Flume and Liberty, 4k #11 and #12 of '19, July 7th 2019

Eric, Ellie and I lucked out with a really nice weather day last Sunday, and decided it was time for a slightly longer hike then we have done lately. 

We were 100% committed to Mt. Liberty (in the Franconia notch) and about 50% committed to Flume. We decided that we needed to check out trail conditions before we decided to attempt the flume slide (a long stretch of very steep and sketchy rock. scrambling required.)

We parked at 7AM at the Flume Gorge lot (the "far" side of the lot, at Mt. Pemigewasset Trailhead). Since it was early there was lots of parking. Flume Gorge is a real circus during the summer and we weren't sad to avoid the chaos (mostly...)

We got off to a good start on the paved bike path. #hiking

The path is about .75 miles long, and is the only way to get to the trailhead. 

 Ellie is like "WTF??"

Pretty soon (because walking on pavement is so easy) you bang a right over a bridge and are on Liberty Springs trail. 

I always love a nice bridge

The trail wound along over pretty easy terrain for about half a mile before coming to the junction with the Flume Slide Trail. This gave us enough time to evaluate the conditions, and decide which path to take. 

A nice day for a walk

We knew there had been rain the night before but it was a really pleasant day, and things seemed to be drying out quickly. Based on that, we continued on up the Flume Slide trail. 

This trail was pretty amazing for the first couple miles. Beautiful conditions, easy incline, fun river crossings. I must admit that the blazes left something SERIOUSLY to be desired, but the path is clear enough to inspire some confidence. (I want to go out with a paint can....) 

I had some trepidations about the "slide". Eric and I have scrambled around enough, and I feel we can basically get by. But what about little Ellie? I was ready to pull the plug on the whole adventure if she seemed afraid. 

Before we knew it the trail took a turn for the MUCH steeper, and the first of the small rocks arrived. 

Majestic

The slide breaks you in for a minute or two. Steep incline, but manageable terrain. First some "typical" rocks, then some sketchy loose crap, then some totally walkable slabs.

Totally walkable slabs

And THEN. AS EXPECTED. Things got real. The below photo was before things got too intense to take pics. Here are my wise thoughts:

-Our dog was a rockstar, and did an amazing job (I can't think this trail would be a good choice for anything other than a brave and athletic canine)

-This is a trail that certainly would be quite dangerous in wet or icy conditions. Also, I would not be AT ALL excited to come down this stuff. 

-It's a long stretch. Over half a mile from what I could see- and possibly slightly more. 

-There are "bail out" (totally unmarked) options in the woods but they are TOUGH. Basically straight uphill, just grabbing trees. I took one of these for the sake of the dog, and it was fine but NOT easy. I would not take small children, timid dogs, or beginner hikers on this trail. 

The easy part....

In the end, we made it up without issue. I never felt terribly nervous, I just found that I had to pay attention and not be an idiot. 

After the slide finished, there was only a short distance (of mostly very uphill work) to the intersection with Franconia Ridge Trail. 

Ellie saw the peak (or close to it!) and sprinted up. 

I may not have been so quick to let her scramble up, had I known it was basically a cliff. 

Queen of Mt Flume

It was a MONEY DAY. Blue skies, light breeze, only a little haze. Definitely a day to be above the trees!

The "other side" of what Elle climbed up.....

After spending a few minutes on top the hill, we headed off to traverse to Liberty. The map said it would be about 1.5 miles to the next peak (watches measured closer to 1.1 miles- who knows what is right!)
Generally speaking, it was a pretty straightforward path through the woods.

Moseying along

Gotta get the photo op!

Pretty soon, there was a short and straightforward scramble, and we got a great view of where we had just been!

Hello, Flume

A few steps later, we summited Liberty. And it was glorious!!

Just me on a big rock

You could see for forever

We definitely dilly dallied for a while at the summit. It's not often that we score such a perfect day, and we wanted to make the most of it. Also, we wanted to give the dog a moment to eat and recharge (not that she needs it....)

Family Pic!!

After we enjoyed some time up high, we headed back down the mountain. A short stretch on Franconia Ridge took us to the junction with Liberty Springs Trail. The temptation to continue along the ridge was strong, but it would have meant too many miles for Mrs. Ellington.

Franconia Ridge, in the trees

Liberty Springs trail is one of those rocky pain in the butt experiences. It was a moderate to steep grade in places, and was just a bunch of rock hopping and stone stair stepping. Nothing extreme like the slide, but it would certainly give you a good workout in the uphill direction!

