing I got this done when I did because it turned out to be another super busy day. We stayed at the wake for over an hour because I ran into so many people I knew (firefighters/EMTs) who I hadn't seen in forever. Just as I was walking out, we got toned to the Red Jacket water park where we ended up having to get partly in the wave pool. My shoes were filled with water the rest of the shift despite trying to dry them out with my hair dryer. Haha. I was so happy for another busy shift to end the next morning.

Thursday, 7/18- 8 miles. I had planned a full Squam Ridge Run today, but that meant I'd have to double it to get back to my car for a total of 22-ish miles. It seemed like a good idea until that morning. I really didn't want to do that many miles. I just want to do the ridge run one-way, not both, and since that wasn't an option, I decided to do an out-and-back from Cotton Mt trailhead to Percival. That would still be 15-ish miles but seemed doable...until I got home and a sad dog face made me change my plans again. I couldn't leave Phoenix behind today. So instead, I changed the plan to run from Sandwich Notch Rd to Percival and back. Around 9 miles according to the guidebook. So I went from 22 miles to what ended up being 8, and I didn't regret it at all. I would have been pretty destroyed trying to do the longer run, and then I probably would have skipped kayaking later. Instead, I got to do both with Phoenix. The run ended up being hot and pretty rough terrain so I was glad for the choice I made.

I had to bring the small car with the kayak on it, and totally forgot about Sandwich Notch Rd being steep. Fortunately, I made it just fine to the trailhead. The trail up to Doublehead Mt was crazy steep and rough but so beautiful. So much moss everywhere. And it was so quiet. No people! In fact, we saw no one the entire run...even on Mt Percival which was a first. Phoenix got pretty warm along the way so we stopped a lot and any water we could find...even a mud puddle.

Small pond on the ridge

Mt Squam

Mt Percival

This run was pretty slow-going, but I was fine with that. 8 miles in 1:59:40. 2,384ft of elevation gain.

After the run, we drove right down to a free boat launch area on Squam Lake. The water in that lake is so clear! I had to stop midway to take a swim since I was pretty warm in the sun. It was the perfect place to be on this hot afternoon. I paddled 4.4 miles total. Out and back from the cove and a full loop around Hoag Island.

I finished off the day in the Lakes Region with a stop at Twin Barns Brewing in Meredith that had just opened this week. I had literally eaten nothing in over 8 hours so I only got a 4 flight of beer. It was decent. Nothing awesome yet. The brewery itself was pretty cool.

I filled up the water jugs at the spring in Sandwich on the way home. It was long, fun day. I may not have many more full free days to myself left so I have to make sure I'm taking advantage of them while I can.

Friday, 7/19- 3.2 miles. With the 12 Hr race the next day, I decided to skip the morning run and just do Friday Night Vertical. I had a meeting with someone for an information session about a job that will be opening up. He just wanted to let me know what the job was about before I applied. We spent an hour and a half talking about it. I think I'm a good fit for the job, but it will definitely be a challenge in the beginning. It's very much a long shot at me getting it, though. But I'll apply when it's time.

Speaking of, I posted my job anniversary on FB. 8 years with Careplus and said it would be the last anniversary. That's all I said. Next thing I know, I have people assuming I'm moving and giving advice. And then asking what my new job is. The only reason I know for certain I won't be at Careplus for a 9th anniversary is because it's unlikely they will still be here next year. So I'm FORCED to get another job. I need one, though, badly. So that's why I'm looking and talking to people. I never asked for anyone's advice. I don't have another job lined up.

In the afternoon, I dropped John off at the usual library thing then went for a walk in the Albany Town Forest with the dogs.

Tonight was the second-to-last Friday Night Vertical Race, and it was HOT out. I opted for a sports bra again but regretted it at the top where I was eaten alive by bugs. I couldn't stay up there for long. This would be my 3rd time doing this particular course of the Series. My first two finishes were 23:26 and 23:04. I hoped to do even better tonight. I had Lydia to race against, as well as a younger girl I'd never seen before. The course was much drier than the last time we ran it when I lost my shoe in the mud so I expected to run it faster.

