Busy Busy: Well-Child Check-up, Morning Run, Tree Trimming

Still one more day left to the weekend but it's been busy already! Friday, I ran around doing errands and trying to wrap up Christmas loose ends before heading to see Dr. Jamie after lunch. Man, wish I could do some of those deep stretches/loosenings at home, but then, I guess that is why he is good at what he does. Felt a bit more optimistic upon departure, and a lot less tight. Then it was off to pick up Sam so we could head to get her 6 year well-child check-up. A few months late, but oh well.

Stats as of 6 years, 2 months:
39.2 lbs
43.6 inches

Yup, she's a tiny one, alright ;) But healthy and happy and thriving, so that's all that counts.

By the time we got out of there it was dark, but I had come prepared, so we headed off onto the Midcoast Hospital nature trail for a walk in the fog with our headlamps. There were pages from Dahlov Ipcar's Alphabet book along the trail, so we had fun reading as we walked along. We ended up with a 0.6 mile loop and a fun exploration.

Foggy alphabet walk

This morning, I got up early and headed over to Bowdoin to run in the Commons before Sam's swim lessons. Luckily, since she's moved up to the older kid class, lessons don't start until 10:00 so it makes for a bit of a more leisurely morning with more time to fit a run in ;) It was a beautiful morning with the sun shining through the pine trees and a low fog out on the Pennelville fields. Man, the light was just incredible. My leg was still a bit tight, but felt better, and I felt so happy to be out enjoying the quiet woods on a warm December day. 

Sun rising above foggy fields

Pond reflections

Glowing light

Low tide

Got in a mellow 7.2 miles before picking up a few donuts on the way home for a post-run/pre-swimming treat ;) 

After swimming, we stopped and picked out a Christmas tree. It felt a bit odd to be getting a tree in 50+ degree weather, but this month has been a strange one, so we just put on the Christmas tunes and went with it ;) The snow will come, I am sure. 

I think we managed to go about 2 minutes before an ornament broke ;) but otherwise, it was a relatively calm afternoon of tree decorating followed by some slightly chaotic present wrapping as only one with a young child who is "helping" can understand :)

Getting ready to trim the tree

First ornament

Groovin' to the Charlie Brown Christmas song 

All set for Christmas! (That stuff on the table? Yup, lasted about a minute after the picture. HA!)

Great Grammie's tree, sparkling in the living room

Ryan had to head to his Christmas party for the evening, so Sam and I decided to head out for some gelato after dinner to cap off the day. I chose "Santa's Little Helper" (cookies and cream spiked with Bailey's) because, well, Yo Ho, Christmas is fun but man, it is a lot of work! ;)

While Daddy's at his office Christmas party, the elves will play...

or in this case, go out and get gelato ;)

Midweek

Tuesday, I got up and out before the sun rose, winding my way up and over Mt. A. to run 6 miles on the cart paths. With the colder weather, the paths had "set" again and were nice and firm. Highland Green is doing some work clearing the area between/around holes 6 and 7 for new homes, which is kind of sad as I always hate to see trees and woodlands disappear, but I know the area is not technically part of the Cathance preserve and I will get used to the change. The clearing, however, did allow for a nice view of the changing sky this morning, the horizon glowing neon pink beneath the periwinkle blue clouds. The sunrises are one of the best parts of my early morning runs; makes for a beautiful start to the day. Felt pretty good.

This morning was foggy, misty and 45 degrees. I had decided last night that I would go out on the powerlines, but in the end, this was a bad choice. The trails were muddy, uneven and mucky. I finally turned around halfway between Tedford and Rt. 24, but should have given up earlier. I ran up the back road and got onto the cart paths at hole #8 and ran them in reverse back to Mt. A. Got in 6 miles but my butt/hip was not super happy; tight again, probably from all the slipping and sliding in the mud. I feel a bit frustrated with how it feels; I so want to be feeling good and strong again. I have been doing lots of stretches and specific strengthening for hip adductors/flexors and glute muscles, and am headed to see Dr. Jamie again tomorrow. While I had originally thought the issue was piriformis, Jamie suggested it was the gluteus minimus, which mimics piriformis pain in many ways. I agree with him after seeing how I feel doing a lot of the piriformis stretches, but I am having a tough time getting the glutes to loosen, and darn it, want them to! Patience is so not my best virtue, but I will try :)

Flashes of Brilliance

We headed south Friday night after work so that Ryan could run the 32 mile TARC Fells Ultra this weekend. While we were out running and crewing, Sam spent Saturday with Irene and Dana, helping them decorate their Christmas tree. She couldn't have been happier :) Thanks, Grammie and Grampie!

