Happy runners 💗
October 2024
3 weeks ago
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Happy Runners
Always awesome to have the chance to run with these two ladies! Fun miles and smiles catching up and running through the woods at Brad with Val and Emma this morning. A good way to kick off Sunday and to wrap up the week! (8.1 miles)
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Gavin's Spookies
Gavin is a serious fan of Halloween. He can't get enough. He asks for spooky songs to be played, watches spooky videos on the IPad and would like it to be Halloween 365 days of the year. This morning, Sam spent about 30 minutes drawing him all sorts of spookies - all of which were pretty cute! What a good cousin! 👻 🎃
Friday, November 24, 2017
Thanksgiving Fun
A good few days spent down at Irene and Dana's cooking up a feast, eating too much, laughing together, shaking our heads at the kid's antics, running a little and enjoying time with family!
Pie making fun on Wednesday
Rolling the dough
Making pie
Peeling carrots for roasting
Potato peeler
Sam is a great sous chef!
All dressed up for Thanksgiving
Seemed an appropriate day to wear my buckle ;)
Cousin love
Silly kids
Thankful for these two 💗
Appetizer helper
Eat pie now! I blame Chris for getting into the pie before dinner but I'm not really complaining ;)
Fun with Uncle Chris on his electric skateboard
Taking a ride
Homemade placeholders
Cooking up yummy stuff for my apple cranberry stuffing
Ryan cooking up the traditional sausage stuffing
Pictionary!
Hugs
The girls :)
Goofy kids
Grammie and her grandkids 💜
Reading to Gavin before bedtime
Before all the food yesterday, I got out for a short morning run around the Georgetown neighborhood. It was chilly and windy - brrr! Probably ran a little too fast but had to keep warm! (5.0 miles)
Then this morning, Ryan and I headed over to Bradley Palmer for a run. No need for another run on pavement!! We decided to explore across the bridge into Willowdale and got in a nice few miles on some twisty singletrack before heading back to hit a few of the Bradley Palmer hills. I am definitely not recovered from last week's cold and the 100 miler, but it was good to be out in the woods on a nice run with Ryan! (6.4 miles)
Willowdale singeltrack
Up in the high field at Bradley Palmer
Running into the sun
Happy runner ;)
After lunch, we all got out for some skating and scooting and running around the block. This guy is just so plain adorable, and a daredevil too!
This kid 💕
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Back at It
Back to running this week, but will be keeping it nice and easy the next few weeks. Got out Tuesday morning for a run around the Heath. Started in the dark and watched as the sky lightened and came to life on the horizon, pinks and purples, golds and oranges. Only subtle light along the Heath when I went by, too early, but still lovely as always. My legs felt a little bit sore from Sunday's 3 miler - amazing how quickly the body gets used to just sitting around! - but I know it will come back quickly. (4.3 miles)
Headed down to MA today to celebrate Thanksgiving with Ryan's family. Looking forward to good food, laughter, chaos and time with everyone, and planning to sneak in a few runs too :)
Headed down to MA today to celebrate Thanksgiving with Ryan's family. Looking forward to good food, laughter, chaos and time with everyone, and planning to sneak in a few runs too :)
Sunday, November 19, 2017
13 Days
Sam is feeling back to her normal self - the antibiotics and a few days of using the inhaler helped a ton, thankfully! As for me, my voice is back, but I still have a bit of congestion. Still, so much better than earlier this week!
Friday, after dropping Sam off, I headed over to the Cathance for a walk. It was a cold and blustery morning, the leaf-covered ground wet from Thursday's rain, the river roaring, the sun shining. Taking a walk in the woods isn't quite the same as running but being out on the trails is always good for the soul :) (1.8 miles walked)
This morning dawned rainy and windy. I was feeling seriously antsy and after lunch, finally decided that 13 days was more than enough and went out for a short run. YAY RUNNING! It was warm and very windy, and although my legs felt very creaky, it felt so good to be running! Kept it short and sweet but was just so happy to be out :) (3.0 miles)
Although race season for the year is over, I still have 160 mile to run to hit 2,000 for the year and it's nice to have goal to work toward over the next 6 weeks!
Friday, after dropping Sam off, I headed over to the Cathance for a walk. It was a cold and blustery morning, the leaf-covered ground wet from Thursday's rain, the river roaring, the sun shining. Taking a walk in the woods isn't quite the same as running but being out on the trails is always good for the soul :) (1.8 miles walked)
Ryan had to be up in Bangor for work for the day so he stayed over with Jamie and Kate on Friday night and got a run in with John and Jen up in Acadia on Saturday morning before heading south. Lucky guy ;)
As for Sam and I, it was yet another day spent at the Y ;) for Sam's second swim meet, although this time around it was just a dual meet which made it slightly less chaotic, which was nice! Once again, Sam just seems to be in her natural element, so comfortably on the pool deck and in the water with her friends. It is really cool to see. She swam the 50 free, the 25 backstroke and was the 25 free leg in one of the relays this time around. All good stuff!
