Chillier

Lovely burst of arctic air the past two days. Woke up to 0 degrees yesterday, and while it warmed up throughout the day, the wind picked up too. Brrr. Sam and I went to swimming and Frosty's while Ryan was out marking the snowshoe course, then we met him over at Edna & Lucy's for lunch before heading home so I could get in my run. A trundling, windy, chilly, post-lunch lurch, would perhaps be more exact ;) I was layered up quite nicely so I actually ended up being pretty warm, though, honestly! The snowmobile trails had been churned by the machines and really weren't all that fun running, so I turned off at Highland Green Road and ran the main loop, with a short 1.1 mile Cathance loop thrown in the middle. Trails were pretty well packed, and pretty as always, down along the river. Got in 6.1 miles for the afternoon.

Later that evening, Sam helped me decorate the race prizes for Valentine's Day ;)

When I headed up for bed last night, the thermometer was already reading -3. Wowza! This morning, it read -9 and the "feel like" temp was something ridiculous like -32 due to the whipping wind in Pownal when Ryan arrived around 8:00 am to prep for the snowshoe race. Um, yeah. That is damn cold! Sam and I didn't get there until around 10:15, but after about 2 minutes of standing outside I was already cold despite 4 layers under my jacket and 3 under my snowpants. Luckily, Keri and Tyler had brought their two girls, so the three girls alternated playing in the snow and sitting in the warmth of Tyler's truck eating and playing, and I was able to sit in the car with Mindy and Val for a while too to keep warm. It worked out well for everyone, and there was no complaints about the weather from the kids, which might be more than you could say from the rest of us ;)

I was apparently so cold, I went up in smoke! ;) Ha!

Despite the temps, 52 hardy souls ran the race, and Ryan came in 3rd overall and looked good doing it. Way to go, Snowman! In his element, I guess :) Sam and I boogied out of there as soon as awards were done and although I warmed up slightly in Edna & Lucy's, I kept on the majority of my layers! Brrr. I did manage to haul myself out for a run around 3:00 pm once we got home, but funny enough, no one else was in the Cathance lot when I pulled in, even though it had warmed up to "feels like 1 degree"! ;)

Since I was running all trails, I decided to test out my new Hillsound Free Step 6 microspikes. Despite being an XS, they don't quite hit the heel of my shoe so there was a bit of clanging as that portion shifted around as I ran along, but were otherwise quite comfortable and stayed on well. And, I must say, they certainly did offer more traction than the screwshoes, and any slipping that did occur was mainly when I slipped off the side of the narrow packed singletrack and/or hit an uneven spot. I ran around the Heath first and then out on the Barnes Leap trail and along the river. The first two miles were nicely packed but farther out in the system, it was a bit more uneven and sugary, making the final two miles a bit slower going. Still, a lovely, snowy, chilly afternoon four mile jaunt.

We capped off the day with dinner out. A fine evening with my big and little love :)