Cutie pie

Ornament helper

Hanging ornaments with Grammie

and Grampie

Sam and the tree

The Fells race is the last TARC race of the year and a tough one at that with loops of the 8-mile Skyline Trail, a rough and rugged hiking trail circling through the reservation, for either 32 or 40 miles. But Saturday dawned bright and beautiful, and honestly, we probably couldn't have asked for a better day for it. With no ice or wetness on the course, the runners didn't have to deal with slick rocks, it wasn't raining or snowing, and the crew members got to spend the day outside in the sunshine. Perfect.

John made the journey down to help me crew for the day, and we had fun chatting and helping and hanging out in the edge of the Park N Ride lot for the day ;) So posh! ;) With five Trail Monsters plus our friend Brendan running, we had plenty of runners to look out for and many minutes of excitement and action mixed in with our periods of "endless waiting" ;)

Everyone was all smiles today and it was a lot of fun to see everyone running out there, having a good time and turning in some great results too. Crewing for this group was easy and we had some great laughs out there for sure!

Goofing around as the race starts ;)

John coming through his first loop

Ryan coming through the first loop

Tom quickly follows

George, all smiles, of course :)

Xar looking happy and strong

Start of the 4th loop. Hurting a bit but still smiling

Aid station assistance

I won't divulge the conversation here, but there was much laughter and some blushing... 

on John's part ;)

Finishing kick complete with grunting ;) 6:27 finish time

Ultra running is hard

Applying things... This is true love right here :)

Tom finishes all smiles

Mike, Vicky and Maya came up to see Ryan finish which was fun, and we hung out for a while after Ryan and Tom finished, chatting and catching up, but eventually Ryan began to fade and we headed out before the final TMR finishes. Happy to see the reports of smiling finishes soon after we left. 

John finishes his 40

George done

Xar all smiles at the end of her 32.

Official results aren't posted yet, but I'd say the Trail Monsters put in a strong showing. I'm especially proud of Ryan for finishing his first ultra of the year. Better late than never ;) After a year of building back up his base, he managed to put in some solid mileage in the late fall, and did a great job of not only getting to the start line but the finish too. He looked strong and controlled throughout, and was all smiles, with no "cranky runner" to be seen. Yes, this race, with its steep ups and downs, wasn't his forte, but he handled it all well and finished in style. 

A lot of people who know the Ryan of today don't necessarily know that he was an incredibly talented high school XC runner, running on a strong team who won meet after meet and who still hold the record at their school for the lowest team score at a championship. They may not know he won the Gator Trail 50k in 2011 in a time of 3:56:29, which is pretty damn fast. And despite my best efforts, his 50 mile time of 9:23:19 at Lookout in 2011 still stands as the 50 mile Household PR (I really need to get on that...). There was a while there where he strung together some impressive race results, but in recent years, he's been hampered by injury after injury. Still, there have been flashes of brilliance here and there, and I know that one of them happened this weekend. I'm hopeful this is a turn-around for him and I'm looking forward to seeing what next year brings. I may be biased, but I have always felt Ryan is a really strong and fast runner. Whenever he's felt discouraged and vowed to stop running and racing, I've always encouraged him to keep at it; I know that he has more solid racing in him. 

On my end, Saturday was a tiring but fun day with no running but a lot of standing around and walking. I was a bit sad to not be running on Saturday as it really was the perfect day, but let's be honest, I was in no way ready to tackle that course at this point in time. Also, crewing is important too. Ryan has supported me in many ultras over the past few years and it was nice to have the chance to help him out in return! It's always fun to see the race from the other side and help out fellow runners and friends when we can. 

I definitely wanted to get in a run this weekend though, so when I woke up today I headed over to the other Brad. Nothing as long as 32 miles, but a lovely 8.5 miles none the less. It was a crisp, frosty morning with blue skies above. I ran the typical GAC 6-mile loop and was incredibly grateful to feel energetic and loose, to have a normal stride and not feel like I was being impeded by my tight hip/butt. The frosted grasses shone and sparkled in the sun, I saw two deer in the field, a nuthatch inched up a nearby tree, a pileated woodpecker called overhead. Back at the parking lot before an hour was up, I headed back into the woods and ran the loop that Sam, Ryan and I had hiked the other weekend. With plenty of hills on the inner loop to keep me honest, I finished up feeling strong and happy, thinking about the few small flashes of brilliance tucked away in this run and that maybe, just maybe, I'll actually be ready to begin truly training again at the start of the new year. I don't expect every run to be a good one but I do so need those flashes to keep me motivated and inspired. Glad to have had a glimmer today. 

