All the views without the work!

Scott and Bella took off today to climb Mt. Chocorua.  They got a fantastic day to do so and a gorgeous view from the top –

In addition to his pure love of the mountains, Scott’s also been taking advantage of this more mountainous terrain to prepare to run Jay Peak 25K, Vermont 50, and StoneCat 50.  That’s some race line up!!  Anyhoo, his hike up Mt Moosilaukee two weeks ago and then today's scaling of Mt. Chocorua should leave him feeling stronger and even more trail confident.  

Never mind the bonding between man and beast.  Some of the areas were too steep for Bella, so Scott carried her over/up those precarious points.  She's the baby afterall...

Hiking happened, breath taking views happened, mixed up water bottles happened (hmmm, which bottle was it that Bella drank from???), and even swimming happened –

Summit of Mt Chocorua in the background; swimming post-hike at the base

One of these days, I will get myself into one of these pictures!  But for today, I got to enjoy the gorgeous views and some fun stories without the actual work!  Scott and Bella always return home in such a happily exhausted space.  And a happy hubby and dog means a happy Lisa!

Weekend Mutterings

My reward for almost 7 hours of running between Saturday and Sunday’s back to back long runs -

I did do other things that weren’t running related.  Like…

• Celebrated my nephew’s birthday.   He loves/adores/goes crazy over Godzilla.

• I weeded.  A lot.  Seems I forgot some areas during spring cleaning and just now cleaned up some bunches of packed down leaves leftover from last Fall.  Oops.  No complaints though; weeding is therapeutic for me.

• I finally broke down and bought my new kicks.  I had well over 500 miles on my old shoes and was starting to feel some knee pain.  OK, knees, I heard you loud and clear!

• Performed the usual variety of household chores like laundry (though most of it was running wear!)

• Cooked a nice dinner for Scott and me (not my forte, but I can manage spaghetti and meatballs)

• Started to discover some string beans, cucumbers, and squash growing in our very full garden (we planted everything from seed, so more exciting than normal!)

Now it's time to put these tired feet up and enjoy the last of the weekend!   Hope you all had a great weekend J

My Quest for Slow

Come the Fall when I attempt the Ghost Train ultra, I am going to draw upon my training like no other time before.  The trick is, I know how to train for a marathon.  I’ve learned how to train for 50 miles and for 50 kilometers.  I have never trained for 100 miles.  This is new territory.

For the last several weeks, I’ve been sticking with my tried and true training, with the addition of some pretty long back to back runs each weekend.  The problem with that approach is that I’ve been running those long runs at a pace I typically train for a marathon (we always go back to what we know!).  I’ve had moments during these runs where I feel like I’m hanging on by a thread and that there’s no way I’ll be able to do more than what I’m doing that day.   A discussion with my coach (aka:  my very wise husband) has made the light bulb finally go on.

I will be walking a lot at Ghost Train.  Therefore, I must train for that.  Simple.

The last fourteen or so years of “serious” running (no, you didn’t miss an alert of my change to elite runner status; by serious, I mean, incorporating running into my lifestyle instead of just jumping into races and wondering why it’s no fun), I’ve done what everyone does – always reach for the PR…the BQ….  With Ghost Train, I may be reaching for a new distance, but that’s a PR enough for me.  I have a 30 hour time limit and, if I train properly, plan to meet that with room to spare.

I began implementing a run/walk ratio into my long runs.  And, as much as I enjoy friends’ company during these long runs, I’ve had to start declining and going solo.  It’s not them, it’s me!  I tend to fall into step with them instead of following the run/walk I had planned.  At this point in my training, almost all of my longest weekly runs are at least 25 miles.  That leaves me out there for a really long time – if I do it right.  And that’s success in my eyes.  It’s time on feet I’m after.  So time on feet I will get.  That sort of takes me out of the playing field for a little while as some of my friends will be training for other distances.  It’s a bummer because I love my running friends, but Ghost Train will be here in no time, and I will live to run again with friends very soon!

