20 Around Back Cove

Luckily the rain stopped overnight, and Ryan was nice enough to drop Sam off at daycare so that I could get an early start down to Portland. I ran 4 miles before stopping back at the Back Cove parking lot to pick up Amy. I gave her my TMR shirt to use if she ended up getting a spot at the 6-hour run down in Massachusetts later this month, and she gave me a tupperware full of cupcakes. I think I got the better deal on this one :-)

I was surprised to find the gravel trails around the Cove fairly dry. Only a few puddles to run around or jump over. In fact, after 3 hours of running, my shoes came home drier and cleaner than they were at the beginning! Skies were overcast and temps were in the low 40s. There was no breeze and it was quite pleasant out. We had fun running along, catching up and of course, telling silly kid and cat stories :-) I had suspected Amy would be up for 3 laps, but in the end, she ran with me for 4 laps, which was great! That left me with only 1.5 miles on my own, and then, ta da! 20 was done, in 2:59:44. Amazingly, the run went fairly smoothly and my legs held up. Definitely a bit stiff once I stopped running, but I'm pretty happy with how it went! Always helps to run with a friend - thanks, Amy! And man, those cupcakes were delicious! They hit the spot. YUM! :-)

Flora and fauna notes: It was fun to run around the Cove and watch the ducks as the tide came in. Along with the Mallards, there were a number of Red-Breasted Mergansers (love the wacky black tuft of "hair" atop the males' heads), Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, and others that I couldn't quite make out. Saw and heard a Cardinal amongst the bushes as we ran along too.