Thanksgiving Fun

Thankful for time with the family this weekend!

Chasing Turkeys

Despite the uncertainties of these past few months, there is, as always, much to be grateful for. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Eat, drink, be merry and enjoy the day!

Kicked off the morning with a 5 mile run around the Georgetown block, chasing a gaggle of turkeys in the first 0.1 miles. Gobble gobble!! ;) felt good and was surprised to see 7:52 for the second mile split. Huh. Well, might as well try to keep it up! Never said I was smart... but just over 40 minutes for the loop is good in my book! So, 500 calories burned, time to eat :)

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Tuesday was 6 miles on the cart paths mid-afternoon as it was a half day for Sam. Wednesday morning, I got out for a very mellow 4 miles around the Heath. There was a thin layer of snow still on the big bridges. Trying to be good and taper, but running is just so much more fun ;)

Till We Meet In Hell 2016

Yet another fun Trail Monster event at Thorncrag! This year it was rainy, misty and damp, but there were a lot of good miles and smiles to be had! I somehow managed to run the majority of the 1 1/2 hours alone, despite the fact that the loop was only 1.5 miles. I started off for a few tenths with John, Tyler and Anna and then pulled ahead, staying in my own little bubble until somewhere around mile 7, when I ended up running for a lap and a half with Chad. Of course, along the way, there were short little stretches of out and backs where we could all cheer for each other and shout hello and give high fives, which is always fun.

While I was running, Ryan and Sam hiked a lap, taking photos and enjoying walking in the rain. I passed them once out on the loop and then caught up with them again at the statue, where we did a family pose for good measure ;)

Ultrarunning, oh the horror!

Wispy light and smiling family (even if you can't see it!)

I ended up with 5 laps plus an extra 0.5 miles, Chad telling me we were going to push to see how far we could get in the last 6 minutes. Then we ran back up to the start, and seeing as I was soaking wet, I figured I'd be happier if I just ran down versus walking and getting cold. In the end, I managed 9.1 miles and just barely eked out a 50 mile week. Definitely happy with that, and extra happy that the legs felt good after yesterday's 20.

As always, fun to run some miles at Thorncrag with and around friends. After a quick change, we headed off to Guthrie's for our end of the year get-together and a few hours of laughter, chatting, acknowledgements of adventures had, and a few drinks too. A great way to spend a rainy Sunday for sure!

Loopity Loop: Bradbury 20, Round 2

Yet another 20 miles running loops up, down, around and back again on the mountain side of Bradbury. I pulled into the lot a little before 7:00 am, the only car there. I did notice, however, a car out on the road, which looked like Andy's. And indeed, as I was summiting from one side, there he was, coming up from the other. We said a quick hello before he sailed off down the trail, moving quickly as usual ;) I stuck with a similar loop like I had used last time, up to the summit via Ski Trail and Northern Loop, down Tote, out to Boundary, back on Reverse Mindy, up Tote with a cut back over to Boundary a la BBU, and then down from the summit to the parking lot. The first loop down I took the Terrace, but it was slow going with a lot of leaves which made the middle portion seem even more uneven than usual. Pretty light in these first miles, as the sun was still rising up above treeline.

First loop was right at 5 miles. Second loop, same as the first, except I came down Northern Loop at the end instead. At the junction with the Ski Trail, I saw Alan coming up the trail. He joined me as I ran back to the parking lot, changed my hat and gloves, and refilled my pack with water and a few more gels. Then we ran back up to the summit and down Tote Road together. From there, he headed back to the car and I continued on the Boundary trail, but it was nice to have him join me for those 3 miles!

On the third loop, I decided to come down South Ridge for a change of pace, which was wet and slow going, for me anyway. I was bummed to see that my watch was only reading 14.5 back at the playground, so I hiked up the Summit Trail, which was getting busy with families out hiking and then returned to the lot via the Switchback Trail.

