November 2023 Newsletter

Club News

• November Runner’s Night Out will be the 14th at Hanover Brick and Brew aka Ramuntos
• I am pleased to announce that the Tiger Run on October 29th marked the graduation of the Fall Couch to 5k Season! It was a cold and wet morning but the graduates persevered! Please join me in congratulating them on their accomplishments!

Club Announcements

Tuesday Night Track: Daylight Savings Time will end on November 5th, plunging us into darkness very early in the day. Because of that we will move our TNT workouts to Occom Pond which is approximately 1 mile in circumference and usually illuminated. We will meet here just across from the Dartmouth Outing Clubhouse still at 5:30PM. 

Our End of Season Banquet is Just Around the Corner!

Saturday November 11th, 5pm-7pm we are having our end of season banquet celebration! And all UVRC members and their families are welcomed to attend! This year we will have the banquet catered and hosted at Sawtooth Kitchen in Hanover! Food items will include

• Fried Brussel Sprouts
• French Fries
• Salad
• Chick Sandwich Sliders
• Black Bean Burger Sliders
• Chicken Wings with a Variety of Dippin Sauces
• CHEESECAKE

Also the bar will be open for you to imbibe and adult beverage if that’s your jam (at your own expense, sorry). Invite your friends, invite your family, you paid your dues, you did the miles, you deserve to be celebrated!

RSVP here: https://forms.gle/QJSdGRugXAMeK726A

Looking for logo and tshirt ideas!

Do you like merch and swag that you can wear and proudly display your affiliation with this awesome running club you’re a part of?! I sure do! A member of the Fall Couch to 5k group took the initiative to design a tshirt and it was a hit and a fantastical success (if you haven’t seen them, they look super cool!). I want to encourage anyone if you have ideas for UVRC tshirt designs, logos, etc to send it our way (contact@uppervalleyrunningclub.org) and we can work on making it into a reality!

On October 7, I ran the Fall Foliage Festival 5k in Warner, NH. Two of my cousins ran it with me, my aunt and uncle volunteered, and my nieces and nephews cheered us on with pots and pans from the kitchen. The course started in downtown Warner and got off to a quick start along .25 miles of rail trail along the Warner River. We crossed back over Main Street and then started going up, and up, and up. The course turned on to a single-track, uphill hiking trail and spit out half a mile later on a dirt road. At that point, someone shouted to me, “You’re the first female runner!” I replied, “No way” in disbelief. Turns out, she wasn’t lying, and it was my race to lose.

I had placed in my age group before, but had never won a race, so this was exciting. I think, from the title, you know how this ends. A few more spectators along the way encouraged me by shouting, “You’re the first female runner!” and I kept going. Finally, the race turned back downhill, and I was able to cross the finish line smiling. Sadly, my cousins were still running, my aunt and uncle were still volunteering, and the little ones were still banging pots and pans, so no one I knew saw me finish. If you win a race, but no one (you know) witnesses it, did it still count? I think so!

October was a busy month for the Upper Valley Running Series (UVRS)! We had two races; first, the Downriver Rail Run 10K, from Enfield to Lebanon. Results are here:

 http://pinnacletiming.us/index.php?n=downriver_rail_run_10k_overall_2023

 With the NHGP also competing in this race, it was a well-attended, competitive race. Congratulations to all of the UVRC runners.

 Next up, October 29, the Tiger Run 12K/5K in Enfield, the longest run of the series in 2023. The presence of the C25K folks doing their fall wrap-up made for a good atmosphere, helping runners tough through some mixed precipitation. Results:

 http://www.iresultslive.com/?op=summary&eid=5835

 The series wraps up in November with the Hanover Turkey Trot 5K/10K (note: November 19, the Sunday before Thanksgiving):

 https://www.hanovernh.org/728/Turkey-Trot-5K-10K-Road-Race

 Check the series page:

 http://bit.ly/2023uvrs

 For series standings and other information about the 2023 series. Remember, you need to finish 6 out of the 9 races in the series for Series Finisher status (and prizes). I see quite a few UVRC runners with 5 finishes to their name, so just one more to go. No spoilers, but the 2023 prizes are looking pretty spiffy! 

I stay in the cow path

Wet blades of grass hanging into the rut

One foot carefully in front of the other

Opting to jump out

The shoes absorb the wet grass greedily

I frown

The air is full of warm humidity

The sun peeks out as I run from the shadow of an overhanging tree

Fallen leaves and soggy matted clumps of grass disguise bumps on the ground

Ankles roll this way and that

I drop my hands and relax.

From the plateau on either side of Lyme Road

I scan the surroundings

These are my childhood stomping grounds

Carved out of clay soils by Girl Brook over millennia

There are many pathways to rediscover

The cross-country course winding and twisting its way

Around and across overgrown tree-lined fairways

Remnants of the golf course where I played

Worked on the maintenance crew

Sharpened my game

I don’t regret a single swing of the club

Nor footstep

Nor walking behind the mower during the Green season.

I drop down and follow the brook to the mighty Connecticut River

The Green season is coming to an end

The first snow may fall next week

It’s time.

Sweat streams around my eyes

Over my cheeks and into my smile

I will embrace and endure winter as I always have

I will conjure up a plan and take pleasure in it

The Green season will be here before we know it

The blades of grass will be wet again

And my shoes will absorb it greedily.

“Are you looking for the main entrance?” the man asked. 

“No, I’m just running,” I said. 

It was about 7:30 p.m. and I was running on the sidewalk around the Salem Hospital.  I was wearing khakis, a T-shirt, and luckily, I had worn sneakers that morning.  

It was supposed to be a simple trip to the podiatrist for my mom.  It turned into a trip to the emergency room for a possible stroke. This was day 250 in my running streak; at least one mile a day outside.  After the doctor decided to admit my mom for observation and determined it was a transient ischemic attack (TIA) and not a stroke I decided to drive back to New Hampshire since my sister was with my mom.  

I walked out of the hospital; ah I can finally go home.  The sun was setting, it had been a long day.  I’m so glad I can go home finally. Oh no I haven’t done my daily run.  Well, this is certainly a valid reason.  Screw it, it’s 7:30 pm I want to get in the car, eat something and go home.  I left my house at 7:00 a.m. that morning and had been going since then.  Everyone would understand me breaking my streak, I mean my mom was in the hospital.  

On my first streak I got up to 585 days, then sprained my ankle and missed a few days.  I started again and got to about 300 days and I went to New York City with my daughter for a weekend. We stayed in a hotel in graffiti laden part of New York; I didn’t want to run outside alone and I didn’t want to leave my 15-year-old Madison alone in the hotel. Maybe too cautious but not worth it. So, I started again, now I was up to 250 days.   

During the podiatry appointment the doctor and I chatted. He was a runner too. He told me about Dan Shaughnessy, who writes for the Boston Globe. He has a forty-year streak of one mile a day. But he missed a few days here and there, once for gall bladder surgery and one day he just forgot. Maybe I’m too strict on my rules, but I worry if I gave myself any wiggle room it would open the door to days off.  Maybe I should be like Dan and cut myself a break.  

But then again, it was only one mile, maybe 15 minutes. I might feel better.  I didn’t have to go fast.   I could go slowly.  I didn’t even have to change my clothes. So, I ran that mile, and it didn’t take long, and I felt better.   

This reminds me that I run for me and it makes me feel better. It burns off my stress and I sleep more soundly. When I got in the car to drive home, I was grateful for my run.  

Is anyone else doing a streak? What are your rules? What do you do on the hard days?  I’d love to hear, shoot me an email!