Friday Night Vertical 2021

Friday Night Vertical 2021

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

The 2020 Finale

 

It's been well over a month since my last real post. Hoping I don't feel the need to write another one like the last one. If it gets to that point, I'll be considering legal advice. But I really hope that was the last time we deal with that. Seriously. We're just trying to live our lives. We're crazy happy together, and that's it. We did nothing wrong. We keep a relatively low profile and really enjoy being together. 

For 6 years, my life was all about raising my son. Up until the last 1.5 years, I had half of a Thursday free to myself. The rest of my time was all about working and my son. The timing for Ryan and me being together couldn't have been more perfect. We got together in August and then John started high school in September. He's made new friends and pretty does his own thing now. I don't have the mom guilt I had after Covid hit with him being so isolated. He no longer needs to be dragged out into the world with me so that he's not living in solitude. He gets that on his own now. He even has a girlfriend! I did get him out on one walk in December and we had a good time. It was short, but we went to Frontside, too... where he stared at his phone. Haha. It's just crazy how perfect the timing really was for Ryan coming into my life. It was truly the best part of 2020.







My first post of the new year is usually a recap of my running/racing. Obviously, that isn't going to happen. 2020 was actually a great year for me in other aspects, though. I went from being so poor to living very comfortably. For 5.5 years, I struggled immensely to get by. There was a week once where I had $1.75 to live off of. We were eating whatever food we could scrounge from the cabinets. It was a rare occasion that I could fill my gas tank. The only bill I paid on time was the mortgage. I didn't pay the electric bill until they threatened to shut it off and offered me a payment plan. I was on fuel assistance. I never in a million years thought I would be one of those people. I would ask myself, "How did I get to this point?" I went to a fancy private school. I have a Bachelor's Degree. Somehow I steered my life in a difficult direction that led me to maintaining a home and taking care of a son all on my own... all while making $11/hr. 

2020 was the year I changed that. I joined Conway Fire. I got a better paying job at Action Ambulance. I was hired by Memorial Hospital when Covid-19 hit for a temporary position. I'm still there working in the Covid Testing Center making a really good wage. I work a lot more than before, but I have little to complain about. Life is good. I can buy a new pair of running shoes when I need them. I was able to buy a full AT ski set-up. I can fill my gas tank. The stress of living paycheck to paycheck has been removed from my life, and it feels so good. There was nothing more satisfying than putting the the fuel assistance application in the recycle bin. Let that money go to people who really need it. I couldn't believe all of the good changes 2020 had given me, and then out of left field came Ryan to top it all off. The love of my life. The kind of relationship I thought I would never be lucky enough to have. 

We've done so much since before Thanksgiving that this would be a really long post if I wrote about it all in detail. John was gone to his grandparents for Thanksgiving so it was just the two of us for the day. We went for a long-ish run in the pouring rain in Tamworth then spent the rest of the day at home Ryan cooked good food and we built a shrine to our favorite beer using the candles Ryan got from his boss at work. We're total dorks, but we had so much fun. 





Up until last weekend, we were running together both Saturday and Sunday, but while on a road run, Ryan started having excruciating pain in a hip he had fallen on over the summer and again the week before. This has left him out of running for last week, but we've been doing other things like hiking and skiing instead. 

Prior to his injury, we got in some decent stuff. Took a run up Sandwich Dome from Waterville Valley. Basically the first snow of the season. Gorgeous day. We even wore shorts... and matching hats and buffs. Dorks. Haha.



We ran another day in the pouring rain around Sandwich on some really hilly roads. Horrible photo and he was forced into it, but I couldn't resist a selfie with a heart on a tree. Haha. Stopped at the Sandwich Creamery on the way home.



What was supposed to be a huge snowstorm turned out to be mostly a bust, but we managed to find the foot of snow that fell in North Conway when we did a Corridor 19/Mason Brook Trail loop. It was super pretty, but all of the trees were bending into the trail making it really slow-going. Way longer of a "run" than we planned, and Ryan cleared everything for me. I ended up smacking my eye with a small branch. It really hurt, but it wasn't until the next morning that I realized I had actually hurt my eye. So gross! Haha.