Then it was onto the final 5 miles, this time sticking to the "original" loop. Many more people and many more dogs this time around. It was a gorgeous, relatively balmy morning for mid-November, and a lot of people were out enjoying it. Which is great, but in terms of making it easy to run, it was not ;) Lots of stopping and walking around dogs and kids. I did run into our friend Dave and his family hiking up with their two kiddos, which was fun! Had to add on a short little bit at the end to get the watch to read 20, so I ran across the street to check if John was home to say hello to. He wasn't, so back across the street to run until the final beep at the edge of the parking lot.

Happy with how the run went. I felt solid, and thankfully, unlike last time, I didn't have any mental lack of focus. Another 4 hilly hours in the bank, and feeling ready for the taper!

Fauna report: Five deer jumping across the trail on the reverse Mindy trail and one Downy Woodpecker.

Weekday Wanderings

As I ran up the gravel road, the sky was aglow. Fiery, bright and colorful, alight with brilliant pinks on the horizon. And then, just as quickly, it faded quietly back to gray.

A beautiful sunrise this morning. Ran the cart paths and the Heath loop, in reverse for a nice 7 miles. Nothing spectacular about the run, except oh, that glow.

Thursday, I ran the regular 6 mile cart path run, the first 1 1/2 miles by headlamp. Nice light but no spectacular sunrise today. And when I uploaded the run to Strava, I was informed I've run this route 41 times. That's a lot of cart paths :) 

This morning, I got out around 6:20 and enjoyed the light as I ran along the leafy trails in the Cathance. Lots of water roaring in the river. Lovely. On the way back, I ran across the Connector and took the new "trail" that runs from the end of the Highlands road up through the woods to the town hall. It's really a wide paved bike path but will be a nice winter addition should the powerlines be too nasty to run on down to Highland Green Road. A solid 8 miles for the morning.

Weekend Running and Fun

Motivation is waning slightly at the moment. I don't know. I guess with the election and the still unknown of Ryan's employment status, my head isn't as focused on running as much as it should be at the moment. Went out yesterday morning with the intent, at least kinda-sorta, of running long, but only ended up with 7. Ha! Ran the cart paths and added on the Heath loop in the middle. Nice cool morning. Scared up a half dozen turkeys along hole #3 and they ran off across the green, flying up awkwardly into the pine trees. Honestly, just wanted to be home with the family and was happy to get home to go to Sam's swim lessons and relax with them around the house after lunch and get a few things done instead of being out running for hours.

Of course that meant this morning that I did want to get in some decent mileage. Amy had asked me if I wanted to meet for a short run, so I decided I would go get in some time on my feet before meeting up with her and get somewhere between 14 to 20 miles. It was an overcast morning but with some nice light. I parked at the pond and ran Oak Hill forward and back, starting a little before 7:00 am. The trails were surprisingly leaf covered but it is always nice running on that side of the farm. Back to the car around 8:15 where I met up with Amy. We headed onto the farmside trails, enjoying the quiet and the pretty sky above the browning fields. Much to catch up on, as I don't think we've run together since sometime in early July. Ended up with a good 15 miles and was content with that. Of course, we finished up the morning with coffee and huge bagel for me and huge cookie for Amy :)

Later in the afternoon, we headed over to Anne's house for some football watching, bagel making and what else but sparklers?! :) The girls had a great time, and Kristen and Phil fed us delicious stuffed pretzels and bean soup. Yum! A good way to finish up a good weekend!

The plan is for one more 20 miler next weekend followed up by a taper going into the Fells. In theory, it's all doable, as long as I keep my head on straight :)

Ocean and Woods

A nice day off with the family today. I slept in a bit this morning, or as much as the cats would let me :), and made my way over to run through the Commons down to the ocean a little after 9:00 am. It was a nice leisurely start to the day. The sun was bright, temps were in the 50s and I was wearing shorts, but the wind was blowing fiercely. I ran through the woods and then out through Pennelville to Simpson's Point, buffeted by the swirling wind. As usual, though, it is lovely out there and a pleasant change to have a few flat miles in the middle of the run during which to pick up the pace. Got in a solid 10 miles and felt happy.

After lunch, we all bundled up and headed over to the Cathance for a hike. We took the woods trail out towards the end of the preserve and enjoyed the water rushing along the river and kicking up the leaves along the trail. We could still hear the wind whipping around, but were mostly protected down along the river and got in a nice 1.9 mile hike on a beautiful November afternoon. Always good to spend time in the woods with the family!

