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We’re back from our Midwestern holiday tour, which seems to pass faster every year.  Because we now live farther west, we avoided the “woogie hours” at each end, making the trip in under 12 hours each way.  In this in-between day before the festivities of New Year’s Eve, I unpacked, washed, cleaned, napped, ran, and generally puttered, and took some time to reflect on the year and think about 2012.

Following Kristin Armstrong’s advice, I’ve been enjoying the natural break of the holidays.  I ran a few times during our trip, mostly to revisit favorite routes and regulate my energy, but I tried to not be overly concerned about the distance or frequency.  I’m definitely ready to get back to training for Boston and also focus on regaining core and upper body strength next year.  Visiting family and participating in their routine, trying on their pace, and enjoying their favorite foods is fun and helps me to connect with them.  It also makes returning home feel like putting on your favorite slippers, well-worn and comfortable.

Work has been thoroughly enjoyable this year, rewarding, and more successful than I expected.  I took on a new position in April leading the ISR, Mission Management and Fusion technical group.  I have had the luxury of a new boss who was clearly dedicated to his team, the guidance and assistance of my former boss who became his deputy, a terrific group of peers who genuinely value collaboration, the mentorship of a good friend who first hired me to the company 8 years ago, and the benefit of having the VP of Finance as my formal mentor.  My group’s leadership team is experienced and engaged.  We have grown in numbers this year, not as fast as we’d hoped, but the new crew positions us well for an even better 2012.  I’ve particularly enjoyed being part of the company’s Women’s Forum and recruiting at the Society of Women Engineers convention, resulting in 3 promising hires for our Burlington site and great networking opportunities.

Though we have loved and dedicated many hours to People’s United Methodist Church in Newburyport over the past 10 years, it’s time to move on and find a local church near our new home in Chelmsford.  I’m looking forward to attending church with friends for the next few months, which I’ve not done since college, and eventually getting involved in a new church.

We learned a valuable lesson in 2011 about taking advantage of local opportunities.  We went kayaking for the first time with some friends from work, walking 2 blocks to the kayak rental company and another short distance to put in our kayaks in the Merrimack.  After living in Newburyport 10 years, this was the first time we took advantage of a great natural resource in this way, and we had a fantastic time, wondering why hadn’t done it sooner!  We vowed to avoid the same error when we moved to Chelmsford.  We live just behind a state park that has groomed cross country ski trails in the winter.  So, we pooled Christmas money from Dad and Grandma to purchase skis so we are ready to enjoy the park when we finally get snow.

2011 was a pretty good year, overall.  I’m excited to see what 2012 has in store.

You’ll note that there’s not been a house-related update since we put our house on the market in May.  Suffice it to say that we’ve been disappointed with progress toward selling our home in Newburyport, which culminated this week in hiring a new realtor and adjusting the price substantially.  We are hopeful that we’re now in the right ballpark for pricing.  It was a good sign when our new realtor had a showing scheduled the day after being on the job, did an open house on Sunday, and called us right afterwards to let us know 6 people came through in an hour and two seemed reasonably serious.  Much improved.  We are still keeping our fingers crossed that we can sell the place this year.

Our move to Chelmsford has progressed slowly but steadily.  We’ve taken weekly trips back a forth for church or other meetings, bringing boxes back each time.  We’ve settled into a routine in the new house, which includes a MUCH better commute for me and plenty of trail running.  As expected we spend a lot of time in the kitchen and have enjoyed the hot tub.  It’s great to get up and get ready for work without waking up Brian, and to have all my clothes in one [big closet!] place.  We also like that Brian has his own office, with a new desk and chair, a much more comfortable place to spend his time.  I traveled a lot in October, which slowed unpacking progress, but we caught up this weekend, and the kitchen is basically done.

The movers arrive tomorrow to move our furniture, another big step.  Our new coffee table arrived this week, and the sectional is scheduled to arrive on Thursday.  There will definitely be another round of unpacking, but frankly at this point we’re down to the attic and items we rarely use, so there will likely be as much culling of “stuff” as there will be putting things away.