I've been a resident of the Mount Washington Valley for over 17 years, and I'd never gotten up to the higher summits after the snow had fallen. It wasn't because I was afraid, but it wasn't something I wanted to do alone. As most of you know, I'm more of a loner by choice, so every winter passed by without me getting up higher than Mt Pierce. Granted, 4 of those winters I was living elsewhere as an active duty Army family, but that still leaves 13 winters I've missed out. Well, now that I have Ryan in my life, I have someone to go with so I didn't hesitate when he asked if I wanted to do a loop over Mt Washington a few weeks ago. The weather was perfect for it. There wasn't a crazy amount of snow, but it's still not something I would have done alone in those conditions. We went up via the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail and walked the ridge up to the summit of Mt Washington and then down the Jewell Trail. Ran into Jonathan Miller on the way up, which was cool since we haven't seen him in forever. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. Absolutely zero wind on the summit and not too many people. We wore spikes up. The trail was packed enough not to need snowshoes, even though we brought them. We continued in spikes for the upper part of the Jewell Trail due to a lot of bare rock, but as we descended into tree line, there was more snow so Ryan literally said, "If it stays like this we can change into snowshoes." We continued on just to be sure the conditions stayed all snow for another few minutes when we came across 3 people in the trail who basically accosted us for not being in snowshoes. It was insane! And not how you handle something like that. I was pretty taken aback by how rude they were. Ryan tried to move on, but I stopped because I was so dumbfounded at how nasty these people were. I told them we were just about to change into them, but they wouldn't even listen. They accused us of postholing... which we did NOT do. And "roto-tilling" the trail. Our boots were barely even making a mark in the snow. And not to mention that this early season snow is kind of crap anyway. Ryan called me off so I ran down the trail to him and the fucker in his ridiculous snow suit continued yelling at us and Ryan yelled back. Finally we just continued to run on even farther withOUT snowshoes because we just wanted to get away from these awful people. Once we had a good distance on them, we stopped and put on our snowshoes... as we had planned prior to running into them. I was so bummed out that our awesome day was ruined, but we talked through it enough as we ran to totally get over it. By the time we finished we were feeling good again. That whole interaction could have been so much better if they hadn't just gone into a rage right off the bat. This is how it could have gone had they not been extremely rude and accusatory before we ever spoke a word...

Them- "Hey, guys. You really should be wearing snowshoes in these conditions so you aren't ruining the trail we just packed down. Bare booting and post-holing can ruin the trail."

Me- "We totally understand and get frustrated when people mess up trails with bare boots and post-holes. We had our snowshoes off because of the bare rocks up higher, and we were literally just about to stop and put on these snowshoes once we realized the conditions would stay like this."

Them- "Oh! Ok, great! We just weren't sure if you were aware. Thanks so much for putting on the snowshoes."

Me- "No problem! Have a great rest of your hike!"

Maybe not that cheesy, but along the same lines. Haha.

Instead it ended with profanity and everyone left angry. I'm just thankful that we were able to turn it around and not be left upset by the end of the trip. It was too beautiful of a day to be ruined.


Love this photo so much. That smile!









After Ryan messed up his hip, he was down for the count for 2 days. Could barely even walk, but he got himself in a good mental place and started doing strengthening and short walks with the dogs. A week later he was ready for a short mountain hike and some skinning laps at King Pine. Saturday, we hiked up Mt Crawford with the dogs in the fresh snow. Started off in snowshoes the first 1.5 miles until we just couldn't walk on the bare rocks anymore. Snow cover is still just way too thin. We didn't see a single person the entire hike. 

Once again, that smile...







Being silly...



The next day, we did 5 laps at King Pine. A little over 2.5 hours. 5.7 miles. But only 1,509ft of elevation gain. Haha. The mountain is super small, but it's so close to the house for a quick few laps and a season pass is only $50. (I also got a Black Mt uphill pass so I can do that while John skis, but there's been no snow!) It was nice getting used to my new AT set-up. Andrew Drummond's rentals definitely left me a little spoiled and used to lighter gear. My gear is definitely heavy, but the skis are rugged and fast downhill. Looking forward to Friday Night Lights this Friday to use them. Skipped this past Friday because I worked the overnight at Conway Fire. The course looked pretty terrible anyway so I don't feel like I missed much. 


That's not a fat belly. It's my skins inside my jacket. Haha.


Photos from some other runs and walks over the last month...













Mt Hedgehog snowshoe run. I'm pretty much done with Dion Snowshoes. Not sure why I jumped on the bandwagon with these things. Time to change brands.



Ryan's hip was in so much pain when we took this photo during our road run in Center Conway.



Iron Mt Run. Solo. Ran up and back from Red Fox Grill.




Bear Notch Rd. Conditions were pretty crappy. About 1-2in of soft snow with smooth ice underneath. Added 3 miles via the Upper Haystack Snowmobile Trail. 10 miles total.




Mid December, I dragged Ryan along for my annual trip to Throwback Brewery for the Fat Alberta release. It ended up being an amazing date night, especially since I had just spent 5 hours on a fire scene manning the ambulance with Chris Perley that morning. Throwback could set the example for how all restaurants should operate in Covid times. All outdoor seating with Solo Stoves. It was so awesome. The food was amazing. We used up our entire 2 hour reservation. So worth the drive. We really needed a night out like this since going out to eat is a rarity, and indoor dining isn't something we're going to do anytime soon. And of course, like every year, we ran into Amy and Rick Bernard! Heather Searles was there, too!

Perley and me...




Have I mentioned that awesome smile enough yet?






Christmas ended up super laid back. We didn't even go for a run. Instead, I joined Ryan in the pouring rain for morning chores at the farm. It was cool to see what he does every day. I rode in the tractor with him, and just as we headed back, the valve stem blew causing all of the Rim Guard in the tire to come shooting out... all over Ryan's car. Haha. I thought it was funny. Not sure he did. 😊 I got on the spin bike while he went back for afternoon chores. Ate chocolate cream pie from Batter Up and watched movies. 

