I was watching the radar closely all morning on Saturday, hoping I could get out after the rain ended but before temperatures plummeted, as they were supposed to do. In the end, I headed out around 10:00 am. It was in the high 30s, foggy and windy, and the roads and sidewalks had been essentially all but cleared of snow and ice. I did a loop around the high school and middle school neighborhood and then headed down the newer paved path along the Connector and over into Highland Green. I took the back dirt road, which was a mix of gravel/dirt and ice, down to Tedford and then around Topsham Crossing. I stopped at mile 6 to have a gel just at the edge of the back road and it started to rain. Up around Highland Green in the cold wind and rain then across through the Highlands and up Pleasant, with a little extra around the high school for 12 miles on the nose. Totally unexciting and uninspiring route, but it got it done. By the last few miles, I was pretty soaked and starting to feel chilled, so I was thankful to finish it up! (12.0 miles)
The rest of the day was spent making cookies, playing games and hanging out on the couch.
Overnight, as forecast, it got down into the single digits and everything that had melted was now frozen. Emma and I met up over at Bradbury for some miles and headed out onto the powerlines. With temps hovering in the single digits at daybreak and the sun shining brightly, we were pleasantly surprised to find the trails in good shape and quite solid. We ran out and back to the edge of the corn field, enjoying the conditions and chatting along. There were the few typical spots that were undermined with water and that we had to tiptoe around but otherwise, we were able to move right along. As an added bonus, we saw a golden crowned kinglet on the return trip! So cool! Yes, I am such a dork but it was a great sighting!! (7.2 miles)
Happy to finish up the week feeling good! Came home to find everyone on the couch, and I'm thinking it's going to be another mellow afternoon ;)
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