We’ve traded the ability to walk to dinner for being closer to friends and work.  We’ve traded well-known running and biking paths for the extensive trails at the state park, and we’ll have to learn new roads to run and bike.  On the plus side, it’s a pleasure to cook together and we actually get to do so more often, so I expect more of our entertaining to be based around home.

I find myself now saying that I live in Chelmsford, and while we don’t get the same “OH I love Newburyport!” level response,  it’s definitely the right choice to move on to another phase in our lives.

Several months ago, my running buddies at work and I renewed our commitment to run more frequently.  We decided to sign up for a race to assist in motivation.  I’m not sure how we all decided on the Stone Cat Trail Marathon, but some combination of wanting to run trails, the close proximity and excellent reviews led us to sign up.

The first 4-5 weeks of training went well.  I sent out workout plans, we met at least once a week to run at work or on the weekends.  Then work travel picked up, a few nagging injuries crept in for my colleagues, and it wasn’t too long until our group’s training became ad hoc.  Moving to Chelmsford was a big help to me, because there are tons of trails just out our back door, but I too had travel and schedule constraints.  While I had a good base, and my training in the last month was good quality, the quantity was certainly less than I’d originally planned.  I managed a couple long runs on 10/2 (part of the race course) and 10/23 to check that I could actually run 2.5 – 3 hours and feel confident I could complete the distance, but I honestly had no idea how fast I could run.  I had in mind, based on the McNaughton Race in 2010, that I should be under 6 hours.  I figured I’d take it easy, have a good time, and see how the day unfolded.

But I admit, two little ideas had entered my mind.  First, I looked at the 2010 Stone Cat results.  I thought it *might* just be possible to finish in the top 10 women based on my pace and their times.  Second, as I was picking up my race number and T-shirt on Friday night, I chatted with a veteran trail runner.  I picked his brain about what to eat, what to wear, and details about the race.  He asked my road marathon time and estimated I should be able to run a 4:30.

On Friday night I enjoyed a lively dinner at the Hones with their neighbors, giving me some time to relax and be around friends, as well as carbo load on spaghetti.  I got a good night’s sleep, laid out my gear, and followed my normal race morning ritual – oatmeal with raisins, coffee, water, suit up, and head to the race site.  I felt my normal pre-race jitters, especially while packed into the elementary school gym with hundreds of friendly but rather intimidating runners.  The bathroom line offered a chance to chat with other women, I chatted again with the veteran runner I’d met the night before, and then took a quick jog around the school yard to warm up and clear my head.

Then, at 6:25am, we were off!  The marathoners had a 1.2 mile out-and-back on the road to allow time to spread out.  I felt spunky and wanted to get into a reasonable position in the pack before we got onto the narrow trail, but also tried to hold it back a little.  From Reach the Beach I knew that I tend to run faster in the dark.  According to my watch, I hit the fire road at 8min19seconds, and soon we were off down the trail.  I alternated trailing other runners with headlamps to let them select footing, and then passing when I determined their pace was too tentative.  I definitely felt some old cross country instincts emerging as my eyes would sight the next runner ahead and I reeled them in.  Often a backup line of runners would form on the single track, then once the trail opened up people would pass and spread out again.

There were two main challenges in the race.  The first was self-inflicted: fairly early in the race, as I looked up to spot the next turn ahead, I lost my footing on the rocks and roots and took a spill.  My hip, right arm, and right knee definitely smarted as I dusted myself off and walked a few steps.  I determined nothing was sprained, broken, or bleeding, and continued on, with some fresh adrenaline.  I also made a note to get Advil at the upcoming aid station to try to keep the swelling down on my knee.

The second challenge was well known ahead of time – one of the sections of trail was under water.  Even in the dry summer months there were easily 4-6 inches of water.  We heard at the pre-race brief that it was up to 12 inches, and of course it was 30 degrees at the start of the race, so we’d be running about 50 yards through knee deep ice water.   But, other than coming out with numb feet that took a little while to warm up and dry out, that part didn’t end up being much of an issue.  I took it as an opportunity for mental toughness and just plowed through the water both times.