We exchanged a few gifts. Ryan got me a new running pack and a Patagonia jacket. Way too much! But I love it. John came home midday from his grandparents but just hung out in his room. Haha. Pretty uneventful Christmas for the most part.



The goats trapped themselves in the rain. Too afraid to continue to the food and too afraid to go back to the shelter so they continued to stand there in the rain. Haha.





I worked the on-call shift on Christmas Eve. Wayne and I ended up on a transfer to Maine Med. Spent an extra hour on the side of the road in Brownfield with a young girl who had driven off the road. She was fine, but we waited with her until a tow truck arrived... 3 hours after she'd gone off the road. It was late when I got home so I sat by the Christmas tree (that John cut down) with Phoenix in my lap and had a beer. 




New Year's Eve was a fucking blast. I don't know the last time I've had so much fun. Ryan had set up surround sound in the living room the day before so we literally had a dance party for hours. John's girlfriend came over, but they hid in his room probably horrified at what the old people were doing outside. Haha. We drank beers that Ryan's boss had given him and ate "goat poop". 


Cheesy! I know! 😄😄

The coolest part of the night involves this bottle. I didn't realize until now that my photo of it is horrible (too many drinks).


On the front it says, "NOT FOR HER" and "Save for divorce is final day". On the back, Bryan had written, "To new beginnings". I bought 2 bottles of this for mimosas when I had some lady friends over for a brunch and hike I'd put together in August 2014. 



We had a fun time, but in the back of my mind was that my husband had just gone camping the night before alone with another woman. I had so many mixed feelings. Upset at his blatant disrespect. Nervous excitement that he actually cheated on me and I'd finally have my out. Cheating was the one thing I wouldn't tolerate so if he crossed that line, I'd finally have the guts to divorce him. After my friends left, the unopened bottle of sparkling wine went into the refrigerator. Bryan came home with only enough time to change and then leave for work until the next morning. I left for work the next morning for a 24 hour shift. The next time I talked to him, he confessed he had cheated on me with her and I told him we were done. And the rest is history... except for the fact he brought her to our home while I was at work and used my things to make her a birthday cake and then left the cake in the refrigerator. That's when I wrote "Not for her" on nearly every food or drink in the house. Haha. (I only laugh now because I ended up actually liking the woman and always wanted to thank her for helping me be free). Bryan saw the "not for her" on the bottle and wrote, "To new beginnings," probably the only nice thing he did since he made my life a living hell for the following 6 months. I then wrote to save it for the day the divorce was final. October 23, 2014 came and went. The bottle sat there. 

For 6 years, I couldn't open that bottle. I wanted to save it for the right person to share it with, not drink it alone. I was single for those 6 years. I honestly thought the bottle would never get opened, but Ryan was finally THE PERSON and NYE was the right night. Was the sparkling wine still good? Yep! That was unexpected. Tasted like cheap crap, though. Haha. But it was worth it. Poured it in the Bride & Groom glasses from my wedding... a style of glass I don't recommend drinking from when you're drunk and dancing. Haha. John even came out of his room after his girlfriend left and had a little for a New Year's toast.




No idea how this can ended up on the floor, but I found Phoenix licking it. Guess she likes DIPAs.
 

Random things from December

People's Covid tests ready to go to the lab. This was before we started doing over 100 tests a day. Me in my dorky Envo mask in the Covid Cottage at Memorial. 




Michelle and I had a day and night of transfers with only an hour of sleep, but we got it done. Last photo is of me exhausted at the gas station. Only 20 minutes left of a long shift. I like it, though. Drove the International all day. The air brakes aren't to difficult to get the hang of. Too bad this truck keeps breaking down. Wore a mask for 23 hours of the 24 hour shift. That got really old.




Chill and Phoenix crammed into the car with trash and recycles for a dump run.





She loves fires in the wood stove. I just don't use it enough.




Ryan plowing the driveway. ❤



Evil Lindt chocolate box that showed up at Conway Fire right before my shift on Friday night. I might have eaten more than I should have. 



I love Ryan's cream...😁


Saw this on Instagram. Goodbye, Trump!


So, plans for 2021... don't know! I've signed up for one race so far, and that's it. Not making any solid plans just yet. I definitely don't plan to have a race schedule like I used to. I'm enjoying racing less now. I had deferred Vermont City Marathon to this year, but I don't know if that's happening, and I'm not in the mood for road marathon training... indefinitely. Haha. I'd love to just do a few trail races and some short road races, but I'm not going to plan too much in advance. What I do plan on, though, is getting back into shape for longer distances. It was nice taking a year off from that. I hardly ran much over 10 miles at once in 2020. I still have to finish a few 4000-footers, but I purposely held off so I could do the last ones in winter conditions. I started them in 1998 so I'm obviously in no hurry to finish them. It was a fun goal over last summer, but I was over it by the fall.

I do know for sure I'll be doing a lot of this this winter. Starting a routine of going right to King Pine for a few laps after I get off work on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Saw 4 other people out doing the same thing as I pulled in the lot yesterday, but never saw any of them once I got out there. Peaceful solitude.