Looking up Liberty Springs Trail

The final mile or so of the trial is downright pleasant- and seemed to have tricked quite a few "family" hikers into thinking it would be a good summit to achieve with their VERY small children (in flip flops....) I mean.... Maybe? But my vote is no.
We took the required "sign" photo at the junction of Liberty Springs and Flume, and met up with another hiker who we had seen at the top of Flume. He had come own the slide and proclaimed it to be "the worst thing I have ever tried to do." Let that be a warning! Haha.
We then forged onwards, a trio now, and proceeded to take our own trail back to the bike path. The very well beaten path would make one thing that we were not the first adventurers to do such a thing.
Just make sure to take a left at the junction to stay on the*actual* trail!
(or go straight and you''ll still be ok! we figured there hadn't been to many blazes anyway, so why start looking for them now! and with the clear and obvious din of I-93 ahead of you- you're not getting lost.)

Obligatory sign pic

Anyway! After 6 hours and 2 minutes of hiking, snacking, photo taking, and playing in the river we made it back to the PACKED parking lot.
I managed to take a spectacular tumble while watching Ellie play in the river- but it was *technically* after the hike was over. So it was a "no fall" hike!!

I had a FLUME beer!!! How appropriate!!

We relaxed at a picnic table for a while, and were swiftly joined by an entire age group of summer campers. They had 4 million questions to ask us, and from me they learned what it means to Spay a dog, and how best to pee in the woods without being shy. I am very helpful.

Overall- this may have been the best hike of the season. It was a great length, a nice challenge, perfect weather, and low hiker traffic. It certainly is NOT a great hike for a first timer, but definitely one to put on the must do list. Probably a good choice for those days that the Franconia Ridge loop is just too busy to even cope with.


Strava data: (we take this with a grain of salt) 
-elevation climbed: 3,846
-miles covered: 9.8
-elapsed time: 6:02 (we never shut off our watches- so this includes all down time)

Difficulty: Strenuous. Coming in at around 10 miles, and dealing with the slide are what edges this out of my normal "hard" category. If you are looking for a beautiful, wooded and "easy" hike, hit up the bike path and the first couple miles of Flume Slide. While the slide does not take up the majority of the hikes that (plus the steed descent in places on Liberty Springs) would make this no fun for beginners. 

Views: Excellent and numerous. Impressive. 360 views from both peaks. 

Bugs: Black flies were out, and were mildly annoying

Dog friendly trail? Ish. Only for the brave and athletic friends. Lots of "water features" for the playful doggos, but the slide isn't something for every canine. 

Hyannis Marathon: The sucky suckfest edition

Spoiler: It rained and was freezing and windy and stupid. Slightly warmer than last year, just as rainy, more windy.

Spoiler two (incase you want the tl/dr version.) I bailed at the 13.1. (well, 13.3)
LAME.

One shitty run, and 6.6 of soaked clothing later

I knew that (almost unbelievably) it was forecast to be a shit show of a day yet again this year. My assumption was that I was going to be able to suck it up and have a decent run.

Fucking ridiculous

There are actually a few reasons why I might not have had the mental fortitude to finish this year, but in the end, it was 100% my choice to walk off the course just after the half and call it a day. I wasn't hurt. I felt ok. I was (as expected) very cold and wet, but in the past that has not been an issue. Nothing was really wrong, and I was on pace for a BQ (I ran the half in just over 1:45)

Quite simply, I didn't want to continue. And to be honest, when I looked out of my hotel window first thing in the morning to see the driving rain and wind, my thought was "Wow. I'm not going to finish today." This was NOT a good thought to have, and not what I anticipated. However, the notion lingered in the back of my mind and eventually was my undoing. It was a very undramatic undoing. I simply decided the I did not have it in me. I was happy to walk into the warm resort, very happy to get into warm clothing, and very happy to just be done. (happy to get out of the razor sharp rain, the whipping wind, the freezing cold...)

Today, I'm a little disappointed in myself.
However, I think the touch of self loathing that I feel will be the catalyst for motivation next time things get tough. I'm not afraid to admit that I failed, and I refuse to spin it any other way. (Great magical tempo run!!! uhhhh, no.)

I choose to run marathons. I enjoy the training (go figure!) If I get to the actual race and bitch out half way through, it's a clear sign that I need to up my mental game.