There were three aid stations on the two-loop course, and the volunteers were terrific.  At the first one, “Al Cat’s Lounge” (he’s the mascot for Mercury Brewing Company, who sponsors the race) I picked up some baked potato wedges, dipped them in the nearby bowl of salt, and also got a cup of Coke.  I asked for Vaseline (same issue as McNaughton, needed to protect my lips and drippy nose), which they quickly provided. I picked up Advil and water at the next one, along with a square of PB&J.  At each station they asked if they could refill my bottle, took it, and had it ready to go by the time I had grabbed some snacks. I like to think of trail races as picnics they set up in the woods, where a bunch of people run from one to another as we eat our way across the park.

At the halfway point there was an out-and back turnaround, so I could see the faster runners coming back up the path.  I saw one woman with a red #1 (red meaning she was in the marathon vs. black for the 50M, and #1 typically indicating last year’s winner), and another woman with a black number coming out ahead of me.  I figured I might actually be in the top 5 at this point, and came through with about a 2hr 18 min split for 13.7 miles.  At that point I decided to make it a race (not just a fun run) and see what I had in me.  I kept picking off runners during the first part of the 2nd loop and stayed aggressive on the hills.  I did take an extended break at the next aid station, to make sure I had enough fuel to get me to the end.  I grabbed a pancake, some ramen, a half banana and tried to eat them as fast as I could.    During this stop I noticed that 2 or 3 women passed me.  One I was able to pass back quickly, and headed back off down the trail.

I tried not to think about how many miles I was running, or my pace,  just think about being tough, keeping my balance, and keeping my feet turning over. When my knees started hurting on I drank more water, to make sure I was well enough hydrated to keep my joints lubricated.  When my hamstrings started hurting and bordering on cramping, I opted to walk up the steepest sections of trail to stretch my legs and tax them less.   But, I tried not to walk more than about 30 seconds, worrying it would just get harder to pick up the pace again, and I went as fast down the hills as I could while keeping my balance.  I kept picking off male runners, and got passed by one or two as well.  Finally the next woman ahead of me was within my sights at around 5 miles to go, but wasn’t able to catch her, and then she and her pacer pulled away.  My legs were feeling pretty dead, so I just tried to estimate how long I had left – a 5K, then less than 2 miles, then I was turning onto the last trail and headed back to the school and pushing the pace as much as my legs could handle.  I came through at about 4:27, feeling very spent, but thrilled with my time.

Then I checked my splits.  I deviated less than 1 min per mile in pace (all estimated, of course), between 10 min and about 10:48 per mile, including the aid stops.  I was also really happy to see that I only slowed down 3 minutes between the first loop and the second loop.   Woot!  And the icing on the cake – I asked the race director where splits were posted and he showed me his clipboard.  I came in as the 5th fastest woman.  I haven’t really raced in a long time, and it felt really good.  (I will link the official results and some photos when they are posted!)

Bring on the training for Boston! After I ice my bruises, of course.  They are looking spectacularly red and purple.

PS – I walked to church on Sunday morning rather gingerly, mainly due to a sore knee.  Walking home was better, and then my knee didn’t hurt at all after my short nap, including while raking leaves and trimming back the perennials.  I’m definitely on the mend, and my muscles are feeling WAY better than after a road marathon!

It’s been almost a year since I ran my Boston Qualifying marathon in DC, and I knew at the time that the Boston Marathon was already full for 2011.  In fact, it filled up in a matter of hours, well before I even ran my race.

There has been plenty of speculation about how Boston registration would go this year with the new system.  To summarize, registration started on Sept 12 with those who had beat the qualifying times by 20 mins, then opened to those who had 10 min and 5 min cushions over the course of the week.  Finally, they opened registration on Sept 19 all who had run qualifying times, noting that acceptances would be made based on placement within one’s age group.

I didn’t expect there to be any spots open by the time I could enter, considering that I barely made the qualifying time (3:43:35 against a 3:45:00 qualifying standard) and the flurry of registrations last year.  But just in case, I checked out the web site on Sept 17, and sure enough they were still accepting applications.  I scheduled an appointment on my calendar to apply when open registration began on Monday 9/19 at 10am.  In fact, I excused myself from a meeting, feigning an important email notification that required immediate attention, in order to grab my credit card and send my entry at 10:03am.

