Spring!

The redwinged blackbirds and grackles arrived out back over the weekend. Days are getting longer. There's still snow on the ground for sure, but there are a lot more bare spots too. The daffodils have risen about an 1" about the ground outside of the door at work in a nice sunny protected spot. Those truly glorious spring days aren't quite here yet, but oh they are coming!

Tuesday morning, I met up with Amy G for a run, redemption from last week. It still felt like winter - 19 degrees. Brrr! - but there was no wind and the moon was big and yellow and shining brightly in the sky. I ran over to their place - about 1.6 miles - and then we ran a 5+ mile loop down through Topsham Heights, across the bridge into Brunswick, up Water Street to the bike path, looping back across the Connector to Elm Street and through the neighborhoods back to their house. It was such a nice morning, and we caught the sun rising over the Androscoggin along the Connector bridge. Of course, I had to stop for a photo because that it just what I do! 😀 I enjoyed chatting with Amy while we ran along and it was a treat to have a friend to run with in the early morning darkness! (8.4 miles)

Sunrise over the Androscoggin

After I picked Sam up in the afternoon, we went out for a short walk around the neighborhood. Walking and talking 😍 (0.8 miles walked)

I turned off my alarm and just plain went back to sleep yesterday morning, so no running 😂, but Ryan texted later in the day to ask if we were walking and would we wait for him. Of course then there was traffic and he suggested we head over to the Heath, so it wasn't until after 5:30 before we started. Sam was like, hey, it's dinner time! 😆😆 Ha! But it was truly a lovely evening and we had a great family walk in the woods. The trail was surprisingly solid, with a fair amount of ice but a good bit of packed snow. Lots of deer and turkey tracks, and we did a bit of off-trail exploration out onto the edges of the Heath, the kind that is only possible in winter when the bog is frozen over. A great way to finish up the day with my two favorite people💗 (1.2 miles walked)

Sunlight through the trees

Busy beaver!

Turkey tracks 

Early evening light

💕

This morning, inspired by the conditions last night on our walk, I decided I'd run out into the Cathance. I was really surprised by how decent it was last night and thought I'd get in one more run out there before tomorrow's rain and the warm temps that are forecast for over the weekend. Who knows how the trails will be after all that? I was able to run up to the top of Mt. A. without putting on my spikes, which was nice, and then found the snow nice and firm the rest of the way, with a lot of icy spots out along the singletrack. As I headed back around the Heath, I caught the sun rising in a few different spots. I was a bit too early for the truly spectacular pinks and purples over the bog but could see the sky lighting up as I ran back along the golf course and once I hit the clearing before heading back up Mt. A. Truly glorious. Definitely worth getting up and out for! (6.1 miles)

Sky aglow through the trees

Weekend Running

Not quite what I had intended for the weekend but that's OK. Sometimes it all comes together and flows nicely, and sometimes, well, it just plain doesn't. Yesterday instead of heading out for my planned long run, overcome by feeling of anxiousness, I got back into bed to cuddle with Sam, Ryan and Ronnie, who seemed to feel my unease and was doing his best to make me feel better by licking my face ;) I couldn't even get it together in time to go join the TMR group run over in Brunswick, so instead, a bit later in the morning, I put my spikes in my pocket and headed across the street. Listening to the bird call, a woodpecker tap, the river roar, enjoying the sun shining, the quiet woods, the one deer sighted, I smiled and relaxed, and realized this was just the run I needed. Was it the one on the plan? No, but it made me happy. (8.1 miles)

Ryan is still feeling under the weather, but it was too nice of a day to not get outside with Sam so late in the afternoon we ventured across the street for a walk on the powerlines. Lots of puddle stomping, mud squishing, slipping and sliding on the snow, postholing into icy cold water and laughing all the way. So grateful to get to enjoy walks and laughter and mud and wet feet with my girl 💖 (1.7 miles walked)

This morning, the long run was just not happening either. I'm calling it a temporary lull in motivation. I'll dust myself off and get back to the long run next weekend, but this morning, nope. Just didn't have it. Cold and windy out on the roads. Started out onto River Road but I was just not having it, so I turned around and meandered out through Topsham Heights instead before returning home. (9.0 miles)

A Little of This, A Little of That

Oh March, you are a fickle month! Weather is variable, we're gaining light but with daylight savings I'm back to a headlamp in the mornings, it rains, it snows, it melts, it freezes. Certainly keeping me on my toes anyway!

