A Blurry June

June has been blurry because SO MUCH has been happening!  I realize it’s not quite over yet, but here’s a little snapshot of my busy June….

• I had a birthday
• We celebrated our wedding anniversary
• We got a great hike in
• We attended our niece’s engagement party
• We attended a graduation party
• We attended a neighborhood cookout/party
• We spectated at a friend’s 100 mile race (of course I haven’t been googling 100 mile races…that would just be silly)
• We celebrated 2 other birthdays
• We signed up for a couple more races (more to come)
• I've had a TON of work stuff happening (more to come)
• I got myself covered in poison ivy
• And of course, I ran.

As we head into July, it’s going to get C-R-A-Z-Y.  Crazy in a good way, of course.  Stay tuned!

Turning my frown upside down

My plan today was to dash out for a run as soon as my meeting ended at 11:00.  With another meeting at 1:00, I had plenty of time to change, run, shower, and even eat my lunch.  However, I procrastinated.  I wasn’t feeling it.  As the clock ticked to 11:10, and then 11:15, I texted Scott:

“I don’t feel like running L”

His reply:

“Maybe just go out and see how you feel”

That worked like a charm!  I conquered the crankiness, the dreariness of today, and the weight of too many to-do’s at work and got myself out for a run.

Within the first mile, I proceeded to pass a woman walking her dog.  I love dogs, but have a healthy respect for them.  So, I overly avoided the dog and ran on the grass.  Wait, did I say grass?  I meant swamp.  Yes, swamp most definitely articulates what I stepped into!  Before I knew it, I was ankle deep in a soggy grassy area and it seemed like it went on like that forever!

This is a re-creation; no real blades of grass were injured in the filming

The woman I passed must have realized what was happening and yelled after me, “I’m so sorry!”.  She sounded genuine and frankly, she didn’t make me overly avoid her dog, so how could I be annoyed?  I ended up laughing out loud at myself and the situation.  Shoes immediately soaked, I pressed on with a big fat smile on my face, laughing at myself and enjoying every minute of it.  For someone who had procrastinated getting out there, I sure did have myself a good time!

And a pretty damn good progression run too, if I say so myself:

I can recall times when I succumbed to the “don’t feel like running” feeling and regretted that decision almost immediately, but I can honestly say I’ve never regretted heading out for a run.  Today was no exception.

Anyone ever regret going for a run vs. not going for a run? 

 

A funny thing happened on our hike today…

…..we hit snow!  Now I realize 4000+ footers often have snow at their summits.  But this day that we hiked Mt. Moosilauke, it was June 1^st and 90 degrees!  But let me start at the beginning.

Scott had a great idea to grab a day hike up in the White Mountains.  Though we would have loved to tow our pop up camper and make a full weekend out of it, we had other plans already for Sunday.  So a day hike would have to do.  After an early wake up call, we headed North to our destination of Mount Moosilauke. We’ve hiked this mountain before, but it was a very different weather day and it was several years ago.  So for me, it felt like a brand new mountain to conquer.

We immediately hit rushing water, so Bella was diggin’ that…

Good thing she cooled off, because we had quite a bit of ascending to do….

We danced our usual dance whenever we hike; Scott practically runs up the mountain, while I practically run down the mountain.  Not sure if its long legs or center of gravity, but it all evens out in the end.  A little over 2 hours later and 4800 feet up, we were treated to the most spectacular panoramic view…

And a couple more, because I’m so afraid I’m not doing it justice…

And this is what it looked like from my Garmin’s point of view –

As we started our descent, lo and behold….SNOW!  On June 1^st with 90 degree temperatures at the bottom, we hit snow…..

We stopped for lunch, some chillin, and for Bella, more swimming in this little hideaway….

What a fantastic day!  Sun, fun, singing on the trails (not as much as usual….I was really working!), splashing, beautiful views….it was just perfect.  Did I mention NO wireless, NO internet and, other than using my phone for its camera, NO cell phone.  My head is clear, my face feels sun-kissed, my shoulders/back are just a touch sore from carrying my pack, and my legs feel like they climbed a 4800 footer.  And liked it.

