Week 8 of the BOS to BHB Challenge

Another decent week of "running" around here. My leg felt off on Monday- so I did a quick shoe swap which seemed to really help. 

(I have been running in Hoka Clifton's for years, I love them, and swear by them. But for now with the picky leg, they are just a touch too soft. So I busted out an old pair of Brooks Ghosts, and those feel just fine for what I am doing at the moment.)

Both Thursday and Friday ended up being days where I managed to complete my miles with no walking. Thursday was due to a coincidental mid-workout meeting with another runner. Once we confirmed a Covid free status, we spent the remainder of the run enjoying having another human outside our inner circles to talk to. Prior to 2020, athletic meet ups at races, and for training, were much more common! One forgets how nice it is to talk about training and races and random crap with other runners. STUPID 2020!!

I could feel the shin just a bit again after the two running days, so we (logically?) did a couple trail adventures. Making the most of short local hikes, and the last warm-ish days of the season. 

Autumn is here 

Despite completing the required miles for my challenge, I believe my standing remained the same. To bring up 2020 again, here is a good motto for the year: "Working hard, Going nowhere...." (While I do say that with a bit of a chuckle, I'm also saying it with a groan!)

In November Eric and I are going to participate in a challenge that one of our running friends is hosting. It is a "Half K a day" event, which sounds like a piece of cake, until you discover that you add a half K daily every day. All well and good, until the last week when it is basically 9 mile workouts for 7 days straight (pretty close anyway). YIKES! 

Aside from running things are pretty normal. My work is super busy (good! also, still working on balance...) Eric got a new job that he is excited about, so that is a very positive thing. We are healthy and managing to stay sane, and looking forward to no more political ads after next week. Also, we ended up having quite a good season of hiking. I didn't have the time to document every one here, which I am regretting. (I have actually found my hiking blog posts to be terribly useful when suggesting routs to friends) Either way, I believe we are down to the final 6 of the NH48. We haven't been in a hurry to finish that list, because we enjoy doing repeat hikes, hikes in Maine, etc, but I imagine we will wrap it up in 2021. 

And as far as the weather goes, it is fluctuating in the manner that it often does in Maine in October. 65 one day, 45 the next. From the looks of the extended forecast, we are basically in for about 10 days of cold and clammy- I don't see any high temps over 48 at this point. GROSS. 

Stats:

Miles run: 28.2 (about 2.5 done as hike)

Warmest day: 66 on Thursday

Place in Challenge on Sunday night: 265/569 (ok. so 2 places better than last week. I'm currently 47.78 miles behind where I should be.... slightly terrifying. Luckily, I have months to finish so I am hopeful I can regain ground. Also, in ridiculous news, no fewer than 6 people have already finished....) 

Week 7 of the BOS to BHB Challenge

Thankfully, I was able to get some miles in this week (not "enough" but some!)

I figured that until I'm feeling zero, ZERO weirdness from my shin, that I'll be getting miles in but taking it super easy. 

Oddly, I actually have more discomfort after a treadmill workout than an outdoor run. (and let me be clear- during this week I had zero pain (YAY!) but after the treadmill the weird leg just felt.... weird.... So I'm being especially dainty on the treadmill. 

My runs this week were a variety of shuffles, walk runs, and (as the week went on) more running time than walking. And, the shin feels quite alright at the present moment. 

The weather was a mixed bag this week. Thursday was 68, sunshine, full blown Indian summer glory. Friday evening into Saturday we got a couple inches of rain, and the temp hovered close to 38 degrees for most of Saturday. GROSS.....

Indian summer

I've been really busy at work, for what feels like months and months (and in a way, that is true!) This is a tricky time of year when I put in a ton of hours. This is good, because business is good, and making money is good!!! The tricky thing is that I haven't had an actual day off since.... August? Yikes. Covid is making scheduling tougher than normal, but I'm working on finding actual balance. 

I've had a few people ask me about Boston 2021. No news yet! You all know that my best guess is that it will be a no-go, or elites only. 

