Baystate Half Marathon 2019

Date: 20 October 2019
Location: Lowell, MA

Baystate Marathon and Half Marathon and Half Marathon Relay

This was the completion of my second major running goal this year, the first being mountain goat status. This race earned me a Mill Cities Double jacket, as I had run Gate City Half Marathon in the spring.

Mt Greylock Road Race

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Mt Greylock Road Race in North Adams, MA
May 5, 2019
This race is part of the USATF Mountain Series, I ran as a Gate City Strider.

I'm a Mountain Goat! This was my 6th race to qualify. Next year I will tackle Mt Washington!

The 27th Annual Wachusett Mountain Race (3 Mile & 10K)

Wachusett Mountain Race (3 Mile & 10K) in Princeton, MA
May 25, 2019
This race is part of the USATF Mountain Series, I ran as a Gate City Strider.

I'm halfway to Mountain Goat status. 3 completed, 3 to go.

I'm not sure where to begin with this race. My family joined to cheer me on. 

It wasn't raining! Apparently I signed up super early, as I got bib number 3!

I'm glad I opted out of leggings at last minute or I would have over heated.

The first half of the race was a 3 mile hill climb and that was the USATF scoring portion. The second half makes the race a full 10k. To be honest, I'm not sure I've earned my team any points. 

Official finish photo at the end of the 10k!

The first 3 miles I powered my way up with the help of a GLRR member whom I've run with at races in the past. 

Race friend. We played interval tag at Gate City Marathon last year.

On the way up, a man on a cycle commented that I had the "best race outfit", some where on the way down I realized he was saying "nice butt" in more polite terms. 

My down the mountain time was much slower than expected. I messed up a bit with gu and electrolyte pill timing and realized I needed a bathroom, and there were none to be found, unless you count all the trees. I've never learned that skill though. Running made it worse, so I power walked my way down. 

Epic pre-race portopotty line!

I did not consume any of the hundreds of gnats swarming on the way down. I'm sure I was a sight to see waving my hands in front of on face. 

Hal's and I pre-race silly photos

It was great seeing my boys at the bottom when I finished the race and thankfully the epic portopotty line had cleared. 

Jack and I doing pre-race silly poses.

The views were amazing! I would run this race again just for the views. 

The camera really doesn't capture how fantastic this was and it wasn't raining so I could actually see.

I'm skipping Cranmore for family plans, next race is Mt Ascutney to start off my birthday weekend of races.

Looking at how short this post is, I guess my statement, the worse the weather, the better the stories.

I'm fundraising for The Youth Council, please consider donating as a birthday gift to me. 

Race Schedule 2019 - Update

A while back I posted my race plans. I just completed the first half marathon planned, and thought an update was in order.

My bibs on the wall of my adjusting room at the office.

Race List

Completed
Jan 1 - Peanut Butter Chip Chase 5k - Finisher with Family spectating
Jan/Feb - Freeze Your Buns 5k Series
Feb - Fudgicle Series
February -Taji 100 Virtual - Finisher
Mar 16 - LebRec Shamrock Shuffle 5k - Finisher
Apr 7 - Nashua Soup Kitchen 10k - Finisher
Apr 20 - Sleep Hollow  Finisher
May 5 -  Pack Monadnock- Finisher 
May 19 - Gate City Half Marathon - Finisher
May 25 R - Wachusett Mtn 10k - Finisher
Jun 8 R - Ascutney Mountain
Jun 9 R - WRT Flat and Fast 5k  My 42nd Birthday!
Jun 13 R - Hollis Fast 5k Path Of Life team
Jan 14 R - Flag Day 5k Amherst
Jun 23 - Capital City Classics 10k
Jun/Jul - Mine Falls Trail Series
Jul 7 R - Loon Mtn - Finisher
Sept 1 R - Greylock - Finisher
Sept 22 R - Granite State 10 Miler
Oct 20 R  - Baystate Half marathon - Finisher
Nov 3 R - Cambridge Half Marathon Unofficial Finisher

Planned (if there is an R next to race name, I've already registered)

Nov 16 R - Wolf Hollow 10 mile Thank you Striders!
Nov 22 R - Great Gobbler Thanksgiving Race
Nov 24 R - Novemberfest (May miss due to cross country race)

Dec 8 ? - Mill Cities Relay (Awaiting team placement with Gate City Striders)

On June 27th I have the opportunity to rappel off a sky scrapper if I can raise at least $1000 for The Youth Council(I'd love to raise more, they are a fantastic organization doing great things). Help make my 42nd birthday EPIC, donate on my fundraising site. 