I didn't want to go out too hard so I fell in line behind Lydia and the other girl. This course was the closest to my strength of the 3 since it had the most downhill. And now I knew it by heart. I was happy where I started and let Lydia get a good gap ahead while staying right behind the other girl. I had to wait for the first downhill to see how this was going to go. She seemed to scoot right along on it and got ahead of me by more so I thought I probably wouldn't beat her, but on the next downhill she slowed way up, and I went by. We were probably about 1/3 of the way through the course so I decided to keep up with Lydia and pushed to get right behind her. I was surprised to find myself right on her heels the rest of the race until the very, very last stretch when she gave it a kick that I couldn't match and ended up finishing 10 seconds back. Super happy with the effort tonight. Much faster time in 22:31. 1.88 miles on my GPS. 1,080ft of elevation gain. Full Results

I screenshot this because you can see me petting Squall.

I was bummed not having my phone for this amazing sunset, but Rick Chalmers snagged this one of a few of us.

Saturday, 7/20- Bucks for Bernie 12HR- 31.8 miles. Earlier in the year when I committed to this I assumed I'd go the entire 12 hours, but as it got closer, I realized that doing the whole 12 hours could really destroy me for Escarpment so I decided that I wasn't going to do the entire 12 hours. I figured 6 hours max. With temps near 100 degrees, I also planned to take a lot of breaks. The course was 1 mile loops on the first flat mile of the Summer Series course. I was thankful for the flat, but not so much after the hours went by.

We had an early rise, and for some reason I couldn't sleep at all overnight. Maybe got in 2.5 hours. Maybe. I brought John along with the plan of letting him sleep in the car until it got too hot. Once he woke up, he'd take his computer and walk to Frontside Grind to get breakfast and hang out in the A/C.

Race start was 7am, thankfully. The woods were still on the cooler side and completely shaded so my plan was to start off with some faster miles while the weather cooperated. We all lined up at the start, but no one except Hilary McCloy and me would line up on the line. It was pretty funny. She was part of a relay team so I planned to run her laps with her then take a break. I would end up following this pattern of a break every 5 loops all day.

These first 5 loops felt good. We chatted along the way, and then I realized that another solo runner, a guy, was trying to keep up with us. I should have told him then that I wasn't doing the whole 12 hours because he spent his first 20-ish miles running way too fast to stay ahead of me, and he pretty much died early on. But I have to hand it to him. He completed the 12 hours and 52 miles to finish 2nd overall, but he was in the hurt locker for a good 8 hours. Haha.

When I finished my first break, I checked on John then went to my set up to find a bunch of people had set up right next to me! And by right next to, I mean, their things were literally touching mine. WTF. A huge field with so much space, and they encroached on mine. I kind of felt like an asshole, but it was ridiculous. I walked over and moved all of my stuff over by the barn near Hilary's relay team. I wasted almost 5 minutes doing this. I don't understand why they thought it was ok to park their stuff right next to mine, but they turned to be the same people walking 4 abreast on the course never moving over for those of us passing. I had run in the brush off to the side every time. They were totally oblivious to everyone but themselves.

I got back on the course after moving my stuff for another 5 loops. I ran super easy 8-9 minute miles. This was just supposed to be a fun long run for me, and it heated up fast. The woods stayed shaded, at least. After I finished my 2nd round of loops, I decided to change clothes. The ones I was wearing were soaked in sweat. I went with just a sports bra, too. I headed back out for another 5 loops. I was really slowing down by this point as the temps rose and the sun started to shine through the trees. When I was done with 15 miles, it was time for a long break. This included an ice cold beer and a bagel with cream cheese. I loved this timed race thing. I could take breaks whenever I wanted. I got John up and out of the car to go to Frontside before I started on my 4th set of loops. I was well into the 9 min miles by now but still feeling good even though my tendons started to ache from the flat running.

Photos of the race were a bit lacking so this and a very blurry one are it for me. I kept track of each loop on my watch.

I took another long break at 20 loops to change clothes again. I wore very unflattering booty shorts and another sports bra. I didn't care. I was planning to start going in the water sprinkler every loop and didn't want to be wearing loose wet shorts so the booty shorts were perfect. My next 5 loops were even slower, approaching the high 9 minute miles. I knew for certain, I was going to stop at 6 hours. That water hose made a huge difference, though. Ice cold. I drenched myself in it every loop. I took one more long break for a second beer. It was so hot out. It was almost noon and there was basically no shade left in the woods. I was not going to destroy myself so I decided on 6 last loops to make it a full 50K for the day. It was so hot that my last 2 miles were 10-11s. By 31 loops, I was all set. Quitting before I felt bad but still getting in a good long run. I had no desire to stay out in that heat. I wanted to go to the river.

