Weekly Recap: 6/26/2017 - 7/2/2017

My designs on a century for June are dashed unless I take off Friday the 30th.  Considering I'll probably be the only person at work on the 30th of June and 3rd of July I might just do that!

This weather, OMG, LOVE IT!  While I do love a nice sunny bluebird sky winter day, these have been out of this world with the low humidity and temperatures.  Monday was no exception.  Faith texted that she could run on Tuesday, an hour, easy pace.  Easy pace, so cracks me up, this translates to Beth you need to govern my run with a conservative pace.  I'm happy to oblige because she definitely picks up my shuffling pace to something I'm happier with.  It's been a funny running relationship over the last several years.  I think I've finally figured it all out and are good with each of our strengths and opportunities!

I got in a 5.2-mile run, hitting one of the points.  Relieve the run here. Let it pan out and imagine the beautiful water views. By "points" I mean Eastern Point Beach, Avery Point, Jupiter Point.  I hit one of the "points" Eastern Point Beach.  I run in such a beautiful place when I run at work I'm almost sad to run on the weekends.  And I have the opportunity to run in an equally beautiful place from home.

Gus was back in the Holter monitor... poor guy.  Dave ended up taping (athletic tape not packing tape) the electrodes to him, so he had an athletic tape wrap under the felt vest.  Poor guy was miserable.  We did go for a very short walk, just to see what his heart did with a 'load'.  Data whores, the both of us!!  Jax whined his way into a walk at 9 p.m.  I'm a sucker.  He barely made me use his 'commands' the first 1/10 of a mile, which is to the end of the block, so we went a mile and he was thrilled.

The Holter Monitor.  Looks like he has a jet pack on his back.

Gus woke up looking like the walking dead on Tuesday, I can't imagine sleeping in a taped up body with a felt vest and a jet pack on my back.  He gave me a "Gus Hug" and snuggled in to let me scratch his ears before I had to actually get out of bed at 6:45 a.m.  I really like lounging about in the morning.  Gus did his usual lap around the bedroom at 4 a.m., sometimes he needs to go out, I'll get a cold nose to the face, or he wants to snuggle I'll get a 'huff' and I'll lift the covers and  he snuggles in with his butt under my nose, or he wants to stretch his legs he only does a lap.  It was a stretch the legs night and at 6 a.m. Jax was up in a panic about which ball would be the ball for the day.  I went down stairs with him, asking "Where's your ball?" we did a lap of the first floor he finally fixated on THE ball of the day.  Which meant I could crawl back in bed for Gus snuggles.

Faith and I met up at noon for our run.  Clearly, she was beaten up from her first metric century on the bike and a stupid muddy 50K post that.  Still kept me chugging along a little faster than normal, which is what I wanted but still kept her at a 'casual pace' per her coach.  We did a good 5.5 and agreed that last chug up the never ending slow assent on Shenni sucks balls.

While this was a fun run night I begged off, the quiet of home is a wonderful thing to me.  Plus the low humidity and cool breezes.  I'm in heaven.

Gus was mad he didn't get a walk so no snuggles for me on Wednesday morning. This does make me sad however I enjoyed my evening of nothing, well actually it was pretty productive with nagging chores.

Ro and I got back on the hill routine for today.  Felt good, I'm glad we didn't do them last week.  Nice catching up and working up a sweat.  This weather, though, damn it is so nice.  I fear being so happy with it will bring on the usual summer of heat and humidity in a flash.

Another quiet evening filled with dog walks and housewifery was about the right speed for me.

The humidity spiked back up for a short time on Thursday, it went away.  I was glad this was not a running day and a core day.  Addy is back from her maternity leave and tortured us, I can't believe what a sweat I worked up.  Cory said the same thing as we walked out and up the stairs.  Ugh, those stairs out of the gym, the worst part of the workout.  I was kinda glad to not be alone in this feeling of, that seemed kinda easy but damn it kicked my ass club.  Packed up the beer gift, and my spare shoes and gear in case I got an affirmative from Rachel on Beer'd.  Boom!  Awesomeness.  While it isn't a running day I needed to move and the humidity dropped and the cool sea breezes kicked in and it was a great run.  Plus it was nice to finally unload a bad beer purchase, that was something Rachel liked (so happy about that) and a couple of things for her to try.

There is a fly on my ball.  He is so funny!

