Weekend in NH

Because we missed Timberman weekend, we had a 4 day weekend that we needed to reschedule. My brother was going to be up at the farm in NH, so we decided that was the place to go.
We arrived Friday afternoon, on the way to the house we stopped at a farm stand and picked up some corn and tomatoes. Then stopped at the grocery store for avocados (yup more guacamole) they also had 2 six packs of Long Trail IPA. My brother loves this stuff and can never find it, so into the cart they went. Then up to the house to to make some dinner.
That evening we connected up with my dad back in Pennsylvania using the video chat. My brother’s older son Ryan was there visiting him so this was a nice opportunity to use that feature. Ryan found the whole thing to be very fun, mostly because of the video “special effects”.


This 2nd one reminds me of Pete Townshend.


Saturday morning I was going to run 8 miles. I had to get this done in the morning because it’s headed into the upper 80s-90s. I slept in later than I’d planned. That’s easy to do there. At night if you don’t have fans on, it’s dead quiet and so dark you can’t see your hand in front of your face. (Those who have stayed here can verify that). Which was awesome in terms of catching up on sleep but my route was only about 30% shaded. I then ate more breakfast than I should have... I couldn’t wait any longer, I had to get out running. (Around 9AM)
I ran from the house, which is on a hill but the majority of the run was flat. The first mile or so was rough but eventually I settled into something that felt good. I feel that because of my back issues, lack of flexibility and the number of run miles I’m getting in, that I’m really tuned in to my foot strike and stride. I’m not saying I know what I need to do for maximum speed and efficiency. I just know when something is out of place and is likely to cause injury if I’d continue to run on it that way. Fortunately, I’ve been in a good zone lately and I’ve been able to keep everything in check.
Because I wasn’t sure of the heat, I ran with my fuel belt and 4 bottles of Gatorade. It was totally unnecessary but I’m glad I tried it. Running with the 2 bottles on the back of the belt is fine. The 2 up front are great if it’s an unsupported race and you need the extra volume but it’s odd how much heavier I feel with the 2 front bottles. I hardly drank anything while I was out there, then as soon as I was done I chugged everything I had on me. I need to start working on my “in run” hydration.
The afternoon was spent at the beach. Another amazing day, it’s really nice to have no agenda other than run, then relax.

Sunday was the big run day. Again it was going to get hot and I wanted to start early but it didn’t happen. The sleeping was just too awesome. I made sure to make breakfast a bit lighter and to give myself a bit more time before starting my run. My run was a big portion of the NH Marathon course, just not starting at the beginning. I took 2 bottles in my fuel belt and I took an extra pair of socks with me in the front holders. I’m still trying to find the right combination of shoes and socks.
Genine was my support crew. I ran around the lake counter clockwise and she biked it clockwise. I figured she would meet up with me at just about the right intervals to refill from the bike bottles. I was going to try to be much more regular about taking in fluid. Sure enough somewhere between my 5-6th mile we met. I reloaded the bottles and we both kept on rolling. I wasn’t sure exactly when our next crossing would be but I was hoping somewhere along the final third. This run was going much better than my run along the canal path. It seemed that anyone that wanted to get a workout in knew to be out early before it got too hot. So there were quite a few cyclists and other runners out there. Oddly enough, I only saw one other biker or runner going the direction I was travelling. He started further out ahead and just ran away from me.

Once I reached the north part of the lake, about 8-9 miles in? The incline of the hills became a challenge. Going uphill isn’t such a big deal they just slow you down. The steep downhills on the other hand, I kept wondering if I should be walking. I didn’t have the turnover to manage that steep of a slope.

Then Genine found me on her 2nd lap.


At this point, I figured I could use the company and it would also be nice to have access to fluids easily. So she zipped around but was probably never more than 5 minutes away. This worked out well. The west side of the lake has a few good hills to get through before it flattens out near the ledges.
When I got to the ledges a runner was headed towards me and he said, I thought I might see you again. I had seen him on the opposite side of the lake. I guess he was doing the same run in reverse.

This is probably around mile 13-14.
The same thought entered my mind this week as last week while running along the canal. I kept thinking that just jumping into the water sounded like a much better idea than running the last 3 or so miles. Fortunately, this week I knew it wouldn't be long until I'd get to jump in. I finished the 16.3ish miles in 2:32:xx. I have a bunch of thoughts regarding the run and the training plan but I can't seem to find the time to type up everything I'm thinking. I'll try to write another post tomorrow.