I was notified today that I made it.  With 11 seconds to spare. (The cutoff was 3:43:46).

I’m filled with excitement – WOW! I really did it!  I get to run Boston having qualified with an official number!

And with relief – 11 seconds! Over the course of 26.2 miles that’s not a very big margin.  It would have been easy to let up just a little during the race, to skip some workouts along the way, to unknowingly have missed this chance.

And with apprehension – wait, I’ve just signed up to train all winter?  How many times have I flippantly suggested that I would be glad to skip those long dark miles in the cold weather?

And with reflection – this is a journey considered back in college, when I volunteered at the finish line and got to see Uta Pipig come through the chute 1st again.  I started down my own path in 2000, training with Brian to see if we could really run a marathon, and finding not just a dedicated running partner but also my partner for life.  Running the Maine Marathon and being less than a minute from the cutoff, and vowing to earn a spot one day.   Racing the Bay State in 2009, undoubtedly the hardest day of running I’ve endured, only to fall short.  Thinking about all the races and lessons that have led to this event.

And finally, just basking in the amazing good fortune of this week.  Cheers!

 

It’s Labor Day, and my thoughts naturally turned to Gloucester and those 16 crazy hills. I made a game time decision to run the Around Cape Ann 25K for a 4th time. I’m really growing to love this course that winds around the beautiful shoreline, marshes and towns of Cape Ann.  I haven’t run a solo race in a while, and I need to be hitting that 15 mile distance soon anyway as I train for Stone Cat, so it seemed like a good opportunity to check on my pacing and fitness in a supported run.  The race organizers and volunteers do a great job with plenty of water, gatorade, cooling stations, traffic management and cheering, and of course the hills also keep things interesting.

I didn’t really have a plan going in, other than relax and keep myself hydrated and fueled.  I expected my legs to be a little sore from hiking earlier in the weekend, but they loosened up during a 10 minute run on Sunday, so I figured I could make the distance even if it got a little ugly at the end.  I ate my standard breakfast of Cracklin Oat Bran, raisins and kefir (a new addition to Beej’s amazing cheesemaking skills – a little lighter and sweeter than yogurt – yum!), grabbed my mug of coffee, and headed down the north shore.  It was a beautiful clear morning that promised to heat up quickly, with a little bit of a breeze.

With little fanfare other than chatting with nearby women in the porta-john line and seeing Neil from the Newburyport Monday running group, we were off!  It took about 15 seconds to get to the starting line, but frankly the start seemed much less hectic, with fewer elbows, than previous years.  I thought of the race as three 5-mile segments, and decided to just loosen up my sore legs and settle in during the first one.  My goal for the hills was to run them strong – that would be the training part of the run – and to try to recover between them to keep a relatively constant perceived exertion.

I was cruising along after mile 5 and made an effort to drink a bit more in the second segment, as it was getting hotter and the open sunny portion of the course was yet to come.  The combination of double-strength Heed and Gatorade, and probably ingesting a little too much air as I gulped them down, left me with an unhappy tummy in the middle of the race.  I used the downhills to recover some speed (and also the pounding to settle out the air in my stomach – hey, no one around me knew me, so I could burp with impunity!).  I can’t tell based on my splits if my pace really was erratic, or if it was some combination of hills and measurements, but overall I kept a pretty steady pace.

Coming into the third and last segment, I got a second wind and started passing runners who were faltering.  I especially focused on women who might be in my age group, though anyone I could reel in was a good target to keep pushing myself. I knew that last #@%& of a hill was lurking at the end, so I wanted to keep a little reserve to sprint up it to the finish in the last half mile. Mostly I just tried to run efficiently, enjoyed the marsh views and thanked the volunteers along the course.  I also thought about how good an orange popsicle would taste at the end.  The last mile and a half always seems long, but soon enough I was passing McDonald’s (and about 10 runners who slowed to a walk), pushing up the last hill and had the finish line in sight.