Tuesday morning I headed out in my screwshoes into the darkness. After Sunday's rain/snow and warmer temps, things are melting in the warmer hours and freezing up overnight. It was pretty icy out and I was glad to have the screwshoes for a little added stability! Ran over to Highland Green Road and took the back road first. Wanted to get in a little bit more than just the 5 mile loop, so ran down to the river and back and then continued on back home. Back to darkness after daylight savings so it was a headlamp run until almost the end, with a pretty light in the sky on the return trip along the powerlines! (6.0 miles)

Now that swim season is over and the days are longer, my plan is for Sam and I to get out on a walk or run a few days a week. Tuesday we did three loops around the neighborhood, walking the first two and running the last loop. (0.88 miles walked) There is a late spring/early summer swim program that will start up after April vacation, but in the meantime, it's a good practice to get out and move with Sam, plus it's always fun chatting with her as we walk along 💕

I never made it out of bed on Wednesday morning but willed myself out the door on Thursday, even though I really did not feel like it. In fact, I was supposed to meet up with Amy Goode, who recently moved to Topsham with her hubby, but I bailed. We had gotten about an inch of snow overnight, I wasn't feeling great, and I really didn't want to be dodging plows on the main roads and running on nasty sidewalks in the dark. I felt badly, but I know we'll have other chances to meet up! I told her I was going to stick closer to home and run a bit shorter, so I headed across the street and ran laps up and down and along the high school and middle school roads. Once again, I wore my screwshoes and was happy to have them. I did end up dodging a few plows in the school areas, but otherwise the side roads were quiet. (6.0 miles)

After I picked Sam up in the afternoon, we headed out for walk #2 for the week. It was a bit raw out, with lots of puddles to dodge and jump, but we got in a nice walk up and down our street and around the neighborhood. (1.1 miles walked)

Mom, stop taking my picture!

But she's so cute, I can't resist! 😍

I knew it was supposed to rain today, so I had already planned to run shorter today and long tomorrow. Dreary morning but not raining when I headed out. I knew I’d be doing my long run on the roads tomorrow so I thought I’d see how the trails were today. Snowmobile trails a bit soft and once I hit a huge puddle off that swallowed up the trail down near Tedford Crossing, I aborted to the back dirt road which was pretty sloppy.

As I ran up Highland Green Road, I couldn’t resist heading down to check out the Cathance trails and was happy to find them pretty solid! I went out and back along the river, which was flowing nicely. Still a lot of snow in the woods, with some stretches of ice and only one small bare spot to be found.

The rain started with about a 1/2 mile to go on the trails and then it was solidly pouring rain for the final 2+ miles back home on the pavement and snowmobile trail. Soaked! (8.5 miles)

0.8

Saturday morning, I headed out across the street for my long run. Things were a bit softer than they had been on Friday morning but were still decent. Plus, it was about 20 degrees warmer and it was a bright sunshiney morning, so I can't complain too much!

I ran out and looped a few times on the mountain bike trails around the dump pond before making my way back toward home. But alas, I still needed more miles so I headed up Mt. Ararat. The road had been plowed so it was a decent surface but once I hit the top, the trail hadn't had enough traffic and was way too soft, so I turned around and headed back out to Highland Green Road. Ran up the road and then made my way along the far side of the Heath. There had been some traffic on the trail but not enough to make it enjoyable, so I popped back out on the road and headed back that way. Once again, a run with multiple spikes on/spikes off transitions 😂😁 Temperatures had warmed up significantly while I was out there, so it was pretty soft on the final powerline stretch and I didn't even bother to put on my spikes.  (20.0 miles)

After lunch, Sam and I headed up to meet up with Keri, Tyler, the girls and their friends Liv and Mark at Odd Alewives Brewery. Sadly, Ryan did not join us, as he was feeling rather under the weather from some sort of cold. I felt badly leaving him, but he encourages us to go and have fun, and Sam really did no want to miss out on the opportunity for a sleepover with the girls, so off we went. In the end, it was probably nice for him to have some quiet time to just veg and rest up!! Sorry to not have him with us for the fun, but we had a nice evening with the girls playing, some beer tasting and delicious pizza. Thanks for hosting, Keri and Tyler!