By 7pm, we’re all struggling to stay awake.    These are the days that really remind me to break away and do something that I don’t HAVE to do but instead WANT to do. 

I hope you’re all doing fun stuff that you WANT to do this weekend!

Running for the trail of it

Scott asked if I was interested in running trails with him….

You can see how miserable I was to run trails with Scott....NOT!

After several days of rain and colder temperatures, Monday finally brought us some decent Spring weather (no mittens!!).  But the rain and beavers had left their mark on the road to the trail head –

Where the heck is the road??

Fortunately, we had Scott’s big rig....

It’s been 6 months since I’ve done any real training on trails and these particular trails prepared me for StoneCat last November.  Running them again after all of this time made me hunger for the challenge all over again.  After having such a great Spring marathon, I’m finding it hard to not sign up for every race I see.  And with this year’s StoneCat turning to a lottery registration, the desire is even greater!  I mean after all, don’t we always want the things we can’t have or that we can only obtain through a lottery?

Sharing some pictures of our very fun morning on the trails, courtesy of Scott –

Trail running serves as such a great reminder of how fun (and challenging) running can be.  Don’t get me wrong, I worked.  And I’m sore.  But it’s a good work and a good sore.  I mean, this self-portrait doesn’t lie!

Anyone else feeling a bit trigger happy with race registrations?

Mittens in May??

This morning brought a mixture of rain, temps hovering in the 40’s, and some bursts of wind.  What a perfect morning to run.  And even better to take Bella on the trails. 

I’m feeling great post marathon, but still in the mode of taking it easy.  I’ve been averaging 4 miles and not very often since Maine Coast Marathon.  And I’m completely OK with that.  My legs feel terrific, but I find my best mental recovery comes with taking some time to just “be”.  So, the last two weeks have consisted of runs that I’ve done whatever I felt like.  Last week, one of my runs was 4 miles @ 8:21 pace.  Today, I was barely maintaining 9:00.  There will be time very soon to focus again on the next goal (teaser!).  But for now, I’m enjoying whatever time I spend out there and it’s working for me.

Enter mittens.  Yes, mittens in May.  GASP!  They didn’t last for long, but they did help with the initial chill and more importantly, with the contact I made to the ground when I took my first fall of 2013…..

Curses.

I also wore running pants this morning, which although didn’t completely prevent blood and some swelling, did help temper the more dramatic “skinned knee” I certainly would have experienced had I been wearing shorts.  I’ve definitely had much worse, but you know, any fall is jarring.  It's amazing to me that I reached mile 45 at StoneCat last year before  my one fall, yet today I fell just before the 1 mile mark.  Go figure.  

As I sat on the wet ground assessing my knee, Bella took no mercy.  She had already run up the small hill and was barking incessantly, reminding me I was late in throwing her stick.  She’s definitely bad ass Labrador!

After the "fall" drama, we decided 3 miles would do the trick for today.  I’m fine, but like I said, have no real need to push to anything more today.  I started out tired, which probably explains my lethargic legs (and fall), and I have a couple running dates with Scott this weekend that I’m looking forward to.  I’d rather get this fall out of the way before I get into some real trails this weekend. 

My knees and I will live to run another day…hopefully without mittens!!

 

Cool Numbers

I love number trends.  For me personally, I am surrounded by 6’s.  They seem to be everywhere in my life:  born in June (6^th month), 6 minutes older than my twin, 6 days on the calendar before my younger brother, graduated in the 66^th commencement class in 2006….and it goes on like that.

So I started to see a cool number trend related to my recently run marathon, Maine Coast Marathon -

• Race was run in the 1980’s but then stopped for….26 years
• The course distance….26.2 miles
• The winner’s age….26
• # of official finishers….262
• Scott’s bib #....262
• # of marathons Scott has run….26
• % of runners who qualified for Boston….26%

All I can say is, whoa.  I gotta find me a lottery to play!