Total mileage came out to 31.8 since I never stopped my watch during my breaks so it included all the walking around off the course. 5:51:52 elapsed time. 4:47:23 for my actual moving time. So not bad for taking it easy. I still ended up finishing 6th overall with only running half the time. Jen Graves was funny. She sent me this photo and wrote, "I'm taking this win to the grave." Hahaha.

John's friend, Dylan, showed up so he walked to Frontside to invite John to go swimming with them the rest of the day. That worked out great for him. I was looking forward to taking him swimming, but he has more fun with his friends. I hung out a bit eating some ice cream that Bob Benes brought. SO good. Really hit the spot on such a hot day. I changed into clean, dry clothes, packed up my stuff and then headed home. I needed to get the dogs out of the hot house and to the Swift River.

I didn't waste time showering when I got home. Just put some things in the house and then took the dogs right to the Albany Town Forest. I didn't plan to walk them far, but just enough to cool off in the water and use the bathroom. I wanted to wash off the grime myself. It was crazy. No one was out there. We had the trail all to ourselves. I decided that meant I could skinny dip in the river instead getting my clothes all wet. It felt SO good. Nothing like floating in a river when it's this hot. Of course, I'd just barely gotten dressed when two people showed up right there via the river. They were walking down it. Grr. Haha.

I realized I had time to make the 3rd Anniversary party at Saco River Brewing so I drove over there. I left the dogs in the a/c with the car running. I only had one beer since I didn't want to stay too long in case I had to pick John up. I tried to sit outside to listen to the band, but there was hardly a bit of shade. I lasted about 10 minutes before I went back inside.

When I got to the car, the dogs were completely content. It was ice cold in there. Perfect. I would never do this for an extended period of time or with the car out of view because something could go wrong in that kind of heat. I kept my eyes on it the entire time since it's a small lot. The car was really the place to be in this kind of heat. Haha.

It was home from there. John and Dylan got dropped off around 8pm. I was totally beat and in bed by 9pm.

Sunday, 7/21- 3 miles. I don't know the last time I've slept in until 9am, but I did this morning. I needed it after nearly no sleep the night before and running 31 miles in the heat. John's friend had his mom pick him up since he had been awake for who knows how long and was bored. I felt bad, but I really had no way of entertaining him. I did finally wake up John who came in, but his friend never told us he called his mom so I was surprised to see them pull in the driveway. I felt bad because I could have taken him home. Oh well.

John had planned all summer to go to his school friend's house, and today was the day. He didn't need to be there until 3pm so we stayed at home in the morning. I actually felt perfectly fine and decided to run 3 miles on the treadmill. I also did my upper body and abs workout that I had neglected all week.

On the way to John's friend's we stopped for about an hour to swim at Silver Lake. The water was so warm.

Phoenix tried to eat an apple that had fallen from a nearby tree by the lake.

I dropped John off and then drove to Chocorua Lake to go kayaking with Phoenix. The weather was perfect out on the lake. Phoenix and I stopped at a little oasis to hang out for awhile.

We just did one loop and then it was home for the night. I had planned to veg but instead got on a roll with projects after bringing John's clean clothes into his room. His set up basically had his dresser completely blocked so all of his clothes were in piles around the room. I realized he needed a separate table for his TV. So I looked around the room and decided to take the one the iMac was sitting on. Since it broke, it's just been sitting there collecting dust. So I finally took it downstairs to the basement and moved the table into John's room. I had to clean under everything I moved as I went along. I was pouring in sweat from it being so hot. Not a good night for doing stuff around the house. Haha. Once I moved the table I realized the empty corner in the living room needed more than just the chair. It needed a side table. So I looked around and realized my workout table was unnecessary so I moved it next to the chair. It still needs a bamboo plant or something. This led to still needing something for my workout area so I perused the basement and voila! An old toy chest of John's! I emptied and cleaned it. I put all the workout DVD's inside of it and still had the top as a table for the lamp and my phone for videos.

All-in-all, it was a good week. I got some decent kayaking in, as well as some good runs. I had one week until Escarpment, and I was feeling ready. I had put all of my training since May into it in some fashion. The next week would be very low mileage so that I didn't destroy myself beforehand. It turns out that it worked. I'll probably get to that post on Wednesday.

