A Message from the President-Becka (August 2024)
I ran my first race in over 5 years!
Last November at “Friends Giving” with my Quinnipiac Physical Therapy Girlfriends we decided we would all run Beach to Beacon 10K together this August…if we could get in! In early February we all sat on our computers with fingers poised to click “Register” - I had to apologize to my first patient of the day as it opened during their session, oops! Needless to say, we all got a spot and the countdown began.
My training didn’t go quite as planned with my mileage much lower than I expected (my own doing); and as my always straightforward husband put it, I was becoming a “master of rest & recovery” when it came to running. Two weekends before with no longer than a 6 mile run under my belt this summer I decided to show up to Valhalla Running Club’s “Grinder Mountain Challenge” on an exceptionally hot & humid day. Off I went with a 3-tiered goal - I like to set myself up for some amount of success!
Goal 1: 4 Laps = Pack Monadnock.
Goal 2: 5 to 6 Laps, putting me in my highest mileage day of summer.
Goal 3: 7 Laps, 16.5 miles, and Monadnock’s elevation.
I conquered Goal 3 as the quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, arches, and everything else in between started to tell me enough was enough. 10K, no problem!
August 2nd we drove to Maine, I forgot to bring my running shoes, not a joke, who does that?!? Dick’s Sporting Goods was the only spot open, so I got my very first pair of HOKAS and started praying like mad that my feet didn’t quit before the finish line. August 3rd, the race was delayed 1 hour due to thunderstorms - we are really on a roll so far. We took the shuttle and were dropped a mile from the starting line, then stood in the rain for 2 hours waiting for the race to begin. It was hot and muggy, but if you stand in the rain, half naked long enough you start to get cold. A short warm up helped and then the gun went off, let’s hope the race goes better than the lead up.
My first thoughts were how strange it was to run in such a large crowd of people, but to also be keeping up pace. Next came the realization that the rain had stopped and now the asphalt was sending up heat and humidity while the air around us held plenty of its own - stifling. 2.5 miles in - dead animal smell. 4.5 miles in - bacon being cooked and handed out roadside - the stomach rolled. 5 miles in, turns out there is a sneaky set of low grade climbs to get you into the park. 6 miles in, a sharp uphill turn that I couldn’t help but crank up. 6.2 miles, 47:58 just sliding in under my “Reach Goal” of 48 minutes and well surpassing my “I’ll Be Pretty Happy Goal” of 50 minutes.
I think I might enter some more races…that was fun! And the Lobstah Roll after was pretty darn good too!