It was a super busy work week and at the start of the week, I felt like I was still getting my energy back after the holidays. Not to mention we are 22 months into a pandemic and the newest Omicron variant is making me feel rather anxious.
The combination of the above, plus the fact that between running and walking, last week's mileage amounted to almost 50 miles, meant I made the conscious decision to take a step back this week and give my body, and mind, a bit of a rest on the running front. There are a lot more days to get in the miles!
Apparently, though, everyone else set their New Year's resolutions and were jumping right in, as the track, the weight room, and the Y in general, were packed on Monday afternoon! I tried to just stay in my lane and ignore everyone else wandering around the track, but it was not the most relaxing walk. (2.2 miles walked)
Tuesday, I (surprise surprise) ended up just running in the late afternoon as I could not get myself out of bed into the morning darkness. Cold out, but the roads were clear. Out and back on Highland Green Road. (6.0 miles)
I was working from home on Wednesday, so took advantage of that and got out in the daylight after dropping Sam off at school for late start. Put on my spikes and ran down to the river. Conditions were variable but not horrible. Had a cool pileated woodpecker sighting and the ice along the river's edge is looking lovely. Downside of the run was that the rain started in the last 2 miles - 33 degree and rain is not the most pleasant. Brrr. (6.0 miles)
Woke up on Thursday morning to everything covered with a thin veneer of ice. Definitely a good day for a day off. Cool pattern on the car windshield though!
I got out of bed just before the phone rang on Friday morning, with the automated message alerting me that there was no school. Snow day! ❆ Had a leisurely breakfast and then did some arm weights and my stretching/core routine before venturing out around 7:15 with my spikes in my pocket once the sky had lightened a bit. A light snow was falling.
Turned off the road onto the powerlines but the thin veneer of snow atop the ice underneath was rather treacherous so I decided to head down to the river thinking I'd be a bit more protected in the woods, and I know those trails well enough to know where I need to take it easy and where I might need to bushwhack to avoid the ice!
Very pretty with the new snow, at least when the snow wasn't blowing in my face, and most definitely slightly sketchy and slow going. Didn't even add on extra at the end to get to a round 8.0 as it was only getting worse out there and I didn't want to be on the roads. Still, glad to be able to get in some miles and always fun to get out and play in the snow 😊 (7.65 miles)
Saturday was a good but very long day. Started off with a lovely glow in the sky on my early morning run on the Highland Green loop, and ended with a very similar beautiful glowing sunset seen along the back roads and highway on the way home from Blue Hill. Such a pretty winter day, and so neat to be out to see both the sunrise and sunset. That certainly doesn't happen very often!
Had to get out early in the morning as Sam had a swim meet up in Blue Hill. First time out in the early morning all week. Ha! Wore screwshoes and they worked well on the messy roads, and to keep me upright on the back dirt road, which was essentially a solid sheet of ice covered with a thin layer of packed plowed snow. It was a double pants kind of morning - feels like -1 according to the Strava weather app - brrr! - but I was quite comfortable once I got moving. A very crisp clear morning with a pretty sky. If I had been on the powerlines, I would have undoubtedly had an amazing view of the actual sunrise, but on the roads, I could just see the glow on the horizon looking lovely as I ran along. (6.0 miles)
Unfortunately, no spectators were allowed at the meet due to Covid, but I had done some poking around to see if Ryan and I could get out for a bit of a walk or hike nearby so that we weren't just sitting in the car for 3 1/2 hours! Turns out, Blue Hill Heritage Trust maintains a lot of small preserves near the Y, so after stopping in town at Sandy's Cafe for lunch, we headed to the trailhead of the Peter's Brook Trail just outside of town.
The trail appeared to be an old woods road, rising up the hill alongside Peter's Brook. The sun was shining and it was very pretty with the snow-covered trees and the babbling brook. We walked the 1/2 mile up to the waterfall and then continued a short way further to the junction with a connector to the adjacent Penny's Preserve trails. As we had service so that we could keep watch on the live stream and not miss Sam's events and hadn't been out for too long, we decided to make a loop of it and continue on to the as of yet untracked Penny's Preserve West Side trail to the Quarry Loop.
The woods were seriously just so gorgeous. It was the picture perfect day to be out in the woods. The trail wandered along through the woods, eventually taking us to the edge of a deep wide quarry, where we stopped in the sun to marvel at the large blocks of stone below and watch Sam's first event, the 50 free, where she won her heat and got a PR! Woohoo! Then we continued on through the woods back down to the road, where we had a short road walk to get back to the car. All in all, a truly lovely exploration, and really nice to get out in the woods with Ryan💗(2.0 miles walked)
We had gotten several fresh homemade cinnamon sugar donuts along with our sandwiches at Sandy's and left them in the sun on the dashboard in the car while we were out walking. The car smelled wonderful when we returned, and the donuts (they even came with the donut hole!) were delish! A great post-walk treat.
We watched Sam's 100 free from the Y parking lot and then headed over to the Blue Hill Co-op to check it out before her final relay event. She had a great meet and some really strong swims. These past few months, she has really improved in strength and with her technique. It has been fun to watch, and I love seeing how proud she is of her improvement.
We sat in the sun in the car in the parking lot, looking out at Peter's Cove and watching all the ducks milling around (surprised to also see one loon too -cool!) as we ate our most delicious egg sandwiches, and then briefly checked out the beach before we donned our spikes and headed into the woods.
Lots of ice pancakes stranded on the beach
Heart in the snow
Edge of the quarry
Just so pretty! 😍
By the time the meet finished up, it was 4:00 and we headed home, marveling at the clear sky and glorious sunset as we drove the back roads to hit the highway. Even an hour later, there was still a beautiful glow on the horizon as we headed south.
I didn't rush out on Sunday morning, as the wind was whipping and we didn't have anything on the calendar for the day except dinner later in the evening with Mom and Dad, and possibly some xc skiing if the weather forecast was wrong and it didn't rain. I finally headed out around 8:45. A mix of roads and trails out and into Highland Green in the cold rain and sleet, which started about 1 minute into the run. 😂 Wore my screwshoes, which were overkill on the majority of the pavement but necessary for the trails and back road. The Cathance trails were actually fairly packed out, which was nice. Took the trail back through the woods in the final mile or so, just to be a bit more protected from the wind and rain. (6.6 miles)
It did indeed continue to be relatively nasty for the rest of the day, so it was a quiet afternoon, although Sam and I did tackle putting up the LED lights that she had gotten for Christmas. They are pretty fun!