Gate City Half Marathon 2019

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Gate City Marathon, Half and Relay in Nashua, NH
May 19, 2019
This race is part of the NH Grand Prix, I ran as a Gate City Strider.

I did not ask my husband to edit. You have been warned

Lessons Learned: Don't shave the day before a race and actually follow a training plan.

Observations from the Race

Going through transition with Phil

Started race with two friends, Phil and Susanne. Susanne was running her first half marathon and she finished strong long before I did.

Managed to stay with a fairly big pack of people for the first few miles, sometime around mile 3 or 4 Susanne was doing much better and took off to chase her goal time.

I liked the new course and how the first loop overlooked the second loop.

The course support between NPD, volunteers directing runners, and water stops was great, but the water stop ahead signs near Greely Park(Concord St side) were a bit early for the actual water stop location. We were running along wondering when it would appear.

The weather was unpredictable as to be expected, and while last year was ridiculously hot, this year turned cold and wet. I was happy to see that silver blankets were being handed out at the end.

Once again drinking Tailwind Rebuild* after a race reduced the feeling of eat all the things hours later.

I have no idea why in my head a half marathon is "no big deal" and should be easy. It's not easy, it's not a minor feat, it's hard and even on my 3rd half it was still hard.

Robbie, Phil and I. All smiles before the start

I need to go back to over dressing for the weather. I foolishly shaved the day before and ended up with tiny dagger like hairs on my inner thighs, then I wore one of my shorter skirts. My friction defense application wasn't doing much good even after three layers, once it got cold and started to rain, the goose bumps sealed my fate to chafe.

Please donate to my Youth Council fundraiser and help push me off a sky scrapper in June. For every dollar you donate I'll go walk a floor on a stair master, you'll be helping encourage my mountain training.

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. 

Taji 100 Week 3 Update

I completely forgot to write my week 3 summary. Now I'm through the last weekend in February. I started the week with only a 1.5 mile 'bonus'.

Taji 100 Profile and Fundraising page!

February 15th to the 21st

The week starts as always with a Friday. I've been treating Fridays as rest days and not stressing about major miles, just 1. It looks like it was a 1 mile walk in my neighborhood before dinner.

The weekend is where I have time to get miles. On Saturday I headed to Tewksbury for the Fudgcicle 5k with friends. I always get a little extra distance as I include my walk to the start and the walk back down the route to meet up with friends and run them in. This Saturday I got a PR for the race, which was nice.

Sunday was another Freeze Your Buns Race. I run these with my husband. I was thinking of running extra miles after but honestly I was nearly crawling due to cramps and just didn't want to. Realizing how many miles I did not get that I needed, I went for a mile walk after dinner. 

Husband is super excited that I've dragged
him to another 5k.

Monday is Winter Warriors, which generally means 4-5 miles. There was ice everywhere, so we had to modify the route for safety.  Even with that I managed just over 4 miles while chatting with a friend. It was getting slippery as the run went on and the weather got colder. 

Tuesday was a super busy day, between the office and our Meals on Wheels route. After work was a PTO meeting. In the Spring I might have considered getting dropped off and running home, but placement of snow on the roads between my home and the school, made that very unsafe in the dark. Instead I headed off to the Y and had a treadmill party of 1. I did a lot more walking and less distance than I planned but the dramatic increase in weekly miles has been taking it's toll.

Post YMCA treadmill run

Wednesday's miles were nearly an accident. I headed to the Y to walk a bit before my chiropractic appointment. I felt great and ended up walking over 3 miles on the indoor track. That was the visit that sparked my last blog post. 

My watch did all the C25K reminders!

Thursday morning the roads were gross and icy. We decided to stay local that day and hit the Y at lunch to run. After work that night was Winter Warriors again, which is sadly coming to an end. Can I just express how done I am with 10+ mph winds with below freezing temps? I can handle below freezing, but a 12-20+ mph wind just sucks the heat and breath out of me. That said, aside from careful footing in the park due to slippery slush and then patches of black ice near the high school, I still managed 4 more miles. 

That was the end of the week, getting ready to head into the last week and final stretch. I had 76.65 miles.  Just a small buffer to help. 

