Busy Busy

So busy I didn't get around to posting this until Wednesday evening!

It's that crazy end of school time when there are activities happening almost every day and a lot going on. The to do list for work is pretty much endless these days, and Ryan was away Tuesday through Thursday, so let's just say it's been a busy week. Whew.

My training plan these days pretty much seems to be "start your run week on Wednesday, run five days, take two days off." Oh well. It is what it is. I'll try to turn it around once school gets out for Sam and I have a little more wiggle room in the mornings, but for now, I'm just rolling with it.

Monday was a planned day off from running, but I really had intended to get up and out on Tuesday morning before Ryan headed over to NH for a work conference. Obviously that did not happen. And then the day just slipped away from me and work consumed me until 5:00, by which point I was done and nothing more than making dinner and sitting on the couch for the rest of the night was going to happen. We didn't go to swim as Sam's team had had a field trip out to the LL Bean outdoor center in Freeport where they did various team building activities for the day. 

So, with that, I was up and out on Wednesday morning a little before 6:00 am to loop around Highland Green Road to get in 7 miles before 7:00 am, as it was Step Up Day for Sam and she wanted to be sure to be up on time since Lauren's dad was picking her up so they could walk into the high school together. Humid and sunny. One salamander, I think it might be a red-backed salamander, seen. Neat. (7.0 miles) 

😍

A rather rainy afternoon and evening, so I took my walk indoors around the track during swim practice. (2.0 miles walked)

The chorus and band groups were headed on a roadtrip on Thursday morning, down to Metheun to the Great East Music Festival to perform, and then on to Boston to the Museum of Science for the afternoon. That meant a 6:00 am arrival at school to get on the bus, so after I dropped her off, I headed out from my run. Ran the cart paths and added a bit extra on the roads at the end. Muggy. (7.0 miles)

Do you see the deer? 🦌💗

Sam's chorus group at the Music Hall

I had originally been planning on some hill work on Friday but instead, I pretty much did the exact opposite and headed out to Pennelville for a flat road run instead 😂 But I love it out there, and had been thinking I wanted to get out that way to run through the fields and out to the ocean and hear the bobolinks, so that is what I did 💗 So much beautiful color with lupines and iris in bloom, Simpson's Point at low tide and bobolinks chattering amongst the buttercups. (8.0 miles)

One of my favorite views

Then after my typical Friday errands, I got in a short walk around the Bath block during swim practice later in the day. (1.7 miles walked)

Black locust in bloom everywhere

Totally recognize that I should have done my long run on Saturday, as it turned out to not be as bad weatherwise as forecast, but I also just needed a bit of downtime mentally and to be able to have a reasonably chill not with a quiet morning and to not rush out the door. So instead, after finishing my book, I finally headed across the street around 9:00 am to do the hill work I did not do on Friday 😏😜Mt. A. is just a small bump, but it'll do. 12 times up and over, via some road and some trail. Air was quite heavy. Milkweed, blackberry brambles, viburnum and sheep laurel in bloom. One thrush seen. (8.0 miles)

Out back, one of the self-seeded columbines that has come up right against the house is in bloom and the groundhog has not found it yet. So pretty! 

After a quiet afternoon at home, we headed over to Mom and Dad's to celebrate Mom's birthday. Indian food and Crazy Cake! That is my kind of dinner. Yum! And so grateful to be able to celebrate these days together 💗Happy Birthday, Mom. We love you.

