Last Week of Summer & Firebird 50k

If you're a parent, a student or you work at a school, the last week of summer is the last week before school, no matter what the calendar says! And so it is that we are counting down to another first day of school, high school this time around.😩😱When Sam was a baby and toddler, the phrase the day are long but the years are short was so true, but it doesn't even apply these days. It just all zooms by. Crazy.

Monday, Ryan and I got out for a late afternoon walk around the school block, just for some movement for the day. (1.7 miles walked)

And although I said I really needed to be working on my early morning running as the school year rushes into view, I failed miserably at that this week. 😂😐😧Sigh. So Tuesday's run was an afternoon run on the powerlines once I got home from work. So many blackberries, and the colors of late summer/early fall out there. (6.0 miles)

Worked at home on Wednesday, so with that extra flexibility, I didn't get out for a run until around 10:30. Beautiful out. The powerlines are awash with aster, viburnum, blackberries, goldenrod. And the iron weed is in bloom now out front too! (8.0 miles)

Took my spreadsheet work to the couch in the afternoon so that I could watch the events of the World Championship. That men's 1500 finish was pretty crazy! Fun to be able to catch some of the events live!

Took Thursday off from work, and Sam and I went out to lunch and then down to Freeport to do some school shopping and then to Target to pick up some final school supplies. But first, I took advantage of having a free morning and met up with Val for a run at Pineland. Yay! It's been a fun summer with a lot of good adventures, but there have not been many runs with the ladies, so it was nice to catch up with Val! 😊 Pretty morning, but definitely a bit of humidity back in the air. (6.0 miles)

Woke up to this little visitor (grey true frog) on the back slider on Friday morning. Adorable! 😍

I didn't do any sort of racing last year in advance of No Business 100, and I think it worked out OK, but I decided this year that I'd try to find a 50k to run, just to get in some "racing" practice. Ended up signing up for the Firebird 50k, which is nice and local - just down in Windham - and was very affordable. Perfect for a no pressure situation and a way to get in a supported long run! 

With that coming up on Saturday, there was no running on the calendar for Friday, and as it rained all day long, I had no regrets! Got some errands done around town in the morning, did some cleaning and laundry, got myself organized for the race and then just relaxed for the rest of the day. Kind of nice. 

Saturday morning was a very early wake-up, with bib pick-up starting at 6:00 am. I didn't really need to get there so early but I prefer not to feel rushed, and it meant I was able to position my car right near the start/finish so I could set things up in the trunk as my "aid station" in between laps. The route was a 5k loop followed by 3 10-mile laps that were not quite out and backs, but not really loops. Definitely long on miles and no shortage of tough ones at that!

It was heavy and humid to start, with the early morning fog just having lifted, and it pretty much stayed that way all day. Lots of roots and so much mud. Definitely nothing fast for me about the course! 😂🤪 I had not ever run on the Lowell Preserve trails and was kind of surprised by the technicality of them. It was a small race and we all got spread out pretty quickly, although I did run with one guy, Jared, for a while, which was nice as we were able to keep each other on track in a few spots. 

I was soaked through by the time I came back to the parking lot after 13 miles. Emma had nicely brought the kids over to say hello and cheer, which was so sweet, although I was already feeling the effects of the conditions so I might not have been too cheery back 😉😬 and I definitely wasn't thrilled heading out on the 2nd loop. I knew by then that it was going to be a long day. I went back and forth in my head about if it was necessary to keep going for lap #3, but of course even though I texted Ryan "This sucks." I also said, "Headed back out." 

Photos by Expedition Images

For the final lap, I put my earbud in and listened to a podcast out on the "out." I was definitely doing a whole lot more walking. I wasn't feeling badly but it was just not an ideal easy running course and it just got harder and it got muckier as the laps went on. I had leapfrogged with Jared here and there throughout the loops, and at the final turn-around at the aid station at Blackstrap Road, he was there, so we fist bumped and said "final 5 miles!" and then I took off up the hill before he did. But I walked, as I was trying to eat down my bag of chips, and he eventually caught up, and we were running a close enough pace that we just ended up staying together the rest of the way. Honestly, it was a great break from just thinking about the miles and we had fun chatting away about marathons and his first 100 next month. Plus it did give me a boost and a reason to push a bit at the end, and even though I hadn't realized it, that helped us as we ended up finishing in just under 8 hours. Definitely took longer than I anticipated but a solid day. One red eft seen, a lot of mushrooms, a whole lot of sweat and some very muddy wet shoes! 

I certainly was not racing this one, but all in all, a well done, well marked race, with some great volunteers and good energy, on some new to me trails and a fun (in a type-2 way) way to spend a day. (33.1 miles)

RESULTS (4 of 7 women; tied for 10th with Jared out of 21 finishers)

Felt reasonably decent afterwards and even managed to eat a full dinner a few hours later, so I am calling it good in that regard too!

Had a quiet Sunday, but we did get out for a late afternoon walk with Mom and Dad in the Cathance before dinner at our house. A whole lot of mosquitos 😱🦟 and fairly mucky/muddy. but good to get out and move for a bit and my legs really felt fine. (1.1 miles walked)