Morning & Afternoon

Family walk on Monday on the school road loop. Nice afternoon to get out and stretch the legs after a day of sitting too long at the computer at the kitchen table. (2.0 miles walked)

Tuesday, as much as I had planned to get up and run in the early morning darkness, I couldn't quite do it. Gah. So, as Mom and Dad had nicely agreed to take Sam to swim practice in the afternoon, I stopped at the bike path for an afternoon run on my way home from work. Windy and a bit cool, but sunny and bright, with some nice color still along the river. Despite the fact that I sometimes struggle to get out the door, I really do like morning runs the most; however, being able to run in full daylight was nice too! Listened to the Morning Shake Out with Kilian. He sure is an interesting cat, and amazing that he is only 32 having accomplished so much in ultra and mountain running. (7.0 miles)

Wednesday was yet another morning fail. 😴😴 Sigh. Well, at least I know I do well under pressure in the guise of running out of days to run, so this morning I actually did get up and out 😉😁😂 The wind was whipping like crazy so I headed to the cart paths to at least have some protection from the wind and variation in direction in case it was gusting one particular way. Looped around the Heath in the middle of the run. A bit too early for any proper pre-dawn colors, but the camera picked up all the cotton sedge out in the moss, which was cool. Then as I continued on, I watched the sky grow lighter and begin to cast a beautiful glow on the turning leaves. Really pretty and glad to have gotten up and out! (7.0 miles)

Weekend Fun

Friday morning, I met up with Val at Riverlands for a run. I haven't run there often enough to truly know all the ins and outs of the trail system and how things connect, so it was great to catch up with Val and get a fun tour of the singeltrack. With a lot of leaves, sticks, branches and tree limbs down, along with myriad acorns underfoot, it was slow going and as the run went on, things got a bit slick due to the rain, but still a lovely run. And even with the gray skies and the on and off rain, the woods were gorgeous! (8.8 miles)

Mom and Dad came over for Thai food for dinner and then Sam went back to spend the night with them at the VBRO and try out of the bunk beds. Thanks, Mom and Dad! Ryan and I watched Ricky Gates' Transamericana film. Pretty cool way to see America and a really well done documentary of his journey.

Had a mellow start to the morning on Saturday and finally rolled out of the house at 8:30 for my run. The sun was shining and the spider webs and grasses were covered with a thick dew, the blueberry bush leaves were a brilliant deep red, and the winterberry bushes. Very pretty. Ran the powerlines and enjoyed listening to the Koop Cast podcast with Rebecca Rusch. She is just so cool. I really admire her tenacity and the way she has approached all her adventures. (9.0 miles)

  

After lunch, we headed out to Harpswell to meet up with Sam, Mom and Dad for a hike on the Bowdoin Coastal Studies Center trails. It was such a beautiful afternoon! And so pretty out along the ocean, with puffy clouds and blue skies above, and the shoreline highlighted by the pretty deep red of the blueberry bushes. (2.0 miles walked)

A mama deer and her two fawn were watching us from farther out in the meadow as we skirted the edge along the trail

And once we passed, they went running on by behind us!

💕💕

So pretty! 😍

We went back to Mom and Dad's VBRO for a bit of late afternoon relaxation (apparently the couch is very comfy!) and dinner. Thanks for making such yummy chili, Dad!

This morning, I wasn't in a rush to get out the door either, and finally wandered out around 8:30 for a run on the roads. Felt decent, but decided not to push the mileage, given last week's UXBBA. Nothing super exciting, just running along, enjoying the foliage, but did hit 1,700 miles for the year en-route though, so I'll take it! (7.0 miles)

Then we had an early birthday present opening virtually with Irene and Dana. There was much laughter when Sam put on her light turquoise koala hooded onesie 😂 She did look cute though!

Later in the afternoon, we headed across the street for a walk around the Heath. The cotton sedge is looking glorious out in the bog set against the green bog moss and the red blueberry bushes, but most of the foliage along the edges was looking fairly muted. Still, a really nice afternoon to be out in the woods! (1.2 miles walked)

Two Walks & Two Runs

We've settled into the routine of school and swim and work and mask wearing and remote learning pretty well by now. Sam seems to be enjoying her two in-person days at the middle school, and the remote learning days have kept her challenged but mostly independent in terms of work. She is swimming two times a week up at the Y with LRSC, and while the practices are less frequent and shorter than they've been in the past and aren't as social as she'd like 😉, she is enjoying being back in the pool.

Monday, she and I got out for a walk around the block, taking in the demolition of the high school and enjoying the colorful maple leaves. She talked pretty much nonstop the whole time, so I guess it was a bit too quiet of an at-home day for her 😂(2.0 miles walked)

Tuesday I was up and out early for my run on the cart paths. Days are getting shorter and shorter, and the sun isn't rising until after 6:30, so on a misty, muggy, murky morning like this one, the run was completely in the dark. I did see three porcupines though. (6.1 miles)

Rain came through overnight and the winds were whipping all morning on Wednesday. The skies did clear in the afternoon and the winds died down enough that Sam and I got out for a late afternoon walk. Still not enough rain to fill the frog pond on the speckled alder trail though, but some pretty foliage to be seen. (2.0 miles walked)

Another dark morning run this morning. But cooler and clearer, at least! Ran roads around town. I'm guessing it was a nice sunrise, but I finished up before the color started as in-school days require a 6:30 wake-up for Sam, so it means heading out extra early. (6.1 miles)