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.
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| 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. |
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.
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| I wake up with puffy eyes every morning at work. |
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| Strawberry stained fingers. |
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.
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| Top of the track, just before I was blindsided with a patient. |
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| Post run food- when Tedeschi's (7-11) is your only food option for the day |
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| 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.
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| The start |
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| 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!
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| Jesse, me and Sharon |
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| 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.
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| Trying to make objects with the clay in the lake |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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. |
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| 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.
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