Friday, Saturday and Sunday Adventures

Friday morning I got out for a quick 3-mile run before work. Sam hadn't slept well - waking up time and time again - but I had asked Ryan to not let me off the hook with my run, so he pushed me out the door. And I'm glad he did. I did the same out-and-back into Highland Green as Wednesday. The powerlines were a bit more solid, so overall the run was a bit faster and easier, but the trails will need a bit more traffic to be back to really packed and fast.

Saturday I took the day off from work, and the three of us headed over to King Pine in East Madison, NH for the Pooh Hill snowshoe race. Luckily, the race didn't start until 11:30am, so the morning was a bit less harried. Sam was a trooper and slept the whole way there, and then was very good while we hung out in the noisy and crowded lodge waiting for the race to start. It was a gorgeous day, and pretty warm by January standards, so once I suited her up in the adorable pink bear fleece suit we got as a gift and put her in the sling, she was toasty warm.


All suited up for spectating

We took in the start, and then went back inside for a while before venturing out again to watch the winners and to cheer on Ryan, who did awesome, coming in 26th and working hard on what looked like a great course!


Ryan sporting the "I'm working really hard here" grimace

Sam was super content to be in the sling, and even fell asleep as I walked around in the sun after Ryan finished.


Sam gets a comfy ride

We stayed for the awards, with Sam only looking slightly startled at all the clapping that ensued, and Ryan got an extra cheer when he walked up to get his raffle prize of Redhook Slim Chance beer with Sam in his arms. Gotta cheer for the baby :-)

After the race we headed down to Ryan's parents for a visit. Grammie and Grampie were very happy to see Sam, and of course, she reveled in all the attention :-)


Hanging onto Grampie's fingers

We had a great time and Sam showed off her skills, rolling over this morning for Grammie and Grampie, and talking up a storm. I had an 8-mile run in the schedule for today, so with the help of mapmyrun.com, I mapped out a loop through Georgetown and Rowley. I knew some of the roads already, so felt comfortable taking off on my own (although I did have directions scribbled down on a post-it and my phone, just in case I got turned around!). I headed out around 10am as Ryan was putting Sam down for a nap. The loop took me out to Route 1, where I was greeted by a beautiful sky above the salt water marshes, and then along the Mill River in Rowley. The roads rolled and rambled, and there wasn't much traffic, which was nice. I saw and heard a lot of birds as I ran along - juncoes, chickadees, flocks of robins, six turkeys, a Downy Woodpecker, cardinals, blue jays, one Purple Finch - as the route was full of the sort of low, junky scrub along the roadside that the birds love so much.

I felt pretty good throughout, although by 6 miles (when I passed the 'just in case' bail out to Ryan's parents house) I was feeling a bit tired. As I came up on the 7 mile mark, I noted a runner headed in my direction and realized it was Ryan, who was nice enough to come out and join me for the final stretch. I finished the loop, which turned out to be 8.25 miles, in 1:13:11. All told, a good run at a decent pace, and a good way to finish up the weekend's adventures :-)