The boyz got a walk after they got dinner and I got something to eat.  Dave was out riding the 666 loop twice, so 12 12 12 or 1,332?  Dunno...  Jax was a jerk and Gus was sweet patient Gus.  Jax needs a good 5 mile run in the woods, his ACL would say otherwise, it is a tough balance.  I think we might be better off getting him the surgery and dealing with the 6 months of rehab on one hand and on the other hand letting him run like a crazy dog on the flat field and calling it good and letting him limp for 3 days.  Definitely having him chase either of us on the mountain bike or me in the woods is out of the question, but it would be just the thing to calm him down,  Poor guy.  Poor us.

The soreness started about 1 a.m. on Friday morning as did my mind churning about things to do.  Why I didn't just get up and deal with the most pressing of these things is beyond me.  Probably would have gained me an hour or two of sleep?  Other than taking Gus on a short hike it was a slug day where my quads and back burned.  Thanks, Addy!  I'm glad you are back!

Took a chance and let Gus off leash and stuck close to him so he didn't run around.  He did well, I think he was waiting for me to let him wander off so he could do his Gus thing.  We didn't go far and it is flat and kind of breezy.  It was nice to be back in the woods with him, even if it was for a short time and I fretted about him keeling over and me having to haul his 80 lb body out of there.  Drama much Beth?

Pre Deer Fly sting!

He did get stung by a Deer Fly on his eye.  So he looked like a real boxer with a swollen red eye for most of the night.  It didn't last long so no need for the Benadryl...

Jax woke us all up at 6 a.m. on Saturday for wrestle time!  Thanks, pal.  After getting a foot in the face a couple time I rolled over and gave him the cold shoulder.  I'll wrestle with ya, no worries there but, you've got four flailing legs you don't control, kick Dave! I slept for another few hours and Dave got up and made dog breakfast and coffee.  I didn't feel much better with a bit more sleep and decided a century ride was not in the books.  Especially a self-supported one.

Went out for a ride to clear my head and breathe in some salt air, got 30 miles after lapping in front of the house a couple times.  The neighbors already think we are weird, just add fuel to the fire.  Once I looked at the date I figured out why I was so foggy.  Andrew died a year ago on the 2nd.  Clara sent out an invite for their annual 4th of July party (what would have been his 50th birthday this year) for a Sociable.  I'll take a shot of Jameson's (I still have a bit left from my Irish colleague) and make sure I pick up a Guinness as a chaser.  RIP buddy.  You were one in a million.  I still think he's alive and in witness protection, the world lost a great man when they lost Andrew.

I called my ride Junk. Relive it here. Truly there was no point to this ride other than to get me out of the house and some fresh air and quite possibly to snicker at the Watch Hill tourists and watch the Misquamicut tourists, quite the dichotomy, little girls with their perfect straight blonde hair, in their Lilly Pulitzer (or whatever is the must have) dresses asking the other one to hold on to their wad of twenty dollar bills while they fiddled with their iPhones in their special waterproof cases hung around their necks versus exactly not that but at the same time exactly that because they love and trust their friends just as those other girls did....  

They weren't Junk Miles, it was 30 miles with some slogging and some working, mostly processing current events and thinking about Andrew, and Clara, three kids, and a widow and she's 48 years old, and my constant worry over Gus' heart, and my parent's health.  Chug chug chug along and get through all of it.  Sometimes the best we can hope for is to see them on the other side.

Loved the guy in the middle all spread out and the other two hunkered over

Were they Junk Miles? They weren't, in my heart, I did it and I earned those miles, slow or fast, they are MY miles.  If they didn't meet someone else's standard that is their judgment and of no consequence to me.

Gus and I had a walk, he really wanted to cross the busy road.  For some reason this is a big deal for all the dogs, to cross the busy road.  He wasn't having anything with going down to the park the direct route.  OK.  Well, in the long run, he had the better idea.  There was a concert at the park and neither of us like the noise or the crowds.  We did have a lovely, albeit short walk.

The little black alarm clock had us up before 6 a.m. per usual, he doesn't know from Sunday to any other day of the week...  Dave was going out to Madison CT to ride in Rockland Park with Razz, and I really was set on a century ride and needed to get moving before 9 a.m.  I don't like being up early, why force myself to do something so miserable when the big rock for the day was the ride.

In Mystic, there were tons of runners and bikers on River Road.  Like a lot of runners, was there a race?  I saw a couple guys I work with I'll have to ask them when I see them again.

I had never ridden on Shewville Road, well not that I can remember.  What an awesome road, there were actually some shady parts and there was a nice breeze.  The thing that struck me was the number of historical cemeteries.  

Such a pretty graveyard.  Is it weird I like graveyards?

Thought this was cool!

Krug was nice, rolling hills, few cars.  The shade was not to be found those poor trees.