Here’s how things looked on my watch:

Mile            split                    cumulative

1                  0:08:53              0:08:53
2                  0:08:36              0:17:29
3                  0:08:39              0:26:08
4                  0:08:30             0:34:38
5                  0:08:33             0:43:11
6                  0:08:55             0:52:06
7                  0:08:29              1:00:35
8                 0:08:44              1:09:19
9                 0:09:21              1:18:40
10               0:08:04              1:26:44
11               0:08:38              1:35:22
12               0:09:17             1:44:39
13               0:07:38             1:52:17
14               0:08:31             2:00:48
15.5            0:12:37             2:13:25

Official results are here, average page 8:36 (no surprise I defaulted to that pace, that’s been my target race pace for the 2 years I trained to run a Boston Qualifying marathon!).

I found that dumping water down my back or running through a hose really helped as a pick-me-up.  My singlet and shorts were definitely the right thing to wear to stay cool, and I *love* my Kinvaras (and once again saw a lot of others wearing them).  Not a blister to be had, despite a very heavy weekend on my feet.  In hindsight I think I would have been better off with Heed before the race, plain water in my hand bottle, with gel for fuel and Endurolytes when needed.

After grabbing my popsicle, some water, and a banana, it was time to head home.  And yes we did have a burger on the grill with fresh tomato and corn on the cob for dinner, a more common Labor Day tradition.

 

We purposely avoided making plans for Labor Day weekend in favor of enjoying a spontaneous weekend of doing whatever we felt like doing, at our own pace. As nice as it is to have every other Friday off, I can tell you that a 4-day week is the same amount of work as a 5-day week, just compressed. So by the time I got home from the Sox/Yankees game at midnight on Thursday, I was extremely happy to have no plans, and just sleep in.

We got rolling pretty late on Friday, ran some errands around town, and then decided to outline a plan. The weather looked nicest Friday and Saturday, and we had been talking about when we could hike the two northernmost 4000′ peaks in New Hampshire, so why not head north? With an overnight bag packed and a reservation at the Thayers Inn in Littleton (chosen because we had previously stayed there in 2006), we were off for some adventure.

Mount Waumbek is on the Starr King Trail – Starr King was actually more scenic, but is a few hundred feet short of the magic 4000′ threshold. We made good time up driving up to Jefferson with the sun shining, roof open, and tunes playing, and made it to the trailhead in the middle of the afternoon. The trail starts up a logging road, with a fairly gradual incline for New England standards, but its wooded path didn’t offer much of a view until we got to Mt. Starr King. We enjoyed the views from this new perspective, farther north than either of us had hiked before in NH. The first shot has Cherry Pond and Mount Martha in the foreground, with the Twins (or Galehead or Garfield?) behind.

We kept going past the open peak through the saddle and on to Mount Waumbek’s wooded summit. After our hikes this weekend, we think it would be really fun to do a ridge hike in the Pilot Range in this area – especially in the fall foliage season.

On the way back, we stopped at Mt. Starr King again and took a little break to check out the remains of a hut, including the fireplace/cook stove still in regular use by campers. A good place to set for a spell and soak up some sun before heading back down to the car.

Compared in hindsight with the next day’s hike of Mt. Cabot, the Starr King Trail was dry and soft, with plenty of pine needles. I hiked in my Innov8 low trail shoes, which worked great to keep a light step as we cruised along. We saw some toads and flowers, and only a couple other hikers, along the way.

Then we were off to Littleton to check in and grab some dinner. We envisioned an pub-style burger at the little restaurant in the basement of the Inn, where we had eaten the last time we stayed there. It turns out there is a new restaurant called Bailiwick’s, a little more upscale, so we called it “date night” and enjoyed a tasty dinner. After salads, swordfish and steak, followed up a delicious chocolate espresso dessert, we were glad it was a very short walk upstairs to our room.

We left the option open to laze around on Saturday morning, walk around Littleton, or get in another hike before heading back to MA. When we woke up we checked the weather, which predicted cool temps but no storms around Mount Cabot. Our legs felt good after a short hike the day before, so we drove up to Mill Brook Road and set out for another hike.