Of course, we got to bed way too late, especially considering the time change and how early we had to get up to get ready and out the door to HVNC for the annual Bad Idea Fat Ass. As we were drinking our coffee, the sun was rising and putting on a fabulous color display off their back deck. Glorious!

We managed to get to HVNC on time, but others trickled in slowly and we didn't get started until just before 9:30. Guess everyone was dragging on their way to this bad idea 😆😉 Some of us went out in microspikes while others stuck to their snowshoes. I haven't put on my snowshoes all season so really didn't want to start today! Ha!

The loop was a mix of rather soft groomed stuff and some well-packed trail. It was doable in either/or, I'd say so I was fine with my choice. We started off bunched up but spread out fairly quickly and I enjoyed running the first two loops with Anne N., chatting away as we ran along. Felt fairly solid, especially considering yesterday's miles and the variable conditions. Still a whole lot of snow up there in the woods, that's for sure!!

After the second loop, I stopped for the outhouse and then went back inside to barn to eat a few donut holes too 😋🍩 before Anne and I headed back up, this time with Keri and Emily in tow. The third loop seemed laughably much more difficult, with conditions rapidly deteriorating into a loose sugary mess. I was definitely feeling the time on my feet and the extra work required due to conditions in the final lap as we slipped and slid around, laughing and groaning, but no matter, we got it done! I added on a short extra bit at the end to get my watch to read 10.0 and then happily made my way inside to eat all.the.things! Nothing like multiple crock pots full of warm food goodness at the end of a run with friends! What a bad, fun idea 😊 (10.0 miles)

In the end, it appears I should have run an extra 0.8 miles somewhere this week so I could have gotten a nice round 50 miles this week, but ah well, I guess 49.2 will just have to do! 😂😀

Short Week at School and Work

Snow started overnight on Sunday and continued until around noon on Monday, which meant a snowday for Sam. It was already going to be a short week at work for me as Thursday was a half day due to teacher development, so I worked the morning at home and then threw in the towel after lunch when Anne, Thistle and Phil came over for some sledding! Fun! I'd say we got about 6" of wet compacted snow out of the storm.

Tuesday I headed out for an early morning run, and was thankful to find it windless and beautiful. Gorgeous light! It was a morning of many stops to put on/take off the spikes 😂 The snowmobile trail was a bit too soft, so I took off my spikes and ran the Highland Green loop, putting the spikes back on for the back dirt/ice road portion and then taking them off again for the short stretch until I got back to the powerlines, put the spikes back on, then took them back off at the end and ran Canam to finish up the run. Ha! (6.0 miles)

Start of the run

Looking back around mile 4.5

Wednesday, I simply did not get up in time for my planned workout, but instead of scrapping it entirely, I headed out (without a headlamp! 🙌) around 5:45 and ran a few loops through the neighborhood, adding in 10x 60 on/90 off after a mile warm-up. The "ons" varied in intensity depending on if I hit any ice, or if there were any cars coming my way, or if I hit a turn-around midway through 😂😉 But hey, even a little bit of speed is better than none! (5.0 miles)

No running Thursday, as I went into work early to get in 4+ hours before heading back out at 11:45 am to pick up Sam at school at early dismissal. We had sushi for lunch with Anne, Thistle and Kristen and then joined them for an early afternoon screening of Legos 2. Yummy lunch, good company, wacky movie 😆 Then it was off to Target and the grocery store before heading home. 

Knowing I didn't have to be back super early this morning since I didn't need to get Sam ready for school, yes, another professional development day, I headed out right as the sun was rising at 6:05 am for my run. I will also admit to procrastinating as long as I could because, well, it was -2 degrees. I mean, WTF, March?! Seriously.... 

Brrr...

Despite the cold, it was a great run. Conditions were pretty sweet with the trails nicely packed and I ran some of the meandering mountain bike trails out near the dump pond, which were really nice running! Watched the sun rise as I ran out along the powerlines and then enjoyed the quiet woods. Finished covered in frost but very happy! Always good to get in a good snow run! (8.1 miles)

Thank you fat bikers!

