Beautiful Morning for 10

Finally! I managed to get out of bed for my scheduled 10 miler. I added an extra layer of insurance last night when I asked Snowman to be sure to prod me into getting up should I attempt to roll over and go back to sleep. He did. I got up, and he promptly rolled over and went back to sleep!

I headed out into the Commons at 6:20 am. Although getting up this early to run is a bit of a chore, there is something about running at such an early hour that is really nice. I didn't see a soul in the Commons, and at the end, turned left to head into the Pennellville area of Brunswick. This is a great place to run, bike or walk. The roads are quiet, and with the mix of old stately homes, rolling farmland and deep woods, it feels like you're out in the middle of nowhere. I ducked into the port-a-potty at the Pennellville soccer fields for a much-needed stop. Thank you Town of Brunswick! And they had been cleaned yesterday, even better.

As I headed out through the fields, the birds were everywhere. I guess they love it out here too. Bobolinks (what a cool bird! Doug, if Lucy still needs the bobolink for her life list, come to Brunswick! There were at least 4 males out in the fields this morning!), red-winged Blackbirds, goldfinch, a pair of Tree Swallows, sparrows and others. At the end of Pennellville Road, I turned left again to head down to Simpson's Point, where the road ends at the water. This bright and beautiful morning the water was calm and smooth as glass, reflecting the pine trees and the blue sky above. What a wonderful thing to see in the early morning light.

The route looped back around to the Commons again, and I headed back through, finishing the 10 miles in 1:27. What a way to start the day! I'm also pretty happy that I managed to get the 20 miles in as I had planned, given that our hike on Sunday/Monday was pretty exhausting. A solid week as far as I'm concerned.