My real question at this point is pertaining to how things will be handled when it's all systems go. Theoretically, my BQ time for 2020 should get me in to 2021 (I earned that time at Boston 2019.) Currently, there are no races in a safe traveling distance for me to even consider re-qualifying in (this is NOT the case everywhere. There are still people qualifying.)

So. Say it's September of 2021 and the BAA says "yep, 2022 is a go. We know 358,982 of you have qualified at this point." How's THAT going to work? I suppose one easy solution is to stick with the standard, that the fastest people get in. Fair enough. OR, at some point they tell us our current BQ times are void, and we have to do it again. Again, fair enough, and certainly a good way to shrink the pool. 

Whatever they do, I'm fine with it. 

Stats: Stats:

Miles run: 24.3

Grossest day: 38 and pouring on Saturday.....

Placing I the Challenge on Sunday night: 258/568 (moving slowly in the right direction.)

Week 7 of the BOS to BHB Challenge

Last week was one of those weeks that I seem to have a few times a year. Too much to do, and not enough daylight at either end of the day to do it!  Add to that, the sudden and fierce onset of almost winter like temps, and it was not a record setting week in any way (LIE: I believe I set an all time record for lessons taught in a week in during the months of September through January. So.... There was that. 

I did manage to get out for two pretty decent runs over the weekend. 5 and change on Saturday, and 6 on Sunday kept me from having to admit to a complete flop. 

Also, these two runs marked the longest number of miles I have been able to run, without walking, since virtual Boston. My weird leg is back to feeling good, but I'm going to be a bit cautious on it for the next bit of time. 

Not making great headway on my Challenge race. It is so long, that I refuse to just throw in the towel in hopes that I'll be back to some more respectable mileage soon. Without long hike Saturdays in the schedule, it's hard to get ahead! (or catch up... or anything!!)

Stats:

Miles run: 11.4

Biggest temperature change: It was 40 on Saturday morning, and 74 by 1PM

Placing I the Challenge on Sunday night: 276/568 (not gonna win this one!)

Week 6 (?) of the BOS to BHB Challenge and other shit

OK so I vanished for a hot minute there. 

So, to try to recap. 

I ran Virtual Boston on September 12th, and because I wasn't an idiot I felt pretty good after a couple days. I did one or two little shuffles the following week just move around and discovered that NOTHING that I thought would be icky/sticky was, but other (minor) things were. 

On September 20th Eric and Ellie and I trail "ran" the Tripyramids- which was god damn awesome. I'm really busy at work, and don't have much help AND the sun sets at about 2 in the afternoon. SO, trail running happens out of necessity and it is pretty fun. We did NOT do the slides, but found plenty of vert none the less. We chose the Pind Bend trail to Sabbaday trail loop and it worked just fine for us. (plus, miles and miles of Sabbaday were VERY runnable. Plus the first 1.5 miles of Pine Bend)

View from the top

And then the shit just hit the fan for a bit. 

I had some major major major crap at work. My horse got super sick and had to spend 6 days in the Hospital..... 

OMG he's still so cute. Sad little IV and all....

Our County went "code yellow" for Covid, and so the school district changes the classroom schedule and chaos ensued. CHAOS. Oh, and my shin shit finally needed attention, and a week off.  (which seemed SO SO minor compared to the rest of the crap.)

I would tell you that I was literally like "2020 GO FUCK YOURSELF I AM DONE!!!" But in reality I was trying, stubbornly, to maintain nothing but positive feelings. It was exhausting. 

Hopefully we are on the other side of this particular set of issues. Being that it is 2020 I expect more to come. HAH. HAH. HAH. UGH. 

I'm carefully back to running this week and the leg shit feels better. 

My horse is all recovered from his peritonitis and looks super. 

School/Children/My schedule are just never going to settle into a routine this year, but I am doing my best to roll with the punches. 

And yeah. I'm stubbornly, and positively hoping to get caught back up on miles for my Boston to Bar Harbor Challenge. There is some rando who literally walks 6 different 6 mile walks PER DAY who is about to win. One side of my brain is impressed by this, but the other is like "wow. lots of spare time...) 

Whatever though. I have months left to finish and that is my "A" goal. My "B" goal is to finish in the first 50% of people to do so. We shall see, because it's a slow decline around here. 