2019 Tunnel to Towers "5K"

I went in search of this meme. Not sure how it didn't exist so I made my own. Haha. We have been so busy lately, usually quiet in the mornings but just slammed from the afternoon into the evening. We're the only ambulance for North Conway (unless we call Conway for mutual aid) so we go on every call. It's not bad. I'd rather be busy since it makes the time go faster, but when it cuts into my run plan, now I have a problem. Haha. This happened twice this week so I ended up with less miles than planned. Wednesday, I stupidly planned to run late at work so I could shower at night and not have to get up early to shower before my track detail shift. Well, even if I had tried to do this, it would have gotten cut short because we were never back at the base more than 10-15 minutes between 2-10pm. Then the next day at the track, I was running during lunch since we don't technically have to be there for that when I got picked up because I had a "call". Fortunately, the run was almost done. But man it's been crazy. And not all tourists. More locals than tourists. I had a moment this week when I realized this job is affecting mentally more than I thought. I've had these moments of tears over specifically bad calls, but this was everything. I'll write more about that later in the post.

I still do like the job when we're busy, but not when I see my paycheck. I'm definitely on my way out. That job I'm eyeing will be posted soon. I need more money. I can't sustain this, especially if something happens that needs to be fixed. I need to be able to afford better food. I actually cut my nails off again because I just didn't want to spend that money. I have a gel polish set with the infrared light that I bought 4 years ago so I thought I'd give it a go on my own. Well, it's not working out, and I keep catching myself biting my nails, one of the main reasons I get the acrylics. I never ever do that with them. Crazy that as soon as I take them off that nervous habit comes out of hiding instantly. Plus, the polish keeps peeling off. So, I'll be getting the acrylics again soon, but not for a few weeks at least. They needed to be removed anyway since Nail Envy messed them up so bad so a new full set was going to happen anyway. I know, nail talk. So dumb, but in this weird way, not having them has made me feel like I've lost a part of my identity. I still call them a frivolous expense, but every time I cut them off, I realize that it isn't. It's a very small amount of money in the grand scheme of things for something that makes me feel better about myself. It looks nice and keeps that nasty nail biting habit away.

And, yes, I know. I'm behind on the blog again. The office at work was unbearable last week with the heat and humidity that I just couldn't do it. It was bad enough having to sit in there to do my reports.

Got some photos from the previous week's Friday Night Vertical race. I added them to the previous post. But here's one for this post in case you missed it and you are so distraught over it. Haha.

I had no idea that Lydia (3rd in this shot) wasn't the one right behind me the whole time (up until she passed me towards the end) until I saw this photo. Haha.

The Loon Mt Race photos came out on Friday. I'm not sure if I was the only one a little disappointed or not. The photos themselves were mostly good, but the image size is way too small. They're free photos to the participants so I shouldn't complain, but when you can't even share them on Facebook without them being terribly grainy, then what's the point of having them at all. 800x533 pixels is really too small in this day and age so it caused some great photos to look mediocre. You'd have to pay $21 to get a photo at 1mp. But that being said, there were a few I liked that aren't too bad even with such a small image size. I do wish the first one was clearer because Gianina caught me the moment I saw John at the water stop. The third photo, I absolutely love, and it isn't too grainy.

On the running front this week, less miles than expected, but still got 50.2. A little less elevation this week, as well at 6,716ft. Did slightly more road running than I prefer...and I'm feeling it in the tendons this week. I ran the usual Whitaker Woods fun run and Friday Night Vertical. I felt like crap for that one, but then had a good "race" the next day at Tunnel to Towers "5K". Go figure. All in all, my fitness and, surprisingly, my speed are continuing to improve so I'm really happy with what I'm doing right now as far as running.

Monday, 7/8- 3 miles. The Loon Mountain Race didn't destroy me since I train on that type of stuff all the time. So I didn't need a zero day. Thank goodness, too, since my planned run on Wednesday didn't happen. The usual trail run out back of work. 23:36. Felt good. Got my usual 10 minutes of glute work in, too.

