soloman 25k trail race at pineland farms

two years ago i ran the pineland farms 25k trail race, and swore i would never do it again. we all know how that goes. i pretty much could copy and paste last years report to this one, i was just a few minutes faster this year. "what goes down apparently comes back up". yup.

i think i signed up for this race on thursday, of the week before the race. just coming off of the marathon, i wasnt sure exactly what my legs would want to do (although they really wanted to sit on the couch and be covered in ice, i chose the complete opposite and ran over 60 miles in the two weeks post race. shut up legs!). i also went back and forth as to whether i wanted to do the 25k or the 50k... ultimately i decided that i shouldnt push it, and went with the 25k. after registering, i went back and read my race report again. why? why did i read it? why did i register? (i secretly love torturing myself, clearly).

of course the bff was already registered and thankfully didnt convince me to switch the 50k (which was again thought of on saturday night). we made sure to bring all the neon, very stylish (our elite joggers uniforms of course!)

i had told her i would drive up at 6am to see the 50 milers off, but i decided to sleep instead. i woke up, threw some crap in my bag and took off, getting there around 8:30am and missing the 50k start (sorry sara!). bff and i complained (shocking) about being cold and our toes being numb (its MAY for crying out loud and it was about 45 degrees. wtf. of course we were still wearing flip flops... and the ONE day it was 75 degrees was on my marathon... no im not angry still...)

we hung out with the port racing team and eric the sherpa before figuring out what we were going to wear and heading out for a warm up jog. our toes began to get feeling again, and our choice of race wear changed (i was hoping to stay in my sweatpants and hoodie). we met up with the rest of our team... a bunch of crazy crow chicks just like ourselves! we chatted for a few minutes and took some pre race pics, sarah changed her outfit once more, and we watched as maddy came through, leading the women for the 50 miler. badass!

go maddy go! and ty too, hi ty! 

(*note, this is not my ty. you couldnt pay my ty enough to run 50 miles)

soon it was time for us to head to the start line. they read off the rules (which, surprise surprise, we talked through... pretty much dont get lost, right?) and they rang the cowbell to signal the start. just like in 2012, the first mile was weeeeeee so fast! yaaaay! i love trail running!!!! surprisingly, the first mile for each of my races (2012 and 2014) were both 8:45. weird.

sarah and i chatted it up for a bit, we continued flying through the 2nd mile at lightening trail running speed, and shortly after that we got mixed up in a crowd and separated a bit. i was feeling pretty good, not looking at my watch for times, just trying to stay upright and not fall down (or up) the hills. the day was already becoming a bit hot and i shed my long sleeve shirt pretty quickly into the race. the open fields were kinda breezy and cool which was refreshing as the woods were humid and quite warm.

i took my first gu around mile 3, and drank water at all of the aid stations. and these werent your normal race stations... which is why a) trail races rock (wait, what?) and b) ultras rock! yes! (oh boy...)

ALL THE SNACKS!

i dont train with all this yummy stuff but i figured oh well, what do i have to lose. and then id grab one or two pretzels, one sweedish fish, and a pringle. save it for the others, haha. so much fun to have all those options though, there were even boiled potatoes, soda, and salt pills!

the first part of the race is a mix of grassy field running and wooded trails, not very technical. i still, however, managed to roll my left ankle three times. i literally have nothing left to either of my ankles thanks to basketball, so it didnt hurt me, but it sucked in the moment anyway. i took my other gu before mile 9 and could feel that i was getting pretty dehydrated. i hadnt brought my handheld with me and i had not gatorade either, and before i came in through the race base, i pretty much hit the wall. my body didnt want to work anymore. 

i contemplated a DNF about a mile before getting through the race base and heading out for the back 5 miles. i knew what was coming in those 5 miles wasnt terrible, but i also knew that i didnt need this race for anything, not really even any sort of training run. my body was hot and tired and i just didnt feel like being out there. but coming through the base, where everyone (like 50 people) was cheering for you... it gave me an extra boost of energy, and i decided to keep going. i threw my maine coast marathon shirt off to eric and yelled at him that i would kill him if he lost it, and took off onto the last stretch.

after crossing the road, you run directly thru an aid station. i grabbed 2 cups of water, some more pretzels and pringles (2 each) and took off. i just wanted to get thru this. the back part is pretty fast, with some good hills in the last 5k (and there are signs at each k, which is kinda cool even though im used to mile markers). with what i thought to be about 4.5 miles left to go in the race, i had some freak burst of energy and took off, passing a group of people ahead of me down a few hills. i looked at my watch and saw 7:15 at one point and decided i should probably slow down. it ended up being my fastest mile out there for the day, but i fully regretted turning those wheels on with so much of the race left to go (and the upcoming hills). coming into the last 5k i had stopped sweating and could brush the salt off my face. an aid station appeared suddenly which was fantastic, and yet another one came right before the last kilometer. at that last aid station you can see where the finish is, but you have to run around a huge field to get there. ugh. i wanted to walk so bad, but i ran as hard as i could (which wasnt great. my legs felt like lead). as i came in through the last little stretch of woods before the finish, sara ran past me out on her last 5 of the 50k. i think she was in a bit of a daze because i literally had to almost jump in front of her screaming to get her to see me. i high fived her, and i took off for the finish line.