It had rained overnight, though I expect this trail would be pretty wet on a normal day, as it winds along Mill Brook up to Unknown Pond. This area was a birch forest, lush and full of mushrooms, as well as goldenrod and aster-looking flowers. We saw hoof prints and guessed that a moose had been in the area earlier that morning, so we stopped to look for moose at the pond.

We hiked in a cloud from the pond on up to the Bulge and the summit, so while there were no views, we enjoyed really comfortable conditions for hiking. We saw two women hiking the other way, one was in full rain jacket and pants, while I was perfectly happy in shorts and a tank top. Normally I am cold, and have a historic tendency to overdress, so I have no idea what was up with these two. I just kept going and enjoyed the cool mist that made the trail look magical, with ferns waving slightly as we walked past.

We met up with a couple and their dog at the top, who had come up from the fishery. It turns out that one of the trails up to Cabot is involved in a landowner dispute, and another goes through a gated fishery. It turns out the gate wasn’t open, so these hikers had to do an extra couple miles each way. We were very glad to have taken the northern route and avoided any drama at the trailhead.

We didn’t dawdle on the way down. We opted not to take the spur to the Horn after two guys returning said it was nothing but whiteout cloud cover. Beej was ready to get off the trail after spending 9 of the past 24 hours hiking, and I was equally happy to keep a quick pace to the car. Overall, we made the round trip in about 5.5 hours.

After skimming through the usual tourist magazines at the Inn, I finally can say that I understand the regions of New Hampshire. I’ve heard the phrases “Mount Washington Valley” and “Lakes Region” but until this weekend, didn’t really have a picture in my mind of what they are and how they fit together. Based on driving through Jefferson, Whitefield, Littleton, and Lancaster, I would say the Great North Woods feels less developed. There are still plenty of Inns and cute towns that cater to tourism, but it seems unspoiled compared with the North Conway outlet mall and Rte 16 traffic in the whites or the power boating stereotype around Lake Winnipesaukee. The Lancaster Fair was in full swing as we drove through on Saturday, with plenty of people camped out in RVs, helicopter rides, and a ferris wheel – it was definitely the place to be!

Only 6 more of the 4000′ peaks to go! Stay tuned, it may happen before the end of this year.

As the name implies, this was a long hike, which rewarded us with one spectacular view.

We chose Mt. Isolation because the weather promised to be dry for the many stream crossings, and we could get an early start for the nearly 14 mile hike (book time was >11 hours). The mountain sits below the main Presidential ridge, and while the whole descent is wooded, we were rewarded with 360 degree views from the top, including the view of Mt. Washington above.

The 3600 feet of elevation gain was deceptive; a normal New England hike of that magnitude would put us at ~5100 feet of elevation, while Mt. Isolation is one of the lowest of the 4000′ peaks at 4003′. We started up the Rocky Branch Trail, with a fairly manageable grade, for about 2.5 miles. It was extremely humid – even I was dripping with sweat after about 30 minutes. At our first water break we realized that if we kept up this pace and perspiration rate we would need more water than we’d brought along, and debated changing plans. Taking note of water sources we could use to filter water on our way back if needed, we continued along to the Rocky Branch Ridge. A couple energetic dogs almost joined us – they were certainly eager to make new friends – but we sent them back to their owners and kept plowing up the trail.

The trail to this point in time had been damp with lots of rocks and roots on a pine needle path. Once we crossed into the Dry River Valley, we traversed a lush marshy terrain that was really strange for 3000′ elevation, and descended a bit. We stepped from rock to rock and used the well-placed planks to keep our feet dry through this swampy section, which really exercised the stabilizer muscles in our calves, ankles, knees and hips. At 3.5 miles, about halfway along the ascent, we encountered the Rocky Branch Stream and took a break to eat and cool off before turning north along the Isolation Trail. It was refreshing to splash in the water and rinse off before continuing along.

We then wound along the stream with 5 official crossings and several other hops over feeder brooks. It continued to be swampy for several miles. We met up with the Davis Path and finally caught our first view of Mt. Washington. The clouds were rolling in, so Brian snapped this shot before we continued up the trail and made it to the spur to the summit.