Tuesday, 7/9- 12.1 miles. Went straight from work to my run on the Sawyer Pond Trail. As I was about to turn right onto the Kanc, Bryan came from the other direction and turned left onto the Kanc just ahead of me. I don't think he knew it was me because he never recognizes my new car. I assumed he was on his way to his usual hike which was going to be a long drive down the Kanc at the speed limit. Funny that he drives the speed limit. He was never much of a speeder, but I don't remember him driving the speed limit. I hung back far enough to give him some room, but a line started to form behind me so Bryan finally pulled over to let us by. I still have no idea if he knew that was me behind him or not. Haha.

The run was pretty uneventful. Gentle climbing so it's totally runnable. 8.6 miles total for the out and back. There were people camping at the pond so I didn't stay long. 1:28:49. 1,172ft of elevation gain.

I wake up with puffy eyes every morning at work.

When I got home, I took Phoenix out, and we picked the wild strawberries in my yard. So many! They've tripled since last year. I think this might also be the first year I've picked strawberries and blueberries at the same time of year.

Strawberry stained fingers.

I did my Zuzka Light Upper Body and Abs workout for the day. I'm quickly feeling much stronger after starting these back up. Only 15 minutes, but it's quality training.

Took John and Phoenix to Conway Lake to swim in the afternoon.

It was Tuesday so that meant Whitaker Woods Summer Series for the afternoon. John doesn't like to go so I dropped him off at home and then went over. I ran .6 miles for a warm up just to loosen up. I'm usually so stiff and/or sore for this run every week. I planned the usual tempo run, but Brian Johnston pushed me a little in the last mile to go faster than I wanted, but it was a good thing. Not sure if I'll do any of these at race pace this year. I only have to do one more to count for the Series, but I'll still probably go to at least two more. 21:22 today. I've been finishing 1st woman every week (except the one week I skipped) so I should easily win the 40-49 age group so no need to actual "race" one, but I'm kind of curious to see where I am on this course when I go 100%. My fastest time ever was 19:50 in 2015. This year 20:50 is my fastest... but that's without going all out. It was close, but not quite.

Tried to stop at Luchador Tacos on the way home, but when I walked into a long line and then saw the prices, I walked out. They look really good, but I'm not paying $10 for 3 small-ish tacos. I know I'll try them again eventually, but I prefer $1.25 tacos at Jalisco for Taco Tuesday so I drove over there instead. Had my tacos with a super strong beer that Steve Brightman gave me at Loon. Wowza.

Wednesday, 7/10- Zero. I had every intention of running today. I thought I had it all planned out, but I realized planning to run in the evening is not a good idea this time of year. We had nothing until 2pm and then went straight until 10pm. I finished my reports then went to bed.

Interrupting this program to once again say...

I'm trying to finish this damn blog post! Haha!

Thursday, 7/11- 6 miles. So the day started off with me continuing from my 24 into my 9 hour shift at Club Motorsports. Luckily, I'm not a pushover or I would have ended up on a 10 hour shift in North Conway. I got texted simultaneously from my manager and supervisor ASKING if I would switch to the 10 hour shift in North Conway instead of the track. Hahaha. I'm sorry, but did you just give me an option? Ohhhh, you did. Well, how about a NO. Yeah. Let's see. I pick up the track shift for a reason. It's one hour less than a regular shift and more $$. Plus, I can run around the track at lunch. I think they were both a little taken aback by my refusal. Ok so it wasn't exactly nice. I said, "It's either the track shift or no shift." Sooooo....

#iwin

Not only did I stay on the track shift, I got to go by myself! Woot. I'm literally the 3rd most senior person in our division so I do have some pull over the others. I already did them a favor two weeks prior and worked a miserable shift in North Conway instead of the track. It wasn't happening again. If I had wanted to pick up a regular shift I would have. I planned my running around this. Even though that didn't quite pan out, I still almost got in the run around the track I had planned. The day was nice. I sat outside part of the time and in the a/c when it got hot.

We don't technically have to be there during the lunch break so I ran around the track twice then decided to run up to the top of the service road and back down. I was about .25 miles from the finish when one of the guys comes speeding up behind me and yells something to me. I thought he was offering me a ride so I said no thanks. Then he yells, "Get in!" My first thought was that I had misheard the end of lunch time and I was about to get run over by speeding cars so I jumped in and asked if I had gotten the time wrong. He said, "No! You have a call!" I was totally caught off guard at first, but he told me what it was then dropped me at the ambulance. I was pouring in sweat but hopped in and drove it down to where the patient was. You'd think the way he was acting the person was coding, but it turned out not to be that bad. I did think the patient needed to go to the hospital so I called one of our other trucks to come after I did some vitals and monitored the patient. The track has to have an ambulance there at all times so I was going to stay while the other crew did the transport. I'm glad the patient had agreed to go because he ended up getting slightly worse en route.