Sunday morning, I headed out at 7:00 am to get in my long run. Nice morning. I ran the cart paths and down to the river before heading across the street to run the Highlands trail and then along the Town Landing Trail before connecting up to the powerlines and Gone Fishing trails for the remainder of the miles. Two snapping turtles seen, one moved from the road, one laying eggs very close to the edge of the road. The glorious smell of hay scented ferns, blackberry brambles and Dames rocket, plus some long grass but thankfully no ticks! Definitely some brown tail spots. And definitely warm. So much sweat 💦🤪 (18.1 miles)

Then it was home to shower, eat an early lunch and a big piece of leftover birthday cake from mom’s birthday yesterday, and head up to the botanical gardens to take in all the flowers! 💖🌸It was a beautiful afternoon, and as always the gardens were looking lovely and it is a treat to be able to stroll through this piece of property and enjoy it all. (2.4 miles walked)

And of course, as is tradition, we had to make a stop at Fielder's Choice on the way home for ice cream! Yum. What a fun way to wrap up the weekend! 😋🍦

Summer?

School is winding down, and even if the calendar says summer doesn't start until June 21, it always seems like Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start to the season.

Despite the fact that I had just run 5 days in a row, I couldn't waste a holiday day off, so I headed out for a run on the cart paths and around the Heath on Monday morning to start off the day. Feeling rather creaky, and the Coros says my recovery level is at 0% or "exhausted" 😂😜Still, nice morning for a slow meander, and came home to find the iris buds starting to emerge. (6.1 miles)

Then after lunch it was off to pick up my parents for our annual "ladyslipper walk" in the Commons. It was a nice afternoon for a walk in the woods, and we managed to count 496 ladyslippers 💖💖 As usual,  we followed up our walk with a trip to Fielder's Choice for ice cream! Always a fun excursion! (1.9 miles walked)

Wednesday, I got out for a mid-morning run on the powerlines in between work projects. Warm and breezy, and two days, later, the iris are in bloom! (6.6 miles)

Thursday evening was Sam's spring choral concert, the last of her middle school career! Hard to believe that 8th grade is almost over. Where does the time go?!😮😭Irene and Dana came up for the concert, so Sam had all the grandparents there 😊

Friday morning, I headed downtown to the farmer's market and then over to the Commons for a run. A very warm, humid and heavy morning. Definitely felt like summer!! 202 ladyslipper counted, lots of starflowers in bloom, some lovely rhodies out in Coleman Farm and Bobolinks chattering and flying above the buttercup-covered Pennelville fields. Found a few lupine too, and breathed in that sweet, heady smell of honeysuckle - so lovely. (6.6 miles)

Ryan and Dana played a round of golf while I was out, and then once we were all back and showered, the four of us headed into town for lunch before Irene and Dana headed home. It was a nice visit! Then it was off to get a few errands done and for Ryan to head to Chalk Pond for his weekend with the boys. Abby came over for a sleepover, and we went to Little Toyko for dinner and then to Gelato Fiasco of course! A fun day.

😍

Friday evening, the rain started to fall and it did not let up much at all all weekend long. Not to mention, that after temps in the high 80s on Friday, temps fell and stayed in the mid 40s through the weekend as well. So much for summer! 

The girls slept late on Saturday and with such dreary weather, I was in no rush to get out the door. Finally decided to suit up and head out around 12:30, just as it started to pour rather heavily.😂🤪💦 Ha! Ran out on the powerlines, and surprisingly, had the trails to myself. 😉Wild sarsaparilla, sheep laurel and iris in bloom. (8.2 miles)

Mom and Dad suggested dinner at Harraseeket Lunch, and despite the wind and rain and cold temps, we enjoyed a yummy fried seafood dinner -  indoors, of course 😂 - and the pretty harbor view!

Sunday did not dawn much different, and it was cold enough that I actually turned back on the heat! Finally got out the door around 10:30 for my run into the cold rain. Brrr. Ran a road loop around town to finish up a much-needed down week of running. (10.1 miles)

This pretty much sums up how I felt about the weather 😑

And Gigi agrees 😹

Acchhoo!!

Got in a nice walk around the Bath block on Monday during swim practice. Good to get a bit of movement in. (2.0 miles)

I really had planned on running on Tuesday morning but that didn't happen and then I had meetings all day long include a 4:00 and a 5:00 meeting, so the run just did not happen. Apparently this is just the trend in my running life right now...