i looked up to see the clock, and was very happy seeing 2:16, an 18 minute PR. i knew i had many miles out in the woods that were in the 9s, maybe 10s, but i also knew that i didnt have any 11s like had the previous time i ran this race. id almost like to say i actually really enjoyed most of this run... clearly ill most likely be back again next year. (and were already planning on going to pineland to train on some of the trails... its good cross training, right?) i was very sore the next day, and i almost thought my legs might be broken in places i didnt think you could break (trails work way different areas than roads!) but i had a nice shake out run on tuesday and am now back to normal (well, define normal)...

chatting it up with theresa, one of the "BATshit crazy" teammates

team "BATshit crazy" post race

a little banged up, lots of smiles, and lots of food
(and we came in 7th place!)

and a HUGE congrats to maddy, winning the 50 miler. seriously, so freaking badass. (and she makes it look so damn easy! and im pretty sure she decided to run it the night before. you all think im the crazy one?!)

my times were certainly better this year, but its fun to see the comparison... how i managed to run the same pace for the first mile is beyond me! my garmin was a bit off this year for some reason (its been doing that lately), and i also forgot to shut my watch off for 2 minutes post race, oops.

another last year/this year comparison... i pretty much hated all things hills and trails in 2012.

who hits the wall at mile 8?!

and again... 2012 with sara (who ran the 50k this year)....

it took us two years to get back, but alas... smart life choices.

...2014 with bff...

this race brain washes you out in the woods i think. zombies or something.

same small cowbell, empty post race water bottle, no tshirt

official time:

2:16:32

8:47 pace

14/68 age group

107/390 overall

365 days of henry aaron

henry: ONE YEAR!!

weight/height
23lbs (super accurate bathroom scale, check my weight first, then pick him up and weigh) and 30in (also super accurate, lying in bed last night i drew lines at his feet and head and measured this am with a ruler). we will find out at his year check up tomorrow for sure.

health
im SO excited to post this... last week we had henrys VCUG (voiding cystourethrogram) appointment at maine medical center nuclear medicine. this was the procedure he had right after he was born- they insert a catheter and fill the bladder with a radiocontrast saline and the radiologist watches the contrast enter the bladder, checking to see if the contrast moves up into the ureters and kidneys (checking the severity of reflux). when henry was first diagnosed with kidney reflux/hydronephrosis, his right kidney was a grade 5 (scale 1-5, 5 being most severe), and his left kidney was a grade 3-4. we have had him on antibiotics since birth to avoid bladder infections, and were told that in the severe cases like this, only about 10% fixes on its own, and we were most likely looking at surgery down the road (disconnect the ureters, shorten them/take out the narrow entry, reconnect to the bladder). over the last year hen has not even had a fever (knock on wood), let alone any bladder infections, so we were hoping for good news from this procedure.
i thought i was going to need to be sedated for the procedure... we can hardly change henrys diaper anymore he is so squirmy, let alone allow someone to insert a catheter and then have him lay still for a few hours on a scary table in the hospital (so i was nervous for him)! but he did amazing and only cried twice (and i only cried once). the appointment happened to be right around his normal nap time, so ty and i sang to him and he just laid there smiling. he cried a little when they inserted the catheter and the contrast saline (he had just had a huge bottle, so im sure he felt very full!), and then he fell asleep bless his little heart. the radiologist thought she saw some fluid go up into the kidneys, and it took a long time for his bladder to empty, so i was anxious to find out at his appointment next week what the verdict was. i wasnt expecting for a phone call the next day from henrys pediatricians office telling us the results of the test... (que the tears)... henrys left kidney (previously grade 3-4) was now a solid grade 3, and his right kidney went from a grade 5 to a grade 2! when we were told about the grading levels in the hospital after henry was born, they told us if it was grades 0-1 they wouldnt even bother following up, grades 1-2 slight monitoring, grade 3-4 antibiotics and monitoring, grades 4-5 antibiotics, monitoring and most likely surgery for grade 5. we are SO incredibly happy to know that this is improving, and will find out tomorrow at his appointment with the urologist what the future plans are (im going to assume continue with antibiotics, monitoring, and another VCUG at some point, unless he gets an infection). so yay henry!!
as for henrys heart, we dont have the appointment with the cardiologist until june but from what he said at the last appointment many months back, everything should be fine (small ventricular septal defect should be closed/cause no further issues).