So it was an abrupt end to my run, but I still got in just over 6 miles in 48:02. 1,334ft of elevation gain. Actually a really pleasant run even with the pavement a bit warm.

Top of the track, just before I was blindsided with a patient.

Post run food- when Tedeschi's (7-11) is your only food option for the day

Pretty morning

The last 2.5 hours were uneventful. I got out 1.5 hours early so that meant I actually got paid more for 2.5 hours less than if I had stayed in North Conway. We get paid for the full detail whether we are there the whole 9 hours or not. Plus a $25 stipend. No brainer to put my foot down to stay on the track shift today. And now all they've done is make it less likely I'll be picking up any overtime shifts in the near future. They've tried to thwart my last two track pick-ups so why wouldn't they try again? I don't pick these shifts up to do the company a favor. If they showed they cared about the employees then maybe I would be more motivated to help, but I've been here 8 years with no raise (other than one from doing extra work). Benefits are officially (as per the IRS) not affordable. I've called out sick ONCE in the entire 8 years, and I was literally the sickest I've ever been in my life. They are lucky that I have a good work ethic and show up for all of my shifts and do my work like I'm supposed to because there are very few here that do. I'm not asking for anything other than to not try to take advantage of me to fill your empty shifts.

I had planned to do the Tuckerman Pub Run later that evening but on way home the rain started and only got heavier and heavier so I bagged it. Just didn't feel like it. Sometimes I like running in the rain. Other times I don't. It was nice to be at home after the two shifts anyway.

Friday, 7/12- 14.3 miles. I didn't feel like spending a lot of time running this morning but still wanted to get some miles in so I opted for road run. It's almost all dirt roads, but I really felt this one. Probably because I had run the road the day before. This week's road running would end up making my tendons pretty sore by the next week. 

My run was the South Conway Loop which consists of Potter Rd, Brownfield Rd, Gulf Rd and Greeley Rd. I actually felt like I was moving pretty quickly on most of it, especially the last 2 miles when I was trying to outrun the deer flies, but my final average pace proved otherwise. Oh well. 11 miles in 1:28:42. 8:03 avg pace. 955ft of elevation gain.

When I got home I did another upper body and abs workout then hung around the house until it was time for John to go to the teen program at the library. He's really enjoying this program a lot and has made some friends there.

After I dropped John off, I took the dogs on a walk at the Conway Rec Path for 2 miles. They swam a lot since it was getting pretty hot.

That night was Friday Night Vertical #7. I felt like crap when I got up there. My tendons were sore, and I was just tired. Luckily, I had quite the competition show up so that they would at least push me when I just wanted to take it easy. I warmed up a half mile, then lined up with Lydia and behind Haley and Jess Marion. This was course #1 which I had now run twice over the series. I had a feeling I would run slower tonight than the last one. As expected, I felt pretty blah right from the start. Running felt so much harder. As much as I wanted to stay near Lydia tonight, I just couldn't. I kept her in view for as long as I could, though. This ended up helping because despite feeling crappy, I still ran it almost 50 seconds faster than the last time. Crazy! That made me really happy since it proved my fitness level has improved a lot. If I can run that much faster feeling like crap then I'll take it. 1.7 miles in 20:39. (Previously, 22:29 and 21:30). 982ft of elevation gain. Full Results.

Saturday, 7/13- Tunnel to Towers "5K"- 5.2 miles. I'm sure it seems crazy to race the night before a race, but this 5K was not a goal race or anything. Just doing it for the workout and because it was local right in North Conway. I didn't officially make the decision to run it until 2 hours before registration closed on Thursday night. As a first responder, my entry fee was $25, as opposed to $35, and I thought it would be a good race to run since it supports first responders in memory of Steven Siller  who lost his life on 9/11/01. I missed this race last year since it was the same day as Run with the Beavers. Once RWTB was cancelled, I put this race on my tentative calendar. I really liked the idea of doing a 5K this weekend since I really needed the speed work.

