Meanderings

Meandering about this way and that this week. First 'back to school' cold of the season for Sam. Ryan away for work Tuesday through Thursday. Kid and cat and work and activity and chore juggling and wrangling. You know, just the typical chaos of a regular week! 😆

No running or XC practice on Monday, as Sam was sick. So, Tuesday I got up and out extra early into the darkness to get in a few miles before Ryan headed to the airport for his trip to Michigan. No sign of the sky lightening that morning! Dark, dark, dark. Two porcupines, three deer and the moon shining brightly overhead. (6.0 miles)

So bright!

Just lumbering along. Didn't care about me at all.

Thursday, I had a work conference up in Augusta and finished up in time to get out for a run in the afternoon before picking up Sam for XC practice. I really much prefer morning running but once my legs warmed up, I did enjoy running in the sunlight! Such a pretty afternoon. One huge caterpillar found and rescued from the cart paths so it wouldn't get squished, and one garter snake scared up while sunning itself out on the trail in the woods. (6.2 miles)

A new one for me - Polyphemus Moth Caterpillar. It was huge! 

Late summer Heath

Cotton sedge

I headed move along the back of the pack at XC practice later in the afternoon. Mostly this entailed running with one boy who would much rather walk than run. I asked him what he liked to do other than run and he spent the next 10 minutes telling me about Stranger Things, and running for most of that. Distraction for the win! Hey, whatever works! (0.8 miles shuffled/walked)

Friday, I headed over to Brad to meet up with Anne and Mindy for a run. Got there a bit early and had enough time to run up to the Summit and back via Northern Loop. Nice cool bright morning. Once the ladies arrived, we headed onto the east side for a meander along the trails the mark the boundary of the park. I didn't quite get it right but we still enjoyed a nice run, chatting away and catching up as we ran along. All in all, a very nice start to a beautiful Friday! (7.6 miles)

Yesterday, I had my stuff out for a long run but felt kind of meh when I got up. My right leg felt a bit stiff and I was tired. So I scrapped that and headed out for a shorter run around town instead. Took the roads and paths for a nice loop, and listened to the Work, Play, Love podcast with Another Mother Runner along the way. Lauren and Jesse always offer up interesting perspectives and make me laugh. (7.5 miles)

After lunch, Sam, Ryan and I got out for a walk down along the Cathance. The river was running so low that we crisscrossed the water several times, rock jumping and scaring up a ton of frogs as we did so. Fun to do a bit of off-trail exploration on a beautiful, warm, late summer afternoon! (1.5 miles walked)

So many frogs!

Looking into Barnes Leap

This morning, I woke up and headed into Brunswick for a run on my "Brunswick roads and trails" loop. But first, a stop at Frosty's to pick up a few pumpkin glazed donuts. They only make these donuts seasonally and they are so delish! I figured if I waited until after my run, they'd all be gone. And it was the perfect post-run treat. Yum! 😋🍩

Headed out via the roads for a loop through the Crystal Spring Farm trail system before crossing the blueberry fields to the high school. Then it was into the unmarked extended Commons trails out to the edge of the marshy woodsy pond that runs next to Rossmore before a few more road miles out into Pennelville. The final few miles were back through the Commons and along the perimeter trail back at the field house. A nice, mellow meander on a pretty morning. Right leg still a bit cranky but loosened up as I ran along. Otherwise, felt good and happy to finish out another week just over 40 miles. Just keeping it nice and steady and trying to run enough to work towards my 2,000+ goal and maintain a decent base at the moment, which I feel like I'm successfully doing. (14.0 miles)

Edge of the fields at Crystal Spring Farms. The asters had taken over the trail!

Blueberry fields

Blue sky and bright sunshine

Milkweed Tussock caterpillar

The early foliage is sparse so far but brilliant in color

Feeling Like Fall

Feeling like fall this week with cool mornings, bright sunshine and warm afternoons. XC has started and school is in full swing.

Sam had her first XC practice on Monday evening. I went dressed to run, just in case but it's a small team and the coach, an energetic young woman who assisted a few years back, said she had it covered. So, I turned on my watch and headed out for my own run! Ran on the road down to the bike path and turned around at the 22 minute mark. Not the most exciting run but happy to have had the chance to get out! Made it back in time to catch the last few minutes of practice. Nice evening. (5.0 miles)

Ryan was away Tuesday and Wednesday for a conference, and we had our annual audit at work, so there was no running those days. Got out Thursday morning into the darkness and ran the cart paths. Windy and quiet. One grouse seen. Legs felt good. (6.0 miles)

Friday, I headed over to Brad to meet up with Keri and Anne for a run. I wanted to get in a few more miles than what we were planning so I got there a bit early and ran up to the summit and around on the mountain side before heading back to the parking lot. It was a gorgeous morning to be out. Nice and cool but warm in the sun.