And also, a clear sign that I am human.

Eric and I had a hard week. We lost our beloved old dog on Friday (planned euthanasia, but that is not an easy thing!) And the SAME day our puppy started peeing blood (literally, as we were taking Missy to get buried....) So yeah. Super high stress levels. Both of us did a lot of coping and I simply may have run out of fucks to give by 11:45 on Sunday.

I will leave you with cute pictures of my puppy, who is recovering from a nasty UTI (but, thankfully, is FINE!!) She LOVED the road trip and HATED the rain!

Snuggles before she got in her carseat for safety!

First time seeing the ocean. So confused about what it was!

Boston Marathon Training 2019: Week 5, Mid Winter Classic edition

So yes, it was the week where we all get excited for the Mid Winter Classic.

It also felt VERY MUCH like Mid Winter.

We experienced several very cold days. Basically it went from cold.......

Gross

To COLDER.

STOP

And we also got a foot of snow. Jesus.

I hit the road last Monday for some easy miles, prior to the polar vortex and snowmagedon moving in.
Honestly, the roads were basically shit. It's nice that we are getting more daylight hours at this point, but as long as the roads stay this garbage I can't do much for speedwork on them, especially after work when it is dusky.

Disgusting 

It was pretty though.

Pretty stupid.....

Plan A was to run some mile reps on Wednesday and then do some indoor downhill work on Thursday. (it's almost cheating to do indoor downhills indoors, but when it's 5 below, and dark, and ice you do what you gotta do.) It ended up not mattering anyway. I was 100% exhausted garbage on Wednesday, and even after extending my pre speedwork warmup to try to wake the legs, they would not wake. I bailed, and said fuck it.

I managed the workout successfully the following day, with 5 reps at 7:36 (of course.)
I did not get the downhill reps in which is a shame.

Thankfully, Sunday/Race day was warmer. Since Hyannis is still on the table, I felt compelled to run 20 to keep it a viable option. Eric dropped me off, and I ran a carbon copy last year's route to the race start. Around back bay, down Commercial St, over the Casco Bay Bridge, and up 77. It was cold to start, about 14 degrees, but as I ran the final couple miles the sun felt surprisingly warm.

I felt good about my timing, and I arrived just in the nick of time to get my number from Eric and Ellie, and to scoot to the start. .....which was then delayed by 10 minutes.....
One side of my brain doesn't mind this at all. Things happen. No big deal.

The other side of my brain FROZE SOLID because so did my body. I was already hot and sweaty, and standing in the 28 degree shade put me into a world of hurt. One might think that a 14 minute break in between 10 mile efforts would make things easier, but in this case it did NOT.

The first few miles of the race were most unpleasant. I was extremely cold. My hands and butt felt completely frozen. Not really fun. I think the following photo shows me with a pretty unimpressed expression.

I am in the orange hat looking pissed 

Around mile 3 I did warm up, but also decided that I really wasn't feeling that it was "my day." Last year, I felt extremely capable of pushing the pace. I actually felt like I was giving a solid "race" effort. I decided to pull it back and rein it in. I slowed to what felt like a much more casual long run pace than I have been managing lately. I mulled over my slump and thought it could be nutrition related, so I had a couple Humas. More likely, it was due to a pretty major lack of morning hydration, and a pretty major lack of sleep. One I can control (water) the other, I can not!
Thankfully, once I pulled the pace back I felt much more positive about the whole situation.
(and here's the weird thing, my pace actually hardly changed. Go figure. Maybe it was just giving myself permission to chill that made the difference? Who knows.)


I ended up finishing in 1:21:23, an 8:09 pace (which is certainly a MP pace effort.) My first 10 clocked in at an 8:39 pace, I believe, which brought the overall 20 to an 8:22 pace.

I was very happy to see Eric and Ellie, and many friends at the finish! Ellie was extremely popular, and all the socializing really wore her out.

Happy family!!!!

So overall, I would say this was a good day. I'm happy with having 10 MP miles at the end of a workout. I was pleased to feel well at the finish, and not to feel too sore or stiff. I'm not feeling 100% on point like last year, but am certainly more sharp than in some previous seasons.

And I STILL have not decided about Hyannis. I managed to do this 20, so it is now a more real possibility. If I had those extra 5 minutes in hand from aging up, I would feel pretty certain of success. (thanks for NOTHING BAA!!! Haha.) Who knows. I still have the notion of waiting for the 10 day forecast and making sure it isn't going to be 60 degrees, and then making up my mind! (and FYI: 60 is bad. It needs to be chilly!)