At the top we enjoyed views of the whole Presidential ridge, picking out Jackson (ok, it’s named for Jackson the geologist, not Jackson the president), Eisenhower (big round head, I mean top), Monroe and Washington including the Boott Spur. It always amazes us to see the weather patterns, seemingly at eye level, and how quickly they can change.

After nearly 7 miles and 4.25 hours, we took a well deserved lunch break of apple and PB&J while we let our shirts dry out on a rock. We checked our water – it turned out after that initial humid section, it dried out a bit so we had only gone through half of it, perfect for halfway through the hike. Then we packed up our gear and headed back down.

We made slightly better time on the way down than on the way up, but only barely. First, the incline was so gradual that it didn’t have a big impact. Second, the miles of picking our way along wet boulders caught up with us, and what had been carefully placed tip-toe steps on the way up eventually became heavy footfalls on the way down as our stabilizers turned to jelly. We reminded ourselves to be careful and took a few breaks along the way. I finally got to see the cute little toads that were hopping around, and we enjoyed a brief rain shower cooling us off as we made our way back to the car, already discussing what to eat at the Red Fox, as per tradition. As we voraciously ate, we watched the Red Sox/Yankees game and reviewed the hike.

Only 8 more to go until Brian completes all 48 four thousand foot peaks!

I had been thinking about running the Yankee Homecoming Race this year, but my “training” has been more opportunistic than rigorous so I definitely wanted to do a pre-race check before signing up for the 10miler. On July 27 the weather was nice and I got home from my business trip in time to get in a longer run, so I did my standard 9 mile loop around the reservoir. I took it easy, 9min pace, and felt a little sore the next day but fine. YHR 2011 was a go.

Yankee Homecoming is a weekday race, and this year it started a bit earlier at 6pm, so I took off work plenty early to beat traffic and get to Newburyport. I walked over at 5pm to register and then stretch and warm up. My right hip has been stiff so I enjoyed having a good long time to relax and do some yoga poses. It looked like we might get a thunderstorm, but there was only a light sprinkle before the race, resulting in a cool evening with relatively low humidity – perfect running weather.

I went out at a relaxed pace, and around the second mile I met up with my group running buddy Alice. We often run together on Monday nights, and this was her first 10 miler, so I decided to stick with her and help pace her. I tried to slow her down a little at mile 3, but then she said she felt great and wanted to pick it up for mile 4. We settled down for the hills, running strong but conserving our energy. The section around Maudslay went quickly, even though this year’s course included a detour through the neighborhood to make up a bit of distance due to the change in finish line location. (Kudos to the race organizers for putting that little extension in the middle, not the end of the race!) Coming up Storey Ave we knew we were in the home stretch and started picking it up a little. We ran past another running group pal who was struggling a bit, so we cheered him on as we kept up our acceleration through the finish. I was most pleased with pulling out a sub-8min final mile, negative splits! Here are our results (watch time below, official time at the link – I was about a minute back from the start line):

Alice and I exchanged high fives and a hug; she said she couldn’t have done it without me. (I know she *could* have, but it’s still nice). We were both beaming as we walked through the field of spectators to cool down. Despite the lack of focused training, I ran faster than last time.

Even though I know they must taste gross under normal circumstances, there’s something about a brightly (artificially) colored popsicle or flav-or-ice after a hard run that hits the spot. I ran in my new Kinvaras, and was in good company – this has become a very popular racing shoe. I took a hand bottle of Hammer’s HEED drink (20 oz) to have before and during the race, and ended up dumping water into it along the course to make sure I kept hydrated (and avoid what happened in 2009). I had a little calf cramping as I walked home, but I chalk that up to the new shoes more than fueling. Brian greeted me with pasta for dinner, and I have to say I slept especially well after a terrific (and tiring) run.

As members of the Essex County Greenbelt, a local conservation organization, we received their email announcement about the Run for the Hills Trail Race at the Pingree Reservation. It sounded like a pretty fun way to spend a Saturday morning so we signed up.

