A Three Hour Tour (and a bunch of family photos too)

We're down in Massachusetts visiting Ryan's family this weekend, so I decided to take the opportunity to get in a long run on the Stonecat course in Willowdale State Forest. Unfortunately, Ryan's legs weren't up for joining me, so I headed out alone around 7:00 am, into the bright, blue sky, crisp morning. Perfect running weather!

I parked at the school and headed out, map in hand. I completely expected to get lost, but was OK with it. I figured I was out for a 3 hour run anyway, so who cared if I got a bit off track :-) I easily recognized the first few miles of trail, not to mention they were well marked with the reflective bike tape on the trees. I was amazed to see that the trail cutting through the swamp was bone dry - wow! - quite a change from the past few times I've run through there. I got a bit confused somewhere around mile 5, but noted a marker and got back on track. However, around the 2nd aid station, I ended up going through marker #10 three times. It was fairly comical actually :-)

Once back on track, I once again got confused doing some of the singletrack that crisscrossed the carriage roads, and somehow ended back before Freddy's. What the heck! Oh well, I looked at the map and took the shortest route, going once again past marker #10, skipping confusing singletrack and heading across the park. I did a few extra loop-de-loops somewhere near the edge of the park, before finally asking a fellow runner for directions. I knew what marker I was at, but couldn't quite put together which direction I should head to keep on the course. (ie, never expect me to lead you on a run if I haven't run the exact same route many, many times over!) He pointed me in the direction of the cornfields, and I was doing OK except that after the swamp, they had relocated a portion of trail and I once again was directionally challenged for a moment before finally getting onto the final out-and-back stretch to the school.

As I neared the school, my Garmin was reading almost 16 miles! So much for a 12.5 mile loop. HA! :-) I did a loop around the school and ran until the watch beeped 17 on the dot. I didn't stop my watch at all during my time out on the trails, so with all my stops, I was out for a little over 3 hours. Slow, yes, but honestly, I was just out there to run, and despite all my confusion, I was happy with how it went. I felt good and steady the whole time. I did OK with fuel, and never felt low on energy. It wasn't hot and I was very comfortable the whole time. Despite my twists and turns and the time I spent off the official route, I was never frustrated and remained calm. I ran into a few runners, a few mountain bikers and scared up one deer and a few mallards in the swamp, but otherwise, it was just me and the trails and the blue sky above. Hard to complain about that!

I got home in time to enjoy brunch with everyone, catch up a bit with Phyllis and Ted and play with Sam for the afternoon. We played out back and then I took her to the playground later in the afternoon while everyone was watching football.

Red Sox hat, big sunglasses, pink tutu and crocs to match. Who needs anything more?! :-)

Smile!

Enjoying pistachios with Great Grammie

Reading with Bampie

"Tell me a story, Great Grammie"

Hanging with Grampie

Yum! Fruit!

Whee!

Doing her 'exercises' (her words, not mine!)

"Mama, don't help me. I can do this myself!" Getting so big!