clothes
definitely into size 12 and beyond. i can no longer shop in the "infant" section, most places consider him a toddler now. (tears). i continue to pull 9 month items out of his drawers (have yet to actually go through everything again), but at least now i just toss them aside to be put downstairs instead of trying to see if they still fit one more time (they certainly dont. im seriously in denial.) im kinda excited just to let him run around in his diaper once summer arrives.

sleep
overall, sleep is good. the majority of the time (id say probably 98%)- in bed by 7:30pm, awake at 5:00am. two naps during the day, about 1.5 hours to 2 hours each. however, hen has decided that he doesnt want to nap and grammy and grampys house... and when this started, he then slept for 12 hours (7pm-7am) and then took a 2 hour nap that morning, then slept again the following night for 11 hours, followed shortly after with a 2 hour nap. i think he is getting another tooth and going through a growth spurt, but we certainly dont mind him sleeping so much! over the last few weeks (not sure exactly when it happened) all of a sudden hen stopped waking up with a wet diaper at 4am needing to be changed (thus resulting in him refusing to fall back asleep in his bed and us bringing him into bed with us/sleeping til 6am). when he wakes up now for the morning his diaper weighs about 5lbs (no exaggeration) but its nice he isnt having that early wake up anymore.

milestones
henry started clapping a few weeks ago and will clap on demand. he waves bye bye (grammy likes to call it his "royal wave"... look out prince george!), has 7 teeth, and can climb up the stairs.

outings
hen was going to go to the finish line of mommys marathon but decided to throw up all over himself and his carseat while on the drive down. poor grandma was beside herself! we were able to watch daddy finish his 5k and a park was nearby so while we waited hen went on his first swing! he finished up his swimming lessons and i cant wait to take him to the beach this summer! (i swore i would never take my kids to the beach myself, id make others take them and make sure they bathe them before returning them so as not to track sand all over my sparkling clean house... ha!) i look forward to nicer weather when we can take him to the animal farm.

diaper 
size 4 during the day, size 5 at night. we use mostly pampers baby dry, and have a few packages of cruisers (more expensive... i really will (maybe) do the diaper comparison blog one day, its pretty ridiculous). we got a package of target diapers a few weeks ago and hen broke out in a huge rash... but it was also around the time a tooth came through, so im not sure what the actual cause was.

diet
henry only wants to feed himself these days... so that makes meal time tons of fun (aka messy!). we started adding whole milk into his formula over the past few weeks to gradually ease him in (we had many digestive problems with formula back in the day), and all seems to be going well (minus a few throw up situations). weve finished up the infant formula, bought a container of toddler gentlease formula to continue to mix for a bit, and will ultimately transition to milk soon. new foods that hen seems to enjoy are watermelon, pancakes, spaghetti and meatballs, animal crackers, and he tried a little bit of ice cream. we might single handedly keep the puffs company in business (serving size 72... i think we probably come close. every day).

likes

dislikes
henry hates having his diaper changed. its literally like wrestling a bag of snakes. we bribe him by giving him cell phones or remote controls to hold which keeps him semi occupied, and sometimes he just crawls around on the couch with no diaper on (so far no accidents). this makes for a lot more fun/interesting times when #2 is involved. hes also going through a stage where he doesnt want to be put down. he screams bloody murder if you put him down, and then when you pick him up he squirms like he doesnt want to be held. awesome. he will not keep a hat on his head, socks or shoes on his feet, or let you wipe his face or hands after eating (if he will let you feed him). toddlers are fun.

Henry Aaron, 

You have brought more joy into our lives than we have ever known possible. It seems like just yesterday you arrived (although it sure did take you a long time to get here!) and in the blink of an eye you have turned into such a little man. We love watching you grow and learn every day, and we both cannot imagine our world without you. In the short time you have been here, you have taught us so much... about you, about ourselves, about never ending love. No matter how much dog hair or dirt is on the floor (or in your mouth), dishes in the sink, laundry in the hamper... everything can wait to get done. You are our number one priority, and you're only little for a very short time (as we have already found out). Watching you hit milestone after milestone... rolling over, crawling, pulling yourself up, trying to walk and talk... everything is a miracle to observe. Night after night of the same bedtime routine, endless verses of  "twinkle twinkle little star", "ladybug picnic", "they call me Henry"... we would sing til we lost our voices for you. The days are long but the years are short... and although this felt like the fastest year of our lives, we've heard it just keeps getting better. You are our everything, little guy, and although we wish we could just keep you little forever, watching you grow up is simply amazing. We love you, buddy!!

Happy 1st birthday, Hen!

All our love, forever,

Mommy and Daddy