With a race of this magnitude and it being my first, I truly have no time goal (except to meet the 30 hour limit of course).  My goal for the race, just as it is for my training (now that I’ve seen the light) is patience.  I actually don’t worry about getting to the finish line as much as I worry about getting to the start.  I believe that my quest for slow will get me to the start line.   

With fourteen weeks to go, I need to make these training runs count.  I must be patient and embrace the time on my feet.  Yes, I could be doing a million other things during a 4-6 hour training period.  But that won’t get me what I need.  What I need is to be able to tuck these long run/walks into my mental and muscle memory banks so that, somewhere during the midnight-to-3:00 am time frame during the race, I’m able to make any emergency withdrawals on those memories.  Just enough to get me to the next turn-around….

Adjustments are everything!

My lunch runs have been following a particular trend lately.  It’s called summertime humidity….

Now I realize I have choices.  I could run in the mornings to try to beat the humidity, but there’s this….

Despite the humidity, I was feeling pretty good at the start of my lunch run.  A nice breeze made the humidity feel less intense, so I cut right to the chase and fell into some 8:30’s.   Soon, I got that “floating” sensation and knew I had to back off.  It’s remarkable how much of a difference 8:40’s vs. 8:30’s make when the heat/humidity are at play.  Or even if you’re just running a bit faster than comfortable.  In any case, I continued steadily in the 8:40’s range and felt SO much better.  Better yet, I did not fall to the ground and have to have the “Slush” vendor revive me (ewww).  

Although, a free Slush sure does sound good!

How is your running going in the hot and/or humid weather?  

Most importantly, what flavor Slush is your favorite?

Mountain Shenanigans

Today was just another ordinary work day for me.  Packed my running stuff and my lunch, grabbed my laptop bag and was off for another day.  What was different about today was that Scott and Bella had already hit the road….

Destination:  Mount Moosilauke!

Scott had today off, so planned a good day hike/run with Bella.  It was another hot/steamy day here, but as expected, the summit produced its own socked in climate.

Visibility?  Notsomuch.  Entertainment at the summit?  Plenty.  This group was celebrating completion of 1800 miles of hiking the Appalachian Trail.  Each summit, they dressed up or did some other fun/wacky stunt to mark the moment.  They had approximately 400 miles to go to reach Mount Katahdin.  Whoa.

Scott and Bella pushed the pace heading up to the summit and later Bella took to swimming wherever there was water.  She is a Lab of course, but the heat and the pace must’ve caught up with her.  She is zonked!

I was disappointed that I had to go to work and couldn't join in on the fun, but it warmed my heart to know Scott and Bella were playing in the mountains.  Some people gravitate to the ocean; we gravitate to the mountains.

Off to schedule some time off from work….not missing the next one!!

Blog Re-Entry

Wow it sure has been awhile….so here’s a quick catch up!  Since my last post, I’ve been busy, but just haven’t written about what I’ve been doing.  Here’s a quick catch up by picture and hopefully a re-entry into blogging!

In April, I ran the inaugural Earth, Rock, Run marathon with Scott (last minute running partner switch, due to Carrie’s return travel from hell!) –

In May, I ran Wallis Sands Half Marathon with Carrie –

Also in May, I ran the GAC Mother’s Day 6 Hour trail race –

Again in May, we planted a very full vegetable garden –

Photo bomb Bella!

(Oooh, May was busy!)  We got our “roaring 20’s” groove on at Kara’s college graduation party (yes, that’s an ice luge in the background; drink of the night?  Grape Gatsby!) –

Memorial Day weekend, I ran my first 50K race at Pineland Farms with Carrie –

My first 50K and Carrie's first ultra distance!

In June, I ran the River Run Half Marathon with Sue –

Also in June, I had another birthday….and wedding anniversary (same day), celebrating both with a long weekend in Key West with Scott –

Left: Sunset at Mallory Square.  Right:  I call this "Red Barron"!

In June (for August), I signed up for another 50K –

Lastly in June, I started a new position in my same company (it’s not a bad thing, but it has been pretty intense!) –

Thankfully my lack of writing hasn't been due to anything bad or life altering….just life!  It’s all good and I hope to allow myself more time to write about it all. 

Happy Independence Day All!