This morning dawned rainy and windy. I was feeling seriously antsy and after lunch, finally decided that 13 days was more than enough and went out for a short run. YAY RUNNING! It was warm and very windy, and although my legs felt very creaky, it felt so good to be running! Kept it short and sweet but was just so happy to be out :) (3.0 miles)
Although race season for the year is over, I still have 160 mile to run to hit 2,000 for the year and it's nice to have goal to work toward over the next 6 weeks!
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Whoa There!
Well, although my legs felt great and in my mind, I was raring to go this week, with four walks planned, the rest of my body apparently did not agree as I woke up on Monday barely able to talk, my voice was so hoarse. I didn't feel badly overall, just a bit sniffly otherwise, but not being able to talk was a real bummer! I decided I needed something warm and brothy for dinner so Sam and I had a soup date at Little Saigon on a cold, snowy night, which was fun! As Sam said, I'm sad that your throat hurts but I'm also happy since it means we got to get soup! 😉
Still not much of a voice yesterday but I bumbled through work speaking as little as possible. Then, when I picked up Sam last night to take her to swimming, she told me that her ear had been hurting her all day and that she had heard it pop this morning. Well, we've had enough go-rounds with ear infections to not mess around, so we skipped swim and I called the doctor to make an appointment. Amazingly, they were able to get us in last night at 5:00 so we were able to confirm, that yes indeed, it was an ear infection, and her lungs were also so tight from congestion due to the cold/cough she's had the past few weeks that she wasn't getting a lot of air in. They did a nebulizer treatment in the office and we left with a prescription for antibiotics for the ear and instructions to use her inhaler 2x a day for a few days to loosen things up. Sigh. Poor kid.
Thankfully both of us are much better today, with the antibiotics kicking in for Sam and my voice returning to about 90%. Here's hoping we continue on the upswing over the next few days! Assuming I do continue to feel better, I'm planning to walk on Friday and Sunday and to take a short run on Monday! But in the meantime, another day of rest tomorrow :)
Still not much of a voice yesterday but I bumbled through work speaking as little as possible. Then, when I picked up Sam last night to take her to swimming, she told me that her ear had been hurting her all day and that she had heard it pop this morning. Well, we've had enough go-rounds with ear infections to not mess around, so we skipped swim and I called the doctor to make an appointment. Amazingly, they were able to get us in last night at 5:00 so we were able to confirm, that yes indeed, it was an ear infection, and her lungs were also so tight from congestion due to the cold/cough she's had the past few weeks that she wasn't getting a lot of air in. They did a nebulizer treatment in the office and we left with a prescription for antibiotics for the ear and instructions to use her inhaler 2x a day for a few days to loosen things up. Sigh. Poor kid.
Thankfully both of us are much better today, with the antibiotics kicking in for Sam and my voice returning to about 90%. Here's hoping we continue on the upswing over the next few days! Assuming I do continue to feel better, I'm planning to walk on Friday and Sunday and to take a short run on Monday! But in the meantime, another day of rest tomorrow :)
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Weekending
A Few More Pinhoti Thoughts:
Official Pinhoti results were posted. I ended up with an official time of 26:47:11, 47th of 140 finishers (247 starters) and 15th woman.
When Ryan read my race report, he texted back, "where's the drama?!" Ha! But seriously, there really wasn't any. I know, so boring ;)
I'm not saying I had a perfect race, but it did go pretty well and for that I am still incredibly thankful and happy.
Of course, when I look at the results, I definitely lost a number of places in the final five miles. In fact, there were three girls who finished right before me between 26:45 and 26:47:02, so if anything went less than perfectly it was that final stretch when I didn't push enough to get those few minutes and places back. I feel a bit of regret about that, but it is slight, and certainly not enough to tarnish my feelings about the race.
Strava also shows 2 1/2 hours of "non-moving" time, some of which was most definitely aid station time, and some of which was time on the trail spent peeing, stops waiting for people to get over obstacles, stops prior to water crossings, stops to adjust things here and there, and a few minutes at least at the very beginning as we all were at a standstill getting into the singletrack. Funny, I had really thought I did a pretty good job of keeping moving, but obviously multiple aid station stops were more lengthy than I remembered.