Confession Time: Run Club and Stats

Photo credit to GLRR Fudgcicle group

Confession 1: I've been afraid to wear my Gate City Striders singlet because I'm not a competitive runner. I doubt I'll ever be on a podium and or win points for the team. This was all me, I have never met a member of the Striders that has said anything to this effect. Every member I have met has been supportive and encouraging. Last weekend I decided to get over it and wear my singlet at the GLRR Fudgcicle race, because I'm a member and I'm proud to be on the team.  Expect to see me out more with it at races, I love the color.

Confession 2: I've stopped being as precise with my stat tracking, while steps from just walking around don't get recorded in my run tracker, planned and executed walks, such as today's mile at lunch do. I'm not separating walks from runs anymore. It's all movement, it's time on my feet and it's often in my running sneakers(I need that mileage tracked). One of my Ultra running friends said something about training for an ultra is all about time on your feet and less about pace. Thank you Friend! That was the piece I need to just let it go. I know more time on my feet with translate to a better over all pace, and this year I'm running enough races to get an idea of what I'm at.

2019 Race Plans

I've been slowly putting together my race plans for the year and registering for races.

The year started off with the Peanut Butter Chip Chase 5k in Temple, NH . This is a fun charity race that is all hills. I took it easy, met a horse and laughed my way through the race with a good friend.

A week later the Freeze Your Buns series started and my husband joined me. Sadly due to a snow & ice store the second race was canceled. There are 3 remaining in the series.

List of races I want to do with check boxes. I'll type out the races at the bottom of the blog post.

Everything with a Pink R has been registered for, the rest I'll register for as my budget allows.

I'm undecided about running Baystate or CHAD. CHAD gets me Granite Runner Status, but Baystate Gets me Mill Cities Double jacket.

I'm standing in front of a window next to a table. I'm wearing
a pink tank that say Miles Change You and a pink Gym Girl
Ultra skirt. 

Along with New Hampshire Grand Prix, I'm going for Mountain Goat status to get a By Pass for Mount Washington. Other than those, Pineland Farms is a Running Festival, and I'm unsure about that one due to lodging expenses, or we risk freezing by camping. Taji 100 is that same as last year, a virtual race. If I succeed, I'll order a shirt. Hamster Wheel was a blast last year as a pacer, maybe his year I do it as a runner and aim for a 50k or 100k.

Thanks to my Ambassadorship, I'm all set for clothing with Skirt Sports, but I am likely going to need to get some new gear for this years racing schedule. I need to find a vest that fits properly and comfortably. I will need to get at least 1 pair of trail running sneakers. Currently my only sneakers are road running.  My Amazon Wishlist

I love Brooks Ghost 10, if anyone has any suggestions on trail sneakers that are close to those for drop and design, please share!

Race List

New Hampshire Grand Prix
LebRec Shamrock Shuffle 5k
Red Shoe Barn 5 mile
Gate City Half Marathon
WRT Flat and Fast 5k
Capital City Classics 10k
Boot Scootin Boogie 5k
Granite State 10 Miler

Mountain Goat Races
Sleep Hollow
Pack Monadnock
Cranmore
Loon
Greylock
Waterville Valley

Other
Peanut Butter Chip Chase 5k
Freeze Your Buns 5k Series
Taji 100 Virtual
Pineland Farms
Baystate Half marathon
Hamster Wheel
Novemberfest

Posting this without editing, and maybe I'll go back and turn all these race names to links so you can register too.

Sub 30 - Second Attempt

Friday June 15th Flag Day 5k in Amherst NH.

I told NO one that this race was another attempt at a sub 30. A part of me was nervous about another defeat, and a part of me wanted the out of "nope, didn't try".

This is the first race in a while that I headed off to solo without a clue where I was going and no idea if I would know anyone once I got there. Due to that, my introvert anxiety was on high alert before I left and I swear I delayed leaving the house 3 times for 1 more bathroom trip.

Setting my GPS I headed off to parts unknown. Well, not entirely unknown I'd been to that very location for a fourth of July parade a few years back, but I was a passenger, my husband did the driving and we ended up parking over a mile from the green and walking. Speaking of parking, that was the one thing I was nervous about, where and since it was a small town, would it be obvious. I was right to be nervous, but since I got there early I pulled up behind another car and hoped for the best.

Checking in went smoothly and I got to walk around a bit. I bought a bunch of raffle tickets, less to win awesome items(more on that later) and more to support the Moving Wall.

I may have found the introverts trick to meeting people at races, dress silly. I felt extremely awkward but I wore a patriotic tutu and thus people stopped to say hi and compliment my outfit. I ended up having a nice conversation with another runner.