Frosted grasses sparkling in the sun

Frosted field and blue sky

Overdressed

Thursday morning was rainy and misty. I didn't believe it could possibly be 43 degrees out so I went out in my typical cold weather gear . Mistake. I was way overdressed. Felt like spring. Got in a soggy five on the cart paths. With the rain and thaw, the paths were good and squishy.

Friday morning was much cooler so everything was covered with a thin glaze of ice. I chose to run all the errands and go the grocery shopping before heading out, which meant I didn't get out until about 11:15. By then it had warmed up significantly and even with thinner layers, I was still overdressed and shed my hat a few miles in. Ran out into the Cathance for a mellow 7 miles on the trails. This river was running high and the singletrack was covered with a thick layer of slick leaves. It was a slow one but nice to be out.

The hip/butt tightness is still present but better. Mostly I feel a bit slow right now and wish for that feeling of mid-training effortlessness and strength. But hopefully that will return eventually. For now, keeping the remainder of the year low mileage with the goal of kicking the hip/butt tightness to the curb. 

Sunrise

Didn't quite manage to spring out of bed yesterday morning so ended up with a shortened run, but at least I got up and out! It was chilly - only 25 degrees - brr! My legs didn't seem to want to warm up, and they felt a bit cold and stiff throughout the run. Started out with my headlamp on and was treated to a beautiful sunrise along the powerlines.

Ran the neighborhood loop but added on a little extra to get in 4 miles by running up along the quarry and by the Heath. The Heath was looking nice and frosty with a thin layer of ice on the sections of open water, and the sky had that very pretty pastel pink hue of early morning.

Frosty

From 60 degrees on Friday to 25 this morning. November is a fickle month.  Met up with Amy at Pineland at 7:00 am. As we ran out through the field to hit the Oakhill trails, the clouds in the sky out over the Pineland equestrian center up on the hill were tinged in pink and the grasses were awash in what looked like a dusting of sugar - the frost was thick this morning for sure. Got in a nice 6 miles and felt good. Butt/hip was just about a non-issue. Finished up the morning with a cup of coffee, an oatmeal raisin cookie and more chatter ;) Always good to run with Amy.

Later, as the afternoon light dwindled and the brisk wind kicked up the leaves at our feet, Sam, Ryan and I walked across the street to the high school track, doing a few fartleks between trees here and there to warm up. We hopped the fence to the track and ran a lap and a half, finding a much better, open, exit point before running/walking our way back home. Ended up with about 1.5 miles. Only fair that Sam got in a bit of exercise today too!

Thanksgiving

Well, I'd say I managed to eat my share of pie the past few days ;) Luckily, the weather was nice and I also managed to get out and burn a few calories too. It's all about balance, people :)

Thanksgiving morning, I headed out to do a 6 to 8 mile loop, which turned into a 7-mile lollipop when I couldn't resist the lure of chalk arrows leading off into a wide path along the marsh. Chalk arrows = High school XC course, and since I'd just run by the Governors Academy, I figured what the heck. Got in a nice mile loop through the woods and along the athletic fields and then retraced my steps back to the house. I felt peppy and energetic but probably ran a bit too "fast" as my hip/butt is still tight. Still, a happy run and a good way to start off the day. Managed to get in another 1/2 mile after I returned too, as I got Sam out for a run around the Georgetown block.

Of course, the holidays wouldn't be complete without a few minor crises, but when the turkey went into the oven and the oven never got turned up, no problem! Eat dessert first :)

Yum! Apple pie :)

It all worked out fine, we had time for a walk outside with the kids and we had Thanksgiving dinner truly for dinner :) Perfect.

Drinking and walking ;)

Getting in a run

Cutie pie selfie :)

Friday, after pie for morning snack and a salad for lunch, Ryan, Sam and I headed over to the other Brad for a hike while Gavin took a nap. It was 60+ degrees and sunny. Felt like spring. We got in a nice hike on some trails we don't normally run on, and it was great to get out and stretch our legs for a few miles together. 

Bradley fields

Cutie kiddo

Up the hill

and down!

When we got home, I went out for a short 3 mile run around the block. I couldn't resist on such a nice day, but I was a bit low on energy and also way overdressed since I had only packed winter running gear ;) @ho would have thought it would be 60 degrees this year when last year we had snow!

All in all, a fun weekend with family complete with a good amount of food, drink, laughter and exercise. 