Worked from home on Wednesday and got out at 3:00 for a run on the cart paths and around the Heath. Felt a bit creaky. Nice, if sort of humid, afternoon. (6.0 miles)

The cala lillies are coming up in the Heath

Bunchberries emerging

Another afternoon run on Thursday, this time on the cart paths. Windy! (6.0 miles)

The rhodora is fading but still beautiful

Val texted after I had gone to bed on Friday night wondering if anyone was up for a mountainside run at Brad in the morning. I had already planned to head over there for some hills, so that worked perfectly! I wasn't sure exactly what she was thinking but Anne had said she was up for 6 miles, so I figured I'd go early to get in a few miles and finish up with them. Did a few errands around town and then finally started my run around 9:15. Ran up to the summit, down Tote and then out on Boundary. I figured I would have just enough time to run back up to the summit if I took the Summit Trail down. I think I came into the lot at 9:59:45 😂 Val had her route planned out - up Switchback, down Terrace, up Ski to Northern Loop overlook and then reverse - so Anne and I just tagged along and we chitter chattered the whole way. It was fun to catch up and fun to have someone in charge of the hills! After two full repeats, Anne peeled off, but I still had a mile to run to hit 10 miles, so I headed back up Switchback and down Terrace with Val before heading back to the lot, which turned out to be pretty much perfect for the mileage I wanted! The ladyslippers were out, and the patch of lily of the vally along the Northern Loop was smelling wonderfully sweet. Lots of wild indian cucumbers in bloom and some blue bead lily and bunchberry too. (10.1 miles)

My allergies have been rough this year, and by the time I got home after a few more errands, my eyes were itching like crazy! I took a shower and then decided I would sit inside and read my book at swim practice instead of walking. I think the wind along with the dryness this year (well, with the exception of the few torriential rains we've had) have exacerbated things in the allergen department, at least for me. Oh well. Things should be settling down here soon. 

Didn't get a great sleep and still feeling really congested, so stuck with a shorter run on Saturday morning. Ran a road loop around town. Two ospery were soaring at bridge height over the Androscoggin, which was fun to see, the Dame's Rockets are in bloom along the bike path, and the honeysuckle and lilacs were smelling lovely. (8.0 miles)

Later in the afternoon, we headed out to Harpswell to hang out with the Dosties at the Point. Always fun to get out to the coast! Beautiful afternoon but very breezy. We had a nice time catching up, playing corn hole and of course, Anne and Sam got in the water. Crazy Maine kids! 😆But not just the pool, they went into the ocean too. Brrr!

Sam spent the night, so Ryan and I made our way home after dinner, and I got up and out around 8:00 on Sunday for the first part of my run as the plan was for Emily to join me at 9:30 for 10 miles. I meandered around on the roads and trails, running the Highland trail, then down on the Town Landing trail along the Androscoggin and then up and over Mt. A and along the back road. Really nice morning, but I was already soaked by the time I got back to the house in advance of Emily's arrival. Getting warm out there!

It was great to have a chance to catch up with Emily and have some company for the rest of the run. We ran out on the powerlines, looped around on the Foreside trails and then skirted the Gone Fishing trails for a nice lollypop. Definitely downright hot by the time we finished up, but I was glad to feel at least reasonably decent and to get in some good miles to wrap up the week. Didn't take many photos as we were too busy chatting away 😂😊 (18.0 miles)

I took a quick shower, and then we headed into town to grab some sandwiches to go and sit at Moderation and eat and have a drink. A fun morning! Then it was off to Harpswell to pick up Sam and sit on the couch for the rest of the afternoon. Ryan and I broke out Wingspan, a bird strategy game that they got for me for Mother's Day. Fairly complex with some rather intense instructions, so we only made it through one round of play. I did not quite have the mental capacity for anything more 😝 But I think it will be a fun one once we get the hang of it!