Patience in Pace (Maine Coast Marathon race report)

Scott has always said, “Let the run come to you”.  It’s a great mantra and I believe in it, but I hadn’t fully practiced it and felt the reward – until Sunday.  Sunday, I embraced that sentiment and implemented into a plan.  A plan to manage my race, keep the pace steady and sustainable, and most of all, have some gas in the tank for the latter, harder miles.  Patience in pace is where the physical training meets the mental training.  That sweet spot.

Maine Coast Marathon was a great race.  It was formerly held in the 1980’s, but then stopped for 26 years.  2013 marked its revival running and it did not disappoint.  It was a small race (results reflect 262 finishers) but packed a punch.  A punch in its rolling and sometimes very long hills, a punch in its beautiful rocky coast scenery (though race day was rainy and foggy), and a punch in its support – both volunteer and spectator.  I couldn’t have run this race without the volunteers and spectators.  For a point to point race along the coast of Maine, the support exceeded my expectations.

Before the race started, there was a moment of silence to honor the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing followed by the National Anthem.  The rain was light but steady.  The humidity was already a force to be reckoned with.   Within the first mile, I stripped off my long sleeve throw-away and turned on my focus.  That first mile felt like a slight decline so I monitored my body and my watch and let the nerves shake out in that first mile – 8:46.  Perfect.

This is also where I fell into step with Jeannine, who was running her first marathon ever.  We got chatting and suddenly found ourselves already 7 miles in –

At this point, Jeannine had to visit a tree and I continued on.  She had a very different goal and so I knew at some point we’d likely separate.  I did find out later that she finished in 4:08 – go Jeannine! 

The next several miles brought us to the driveway of the President Bush Compound in Kennebunk –

These miles also brought some hills and a dip in energy for me around mile 12 – (queue the salt tab!!)

The power gel and salt tab seemed to do the trick because I found my mojo again between miles 14 – 19.  I’m happy to report that the slower Mile 16 reflects where I finally had to retie my shoes; not because I was fading –

I think Mile 19 was a downhill; that 8:30 split gave me such a lift and a great spring board into the REAL race:  the final 10K.

When I hit Mile 20 and saw I was under 3 hours, I got excited.  Then I got nervous.  Then I got out of my head!  Mile 20 was far too early to set my sights on some ridiculous finish time I was suddenly dreaming up during my running stupor.  I quickly settled down and refocused.  Mile 21 split shows where some dizziness stepped in, so I dialed back enough to shake it off and recovered during Mile 22.  When I rounded the corner at Mile 26 and headed into the final .2…..I was floating!  I found that final gear and used it, passing a handful of people in that last .2.   

The great thing about Scott finishing in 3:24 (yeah!!!) was that he was at the Finish snapping pictures of me! 

I had a solid training cycle, I had a realistic plan for race day, and I had a combination of things go very well on race day (i.e. stomach cooperated, the sun didn’t come out until mile 24, manageable wind).  The magic of Sunday for me was finally understanding and leveraging the importance of  managing my pace early on and throughout the race.  

During my taper, I purposely went back in time and remembered Cape Cod Marathon I ran a couple years ago.  Yeah, my 3:57 was a great time for me.  But the way I ran the race that day?  Notsogreat.  I started out like a bat out of hell and convinced myself that I would be fine.  The latter miles slapped me in the face!  I was lucky that day to have Meaghan run me in during the last 7 miles, so she talked me through some of those really rough moments.  I did not want to relive that.  Been there, done that…..

3 days post race, I’m feeling great!  The legs are a normal tight, but I’m enjoying my rest and taking this time to milk my celebration of an amazing day.  They do say that patience is a virtue.  And sometimes, it also gets you a PR!!  Now if I can only apply that patience to holding off on signing up for another marathon….or something!