I showed up pretty early so that I could take my time doing my warm up. I got in 2 miles on the course and felt pretty tired going up the hill on Seavey St. While it's not a difficult course for the most part, mile 2 was mostly uphill in one way or another. By the time I finished, I was sweating to death from the heat so I opted to show the ole fat belly and just go with a sports bra. Ok, I know I don't have a fat belly, but I do have some slight love handles and bouncy skin on there. But I really don't care anymore. I'd rather be cooler than worry about what my stomach looks like. And I'm 43. I'm over it.

Right before the start, I did one stride...which I never do, but I wanted to see how it felt. Torturous was the verdict so I didn't do another one. Haha. I waited in the shade until the last minute then lined up next to Jesse Cullen. She's been racing faster and faster lately so I thought she might be able to beat me today. I've done little to no fast stuff except for the few 5Ks so I didn't know how this was going to go.

I went out hard at the start just wanting to get a good lead in the first mile, if I could, since I knew the 2nd mile would be slower. We looped around Schouler Park and then down the main strip which was flat and downhill for the first .75 miles before it turned onto Artist Falls where we climbed a small hill before hitting a small downhill to North-South Rd. This was around mile 1. 5:54 for the first mile. The course ran slightly uphill from here up North-South before turning right onto Seavey St for a steeper climb all the way over to Kearsarge St where we got a nice downhill before turning onto The Lane for another gradual uphill. It mile 2 here. 6:25 for mile 2. On the slow side, but it was mostly uphill so it made sense. The rest of the course went downhill from The Lane and then mostly flat for the rest of the course. I hit mile 3 in another 5:54. Sadly, mile 3 was the last because the course ended up short. I came through in 18:24 on the clock. My real 5K PR is 18:30 on an official course so I knew this was not a full 5K. I'll be honest that I was pretty disappointed because I very likely would have finished sub-19 for the first time on an honest course (not Westfield downhill) in 2.5 years. I got 3.03 miles on my watch. 6:04 avg pace. Even if I had slowed a few seconds for the last .1 miles, I still would have squeezed under 19 minutes. So I was a bit bummed. But it was still a good effort and I was really happy with it. Finished 1st female and 5th overall. 

The start

Finish

What I didn't know at the time since it was never posted ANYWHERE was that this was an untimed race. I was actually pretty miffed about this especially when I found other Tunnel to Towers races (5Ks and stair climbs) that did post results, and the fact this wasn't written anywhere. Not that it matters, but it's pretty easy to time a race even with just a stopwatch and someone writing it down. I still ended up winning a pretty nice award, and I had a good race so all in all I can't complain, but I'm not going to pretend that I didn't care at all because I did. 

I hung out with Sharon Morrison and Jesse after the race chatting until they did awards. Jesse finished 2nd behind me, although I don't know how far back she was since I wasn't paying attention. Katie Swenson finished 3rd. I don't know her, but I know her mother-in-law, Sally, with whom I caught up before the race. I love her!

Jesse, me and Sharon

I wish I could remember what we were laughing at. 

I left after that and stopped by Starbucks to get John a breakfast sandwich on my way home. The day was a hot one so we ended up going to the lake again. I brought Phoenix but had to leave Chill. It was way too hot to bring him down there. The lake was really high from all the recent rain so they had the dam open wide on the other side of the bridge where the kids jump. I didn't even have to tell John not to jump off the bridge today. He saw it was potentially dangerous and chose not to. Unfortunately, these people showed up with some kids that wouldn't stop jumping off the bridge even after the lake host repeatedly asked them not to. She even said that the police never ask them to stop kids from jumping off the bridge but an 8 year old girl had gotten swept under the bridge the week before (she was fine) when the dam was open so they had asked for people not to do it today. The adults wouldn't stop arguing with her and one of the kids kept doing it. Come on, people! They could ruin it for everyone. What's one day?! It was crazy. We still had a good time there. John entertains himself in the water for hours. 

Trying to make objects with the clay in the lake

He put clay on my foot.

We stopped for ice cream on the way home, per John's request. I couldn't help but try Unicorn Delight. It was basically bubblegum flavor. haha.

I took Chill out on our trails when I got home; it was too hot for a hike up Heavenly Hill. 

