Travel Time! NH, ME, NH, CT, NH

It's almost that time of the year to ween ourselves out of the pool and into the near bone chilling waters of northern New Hampshire. To survive the early morning swims a wetsuit is a must! Jess, Leah and I had been planning a trip to Portland ME to try on wetsuits and I needed new running shoes. Wetsuit shopping, now how fun does that sound? Squeezing yourself into a dry neoprene body suit that feels three sizes too small! It's better then trying to buy online and not getting the right fit. Turned out Leah couldn't make the trip so Jess, Steve and I drove over last Sunday. We arrived at the Aqua Diving Academy where they sell an array of wetsuits, to a Closed on Sunday sign on the door. We were pretty disappointed. I had almost called to check the hours but forgot. So now we were on a mission to find another shop. I looked it up on my smartphone and found one located on Cottage St. I navigated while Jess drove. We drive away from the ocean and end up in a residential area, we all laughed so hard and knew the day was turning into an adventure. The correct address was Cottage Ave and was 15 minutes in the other direction, whoops! Steve knew about Gorham Bike and Ski but wasn't sure of the location, both of our phones had very low battery. We stopped at EMS to ask for directions and along the way introduced Jess to Trader Joe's!!


We found Gorham Bike and Ski with no issues! They sell BlueSeventy and Nineteen wetsuits in two options, a beginner model and a performance model. A beginner suit has a thicker neoprene in certain areas to help with buoyancy while  performance suits usually mix neoprene with lyrca or other materials. They are not as thick and cater to stronger swimmers. Jess and I tried on both and fell in love with the Nineteen performance suit. Although I have a wetsuit, it's just a tad to big and is the thickest USAT sanctioned races allow, 5mm. We did not purchase the "Cadillac" it was $600. We'd like to try on more styles and hope for a price that's easier on the wallet.

We grabbed a great lunch and walked over to Maine Running Company. They specialize in finding the right shoe for your foot and have a personalized fitting process. I figure if I was going to spend a decent amount of money on shoes I wanted them to fit perfectly.

As we approached the store we noticed the lights were off, we immediately thought they were closed. I had called earlier in the week and knew they were open on Sundays. The sign on the door told us they had moved, just our luck! Turns out they were two blocks away from back where we started near EMS.

After having my gait and feet analyzed, the sales women brought out a few pairs to get me started. I tried on about ten pair of shoes and then narrowed it down. I decided on the Asics Gel Nimbus and wore them around while Jess had her turn at analyzing. I wanted to make sure they were the ones!

It was a fun day!

The next day was my moms birthday. I had planned a surprise visit home (CT) and a surprise birthday party for her. It was an early morning with swim class at 5am and a few tasks I had to do for work then I was on my way. I called my mom on the way home and she asked how the weather was in NH so of course I had to lie, I was already in CT! I arrived at my grandmothers to 70º and sunshine. My afternoon workout was an hour and a half ride. It would be my first outdoor ride of the season. I didn't want it to end!

Plans changed and my brother Austin wanted to have a cookout at his house instead of eating at a local restaurant. Fine by me! We notified everyone and decorated the house. I was worried mom would see all the cars and know something was up but there are always cars at my brothers house. I drove my grandparents in their car so my car wouldn't be in the driveway. We watched her walk across the yard, she had no clue what was on the other side of the door! I hid behind the door as she walked in to SURPRISE!! She loved it and shed a few tears. We hung out on the back deck and played on the rope swing, even Gramma took a turn!

I had some quality time with my niece Cheyanne too!

I spent the night at Gramma's and Gene's new place, Maple Courts! There is so much going on there, arts & crafts, one free meal a day, people everywhere, even wii bowling. Gramma is very social so it's a great fit for her. Their apartment is bigger than the last and has much more storage.

The next day was my first track workout of the season and the Ellis Tech High School track is right across the street. After a warm up I had to
*Run 2 laps at 8:00 pace (440 in 2:00, each 110 in 30 sec) (target time 4:00).
HR:161 TIME:4:01
*Run 2 laps at 7:20 pace (440 in 1:50, each 110 in 27.5 sec) (target time 3:40).
HR: 164 TIME: 3:56
*Run 2 laps at 6:50 pace (440 in 1:42.5, each 110 in ~25.5 sec) (target time 3:25).
HR: 174 TIME: 3:31
*Run 2 laps at 6:00 pace (440 in 1:30, each 110 in ~22.5 sec) (target time 3:00).
HR: 178 TIME: 3:04
It was a challenge to do the math while running. Next time I'll have to figure out what the clock should say for each quarter (110) instead of trying to add the right seconds to each quarter. It was interesting to check my pace for each lap.

For the afternoon, another ride! It was great to be outside with no layers.

That evening mom wanted to go kayaking! It was so nice out it felt like summer.

The next morning Austin made me an awesome breakfast, I hung out with my friend Heather, saw mom at work and was about to head home. I had an afternoon workout which would have been on the trainer. It was still pretty nice out so I decided to delay my trip home and ride outside.  Had a quick lunch with my step dad, Mike, and then had to leave the nice spring weather behind, and it snowing/sleeting as I write this!