Pack Monadnock 10 mile Mountain Race

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Pack Monadnock 10 Miler in Wilton, NH
May 5, 2019
This race is part of the USATF Mountain Series, I ran as a Gate City Strider.

After I finished before I started on the walk back down.

Mountain race number 2 is complete. 

Last big fight of the game.

This was the closest I've gotten to a DNS(Did Not Start) in a long time. The day before we hosted my sons birthday party at the house. I ran a table top role-playing game for the kids. Realms of Terrinoth*, part of the Genesys system*, for those that are curious.  My son wanted pizza and funky shaped mac&cheese. I'm allergic to dairy. While I did not touch or eat any of it, the smell in the air pretty much set my adrenals on high alert, DANGER, DANGER. I could not sleep Saturday night and I felt completely off on Sunday morning when I got out of bed. My stomach was off. I ate half the amount of food I intended which turned out to be helpful. I swear I had 3 bathroom trips before we left the house, a stop at a gas station on the way(it was only a 45 minute drive), and then 2 more before starting the race.

For my non-endurance racing friends, we want several bathroom trips to happen before a race, that is much better than needing a bathroom during the race. Though even with that knowledge I was getting worried, and I didn't know if there were any porta-potties on the course.

I'm sharing my stats for this race if only to be honest. When I was planning on the race I was thinking 2 hours or 2 hours and 15 minutes. The morning of, I realized, I'd either have the PR of a life time or a hot mess of a disaster. I honestly ended up in a very happy middle ground. In the end I took 2 hours and 45 minutes to go 10 miles uphill. I did that with tummy issues, and essentially on an empty stomach. I consumed 3 1/2 clif bloks*(I had to spit on out because my tummy was not ready for food yet), and 2 endurolyte pills.

Finisher photo from the race. How was I not looking at the camera?

Pack Monadnock offers a sunshine start at 8:30am. I opted for that as I had no idea if I could get to the base of the mountain within 2 hours and would rather not chance it. I was amazed by the number of early starters, and suspect several just wanted to start early to be done earlier. The 30 minutes was added to our official time. Right before the whistle, my friend Laurie said, no big deal just a 15 minute mile and we'll do great. Listening to that, and knowing the last time I ran 10 miles was in April 14th and that was very flat. As I hadn't warmed up before the race. I treated the first mile as a warm up, and kept my spreed slow as well. At some point Laurie and I realized we were going at about the same pace, catching up, passing and then catching up again. I asked if she minded if I ran with her, I'm an introvert. So it's easier to ask if someone wants to put up with me, than worry the whole time that I'm a burden.

Selfie with Laurie!

Asking was the best decision of this race! Laurie and I had a great time chatting the whole way, encouraging each other and taking pictures, pointing out the sights. The course is beautiful by the way. A race I thought I was going to run solo, and just power through to check it off my list, became a very pleasant and fun experience.

In hind sight I wished I had climbed to the top to get a picture up there but I'm not sure I would have been OK with stairs at that point. 

I danced too close to hypothermia at Sleepy Hollow, so I over dressed for this race. About 2 miles in Laurie helped as I took off one layer of shirt. The Skirt Sports Toasty Queen Skirt* were perfect for me. My legs stayed comfortable and warm the whole race. Which means for most normal people the leggings would have been way too warm. I'm a little sad that I'm still running in my winter gear in May, but the raw rainy cold is almost worse than the dry freezing cold.

There were some hills, or really only 1.

If you are up for the distance, consider this race next year. As a back of the packer the course was fantastic for support, the 30 minute early start helped as well. Even the fog added to the experience, though no promises you get cool fog next year.

Look at he scenic view! We were in the clouds, I mean fog.

Just posing with a sign, showing off my purple tights.

This was a challenging race due to the distance and near non-stop climb. It was also my first point to point race which lead to some confusion as to where my husband should wait for me. While I was running, he was having pancakes in Wilton with our boys. After the race we stopped by an adorable candy shop and the boy got to watch a machine cut and wrap fresh caramel.

Watching the caramel machine

On the same thread of doing crazy hard things, I'm rappelling off the Brady Sullivan Tower in Manchester, NH to raise money for the Youth Council, please donate to my page and help push me over the edge. More on that in an upcoming blog for sure!

Sleepy Hollow Mountain Race

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Sleepy Hollow Mountain Race in Huntington, VT
April 20, 2019
This race is part of the USATF Mountain Series, I ran as a Gate City Strider.

This was my first trail race and my first mountain race. April is Mud season in Vermont and many of the side roads were flooded, or so it seemed. I wonder if Vermont paves any road that is not a main route or highway.

Pre-Race Selfie!