This was a fun race for us, no pace calculations or target times, just go out and enjoy ourselves, along with a couple friends. The course was a figure 8 5k, and we opted to do the 10K version (2 loops).

In this image, you’ll see markers for 5 laps (a lap = 1km), so 1 loop = 5k.

We picked up BHone and got to the start plenty early, enough time to enjoy stretching by the pond where a turtle sunned himself on a rock, and a large stork or heron was circling overhead. Our friend Bill arrived shortly thereafter, opting to run with a game-time decision whether to do 5K or 10K. We noticed some local high school runners, representation from the Gloucester Running Club, and an overall mix of ages assembling at the start line. With a “ready, set, Go!” on the bullhorn, we were off!

The course, as BHone had mentioned when he previewed it last week, was full of rolling hills. Beej went out at a calm pace and manged negative splits, coming in just under 1 hour. Bill was just behind him for the first loop, and decided to nurse a sore ankle and stop at 5K. BHone of course took off faster than his pacer (me) but held a strong pace throughout. I went out just under 9min pace, which turned out to be a little bit spunky – probably due to so many runners to run with and pass. I felt a little sluggish the second time around when the 5K runners had finished, and it was also getting very humid and hot in the woods with no breeze, so I dialed it back a bit on the second loop, other than bombing down the hills – even more fun without having to navigate through other runners. I also knew how far it was to the finish so I picked it up coming around the pond. Just as I finished, I saw Beej sprinting in behind me, passing a couple other runners in the last few hundred meters. The results are here.

We were thankful for plenty of gatorade and water at the finish line, along with oranges, bananas and bagels. After relaxing on the lawn and cooling down, we hopped back in the car to head home, agreeing that it was a fantastic way to spend a summer Saturday morning.

Ken and Leslie came to visit this week! Like me, Ken likes to keep busy with fun activities during vacation, so we were happy to oblige. After they arrived on Monday, Brian picked them up and they settled in, went grocery shopping, picked up a mountain bike for the week, took a short nap, and then went to Crossroads and on to the Red Sox game.

On Tuesday we all went to Maudslay State Park for some exercise. Despite our different paths and speeds, we managed to end up at the car at the same time. Then it was off to work for me, and up to the mountains for Ken, Leslie and Brian to check out a waterfall and take a hike. Brian said “we’re going up there!” and Leslie thought he was kidding!

But they did get to see the waterfall.

And made it down the steep sections too.

On Wednesday Ken and Brian went for a bike ride, then we all went to the afternoon Sox game. We were excited to have box seats close to the field.

Unfortunately, the game was spoiled by terrible weather and even worse play. We suffered through walks, hit batsmen, and wild pitches and were then rewarded with a downpour. During the 3rd rain delay, we decided that the amount we’d paid for the tickets did not warrant staying any longer, so we headed to Redbones to dry out, fill up on BBQ, and hang out with Dan and Nate.

Thursday was a relatively quiet day. Ken went mountain biking at Maudslay while the rest of us caught up on work.

But, it was also racing day! We had signed up for the St. Peter’s Fiesta 5K race! We enjoyed a scenic misty drive down to Cape Ann, through Essex and into Gloucester, and had no problems finding parking near the festivities at St. Peter’s Square. One local we passed commented, “You can’t tell the townies from the carnies!” so you can image the mood around the place. We inhaled the smell of the ocean (ok, it smelled like fish) and got to run past the Gorton’s plant (mmm, fish sticks). Although we were initially a little concerned about the cool temps and the rain, it turned out to be the perfect weather for an early summer race, and we all had a great time!


Although we were not racing for time, we still had to check out the results this morning.

We had one more surprise on Friday – surfing! My buddy Brian Hone agreed to take Ken out to catch some waves.

The water (61 degrees) was evidently warmer than the air temp (60 degrees), and it was still overcast, but Ken was undeterred.

After that it was time to do laundry, pack, have lunch at the Grog and play more Apples to Apples before saying goodbye. Slinky is particularly sad – he’s wandering the guest room wondering where those nice people went who gave him such wonderful scritches and let him sleep in their bed.