Still, looking over my data, it appears I went through the halfway point (50.3 of 100.6) in 13:02, so all things considered, not a bad split for a finish time of 26:47! So much more consistent than TARC, when I gave up 5 hours in the last half! ;)
More for my own recall than anyone else's, here are a few thoughts on fueling during the race, which I do think played into me feeling pretty solid energy-wise for 26+ hours:
I had clear thoughts on what food sounded good and there was no wishy washy standing over the aid station tables for me. My goal was to keep up with my gels every 1/2 hour for as long as I could, and also to eat something at every aid station (or food we had brought if it was a crewed spot), even if just a cup of coke or one cookie. I think I was mostly successful and I did manage to keep eating throughout. I did skip the mile 6 aid station and the mile 93 aid station in terms of food. Interestingly, the two food items that were the most appealing were bacon - I probably ate a dozen pieces in all throughout the race starting at mile 40 - and fritos. Otherwise, I'd say I ate maybe 3 small ice oatmeal cookies, 1 orange piece at 35, 1/2 grilled cheese at mile 55, a 1/4 quesadilla at mile 50 and at Pinnacle at 75, a few bites of watermelon at mile 40. At mile 50, I had grapes and tried to eat some pizza but that got tossed. Same with the pizza at mile 85. I had two shots of pickle juice, one at 55 and one at 60. I started in on coke at mile 23, but honestly didn't drink a ton, maybe just a small cup or two at most stops, but not all.
I had a pack of Honey Stinger chews the first time my watch dinged 30 minutes, and a Gu Lemon Sublime at an hour. After that, I alternated between Honey Stinger Acai & Pomegranate gels and the VFuel Cool Citrus gels (which have a small amount of caffeine). Unfortunately, due to the warm weather, the Honey Stinger gels were out pretty early on (by mile 18, I think). They were just too sweet and thick. Luckily, the VFuel sat well all through the race, and I probably had 25 of those in all.
Of the food we picked up in Atlanta, the grapes we had brought were great, they went down easy. I drank most of the Blueberry Naked smoothie we had brought, as well as most of a bag of Fritos. I also had about 3/4 a can of a Starbucks Espresso Shot at mile 80. Only managed about 3 bites of the little debbie oatmeal cream pie that I took with me at one stop, the rest got chucked into the woods, and I maybe only ate about 3 regular potato chips, something about them just stuck in my throat. All the chocolate and candy bar stuff I had brought sat untouched. So weird sometimes how things that have worked before just don't sound good at certain races.
I think the small constant stream of caffeine from the VFuel, supplemented by the coke, helped as I felt like I had even energy for most of the race, with the major downs coming at mile 40 after I had climbed up Bald Rock in the heat of the day and at mile 80 when I was just plain old tired and sleepy. I never wanted to curl up on the side of the trail though, like I did during TARC. I felt focused and with it throughout, even when I was a bit faded.
Chafing was definitely better than at VT50 but I still ended up with a fair amount. I think I need to try some alternates to BodyGlide to see if I can mitigate that in the future.
I never had any cramping or serious leg break-downs during the race, and my legs felt so much better than after TARC and even VT50. Maybe in part to keeping a more even pace and/or training and/or better regulation of water and electrolytes, but for whatever reason, I was glad to have stairs not be the enemy the next day! :)
I think overall, I come away with the satisfying fact that I had a good race, in which I managed the humidity and course well, fueled well, had great support between Ryan and John, and overall kept up a good attitude, all of which allowed me to have a successful race! We learn something with each race we do, and I hope I can build on this positive experience for future ultras!
The Weekend:
Saturday was Sam's first swim meet. To say it was overwhelming and chaotic is really an understatement, but for her, once she walked onto the swim deck, she felt at home and in her element. So proud of this kid! We don't have results yet, but she swam the 25 backstroke, the 25 freestyle and the 50 free. Overall, she swam very well and I think she even won her heat for the backstroke! It was so crowded, it was hard to tell and the timing clock wasn't functioning for her lane, but regardless, it was awesome to see her swimming so strong!
We were there for 5 hours, so it was a long day but she had fun and we all learned a thing or two about swim meets! Now we know to bring folding chairs, computers, lunch, you name it ;) Hopefully next weekend's meet, which is just a dual meet instead of one with 5 teams, will be a bit less crazy but if not, I'll be prepared :)
This morning, I got out for a walk on the powerlines before Ryan headed up to Camden to meet Tyler for his run. I got all bundled up since it was only 26 degrees out, but really, it was quite lovely and I warmed up quickly. November is often a tough month as we lose light and lose the brilliant fall foliage, but there is a subtle beauty to be found out there on the trails on these late fall days. (2 miles walked)
Official Pinhoti results were posted. I ended up with an official time of 26:47:11, 47th of 140 finishers (247 starters) and 15th woman.