My husband Alex and I drove up to Vermont and stayed in a condo the night before about 45 minutes from the race. The drive up got interesting when it started to rain. We arrived about an hour after we planned.
The morning of the race, the skies were overcast without rain. The drive to the mountain was pleasant and we even drove by the place we got married nearly 12 years ago.  On Friday, I discovered there was a risk of thunderstorms. I don’t mind rain, but thunderstorms terrify me, the idea of running alone in the trails with that going on is something I hope to never experience.

I knew the weather had the potential to be bad, and that there would be MUD.  At the start of the race they brought up the storms again and said that safety came first. I decided if the thunderstorms started before I set out on my third loop I was done. Luckily they did not.

The race has begun!

Just before the race was to begin, the skies opened up and the rain started again. Thecourse is 3 ascents and 3 descents, with the last one starting after you cross past the finish area.

The first ascent right at the start

The first 20 mins of the race were horrible. Adjusting to power hiking(I wasn’t running) up a steep muddy hill where I had to focus on every step to avoid having my foot sucked into mud or slipping, along with the transition from dry feet to wet feet. Once they were wet all was good, but when my right foot was soaked and my left foot only damp in some areas, I can only focus on that. I watched the rest of the runners disappear into the mountain. There was a man behind me that was coughing and I think he threw up, but I wasn't looking back to see. He eventually passed me and I didn't see him on the trails again, which with the trees and turns he could have been close and I wouldn't have known. By the top of the first ascent I was fairly alone in my run. I could see one person in front of me.
The first decent was a new experience, I swear I made it down without falling by pulling in so many skills from my past. Ice hockey to control a slide, larping to make rapid changes to where my feet land as the ground could be mud, deep mud, leaves with light mud or rocks. As it bottomed out there was a water stop and some smiling people. I ate a Clif Blok,  chatted and continued on. I may even have run a bit as it was flatish.

Somewhere on the first half of the course.

Darth Vader Trail

Along I went until the next ascent, which was no where near as bad as the first or so I thought. At a turn, I saw the Darth Vader signs(on left and right) and thought really that wasn’t bad what were they talking about. That was a mistake I was about to turn right onto Darth Vader and quickly my misjudgment was corrected as I tackled switch backs. Now I had read about the challenge of switch backs in Mirna's book*, but I honestly had never experienced them. Switch backs musts be experienced to understood.  As I climbed I came to a small bridge and found the sith, took a picture and then carefully started around bridges and continued on the steep switchbacks(why did I sign up for this again?) trail. At the top, a man joked i was still in first place for ribbons. Along the way I saw Princess Leia, but my phone was misbehaving due to the rain, and that my hands were wet.

I don’t remember too much from that decent. Just that I was getting close to the start area when I needed to decide to continue or quit. Sky looked good so I continued. Seeing people also helped encourage me along. One of the women at the water stop made a joke that not a hair was out of place on my head. As I started the final ascent I was passing runners who were done and heading to the finish. My watch was 1/4-1/2 mile off so I couldn’t trust it for how much further but when I saw the 5 mile marker I was so happy. 1.5 miles to go I can do 1.5 miles. I was starting to feel the cold at this point, getting zings in my hand and arm. The puddles were cold on my feet, rather than nothing. The Han Solo trail had the best views but my phone was still not behaving. I did stop on a boulder and just look out and appreciate all I could see. On the descent I saw the 6 mile marker and knew I was almost done. Then the 75 meters to finish sign at the bottom of a short hill, as I got to the too one last burst or running and I was done and starting to notice how cold I was.

Asoka is A Soaked.
Finisher!

Alex was waiting under the pavilion for me. I was glad he was there to take care of me. I didn't realize how cold I was. I had planned on 60's and raining, which I can handle, and had joked if it was 40's and raining I might be in trouble. I was wet all the way through and in trouble. My food allergies made hitting the burrito bar off limits. After washing my lower legs and sneakers off we entered the lodge. I wish I had taken a picture of how muddy I was. It was rather impressive even if the puddles on the course kept washing it off. Thankfully another runner posted their shoes to instagram. Once in the lodge we realized we failed to bring a post race outfit. I stripped off my wet shirts and used my dry run jacket as a shirt. Drank my Tailwind Rebuild* and then we headed to the car so I could strip off my sneakers and leggings. By random chance my ugly black sweatpants that I thought I'd thrown out were in there so I could strip out of my Gym Girl Ultra skirt that was soaked through as well. Now we know for next year what to pack.

Once we got back to the condo, Alex made the most amazing spread of smoked salmon, cucumbers, fresh salsa, rice cakes and potato chips. I want to do this race again, but next year I'll do better training and spend more time on the stair master.

Next Race is Pack Monadnock.

More Photos

I found Padme! 

This was my Asoka belt flap under my bib. 

Green line is Elevation, Red is heart rate. Even the descents were hard. 