And then Stone Hill.  OMG.  ugh....

The blessing was Hell H0llow Road, beautiful scenery, right through Patchaug Forest, no cars, and then I got to the pond and then all that I went down I got to go back up.

The next was Ekonk Hill with Ekonk Turkey Farm where there was ice cream!  This was the biggest of the climbs.  

The Turtle, how I felt with some of those hills.... chug chug chug

I got to ride back on familiar roads!

Beriah Lewis Farm - this was so sweet.

Stopped at Grey Sail for a pint before wrapping up the last few miles to get to 70.

Hazy Day

It was a good ride, all told, I didn't ride 100 miles, I made 70.  Relive it here.  The pictures didn't load with this one, so I put them in the text. I'm not disappointed, the weather wasn't great for a long ride and I started getting a headache.  I really need to replace electrolytes better.   There is always the Mt. Wachusett Century ride to get one in for July.

Mileage:

Feet 28
Saddle 100

Books:

I am loving "The Boston Girl" by Anita Diamant.  Such a well told story about life, nothing more nothing less.  Happiness and tragedy.

Knitting:

Not much progress on the baby sweater.  However one of mine will have a new home with a newly born first great grandson of one of my parents' friends.  While a happy event it is also a sad event, the new mother died during delivery.  I mention this only because, despite the advances in medicine mother's still die in childbirth; not at as great a rate 200 years ago, however they still do.  Never take anything for granted.

Sincerely,
Beth, wow half the year is over...  supposed I ought to see how I'm doing on my goals.

Weekly Recap: 6/19/2017 - 6/25/2017

Feeling like a million bucks on my run on Monday gave me far too much confidence in my abilities.  A peppy pace and legs that felt great made me think I was fit enough for such a quick recovery from Mount Washington.  HA!

As a result of feeling like a million bucks, I didn't reconsider joining the EBAC (Electric Boat Athletic Club) guys for the 100K bike ride on Long Island on Tuesday.  Hell, I even considered upping to the Century (100 miles).  Fortunately, smarter heads prevailed and asked if I REALLY wanted to "get involved in that testosterone fest" as I was "the only WOMAN".  Oh, yeah, that could get pretty brutal pretty fast.  Love ya guys, but wow can you get competitive....  middle-aged men on bicycles...  akin to 'pretty girls'...

I met up with Tom, Ray, and Frank for the 7:15 fast ferry out of New London to Orient Point NY.  We could have taken the cheaper 7 am. ferry and arrived after the 7:15 a.m. ferry.  I'd rather take the slow boat back.  After stashing our backpacks at the ferry office we were rolling by 8:15 a.m. and the 100-mile guys hadn't arrived yet. The weather was perfection, sunny with big puffy Simpsons type clouds to filter out the sun when we weren't riding in shady spots on the awesome route Tom mapped out for us.

Relive the ride here.



The minor hills we did have to 'summit' were a wee bit difficult, however, I sucked it and after letting the guys know why I was lagging on hills, I wasn't lagging so much anymore.  Funny how that works.

The usual fare for Wednesday is Hills with Ro or Hills w/o Ro.  I wasn't really in the mood for hills, however, the weather was perfect, Ro was in VT, so solo it is.  I headed that direction only to be met with a right knee that was not happy and quads that felt like lead.  I turned around and walked till the Space Watch hit 1/2 mile and started running, or something that perhaps resembles running. All felt better, but it was still like running through pudding.  I managed a bit over 3 miles and called it good.

Took part in the track club fun run for one mile and then walked the pups for another mile and change, all told I got in over 5 miles...  Definitely felt sluggish and heavy legged.

Traditionally Thursday is not a running day, it is a class/core day, and I did the circuit class despite the beautiful running weather.  Totally messed up my social secretary duties and forgot to remind Rachel about the Beer'd Fun Run.  While I should have bailed on the run, I was there so I ran.  Not fast, not particularly slow.  The boyz got out for a walk when I got home, only 2 minutes late for Dog Dinner time.

Met up with Ro for a power walk on Friday, neither of us were into the Hill Loop, so we did the beach loop and called it good.  And that was that for the week.  I'm tired, I really need to embrace less active 'rest' days!  Missed Friday afternoon nap due to a hair appointment.  I enjoy my time with Maggie, she is fun and funny and is jealous of my hair.  I had to admit I am not jealous of her beautiful blonde thick straight hair, I am jealous of her youth.  We continue to try and find a way to manage my unruly curls, one day they, perhaps also their owner, will be tamed.