So. 

Stats:

Miles driven while horse was in hospital to bring horse, visit once, bring horse home: 600. No lie. 

Miles run this past week: 17

Dollars spent on sucky sick sick horse: Not many thanks to bazillion dollar insurance plan. But I spend a bazillion dollars on THAT, so, by default, a BAZZILION dollars. 

Dollars spent on other things: None, because sick horse and pandemic

Place in Challenge last week: 239/564

Place in Challenge today: 241/565 (so, not a terrible decline even with LOW miles) 

Virtual Boston Marathon

I  had a few ideas about how to tackle my own, personalized 2020 Boston Marathon. 

My own private Boston

I was looking forward to the event in the way that one looks forward to a situation that one is most certainly not 100% prepared for. For me, that means no pressure, immense flexibility, the need for creativity, and a small sense of dread. The usual. (this may, in fact, be how I feel prior to events that I am 100% prepared for, to be honest.)

I considered running 262 lengths of my driveway. This was a very real option for about a day.

I thought about running to the pub we used to frequent (which is closed now) and then BACK. This was an option for about one minute. 

Then, I mentioned to Lee that I had seen a couple people on the internet mention that they were planning to run the Kancamagus Highway, and CLEARLY, an idea was born. Because running over a mountain is ALWAYS a good idea! 

So ok, creative idea, CHECK. 

Lee offered to be my roving aid station, as I planed to run a point to point route from *almost* Lincoln, NH, to Conway, NH. This was a brilliant idea, and we decided that Friday the 11th sounded good. That meant I could work Friday morning, run that afternoon, then have 2 days off from riding horses and be back to it on Monday. 

Well. The best laid plans changed when Lee remembered he had an appointment on Friday. OH LEE!

Actually, I legit did not care. I was like, "Saturday it is!" (which meant I could work extra on Friday! Work Saturday morning, then run, then have ONE day to get my legs in order before being back on horses on Monday. 

So OK, Being flexible. CHECK. 

For planning purposes, there was discussion about how long the adventure might take. Especially since I had not run longer than 10 miles at a time since March. 

I was like "ehhh who knows. 5 hours? Maybe?"

(No pressure. CHECK)

Lee helpfully printed me out a spreadsheet, complete with pace, elevation (yikes) and about 26.2 places that he could meet me with in-tow aid station along the way. (Unlike Lee, I'm not one to to plan.... we kind of figured out his aid station locations on the drive.)

Saturday morning dawned, and it was lovely. 

I went to work for the morning. 

Packed my shit. Left late (ALWAYS)

The internet had suggested that I "gather my cheer squad and some chalk, and make an authentic Boston Marathon start and finish line!!" Lee and I decided that we were not really chalk art people, and that we would be doing very little instagram worthy stuff #lame but #fact

Saturday on the Kanc is stupid trafficy, and this was a known fact.  Evidently, this particular Saturday marked the day when EVERYONE who owns a road racing motorcycle hits the Kanc, and uses it as their own, lawless, personal race track. 

As we drove the 26.2 miles from the Conway end, shit got CRAZY. There were bikes passing us on the right. Bikes passing us on the left WHILE other cars were meeting us from the other direction. And this happened over, and over, and OVER. 

Before I headed off to run, Lee said "So. If it just too stupid out there, we can go do something different." (while I believe he meant that I could go elsewhere to run, I was imaging something totally different like going off to get some sandwiches or ice cream or bacon or something.....)

So yeah. Too Fast, Too Furious RACE BIKE edition equals DREAD. check. 

The first 5 miles of my run was very much uphill, gaining over 1K in elevation. 

After that, an almost straight downhill route (well... a couple flats, a couple small ups, but certainly a downhill theme.)

And down we go. But not until mile 5. 

Anyways. UP I went. And I felt good! I have been doing so much hiking, and some trail running, that my legs were pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to run uphill on pavement. (like, a 9% grade for a while there....) 