As more runners showed up, I bumped into another She Runs This Town member and a few Gate City Striders. I chatted with a woman around my mothers age in a Naval uniform. Her stories were different than my mothers stories from the Navy. My mother was an officer, she was enlisted. She talked about how the men treated them like ladies and were careful about their language around the women. She was a photographer but just printed other people photographs. In contrast, my mother's stories involve improving staffing numbers at her station, and arranging honor guards for funerals as it was Vietnam Era. The only policy she's ever mentioned that applied to women was that at the time you could not be pregnant and in the military. Pregnancy was an automatic discharge.

As we started to line up under the fire truck ladder and flag for the anthem, my stomach screamed at me to EAT. I'd left my clif blocks in my car, which was now too far away to claim with moments before the race starting. The volunteers gave out little flags for us to wag for a picture and run with if we wanted to. I did.

Can you find me? Photo credit: Race 

The race was a nice course and oddly well shaded.  My less than perfect hydration for the day and hunger led to me fighting side stitches the first mile. Some focused pressure and breathing seemed to help ease it. I pushed onward. Just like with the marathon I felt like I was playing interval tag with a couple of other runners. Interval tag is where myself and other runners take alternating walk breaks and end up repeatedly passing each other.

I can not tell you how happy I was for the water stop, or that the water stop was at the top of a short steep hill.  Woohoo an excuse to walk. The problem was, this was the half way point and I knew a sub 30 was still possible if I didn't give up. I also contemplated the days of being in the back of the pack and not really caring about time. But here I was pushing for a sub 30 and it was still within reach. Somewhere after the mile 2 marker I saw unicorns. Yes seriously, two women in unicorn costumes with a decorated car cheering on runners. That gave me a boost of speed and I pushed it another quarter mile, before I started to struggle again.

Pushing my way to the finish Photo Credit: Race

As I closed in on the end of the race, I realized while I wasn't going to get my sub 30, I was going to get a new personal record. With that in mind I dug deep and ran the last 0.1 miles to finish in 30:32!

It took me a bit of walking to be able to grab water and drink after that. I cheered on a bunch of finishers and high fived a little girl who rode in a stroller the whole race while I'm guessing her grandfather ran. Eventually I chatted with the PTs at the event and signed up for roller kneading of my legs.  Later, my name was called on the loud speaker, which was just to check in with the organizer as I always request a 2nd medal to mail to Kelsie.

Since I bought a lot of raffle tickets I hung out to see if I won. I was well rewarded for my donation. I won a Her Tribe Athletics tank top and the only hard part was deciding which one to get. I also won TWO entries into the Santa Shuffle, so now I need to figure out who to bring.

The face you make when you miss your
goal but still get a PR. photo credit: race

Sub 30 - First Attempt

To celebrate my birthday, I attempted a sub 30 5k, or in non-runner language, I attempted to run 5 kilometers in under 30 minutes.

My first attempt I talked about a bit in my last post. I signed up for Hunger is the Pitts with my local chapter of She Runs This Town. I asked on the group if anyone would be willing to pace me for the race, and Nancy offered. I'd never met Nancy before but runners are awesome like that. We chatted a bit, I shared with her some of my previous run times.

The Monday before the race, the Gate City Striders Mine Falls series started. The weather was on the chilly side, so I opted to delay my plan of bringing my children to run that race. Instead I decided to challenge myself, without a pacer or a friend to chat with and distract me, could I run a fast 5k. Could I push myself to have my pace around 10 min miles?

With that race time of 31:41, I felt good. Evening races are not my thing, I know I run worse in the evening than in the morning. I was hungry during that race.

Now onto Sunday's Hunger is the Pitts race. This race benefited the NH Food Bank. Our chapter of SRTT had decided to coordinate our outfits. I was one of 30 or 40(maybe more I didn't count) women running in tutus. I got to the race early as I like to do because parking is the most stressful part of running for me. I was likely one of the first 10 people at the race that wasn't volunteering.

Once there, I did the next thing I always do at races, stand around awkwardly because my inner introvert doesn't know how to meet people. The area for pre/post race hanging out was fantastic, we were in the backyard of the Auburn Pitts restaurant. Had I known what this layout would be, I would have insisted the rest of the family come. The area would have been easy to let the boys run around while I'm out running. Plenty of picnic tables to sit at, shade to avoid the sun(and it was going to be a hot day), corn hole set up for playing, and all in a fenced in grassy area with no cars.