A rainy Saturday turned into chores and knitting and doing nothing, a day I've needed in a while, sure last Sunday was a near 0 day with the drive back from NH, so that doesn't count.  I was hoping to watch some television, totally not my thing.  The box wasn't working.  After a call to the service center and resets, the tech declared it dead so I went to the store and traded in the old (as the clerk told me ANCIENT) box and got a new one and did some grocery shopping.

Nothing was going right setting this thing up. I did the same thing 5 times, because?? Insanity.  Clearly, insanity. I finally got so frustrated I yanked the coaxial cable and it was attached to NOTHING but the splitter.  What the actual fuck.  The cable from the basement was directly into the modem and the Imaginary Husband thought all of this a mystery, stating the tv worked last night (yeah, right).  Got that all straightened out and scratched my head as to how this could have magically happened. We have some pretty comical poltergeists, don't we???  ha ha ha Wonder what their next trick will be?  Emptying all the cabinets? (it's happened!!)  

All told I enjoyed my truly lazy day, started a new baby sweater and continued to look for my missing watch charging cable.  I swear I charged it on Monday....  a new one arrives on Monday, now to hope the battery lasts!  Because? Insanity.  I'm sure it is in the house somewhere, taunting me.... Damn poltergeist.

As an aside, way back when I lived in Michigan, pre-Imaginary Husband days, the group I hung out with were Tom and Earlene.  They were a childless couple living on a big lot off a deserted road, they had the party house...  Professionals in their 20's are allowed to call it a party house?  or no? Someone figured out where they hid their spare house key.  It was a slow build up of things moving, never missing over a period of months.  Then came home to find every cabinet in their kitchen emptied and the contents on the counter.  After a few weeks they figured it out and the spare house key location now contained the key in a lockbox!!!  Trust me they gave as good as they got!  I know I had a few zingers over the years, I do miss those days, however, wouldn't want them back...

Gus woke up with a grumbly tummy on Sunday morning so this was kind of an excuse for me to forgo my planned century ride and do something shorter.  After Tums and an hour wait, he was still having nothing of his breakfast so I loaded up a ride in the Garmin and then noted that it was going the opposite way I wanted to go.  Clearly, I was not in the mood to bike...  I threw that out the window and texted Dave that I'd be out for 50 miles and was leaving about 9:30...  Failing to plan is planning to fail, right!  I meandered here and there wondering which way this or that road went.   Happy to note Mechanic St in Hope Valley/Richmond is NEW TAR and amazingly smooth.  This, unfortunately, put me at the option of riding Rte 3.  I should have taken the first road that cut through but didn't I took Woodville.  Stay off Woodville, it's awful.  Fall 2017 it gets dug up and fixed, wait till next summer.  I had to get off that nightmare as soon as I could which put me on nice shady Tomaquag, however, I was greeted with two raging dogs barking and running up to their electric fence.  I'm sure my guys back home heard me scream!!  These were the worst of the dogs chasing bikes.  Enjoying the nice downhill on Collins meant I'd be riding back the same roads I rode in on.  Whatever, it was a blah ride.

Relive here.



Mileage:

Feet:  24
Saddle: 102

Books:

I finished "America's First Daughter" and enjoyed it very much.  

Like him or not Thomas Jefferson is a founding father, did he live by the words he wrote "all men are created equal" in my eyes, and many others no. He did live with the accepted norms south of the Mason-Dixon line at the time. The authors' prologue and epilogue clearly state they have interpreted timelines to compress the time line, they have also stated that where there are breaks in the correspondence records, they filled in details for dramatic effect. It is an enjoyable novel based on an interpretation of history. This is not a fully historically correct reference. 

I am more curious about Martha Jefferson Randolph than Thomas Jefferson, perhaps because I am continually stories of seeking strong females in a time when they were not supposed to be. I can only imagine she was similar to how she was portrayed. She knew what needed to be done and she got it done. She could not have been a shrinking violet considering the life she led or was forced into.

Started "The Boston Girl" by Anita Diamant, I think I am going to enjoy this one.  Addie is a spitfire personality, coming of age when women were still supposed to be in the shadows.

Probably because her last name is similar to a title by Irene Nemirovsky (an author my mother introduced me to) I picked up this book, plus a reading friend also liked it, but I think I saw the author's name before I saw Sheila's review...  which came first the chicken or the egg?  Either way, I don't think I'll be disappointed.

Knitting:

Still, haven't washed or blocked the cardigan or found the perfect buttons.  It's too warm to wear it....