Exercise Road Block: Workout Clothing

One of my road blocks in the past to exercise was work out clothing. 

At the Y in my favorite Gym Girl Ultra Skirt.

As an ambassador with Skirt Sports I have tackled the looking good and feeling comfortable while working out.

The bigger problem was, the "I can't go to the gym without the proper clothing" road block.  I'd forget my bag, a piece of clothing or forget to pack, and then justify that as a reason to skip going.

Maybe it's because the Y is a different than gyms I've been in before, but I noticed there are plenty of people walking the track in street clothing.

Now if I forget something, I still go, I just walk. Though I'm fairly certain I have seen someone running the track in jeans and sandals.

As minor as this is and as obvious as the solution is, this was seriously a road block to getting to the gym and working out.

Today I just walked 3.1 miles after my morning shift and before my appointment with my chiropractor.

Pushing myself to run or walk 100 miles in February without the assistance of a marathon training plan has brought many of my excuses into the clear for me to confront them. I'll be better off for having done this challenge.

Taji 100 - Virtual Race to Benefit Red, White & Blue

Have Skirt, Will Travel - Chicago

A few weeks ago I went on a business trip. When booking my plane tickets I discovered some things had changes in the years since I had last flown. Unless I wanted to pay extra, I could only bring 1 bag that fit under the seat in front of me. I'm not the lightest packer to be honest, so this took some thought. Thankfully it was summer and my skirts don't take up much space.

The trip: 4 days in Chicago, of which 2 would be in a seminar room that might be excessively air conditioned.

The plan: Wear the heaviest clothing on the plane(jeans, long sleeves, and a sweatshirt). Bring only 1 pair of shoes, that needed to be versatile enough for running and walking. Leave laptop at home, relay on phone for all computing needs. Pack snacks and tea, so I have something if there is nothing there I can eat. Take full advantage that my running skirts can double as everyday wear, takes up very little space, and can easily be washed in a hotel room sink.

I may have over packed honestly. Snacks, notepads, purse and 5 outfits. What's missing is my run belt and hydration bottles that I brought as well. 

Broad Sided by July

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.” - Mary Anne Radmacher

July and August this year have been DIFFICULT.

My Baystate Marathon training never started. I've gone running, but the speed I was gaining in June is gone. The last time I ran 5 miles was July 7th, and in August, my furthest distance is 3.28 miles.

While I'm still hoping to run and finish the race, at this point the likelihood of success is dropping. I may opt to just run the half marathon and earn my jacket in the spring with Gate City Half.

The good news is, I'm still running. Not as often as I should for marathon training and not as far, but I didn't quit when life got hard. I can thank Kelsie,  my support network and new Pokemon Go challenges for that.

At a total of 470 miles run this year, I'm tracking very well to hit my 500 miles in the year goal.

Miles for Meghan

I'm not sure how to begin this blog, so here it is, I've begun.

On Friday night when I got home from the flag day 5k, I checked Facebook and saw the news about one of my Skirt Sisters, another Skirt Sports Ambassador, had been involved in a horrid tragedy.

News:

Mom, kids shot point-blank after Westminster road rage incident, affidavit says

It's a hard article to read, and honestly you've likely heard about it on your local new affiliate. 

I was in shock, sure I've heard horrific stories in the news, but never have they ever hit so close to my circle. I didn't even tell my husband that night, I just talked about my race and kept the horror to myself. 

Miles for Meghan

Saturday morning I told my husband.  I changed to run so that I could include that with our plans for the day. I did not intend to run on Saturday but I did 1 mile, relatively slowly for Meghan. I spent the late morning and mid day with my family, wondering a park and downtown Nashua. I shared the story on my instagram and fb page.

I checked for updates and plans to support Meghan and her family. I prayed for them, as she and her son struggled in the IUC and for her husband. 

On Monday I donated blood. I'm all for preventative medicine and making healthy choices, Meghan was as well, but somethings you can not control. In a crisis, one of the critical supplies needed is blood and it's not something we can manufacture in a lab. 

If you are like me, you may be wondering what can I do? Right now, these are the simple things you are do.

1) Donate to help the Bigelow family with expenses. https://www.gofundme.com/official-bigelow-family

At a local Red Cross blood drive.

2) Donate Blood. They are alive because of blood transfusions, if you are able, help make sure if anyone else is in dire need the supply is there. 

You may need to click on this picture to make it readable.

Colorado friends, there are specific drive going on with Bonfils Blood Center.

If you are anywhere else, the Red Cross has set up a virtual blood drive. If you do the instagram/facebook hashtag thing, use #Fight4Bigs 

Shoot for the Moon

This post contains affiliate links. I make a commission for purchases made through the links in this post. These types of links are indicated by an *. 