Stats:
Mileage: 41.2
Long run: 20.1
Beer at pub: A mix of triple cream and double cream (Can't stop, won't stop)
Coldest day: FFS SO COLD. Negative one million Thursday through Saturday. 
Snow days: None from school (miracle) Close to a foot of snow on Tuesday night. Some random other non plowable little shit. 

Boston Marathon 2019: Week 4 of training (where I complain about winter)

Let's see. Week 4 of training. What happened... (I actually have no recollection, so I shall refer back to Strava.) Please feel free to follow me here. I'm brutally honest on Strave (and in real time!) about how the old workouts are progressing. So if this lame old blog isn't doing it for you (and it's crap, so it should not be!) follow me there.

So, going back to the 21st, I ran 5x1200 at a 7:36 pace. Arbitrarily, 7:36 has been deemed as the "speed work" speed this year, regardless of distance.

I had a couple mid week treadmill runs. The weather this winter has been disgusting, bizarre shit. As we all know, we had our first serious storm on October 27th, and the weather has been garbage ever since. (I have lucked out on a few of my long runs. Decent enough weather. But other than those workouts, NO bueno.) So anyway, if it is raining 3 inches (which it did) or a million degrees below zero (or like, 6 but whatever) and the roads are covered with DEATH (always) I'm just done. Nope. I can't take it!

I had a VERY rare workday last Friday which had be wrapping things up at 2:00. It was 34 degrees, and only moderately windy and weird. I got the fuck out and got 18 in.

Lee, Eric and Ellie met me at the pub (and Ellie met Winston, the bar dog!!) And then Linda (my mom) made us tacos at home, which were excellent.

Ellie loves this nonsense 

I was glad that I chose Friday for my long run, because Saturday was god damn freezing. We made poor Ellie go for a 0.2 mile walk, mostly to let her sniff around for ducks.

Ellie likes this less

I snagged my first round of downhill repeats on Sunday in slime city. It was 29, and all kinds of snowy and I was fairly convinced that I was going to take a spill. Somehow, I did not.

UGH Winter. I'm just done.
Yes, I prefer winter running to summer running for sure. But the wild fluctuations between -5 and 48, between snow and down pouring rain, and the fact that (to this point) 100% of the snowstorms have ended up being ice is beginning to piss me off. Not to mention that our power has gone off basically every time winter has looked at us crosseyed this season. ANNOYING.

At least the sun is starting to come up at like, 10AM.... (ok, ok it's not that bad. but close!)

But really winter. Go away. 

Mid winter classic is coming up on Feb 3rd.
I still have no idea if I want to run Hyannis, or if I am even remotely fit. What the fuck, 2019 training cycle?? Why do I have no gauge of where I am at? Maybe I'll wait and see the 10 day forecast, and then decide! (brilliant!)
I'd love to just crack out my 2020 BQ ASAP, so that I can go back to being a lazy slack ass. That's a fairly good motivator, when you are me. :-)

Stats:
Mileage: 44.4
Long run: 18.2
Beer at pub: A mix of triple cream and double cream (AGAIN) 
Coldest day: Good question. Saturday was really cold. 
Snow days: None from school (miracle) 3" of rain. Bullshit. Also, some random snow at some point but not that much. 

Boston Marathon 2019: Week 3 of training (in which I actually ran)

Week 3 was certainly better than week 2.
I felt better, managed to fit in speed work AND a long run.

And got a puppy, and proceeded to never, ever sleep again!

Ellen Charlotte Bradlowski

I ran 6x800 on Monday, at 7:36

I did some pretty basic, boring mid week stuff. A little up/down tempo stuff on the treadmill. (Which I was pretty much stuck on since I worked late every day....)

The forecast looked ominous.....

Gross

I did a really solid 16 to the pub on Saturday. It was chilly (upper teens) but the roads were dry and it was just fine.
We also introduced little Ellie to our Pub!!

Puppies and pub runs!!

So at this point, certainly well on track for Boston. Not so sure I can say the same about Hyannis but I have neither signed up, nor completely ruled it out. #undecided

Stats:
Mileage: 39
Long run: 16
Beer at pub: A mix of triple cream and double cream, current favorite 
Coldest day: I think Monday was a high of 11, so not great....
Snow days: None from school (miracle) Gross Sunday storm.