I had a few more chores to get done, so Sam helped a bit with cleaning and then we hit the dump to drop off the recycling and the library for a few more books. I baked up a loaf of banana bread and Sam helped me make some vanilla cupcakes before I whipped up my more typical crazy cake chocolate cupcakes to bring up to HVNC for Sunday's fat ass run. Sam's friend Mazie came over after lunch for a nice playdate including playing school upstairs and frosting and decorating cupcakes 😀

And just because she is such a goof, here's Gigi, sitting very nicely with one paw in my croc 😂 She's a funny one!

Catching Up

Monday was a planned zero day but Tuesday ended up being an off day too, because "heck no if I want to run outside when the wind is whipping like crazy, it's dark and the temperature is feels like negative something and can this ice just go away?!" 👿 Yup, I'd say that pretty much sums it up! 😂😁

Of course that meant I was out running in the cold windy icy darkness on a feels like -12 degree morning on Wednesday morning because, well, just because we want to throw a hissy fit doesn't mean sh*t still doesn't have to get done! So I layered up in a million-and-one layers and did a few loops around the neighborhood. On the upside, we are gaining light quickly at this time of year, which is nice! (5.0 miles)

I was still having a hissy fit over the weather on Thursday so instead of running on what was yet another cold dark windy icy morning, I snuck in a few miles in the late afternoon between work and swim practice. Hit up the bike path for a quick out-and-back. It wasn't completely ice-free and there was still a bit of wind, but at least the sun was shining brightly! (5.0 miles)

Back in the day, we used to run over that bridge... silly kids! #bbxc 

Friday morning, I stuck close to home and headed out into the Cathance. I was pleasantly surprised to find that conditions were pretty solid and the trails were nicely packed throughout most of the trail system. I headed farther out in the hopes that I'd find similar conditions along the Ravine Trail but there hadn't been enough traffic out there, so I turned around and retraced my steps along the river. Always a lovely view! (10.0 miles)

Followed up the run with a massage, which I always enjoy because it certainly seems my legs need the loosening these days and because it's fun to catch up with Lauren during the hour that I'm in her office!

Saturday morning, I headed out just as it was getting light out and ran an out-and-back on Highland Green Road followed up by a loop through the Highlands and back up Maine. Kept it nice and easy. Sidewalks are riddled with icy slicks from the melting snow but it was quiet enough that I could run in the streets most of the way. Quiet, overcast, windless morning. (7.0 miles)

Then it was off to Orono for Sam's end of the season Y States meet.

Time spent driving: 3 1/2 hours
Time spent sitting in the stands: 3 1/2 hours
Time spent actually watching Sam swim her three events: Less than 3 minutes 😂

#swimlife

Cheering on her teammates

She swam a really good 50 free, getting a PR for the distance, but honestly the thing I love best about watching her and her friends at these meets is how they cheer for each other and support each other. LRSC is a great program and we're so glad Sam has found this team to be a part of and found something she enjoys so much! If she swims well too, it's just icing on the cake 😊🏊

A nice coating of snow fell overnight and it was a beautiful morning, as we made our way over to Bradbury for the last snowshoe race of the series today. Sam found Anna and Elise and headed right out to play in the snow as soon as we arrived, and I settled in to chat and help and cheer. The sun was shining, it was fairly warm and it was just a nice day to be outside. The course was on the mountain side, so it was a tough one but everyone seemed to have a great time! A good way to wrap up the series!

Once Ryan got home, I headed happily out into the sunshine for my run. I followed the fat bike trails along the snowmobile trail and was pleased to find that I felt decent, given that it was 3pm and I had stood around at the race milling about, chatting and helping at the finish line for 3 1/2 hours. A good way to finish up a rest week! (5.1 miles)

Follow the fat bike tracks!

And just for fun...

On Thursday, I dropped Sam off for chorus practice and went into school to check out her artwork on the walls. Her art teacher does some really neat units with the kids, and the two most recent art lessons/pieces have been inspired by Maine artists. I love this! I was also extra excited by this particular unit as when I was working at the gallery, Keith had a number of William Thon ink drawings and several watercolors, and I remember just loving the simplicity and elegance of his works. And I love Sam's interpretation with the bright cheery yellow sails 😍