Nancy and I before race started. You can see how bright it already was out.

I met up with Nancy who had gone full on princess mode. Pink tutu, and tiara. Two of her friends were dressed the same. It was awesome! She had used glitter letters to add "PACER" to her tank top. We talked strategy, correction she shared her suggestions and strategy with me. It was getting close to the start so we headed over to do the big SRTT picture. I bumped into my good friend Robbie who was also celebrating her birthday. We chatted a bit, took a picture and finally lined up to run. At this point I was starting to get hungry, and the sun was starting to get hot.

Start. Nancy and I ran off, trying to navigate all the people at the start. One of the biggest things I'm getting used to with this pace is having to deal with other runners. The number of 12-14 min mile runners is sparse, sure they are there but they spread out, they take walk breaks. When I was running my 37 min 5ks, I rarely had to worry about runners around me, I could see them, but I wasn't running close to them.

The race started with a downhill and we did our best to keep with the planned pace, while letting other runners settle into their places in the pack. It didn't occur to me what starting the out and back race on a downhill would mean for the finish. We chatted and I was doing pretty good at this point. The race turned onto the rail trail and we got some shade for the next mile or so. The crushed rock path wasn't an issue for me, I'm used to Mine Falls. I was beginning to struggle at this point though. Soon the path narrowed and we had to go single file to make room for the runners coming toward us. It was great to see Nancy's friend run by us looking like she was barely trying, but it also made running difficult as I needed to pay more attention to footing and speed. Nancy told me to focus on her and I tried my best. As we got close to the turn around, I needed a quick walk break and we needed to walk the turn around that was a tiny side path that went up and down, uneven footing, and then back to single file running. I was struggling more and more at this point. Nancy and I talked and that helped distract me but I was starting to have trouble talking and running. I could still breathe.

Breathing, we had a great discussion, or more her speaking encouraging informative words while I listened. I was able to breathe, but according to my heart rate monitor I was up around 190-195 beat per minute. She talked about lactic acid threshold and that 5ks should hurt, they are a different race than a marathon. All of this lead to much research the day or two after the race.

Remember how I said the race started on a downhill, when we hit the pavement again we had some breathing room to run, I'd slowed down too much, or taken too many walk breaks my 2nd mile was too slow to succeed at the sub 30 without really digging deep and pushing out an amazingly fast 3rd mile.  Just as I wondered if it was possible, we hit the hill, now going up it. I walked more and more, I was hot, I was thirsty, and my legs hurt.  This was all new to me. I walked more than I should, I remember the moment I knew it wasn't going to happen. I looked at my watch and saw it click over to 30 minutes. I looked up and saw what I thought was the turn for the finish line. I was wrong, it was people directing traffic and cheering, I had more to go. Nancy was encouraging me as I walked more and more. My heart rate was not coming down. As we got to the end, I started running, faster now and we crossed at 31:14. Better than Monday. We talked a few moments and even though I missed the goal I still felt good. I was able to get some finishing photos of Robbie, and the three of us posed for pictures.

Nancy and I finishing the race.

After Robbie and I hit the food line and I was able to get a burger. Normally I avoid all post race food and while burgers are safe, if the grill is also cooking cheeseburgers, then I assume cross contamination happens. The cheese was available in the condiment area, it was not added on the grill, the burgers were safe!  Yay! I was hungry and not hungry as I was still calming down from running. I did get to surprise Robbie by sticking a birthday candle in her burger and singing Happy Birthday to her. My birthday was the day before and it was her birthday on race day.  We chatted for a while, relaxed and eventually we headed off our separate ways to go home.

Nancy, Robbie and I post race.

I may have missed my goal time, and Nancy pointed out in perfect running conditions I would have succeeded, faster runners that day were missing their usual finish times by 1-2 minutes. I missed mine by 75 seconds. In all honestly, the course was not a good on for a PR, between the single file running, ankle risking turn around and ending on an uphill. Even with that in mind, I'd run it again, but not for time and I'd bring the family to run/walk or just hang out. I had a fantastic time, made a new friend and spent time with a friend I've known for decades.

The Thursday after this race was the Hollis Fast 5k. I suspected if I ran that I'd get my sub 30, but I want my sub 30 on a standard 5k course, not a course designed for it. I opted out of the Thursday night race early in the week and it was a good thing, as Thursday was a LONG day in the office and I was exhausted by the end.

My next attempt was on Friday June 15th for a small town Flag Day 5k to raise money for the Moving Wall.