Sunny 11

Yesterday I didn't make it out for a run, and Sam and I didn't even get outside to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather, aside from a trip to the grocery store in the morning. I don't quite know how that happened... she took a nice long nap in the middle of the day and then we went over to Nate & Shannon's for some playtime and dinner, so somehow the day just disappeared! Sam must have been pretty tired out from playing with her friends last night, not to mention from the newest cold she's acquired, so she ended up sleeping until 8:00 this morning! No without waking up a few times, but still. Wow. That is something of a record, I think. With her cold, the time change at bedtime hasn't been an issue - she's been tired the past few nights - and the extra hour of darkness in the morning has meant she's slept in later too, which is oh so nice! In any event, we were a bit late getting to daycare today, but I wasn't about to wake her up this morning!

After a few errands, I got myself ready for my run. I decided to run Ryan's River/Meadow Cross loop. I feel like my pace got stuck around 10:00/mile last week, what with being sick and the variable trail conditions, and I thought getting in a solid road run at a decent pace might be a good thing. It was warm and sunny as I snaked my way through town to River Road. Once I got past the turn-off for the Topsham Mall, traffic quieted down and I enjoyed running a road I hadn't been on before. I came across a big gaggle of grackles, flying between two big trees, and noticed a red-winged blackbird in their midst! First sighting of the year! It must be spring :-)

River pops out on Rt. 196 for a bit in the middle of the run and while that short stretch wasn't all that much fun with big trucks kicking up dust, but it only lasted a mile. I turned off onto Meadow Cross and for once, actually enjoyed this stretch of road. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the wind wasn't all that bad and I felt good. There were still some hills to contend with, but I managed to keep the pace down and finish off the 11 miles in 1:28:49. All in all, a happy road run. I'll take it!