I was lazy the rest of the night and binged watched Good Trouble. I'm totally not in the demographic for this show. I know this because the guy who gets called "old" is 37 in real life. Haha. But I still like it. Well, as I mentioned in the beginning of the post, I had a moment of tears from my job as an EMT. It was a song in this TV show that set it off. All of a sudden it was like a barrage of memories in my head. Just one after the other of patients over the last 8 years that I've had. The weird thing was that it wasn't all calls with bad outcomes, although that was part of it. My brain picked out certain people who made a mark. People I had transferred, people's whose hands I held, people who died, people who lived but were so depressing. Calls that were gruesome but that I didn't think a thing about it at the time were all of a sudden there. It honestly wouldn't stop, and I was in tears. It was a strange experience especially since I've seen nothing compared to what others have seen, and I can only imagine now what soldiers who've seen the ugliness of war must be going through. I almost felt like a fraud in the moment. Like I haven't seen shit. I don't have a right to have PTSD. This is small town crap. But the more I thought about the weird choice of memories, I realized it's more the depressing part of it, the sadness, the ugliness, the weakness, the helplessness. Witnessing the pain of other people whether its mental or physical builds up. Most of us have a strong wall. I know that I do, but for some reason, that wall came down for about 15 minutes that night. 

Honestly, I think it was a good thing. Once I stopped thinking about it and the tears stopped I felt better. I didn't realize I had anything to hold inside, because I don't feel like I see a lot of bad stuff. It turned out that seeing "bad stuff" really wasn't what affected me the most. It's interesting to look back at it now and pick it apart. I remember back when I started this job in 2011, Bryan emailed me an article about First Responders and PTSD. I told him that wouldn't happen to me. Come on. This is North Conway Ambulance. But I guess it does. I would say for me that it's very minor, and I'm not trying to be dramatic. The moment passed. I felt it was worth writing about, though. That's all. Did I learn from this? Yes. I learned I'm definitely ready to get out of this field. It was never meant to be long term for me. I don't want to be around sick and depressed people all the time. I'm ready to get out. I actually got up off the couch and went right into John's room to tell him not to ever be an EMT/firefighter. Haha.

This is the song that set it off...

Sunday, 7/14- 9.2 miles. As much as I said I don't care about mileage, I really wanted to get to 50 miles this week. Haha. I decided to do a double loop (except the out-and-back part on the 2nd loop) at the Bolles Reserve in Chocorua since it's only a 10 minute drive from home and in the opposite direction of traffic headed into Conway. This was just a fun trail run to get some miles in. Deer flies were kind of bad, but I'd say they aren't bad up here at all compared to other places so they were bearable. I almost stopped for a swim in Chocorua Lake but kept going. 1:39:44. 1,701ft of elevation gain. 

R.I.P. Run with the Beavers Race

When I got home I did my upper body and abs workout and later in the afternoon I took John on a hike up Black Cap. He hadn't done this hike since probably 2012 since my Kia Soul can't make it up Hurricane Mountain Rd. I had totally forgotten we could drive up in the Sorento now so I was excited to get him back up there for an easy hike with a good view. Chill was with Bryan so we just brought Phoenix along. I try to time weekend hikes so we get in the lull of people and sure enough, we had the summit to ourselves. We still ran into quite a few hikers and mountain bikers on the trail but it was nice to sit up in the cool wind for awhile by ourselves.

Someone asked if I cut my hair when they saw this. It's just being blown back the wind. I would never ever cut my hair boy short again. Yuck. I'm actually growing it out again now after the bob cut.

How did he get so big so fast?!

On the way home, I stopped at Walmart and discovered the best race fuel ever...

They're easy to eat and taste sweet and salty. I went back the next day and bought 10 more. Haha. 

I hate it that I'm behind on the blog again. I'll try to catch up on last week on Wednesday at work. I meant to use John's computer last night to finish this one, but I got on a roll with a small project in the house. Nothing crazy. Just moving stuff around to make John's set up better in his room which turned into 3 other small spaces I had to fix up. By the time I was done with that and sweating to do death I decided to veg on the couch with a beer.

The next blog post won't be too exciting. I did the Bucks for Bernie 12HR (6HR for me) and nothing else crazy really. But I'll try to get it done to catch up before the Escarpment Trail Race coming up this weekend! I'm actually nervous for this one since it's new to me. Eek! Hoping to break 4 hours, but if I don't it's ok. I'm just excited to do one of my bucket list races finally.