Darkness and Light

Now, I won't pretend that I like leaving work in the dark at the end of the day, but what I do like is having light to run in on my morning runs! I will never say no to daylight at 6:15 am and being able to run without a headlamp :)

Lovely crisp morning on Tuesday to start off the running week. Ran out in the Cathance on the normal seven mile lollypop. The trails are extremely leafy right now and slightly dangerous in that regard but being able to run them in the daylight makes it all more manageable. Pretty sunrise through the trees and frost on the raspberry brambles. Cold but windless. Felt good.

Stopped at the polls and voted before I headed in to work. I exited feeling hopeful.

However, I awoke on Wednesday morning and the first post I saw was Valerie's: "I am so very disappointed with people." I started shaking. I simply don't understand it, and while there is no run of any distance that could quell the feelings of sadness, disappointment and dismay that I feel over our nation's choice of leader, there is a calm to be found out running through the darkness as the sun rises. And, I will take those little things today. I need them. 6 miles for the day.

Stonecat Weekend

We missed Stonecat last year and in 2011, but it's one of those races we've been to a lot - 2010 (marathon for me), 2012 (marathon for me) 2013 (first 50 for me), and 2014 (50 mile attempt for Ryan). It's a great race course and always a fun atmosphere, and this year, we headed back this weekend so that Ryan could complete that 50!

Keri and Tami were running the marathon, with Bob Dunfey, George and Linda joining Ryan in the 50. TMR did well, with a 100% completion rate and some great races! Yah team :) Ryan ran a very smart and strong race, churning out of PR for the distance in 8:26:xx. Impressive! It was awesome to see him running well, and I am very proud of all the hard work he has put in this year to stay healthy and get to the start line ready to have a solid run. It was fun to see and to be a part of it all.

It was great to have a bunch of Trail Monsters running, as well as a number of us crewing and cheering for the day. John set up the tent, we cooked pancakes, bacon and sausages, drank more than our fair share of hot coffee, Irene and Dana brought us warm pizza at lunchtime (delicious!), we all had fun chatting, catching up and helping the runners along the way, and we survived a round of hail (yes, hail!) and some very chilly temps in the morning before the clouds finally burned off and it got warm enough for me to take off the second jacket I was wearing ;) Ah, crewing! But I wouldn't have it any other way!

Can you feel the excitement?! ;)

50 mile start

Marathoners rounding the field

Hail!

TMR base camp, with everyone all layered up!

Sam crafting in the morning before they came over to the race

Fun with paints

End of lap #2

Coming into the finish

That's the face of one happy 50 mile finisher! Yah Ryan!

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I hadn't really looked at the weather past Saturday, so was surprised to find that it was raining, and hailing (again!), this morning. What wacky weather! So instead of me going out for a run first thing, we all went out for breakfast - yum! - and I waited for the weather to clear before heading out around 12:30. Unfortunately, the rain hadn't cleared the area as much as I had thought and a cold rain fell during most of the run, which combined with a still full stomach, tired legs from standing around in the cold all day yesterday, and too many cars on the road made for a lackluster run. Then my run wouldn't upload, which annoyed me even further. Yah, running! I love you so ;) Ha. But no big deal. 7 road miles done to finish up a 45 mile week. And back to Maine and perhaps even a run start tomorrow morning with no headlamp needed now that it's daylight savings time!

Loopity Loop: Bradbury 20

Headed out this morning as the sun was coming up to hit the trails at Bradbury. After yesterday's rain, the skies cleared and it turned out to be a lovely morning. The trails, on the other hand, were incredibly wet and sloppy. I ran up to the summit to enjoy the tail end of the sunrise lighting up the horizon over the valley below. Beautiful.

Sunrise, sunrise

As it's hunting season, my run would be confined to the mountain side of the park, which would mean many loops to get to the 20+ I was looking for. My first "loop" was about 5.8 miles. I stopped back at the car to shed my thick hoodie and thicker hat and change into two lighter long sleeves and a lighter beanie. It was cool but felt humid, so I was definitely overdressed at the start, and felt better once I had changed.

