Good lord. I can’t get on a training roll to save my life. Tomorrow I start reboot #3 in 2020.
Is anyone else having trouble?
I just have to turn to Stava to see my friend Mark is still biking 100 miles each weekend; and running consistently (damn, you).
My Leadville friends are running 20 and 30 miles on the weekend.
Anyone having problems like me? Come on. Help me out here.
I do need races to keep me on track. I can’t train without a race in the future. I don’t like 2020 and no races.
When I look back to one year ago – one year – I ran over 2,000 miles at this point in the year. I raced all over the country. I did epic shit. 2019 was such a great training and racing year – I want it back. I just want races back.
5 Things I Miss About 2019 and Racing
1 – I miss racing the races I was prepared for and finishing strong.
2 – I miss racing the races I was not prepared for and dying at the end.
3- I miss traveling to races and Starbucks at the airport and running through airports for connections and exploring new race towns I’ve never been to.
4 – I miss that pit in my stomach that I have at the start of every race, and not knowing what is going to happen out there.
5 – I miss being super fit – I miss this most of all.
This past week was filled with fun activities: running, hiking and e-biking at Gunstock.
Peter and I hiked Tecumseh and even ran a part of it. Even though it was under 5 miles, those stairs to the top are tough!
It was a fun hike. I needed it for my grid and it was Peter’s 14th 4,000 footer.
On Wednesday I e-biked with Becky and Sara. Sara is in charge of the Outdoor Center at Gunstock and an avid mountain biker. E-bikes are so fun and power boosting up hills is exhilarating. The trails around Gunstock are pretty fun and extensive – they go on and on forever. This weekend I hope to get on my mountain bike and explore.
This week we celebrated National Dog Day. Thanks to Peter for taking care of my dogs during the day. Despite being allergic to them he loves Winnie and Goldie. [love]
I feel like I could read it every day. The quote is so hopeful: you can change on a dime. You can start over.
I love the idea that it’s never too late to have a fantastic life.
It’s similar to the George Eliot quote:
I can still qualify for Kona. I can still finish a 100 mile trail race. I can still run 52 marathons in a year. I can still run a Presidential Traverse in a day. I can still run a Pemi Loop in a day. I can still be a famous writer. I can still make up silly goals and try to accomplish them.
I feel lucky. I haven’t always been lucky, but lately I’m feeling lucky. Despite not finishing these goals or having much of a plan to accomplish them, I feel like they will be in the 5-year plan.
In order to keep this positive momentum going this morning, I’m going to 1) run 20 miles today 2) run 12 miles tomorrow – all of which will mimic a typical training weekend. This will make me feel like everything is back to normal despite the world not being normal.
Another reason I feel lucky – this is where I get to work everyday.
I started a new job at Gunstock Mountain Resort this week. It’s so exciting working for a mountain resort because 1) the people are fun and energetic 2) I am marketing fun summer activities such as e-bike tours, Segway Trail tours and camping and 3) I get to partake is said fun activities and most importantly 4) winter is coming.
As I drive the access road to the base lodge I pinch myself that this is my new life.
While Gunstock is located in the Lakes Region, working at a ski resort is the realization of a desire to get back to the mountains since moving back to New Hampshire in 2017. I’m a mountain girl. I love living rurally and thrive in mountain towns. And while I always look forward to winter, and hiking in the White Mountains, this year I’ll be back in ski gear, watching the weather and praying for snow!
Here’s the view from my office and looking out to the base area.
But the best way to view what’s going on at the mountain is viewing the web cams.
Screen grab of the webcams
I’m looking forward to getting to know the trails around Gunstock and Belknap mountains.
I met my hiking friends at Lincoln Woods at 3:30 which meant the alarm went off at 2:00. We started shortly after 3:30 with headlamps hiking up Osseo Trail with the most elevation gain to start. It was a slog to Flume with a socked in summit but still beautiful to be up there. Onto Liberty and still no views but we felt the fog would burn off.
By the time we hit Haystack a gorgeous 360 degree view of the Pemi Wilderness and Franconia Notch made all the suffering worth it.
From Haystack looking toward Lafayette
At this point everything hurt. The first eight miles my ankle was sore from spraining it last week and my balance seemed off. I used poles and they kept me balanced.
The hike to Lafayette makes you forget all your ailments with spectacular views and rocks formations. At the summit a light wind kept the bugs away. As we headed toward Garfield I struggled with leg pain every time I lifted my right leg. I didn’t feel great but I was happy to be there.
I began thinking about what my hiking partners said, that the hike would be about 18 hours and we wouldn’t get off the trail until 10:00 or so.
When I started the day, for some reason I was thinking we would finish in 15 hours. Mentally, I didn’t think I could end at 10:00 or later. So many things conspired to make this a day of not finishing what I started.
I really want to finish what I start but many times over the course of my endurance-athlete-life I get mental blocks. My legs are dead or I’m having a bad race and I just want to be done. I’ve talked to other athletes who didn’t finish what they started, whether it was a 100 mile race or a marathon and they told me – they just wanted to go home and be around their family. When I’m stressed or think I can’t finish I just want to go home.
When we arrived to a closed Galehead Hut where we were hoping to resupply food, I decided that I didn’t have enough food to make it over Twin and the Bonds. So I took the bailout option well….. And … because .. I couldn’t fathom getting off the trail at midnight.
As I hiked/ran down Twin Brook and Franconia Brook trail I was nervous. I didn’t want to hike alone at night so I ran as much as I could. My thoughts go to a dark place telling myself I would never do this again. I thought of all the things I did wrong: how I need to fix my injuries, train harder and keep working on mental strength. I hiked/ran about 26 total miles but my Garmin, that died at mile 19 didn’t synch to Strava so I have no elevation gain for the first 19 miles it recorded before arriving at Galehead.
Today, Sunday, I completed every run on my training plan that included 21 miles of running this weekend. And I talked to Mark about running a Pemi Loop in the fall.
I’m getting there – back to where I want to be: super fit.
Here’s Vicky on the Franconia. Ridge – a fun hiking partner. It was a great day to be above treeline.