When Ryan read my race report, he texted back, "where's the drama?!" Ha! But seriously, there really wasn't any. I know, so boring ;)
I'm not saying I had a perfect race, but it did go pretty well and for that I am still incredibly thankful and happy.
Of course, when I look at the results, I definitely lost a number of places in the final five miles. In fact, there were three girls who finished right before me between 26:45 and 26:47:02, so if anything went less than perfectly it was that final stretch when I didn't push enough to get those few minutes and places back. I feel a bit of regret about that, but it is slight, and certainly not enough to tarnish my feelings about the race.
Strava also shows 2 1/2 hours of "non-moving" time, some of which was most definitely aid station time, and some of which was time on the trail spent peeing, stops waiting for people to get over obstacles, stops prior to water crossings, stops to adjust things here and there, and a few minutes at least at the very beginning as we all were at a standstill getting into the singletrack. Funny, I had really thought I did a pretty good job of keeping moving, but obviously multiple aid station stops were more lengthy than I remembered.
Still, looking over my data, it appears I went through the halfway point (50.3 of 100.6) in 13:02, so all things considered, not a bad split for a finish time of 26:47! So much more consistent than TARC, when I gave up 5 hours in the last half! ;)
More for my own recall than anyone else's, here are a few thoughts on fueling during the race, which I do think played into me feeling pretty solid energy-wise for 26+ hours:
I had clear thoughts on what food sounded good and there was no wishy washy standing over the aid station tables for me. My goal was to keep up with my gels every 1/2 hour for as long as I could, and also to eat something at every aid station (or food we had brought if it was a crewed spot), even if just a cup of coke or one cookie. I think I was mostly successful and I did manage to keep eating throughout. I did skip the mile 6 aid station and the mile 93 aid station in terms of food. Interestingly, the two food items that were the most appealing were bacon - I probably ate a dozen pieces in all throughout the race starting at mile 40 - and fritos. Otherwise, I'd say I ate maybe 3 small ice oatmeal cookies, 1 orange piece at 35, 1/2 grilled cheese at mile 55, a 1/4 quesadilla at mile 50 and at Pinnacle at 75, a few bites of watermelon at mile 40. At mile 50, I had grapes and tried to eat some pizza but that got tossed. Same with the pizza at mile 85. I had two shots of pickle juice, one at 55 and one at 60. I started in on coke at mile 23, but honestly didn't drink a ton, maybe just a small cup or two at most stops, but not all.
I had a pack of Honey Stinger chews the first time my watch dinged 30 minutes, and a Gu Lemon Sublime at an hour. After that, I alternated between Honey Stinger Acai & Pomegranate gels and the VFuel Cool Citrus gels (which have a small amount of caffeine). Unfortunately, due to the warm weather, the Honey Stinger gels were out pretty early on (by mile 18, I think). They were just too sweet and thick. Luckily, the VFuel sat well all through the race, and I probably had 25 of those in all.
Of the food we picked up in Atlanta, the grapes we had brought were great, they went down easy. I drank most of the Blueberry Naked smoothie we had brought, as well as most of a bag of Fritos. I also had about 3/4 a can of a Starbucks Espresso Shot at mile 80. Only managed about 3 bites of the little debbie oatmeal cream pie that I took with me at one stop, the rest got chucked into the woods, and I maybe only ate about 3 regular potato chips, something about them just stuck in my throat. All the chocolate and candy bar stuff I had brought sat untouched. So weird sometimes how things that have worked before just don't sound good at certain races.
I think the small constant stream of caffeine from the VFuel, supplemented by the coke, helped as I felt like I had even energy for most of the race, with the major downs coming at mile 40 after I had climbed up Bald Rock in the heat of the day and at mile 80 when I was just plain old tired and sleepy. I never wanted to curl up on the side of the trail though, like I did during TARC. I felt focused and with it throughout, even when I was a bit faded.
Chafing was definitely better than at VT50 but I still ended up with a fair amount. I think I need to try some alternates to BodyGlide to see if I can mitigate that in the future.
I never had any cramping or serious leg break-downs during the race, and my legs felt so much better than after TARC and even VT50. Maybe in part to keeping a more even pace and/or training and/or better regulation of water and electrolytes, but for whatever reason, I was glad to have stairs not be the enemy the next day! :)
I think overall, I come away with the satisfying fact that I had a good race, in which I managed the humidity and course well, fueled well, had great support between Ryan and John, and overall kept up a good attitude, all of which allowed me to have a successful race! We learn something with each race we do, and I hope I can build on this positive experience for future ultras!