At 9:15, the three of us headed out onto the east side and did a variation of the old BBU east course. I couldn't tell you the newest iteration of that section but I always like the old route. It was great to have a chance to catch up as we ran along! Anne stopped once we got back to the lot after 5ish miles, but Keri was feeling good and wanted to go for a few extra miles so I joined her, because why not?! Lots of perfectly shaped yellow toadstool like mushrooms seen, and one purple one too. All in all, a fun morning run, and great to get in some miles with friends! (10.2 miles)

Still was hoping for a slightly longer "long" run this weekend, so I headed out with my pack for a 2+ hour run on Saturday morning. Sky looked lovely through the winds right at sunrise but I was not fast enough to be outside to enjoy it while running 😉 Got out the door a few minutes before 7:00 and headed out on the powerlines. Cool but unlike Friday, rather muggy. Still, definitely looking like fall out there and the air is full of that autumnal smell of sweet ferns, goldenrod, ripening berries and fallen leaves. Mmm! Love that. Found one last patch of blackberries to enjoy too! After the Lover's Lane loop and a jaunt on one side of the mountain bike trails by the dump, I headed back towards home and out into the Cathance for a few more miles. Solid morning. Legs felt a bit tired but happy to get in some good home trail miles! (13.0 miles)

Lots of mushrooms out along the trails

Colors of fall 💗

The afternoon turned dreary and rainy so we got a few things done around the house. Not as fun as getting out for an adventure but sometimes necessary!

This morning, I headed out around town for a road meander. It was foggy and slightly misty to start, then got very muggy as the fog started to burn off and the sun began to emerge. Feeling strong and happy to finish up with another 40 mile week! (7.0 miles)

Anne came over to play with Sam for the morning and after lunch we met up with Kristen and Thistle out at Rocky Ridge. A gorgeous late summer feeling afternoon for some apple picking fun out at the orchard! A great way to wrap up the weekend!

These two 💗

Love these silly, goofy kids! 

Weekend Running Fun

Set out into the lovely crisp air on Friday for a run out into the Cathance. Hit the cart paths first to add on a bit of mileage and then meandered down along the river and through the woods out to Head of Tides. Lovely morning light, some bright mushrooms and fungi, colorful late summer flowers and berries plus seven turkeys scared up along the river banks and one deer seen prancing ahead on the trail. Legs felt good. (15.0 miles)

The Heath is covered with cotton sedge. Beautiful but hard to see in the photos 💗

Such a cool web!

Sending silly photos to Sam enroute 😂

Waxy cap

Indian pipe

Purple aster

Golden spindles

Love this viburnum 😍

Sam had a friend sleep over on Friday night and I didn't get a lot of sleep. Not to mention, it was dark and dreary and rainy from the hurricane remnants early in the morning and that didn't make me want to jump up and get out the door 😉 So instead, I sat around and drank coffee and made the girls pancakes and bacon, and then headed out the door midmorning. It was rather overcast, damp and windy and the roots and bog bridges out in the Cathance were rather greasy, but it wasn't raining and the woods were lovely and peaceful. Stopped for what are likely the final few trailside blackberries of the season, enjoyed the bright red cardinal flowers still blooming along the river and stopped to admire the sea of cotton sedge out in the Heath and at a patch of milkweed along the powerlines to see if I could find any monarch caterpillars. Took it nice and easy. (7.0 miles)

Cardinal flower

Cotton sedge out in the Heath

Chomp! 💗🐛

This morning, it was up and out early before Ryan headed over to Brad to help set up for the Bruiser. Waited until the sky was just lightening so I didn't need a headlamp 😉 Headed out through the neighborhoods and down to the swinging bridge, enjoying the moody sky as the sun rose and began to shine through the heavy cloud cover. Came back up through the Highlands and along the connector path. Legs don't want anything to do with "fast" - guess I need to start up with some pick-ups to get a bit of turnover back! - but I felt decent. Happy to finish out the week feeling good and finally hit 40 miles (pretty much exactly but it still counts! 😂) for the week for the first time since Western States! (6.0 miles)

Then it was off to Brad with Sam to volunteer during the race. To keep ourselves occupied while we waited for the racers to come back to the finish area, we took a nice little walk out the Link with Kate and the dogs. Lots of mushrooms and some good sniffs for Hagrid and Moxie! 😂🐶 (0.9 miles walked)

5th Grade!

Back to school and work and reality after a really fun stretch at the end of summer. Can't believe my girl is in 5th grade! I know it's cliche, but truly, where does the time go?!? 💗

On the running front, it's back to the early morning darkness with a headlamp definitely needed. Ran Highland Green Road and Canam on Tuesday in the fog. One red eft rescued and one eagle seen swooping through the mist above. (6.0 miles)

😍😍

Yesterday I hit the cart paths. Another foggy, overcast morning and dark, very dark. Six deer seen. (6.0 miles)

Feeling slightly lost and unfocused now that I've cancelled my plans for Ghost Train but I still have my mileage goal for the year to work towards and am having fun looking at ultrasignup as I figure out my 2020 race plans 😃