Pre-Thanksgiving Traditions

Thanksgiving with the Triffitts always includes pre-Thanksgiving prep the day before. The whole family chips in, and while it means a long, slightly chaotic afternoon in the kitchen, it is fun to all be together and makes getting everything done much easier. Thankfully Sam loves to cook and she had a lot of fun helping this year!

New apron!

Chef and sous chef, ready to cook!

Pumpkin pie making

Happy mixer :)

Rolling out the apple pie crust

Crust crimping is serious business.

Cranberry sauce cooking

Table setting

Homemade place cards ;)

"G" love

"S" love 

Mid-Morning Commons Run

Today was a half day of school for Sam, which means early release at 11:55 am. I am not quite sure why they couldn't have had a full day today, but hey, I'm not in charge of the school schedule so I just go with the flow. I *could* have gone into work for a few hours this morning but decided I would be better served by taking the morning off and getting a few things done in preparation for Thanksgiving. So, I dropped Sam off, did a bunch of errands and then decided to head to the Commons for my run before picking her up. It was brisk and blustery, but sunny, as I ran off through the woods around 10:00 am. I was happy to feel energetic, and while my right butt/hip was still tight, I felt like I had more umph today on the slight inclines, which was positive. I've been working hard on the leg and I think it is paying dividends. Since I was feeling good, I ran the full out and back for 5 miles at a mellow 10:00 pace. It was nice to be out in the daylight and I was happy to have had the chance to get in a run!

After lunch and several errands, I had hoped to go for a hike with Sam later in the afternoon but she wasn't having any of it. I asked several times but still got no for an answer, so I didn't push it. I feel it is a fine line of wanting to ensure she gets some exercise and time in nature and her feeling like doing so is a true chore. Her compromise was a run around the block, and I figured a 0.4 mile run was better than nothing so that is what we did. At least it got her out moving for a short bit :)

2 x 4

Yesterday afternoon, no one in the house wanted to take me up on the idea of hiking as a family, but I desperately needed to get out in the air and get some exercise so I went for a short run around the Heath instead. The right leg/butt/thigh is still not quite right but it is definitely better. Mostly it feels a bit like something is turned off back there - the power to push up the hills is not quite present. Odd. I will keep working on it and am definitely mindful that I need to be cautious. Nice to get out in the daylight and enjoy the quiet of the woods. Watched a pileated woodpecker pecking away at a downed tree behind Mt. A. Man, they are big birds!

This morning, I met up with Amy for an early morning run at Pineland. The field grasses were frosty underfoot and the sky was a pale greyish blue. Very pretty. We headed out through the fields to the yurt, and saw two flocks of turkeys - one group of 12, and the other close to 30! Wow. No wonder we find a lot of turkey feathers out there! We got in a mellow 4 miles, walking the uphills and chatting away as we ran, then we followed it up with coffee and baked goods. Yum :) The rest of the day was spent rather lazily reading, playing games and watching football so I was happy to have gotten out early!

River Walk

I have been stretching and rolling and researching good strengthening exercises and stretches for the piriformis and the hip adductors and doing this crazy thing called neural flossing, which sounds incredibly bizarre, but really seems to be working. I guess this is the wake-up call that I really do need to incorporate a bit more strength work into my running routine. Happily, the hip is feeling much improved and so much looser!

I've taken the past few days off as promised, but did get out for a nice walk/skip/run this afternoon with Sam. After raining like crazy through the night and morning, the skies finally cleared around lunchtime, and temps were hovering right around 50. I volunteered in Sam's classroom in the afternoon and when school was over we drove over to the Cathance. Sam was less than enthused to head out, but once we did, she started to skip and run and enjoy herself. We only went the short 0.7 mile lolypop down to the river and back, but it is always nice to be out in the woods on a warm afternoon, and after we were done, she did admit that she had fun out there :) I hope we can continue to enjoy nature and exercise together - I really love the chance to share both with her!

The river was roaring!

Happy girls out in the woods

Kicking it in on the home stretch ;)

Pain in the A**

Headed out this morning for a short run around the block. I was treated with a lovely glowing light on the horizon as I ran up along the quarry ridge, and spent a 1/2 mile running with one of the women who I often see running out along the Highland Green Road. I caught up to her and we started chatting. Always nice to meet another friendly runner. Got in four miles, but it was not the nice, relaxing run I was hoping for. My right hip/butt was extremely tight, and thinking further about how the tightness is radiating/feeling, I'm sure it's my piriformis, which I've had issues with before. I will be taking the rest of the week off to stretch and roll and work on my leg. I am not happy with this at all, but I know taking the time off now is better than really injuring something and having to take time off later in the game.