The Weekend:
Saturday was Sam's first swim meet. To say it was overwhelming and chaotic is really an understatement, but for her, once she walked onto the swim deck, she felt at home and in her element. So proud of this kid! We don't have results yet, but she swam the 25 backstroke, the 25 freestyle and the 50 free. Overall, she swam very well and I think she even won her heat for the backstroke! It was so crowded, it was hard to tell and the timing clock wasn't functioning for her lane, but regardless, it was awesome to see her swimming so strong!
We were there for 5 hours, so it was a long day but she had fun and we all learned a thing or two about swim meets! Now we know to bring folding chairs, computers, lunch, you name it ;) Hopefully next weekend's meet, which is just a dual meet instead of one with 5 teams, will be a bit less crazy but if not, I'll be prepared :)
So many people...
So many swimmers... thank goodness she had those bright pink/orange goggles so she stands out!
Hanging out on the swim deck with her friends
My little swimmer
Winterberry brightness
Ice patterns
Early morning light
Bittersweet
Friday, November 10, 2017
While We Were Away and the First of Two Rest Weeks
While we were away for Pinhoti, Sam had a great long weekend with Neenie and Pip! We are so grateful for their help and so glad she had the chance to spend extra time with her grandparents. So special :)
On Tuesday, Sam went to school, Ryan and I rested, and while Mom and Dad were still around, we had a (slightly late) birthday dinner for Sam with all the grandparents and my aunt Susie. It was great to see everyone and fun to celebrate our kiddo!
It was a nice way to ease back into reality :) I must admit that it was a bit hard to focus at work on Wednesday and Thursday, but I had lots to catch up on after being away! #paperwork
Thursday I did a bit of rolling and stretching and I decided the legs were feeling good enough to get in a short walk today. It was a blustery, cool, sunny morning and I got in a nice walk along the river on the leafy trails. Felt really good, and probably was moving faster than I was during some my midnight miles at Pinhoti ;) Felt good to stretch the legs and good to get out and enjoy the beautiful morning! (1.8 miles walked)
I'm taking a full two weeks off from running even though honestly I am feeling pretty good. This break is totally self-imposed but I think it is important to let the body rest and recover after a long, hard effort. I am also eating a lot... Seriously, see that cake above? I just finished the last of it, and I think I've probably singlehandedly eaten about a 1/3 of it ;) #eatallthethings
Headed out on Friday night for the Halloween Parade
Black Cat and Vampire
Besties :)
Celebrating Pip's birthday with a pumpkin pie. Yum!
Cathance walk
Cathance walk
Cutie pie :)
Checking out the beaver exhibit in the ecology center
Out walking
Trail selfie
Along the river
LLBean fish tank fun
Pho for Pip's birthday dinner!
Monday, Sam went back to school after having had all of the prior week off from the storm (!!), Mom and Dad rested ;) and Ryan, John and I made our way back to Maine. I was feeling good enough that after we checked through security, Ryan and I walked through three terminals to terminal C. There were some neat art exhibits set up in the long walkway tunnels along the way. I may have felt good, but I did avail myself of the moving walkways ;)
Walking in between terminals at ATL (really cool multi-media display with bird sounds and cool overhead "foliage" effect)
Presents!
Stylin' girl
Big kid
Cool kid
8!
Big candle, little cupcake
Happy kid
Love this one 💗
Smiley girl
Cutting the crazy cake made for the rest of us chocolate-lovers
Cut right in!
It was a nice way to ease back into reality :) I must admit that it was a bit hard to focus at work on Wednesday and Thursday, but I had lots to catch up on after being away! #paperwork
Thursday I did a bit of rolling and stretching and I decided the legs were feeling good enough to get in a short walk today. It was a blustery, cool, sunny morning and I got in a nice walk along the river on the leafy trails. Felt really good, and probably was moving faster than I was during some my midnight miles at Pinhoti ;) Felt good to stretch the legs and good to get out and enjoy the beautiful morning! (1.8 miles walked)
I'm taking a full two weeks off from running even though honestly I am feeling pretty good. This break is totally self-imposed but I think it is important to let the body rest and recover after a long, hard effort. I am also eating a lot... Seriously, see that cake above? I just finished the last of it, and I think I've probably singlehandedly eaten about a 1/3 of it ;) #eatallthethings
Roaring river
Along the trail
Flowing Cathance
After my walk, I enjoyed a good massage from Lauren before doing some errands and grocery shopping. Now it is time to move on to cleaning the house! And poof, just like that, all caught up :)
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