Til We Meet In Hell & A Birthday Party

This year's Till We Meet in Hell TMR Annual run and end of the year get together dawned clear and warm, very different than last year when Amy and I were walking in a winter wonderland at Thorncrag! Amy came over early with donuts (because, well, donuts ;) ) and we headed north together, meeting up with a big group of Monsters in the parking lot. Val once again devised a fun loop, complete with many hills and the option to pose as statues atop the empty statue base. My intent for the day was to run easy and get in whatever miles happened in the 1:30 allotted. I ran some with George and Pete, then George and Val, then Xar, then a bit with Amy, some with Tyler, most of a loop with John and the last loop by myself. Managed to eek out 6 laps for 7.2 miles, coming in with about a minute to spare. It was a great day to be out, and the format is fun as it allows for many chances to see people along the way. Ryan and Sam came over and hiked/ran a lap so I got to see them out there too. Even better was that my butt wasn't tight/sore/anything. Hurray! I'm calling it a good morning all around for sure! After the run we headed over to Guthrie's for food, drinks and merriment. Many thanks to Val for organizing; always a great way to finish up the year and revel in all of our accomplishments, our friendships and the great group that is Trail Monster Running. We are lucky indeed!

TMR crew

Running with John

John being goofy ;)

Me being goofy ;)

Great statue guys!

We were having so much fun at Guthrie's that we didn't leave ourselves quite enough time to get to our afternoon fun on time. Sorry Phil, Kristen, Anne and Thistle! We zoomed over to Hideaway Farm to join in on Thistle's 3rd birthday celebration, only to find everyone waiting for us in the horse carriage. Oops! Sam's love of dogs delayed us - when Randy brought out his dog, Riley, at the end of the party, that was it. We were there for another half hour ;) It was the perfect December afternoon for an outdoor party complete with pony rides, a farmyard visit, many laughs and bumps on the horse carriage ride, marshmallow roasting in the fire pit, and a Bald Eagle flying over along the Cathance. Such fun and we were so happy to join in the celebration!

Carriage ride

Marshmallow roasting

Mule ride!

Fun riding

Birthday cutie!

So excited!

This is fun

Three goofy kids

Sam explaining something.... ;)

Great day to be in the woods

Cathance view

Late December river

Carriage ride

Late afternoon light through the orchard... these trees are over 100 years old!

Goats!

So cute

Oh hi there

Visiting the horses

Beauty

Mini donkeys!

Oh yes, I took a mule ride too... I could not get up in the saddle without use of the step stool though. HA! ;) There was much laughter about that. He was much taller than I anticipated!

Laughing or terrified? I'm not quite sure ;)

Quite a day! But such fun :)

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.