I saw Lee a couple times in the first 5 miles and told him stories about the crazy bike race people zooming by, doing wheelies and acting crazy. He told ME stories about how he saw them riding 4 across, standing straight up on top of their bikes! (listen, I'm all for good fun, but doing this on a public road seems so reckless!) I was also able to tell him that I was not terrified, or in danger, and that the bail out sandwich/taco/ice cream plan would have to wait.) 

Here's Lee!

Thankfully, at mile 5 (at the overlook where the bike gang was "hosting" their convention)  the cops showed up and broke up the party. 

YAYYYYYYYYYYYY!

You can see a few of the bikes in this pic

And after that, the story becomes quite ordinary. 

Well, first we had to celebrate my queen of the mountain status, at the Kancamagus Pass!

Made it up the mountain

As far as running goes, I strove to maintain an easy pace throughout. It would have been pretty easy to take off like a bat out of hell at the first downhill, but that did not seem wise. 

The awesome thing was to see Lee, and beginning at mile 11, Eric and Ellie too, every couple miles. This was GREAT FABULOUS fun, and I definitely took some time at each stop to chat for a moment. (and get some water, and pick up some snacks.... and to take some instagram pics) 

The whole gang

I assumed that at some point my legs would simply quit, and I would be forced to walk the final few (or more) miles. Even though I definitely began to feel a little pooped around mile 19, I continued to run to the end, aside from a couple short walk breaks. 

Lee and Eric had to get creative with parking, since the crowds were definitely out. The good thing was that nobody was congregating where they were, so it was all very Covid safe (Eric and I, and my parents have been extremely cautious since March, and this was the biggest outing we have dared to go on. And, thankfully, it felt very safe. Except for the motorcycles. While some people say they are "safe" and are shopping, dining, going to pubs, movies, getting together with friends, and family, we have done legit NOTHING. Not even outdoor stuff with anyone but each other. So, yeah. This was the biggest outing of summer 2020 for SURE.) (and no judgement. you do you, bro. and we'll do us)

I had given Lee a box of things I might want while running and we managed to arrange it so that I could "trick or treat" every time I met up with him (this was a good way to celebrate Halloween, since that won't be happening....) The weird thing that I wanted the most was crackers! I think I ate my way through a box of Wheat Thins (kind of like Thanksgiving.... go me! Since we won't be celebrating THAT this year!!!!) (and WTF. who eats wheat thins while running??)

So yes. I twiddled through my final 10k, in the lengthening shadows, crackers in hand and legs still managing a sub 10 pace. 

Right at 4:13 I reached my AMAZING FINISH LINE!!!! Which, due to the variables in the world happened to be about a quarter mile away from where my elite level support team was awaiting my arrival. So, I kept running and pretended to win the Boston Marathon as I ran into a glorious parking lot! (it was like, guess what, CHRISTMAS!!! Celebrating early, since I won't be throwing my Holiday party/s this year.) 

FINISHED!!

Within one minute I had a beer in my hand, sweatpants on my legs, and we were telling stories of the entire fabulous event. I had thought that running 26.2 solo might kind of suck, but I really enjoyed it! I never went more than a few miles without checking in with Lee so that certainly helped, but I really like a good run by myself too, evidently. 

My moving time clocked in at 3:58 which is pretty fantastic, considering that I have not really marathon trained since prior to Boston 2019. Of course, my actual finishing time of 4:13 reflected some enjoyable rest stops (and a couple/few pee breaks, clearly.) 

Now that the dust has settled, I'm even more pleased with my effort. My recovery was easy (2 days of mildly sore legs, nothing major) shows me that I did not overexert. Conquering the marathon distance solo was a first for me, and a test of my mental mettle. I like a good challenge, and this was a unique one. Mostly, I really enjoyed the interaction with Lee and Eric throughout the day. I was really able to look forward to the frequent morale boosts, and having everything I could possibly need at my fingertips allowed me to take great care of myself (hence, the fast recovery!)

So. Success. I'm totally counting this as Boston Marathon #8, because I feel I put forth a genuine, honest and solid solo effort. 

If we are being real, I kind of wish I could have my roving aid station/support crew along for the ride at every race!

We'll see what 2021 brings for Marathons, and big events like Boston. For 2020, I think that the BAA did a splendid job coordinating this event, and making it feel like a really big deal.