I promised my husband no more marathons unless I could find a way to do it without disappearing from the family. If I run the Baystate Marathon, I'll get one of the first Mill Cities Doubles jackets. 

Enter in the book Run Less Run Faster* from Runner’s World. As I read through it I realized, this plan could work. I’m already trained up for a marathon, and mostly recovered. I could do this.

Track Workout last week.

If you recall the weekend before I ran my marathon, I had an unexpected pace increase (a huge one!) and now I’m a few weeks post marathon, the speed is still there, or mostly there.

Run Less Run Faster has a bunch of tables to predict times and set goals. When I look at my fastest 5k time, I am looking at a marathon prediction of 5 hours! That seems insane to me. My first marathon was 6 hours and 5 mins. I was aiming for less than 6 hours and I’ve been informed that missing it by 5 minutes with the temperatures that day was amazing.

When I break down my goal paces, I’ll be looking at 11:27 for the actual marathon, around 12:27 for long runs and as fast as 10:12 for week day training. A part of me thinks trying for it is insane, but another part of me think, no I can do it. I can run fast. The only thing that will stop me is me. 

If I train for 5 hours, and end up with 5 hr and 30 mins, I'll still be super proud of that accomplishment. 

I wasn't trying for any speed goals with Hampton Half and ended up with a huge PR.

Do I shoot the moon and go for a 5 hour marathon?

Flat Johanna for Sunday's Race. 

This weekend I turn Forty One, to celebrate I'm running a 5k with my local She Runs This Town chapter. One of the women has offered to pace me and help push me to a sub 30 minute 5k!! It's going to be hard, but I know I can absolutely do it.  

Since it's my birthday Saturday, if you were thinking of a gift, here is my amazon wish list for running items. 

Marathon In Pictures

The written story of my first marathon, Gate City in Nashua can be read here. Since I wrote a short story rather than a brief blog post, here is the picture book version. All official race photos are from Game Face Media, who did a fantastic job with race photos.

With Robbie and Randy of the 2020 Vision Quest Team before race.


Video of Race Start. You can see me around 1:35

Official race photo at beginning, I didn't know the photographer was there.

Transition zone fro 1st or 2nd loop.  I was feeling strong, but a bit warm. 

I think this was loop 2

Near the end of Loop 2, a fellow Skirt Sports Ambassador was cheering and snapped this picture.

Loop 4, Things were NOT going well. I was running in Mine Falls and wishing a water stop to be sooner. I snapped this to pretending everything was OK

At the start of this bridge there was the most amazing water stop, but I knew it wasn't enough, they thankfully warned me about the photographer on the other side so I pulled out my smiles. 

Taking a break from running and with no other runners around, I decided to have some fun. You can see in my eyes how I was struggling. 

One of my BRF offered to run Loop 5 with me. This is was my cry for help. 

The finishing chute. BRF had sent me down solo, and insisted I run. I was so excited to know this trial was over. Photo Credit Robbie Walton

And I got a medal. I honestly don't recall much going on at this point. Photo credit Robbie Walton 

The next day was a busy day at the office, I should have rested. 

Marathon Taper

Here I am one week into my "tone it down and taper" for the Gate City Marathon. I never understood all the jokes warning a marathon runner about taper, and how crazy they can be. I mean I tapered for my half but that wasn't a big deal.

Wow. This time around it's nuts. I'm completed food paranoid between my allergies and food poisoning. I saw a tick and freaked out about home much a round of antibiotics would wreck me this close to a race. I had sushi and then panicked for 24 hours that it might have been a mistake. I'm lucky my husband loves me and knows this is temporary.

Marathon Skirt Poll

Disclaimer: I am an ambassador for Skirt Sports.

Pick the Skirt! Comment on the blog with the name of the skirt I should wear.

I can't decide between two styles of Skirt Sports skirts for my first marathon.

I'll be running the Gate City Marathon on May 20th. Historically it has been hot on that day.

The print has already been decided, I love BUBBLY! I'm not sure on shirt right now, I'm hoping that we do another batch of 2020 Vision Quest shirts like we did last year. (Hint! Hint! I'm in the picture at the bottom of the post I linked to.).

Here are the choices (pictures are taken from the Skirt Sports website)!

Gym Girl Ultra - I already have one. Mine is a few years old and if you follow me on instragram, I've been wearing it a bunch recently with tights over the shorties. The newer model has grippers to help keep the shorties in place and I hear rumor it has bigger pockets.

Image from Skirt Sports Website.

My GGU and blue socks

Go Longer Skirt - I don't have one yet, but I like everything I have worn from this company.  It is around 3 inches longer than the Gym Girl Ultra.

Image from Skirt Sports Website

Other parts of my outfit will be knee high compression socks in pink, light blue or black with blue stripes, unless I get a new pair before the race.

Help? Vote in the comments.