On the way up to the summit at the start of loop #2, Bill passed me, out for a morning run. We stopped for a minute together to take in the view at the top. 'Makes it worth it,' he said. Indeed.

Early morning light, loop #2

He took off and it was more looping around for me ;) Although the day was lovely, my mind and body were not really feeling it. My back and hips were tight and I was pondering calling it a day. I decided I would run over to John's house to say hi to Zippy and check out his new bench that Bob had built, and get the run to 12 miles. While inside, I texted Ryan to tell him I was thinking of stopping. He encouraged me to continue on, so with a sigh, I headed back over to the lot to pick up a few more gels and a Snickers. Hey, say what you want, but a candy bar can be a good pick-me-up out there ;) On I ran, floundering slightly but still moving forward.

Water, water everywhere

Yet another lap and I was out of water. Back to the car with 3 more miles to hit 20. It seemed to be taking forever, but when I was moving I was moving at a decent pace for the terrain, the sloppiness and my attitude ;) I stopped and dropped my pack, drank some water, had a salt tab, 3 Advil and a gel and texted Ryan to tell him I was going out for the final few miles. Again, say what you will, but sometimes ibuprofin is necessary and today my hips were telling me so. Back in the day, Ryan and I both consumed a whole hell of a lot of ibuprofin while hiking and on the AT, and although I use much less of it these days, I'm not afraid to take it when it seems like I need it. I've been feeling out of whack since the week after BBU. I suspect things are out of alignment slightly and am glad I have a Dr. Jamie appointment scheduled a few weeks out. Could probably use it sooner, but hey.

As I was getting ready to leave the car, a whole group of school kids passed me by headed up the Northern Loop trail. Hmmm... So I headed over to run/hike up South Ridge instead, then connected over to Tote, back around, up to the summit and down Terrace. Turned out to be just 0.1 shy of 20, so I did a lap around the parking lot to even things out, and gladly, thankfully called it all good! Not a pretty 20 but it got done.

Pointy...

Seen: 10 turkeys, 1 downey woodpecker, three busloads full of kids at different times along the trail, some pretty views and a whole lot of puddles :)

November

Feeling a bit more even-keeled this week.

Tuesday morning's run was highlighted by a pink glow along the horizon, frozen puddles along the cart paths, frost-edged leaves and grass, a riot of red winterberries standing out amidst the browning brush along the powerlines. Despite the fact that November is often a bleak month in terms of color and weather, there is still beauty to be found; it is simply a bit more subtle. A nice 6 miles to kick off the month.

Then, oh that pesky Wednesday. Didn't get out of bed again. It was dark and overcast and staying in bed for a while longer was just a much nicer option then getting up at 4:15 and out at 5:00 in the pitch black. But then later in the afternoon the sun came out and temps warmed up into the 50s, and I couldn't resist. I snuck out for a run on the Crystal Spring Farm trails in between work and taking Sam to her swim lessons. The trails were dangerously leafy but it was lovely to run in full daylight, in shorts and short sleeves, on November 2nd. An unexpectedly warm 5 miles for the afternoon. Ahhh...

While not getting out at the crack of dawn worked in my favor yesterday, today it most decidedly did not. I took the day off to get organized for the weekend, and because I get paid for Veteran's Day next week, which falls on a Friday, a day I don't normally work, so I needed to balance out my hours by taking some time off within the same pay period. Oh, twist my arm, will ya? ;) I dropped Sam at school and then did all the errands that needed to be done. By the time I got home, it was pouring. I knew I was going to get wet, so I had an early lunch and got the house cleaning and laundry done and then finally went out around 1:30 pm. The rain had not yet let up, and it was darn soggy out there. Thankfully I have a good running raincoat, and since it was relatively warm out, I wasn't freezing despite getting soaked, but 7 miles was more than enough for the day!

Tomorrow's it's over to the Brad for an early morning run on the mountainside and then off to MA to support Ryan (and Keri, Tami, Linda and Bob (did I forget anyone?!?) at Stonecat!