Started yet another baby sweater.  I seriously need to start sending these off to all the newborns this year.   They will fit well into their second year of life so...

Sincerely,
Beth,
Not many pictures this week.... sorry

Mt Washington for the third time! There is magic in that mountain!

Mount Washtington Road Race 2017

The big day, Saturday the 17th of June 2017, the weather wasn't as chilly as we expected, I still packed extra layers and wore a long sleeve and a short sleeve figuring once I broke the tree line the wind would be there and I would need sleeves, the last two times this has been the case.

Nothing was usual about this race.  

Power hike pace started early and wasn't disappointed I did this, I got passed by people, I passed people, the crowd thinned.  I did notice that people with other people had more energy.  Seems about right.  

Interestingly, I was back and forth with #37 Ron Johnston a superior runner to me in all aspects.....  not exactly sure why he was in my pace group, but he crossed the finish (2:31) turned around and walked back down this hill.  Probably some super runner training program! 

After breaking the tree line and the cold wind (or any for that matter) wasn't there it was clear this was going to be a death march.... 

I looked longingly at all the snow still in the ravines in the distance.

To relieve the pain that started in my hip at mile 3 I did a lot of marching backward and then forward to take the pressure off my right hip, that did seem to do the trick!

Taking off my long sleeved shirt at the beginning of the dirt section (mile 5 when it was clear there would be no cooling breeze) resulted in me managing to lose the only pair of sunglasses I have ever liked.  I never did feel much cooler.

Finally hearing the car horns in the distance helped to make me not want to hurl myself off the side of the mountain.

My A goal was to break 2:30 (19:44 or less pace).  My B goal was a 20 minute pace, this would get me about 2:32 I was 20:08 and 2:33.  

Full results here

Mark, Jason, Me, Peter, Ro (in front)
Peter placed first in his Age Group!

I think the best part of the wall was seeing Leslie, stopping to talk, she suggested I may want to finish the race first.  All I had to navigate was the wall, and I was NOT looking forward to that climb.  That's probably the minute I lost, ha ha ha!!

Just after, Steve got some great photos and said he drank all my beer.  I said he was a dead man.  The spectators laughed.  That energized me, only enough to miserably soldier at a 21% grade to the finish. 

I am a class act!
Photo by Steve

Ro cheered me on.  

Photo by Ro before the race, I can't find the one she took I must have really looked bad!!

Mark was there and behind him was Mindy who I was so hoping to meet in person.  Got a little more lively and I was mere steps from the finish line.  (Ro in the background)

Photo by Mark Gravell
My Maternal Grandfather always said do something interesting for the camera.

I couldn't even muster up the energy to RUN across the finish line.  I crossed, grabbed the blanket they were trying to put around me, I totally did not need a blanket, and someone put a medal around my neck.  

Photo by Mindy Randall
Bloated and ready to collapse 

All in all a fun race.  

By the time I got back to the car, saw the illustrious Scott Mason, and chatted a bit with Rachel I was clearly not in a good place and needed to barf, but there was nothing to barf.  I got some Gatorade from teammate Peter and that helped a bit, sat in the car fidgeted a lot and managed to feel less like I was going to die or have the dry heaves.

Finally, we got moving, on the ride down we clicked off the 5,000 ft mark and traffic stopped....  I got out as I was surely going to barf now.  I felt much better. At 4,000 feet  I was hungry,  at 3,000 feet I was hoping Steve really didn't drink all my beer.  

OMG I have no idea what was the problem, the heat, the dehydration the lack of replenishing with salt tabs (I seriously need to remember this from the ultra, that got me through the last 9 miles)... dunno, but it was awful and very upsetting.  Really more upsetting than anything.

We had a turkey dinner from Hart's and socialized until we got kicked out, it was the mini convention, they were going to the top to watch the sunset.

This was really a watershed experience for me, all my self-doubt (ok not ALL but a lot) seemed to vanish as the seconds and minutes and hours passed after I crossed the finish line.  

I can't be exactly sure what rejuvenated my spirit, something certainly did.  From the point of vomiting forward, I've been exceptionally upbeat and disgustingly perky.  

There is magic in that mountain!

Video of the race and the winners, they actually RAN !!!  Mount Washington Video 2017

Sincerely,

Beth, hoping whatever valley she's been lolling about in for far too long is solidly in the past. 

Oh yeah, and 6/17/17 was my and the Imaginary Husbands 17th wedding anniversary.  There has been nothing conventional about our relationship from the moment we met in 1997; it seemed fitting I was barfing my guts out at about the time we exchanged wedding vows 17 years earlier, ha ha!!