Beginning of December

Work has been all-consuming. With ensuring the new building is ready for clients, moving into the new building, moving out of our old office, trying to keep up with regular day to day work, orienting new staff, it has been a lot. And the running is taking a hit!

This week started with a slippy, snowy run on the roads through Highland Green on Wednesday at 5:20 am. Should have put screws in my shoes! (6.0 miles)

Went into work for a few hours then came home and worked at home as the snow continued through the day. Was up and out at 5:30 on Thursday. Totally dark and clouded over so not even a sunrise for my early rising! Roads clearer than yesterday. Still ran in the middle of the road though! (6.0 miles)

Friday, I had to be at work to meet some of the workers at 7:00 plus some trainings on some of our systems, and then I had a massage with Lauren at 10:30 which was lovely, but it meant that I did not get in a run. I simply couldn't drag myself out the door for a 3rd 5:30 am run. Aie! So it was mostly a day of work with a massage in the midst and some errands crossed off the list before I headed home in the late afternoon.

Saturday I got some work done early and then headed to the farmer's market at 9:00. It was snowing lightly, and so the roads were snowy, slippy and sloppy when I headed out the door for my run around 10:45. Also quite cold but at least it was calm! Ended up with a lot of ice accumulation on my eye lashes! (7.0 miles)

Then it was up to the Y for the first LRSC home meet of the season. Sam had a strong showing and looked good in her events. Always fun to see, although these meets are long with a lot of down time in between events. 

Sunday, it was bright and crisp when I headed out around 10:00 for my run. Mostly road with a few back roads and one short trail section thrown in. Looked the whole run for TMR bingo squares snd didn’t find a one until the last mile when I found some crow wing prints in the snow! (11.0 miles)

Ended up being a fairly light week with only 30 miles over 4 days, no walks and no weights but I'm trying to give myself a bit of grace given that the work situation at the moment. Hoping things will chill out a bit after the new year and I can get back into a better running routine and not be working all.the.time!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A busy first few days of the week, trying to cram in as much work as possible 😜 Finally got out for a walk at 5:00 on with Ryan in the dark after work and before dinner catching up on the day on Tuesday. (2.6 miles walked)

Wednesday, got up early to get a bit of work done, starting clanking around in the kitchen (Ryan's term 😂) making blueberry pie and banana bread at 6:00 am, did some errands and then headed out at 9:30 am for a run on the cart paths. Soggy and damp. Legs felt sluggish. (6.0 miles)

Then it was off to Sam's driving test! Cheers to a new driver in the house!! 🎉

After a quick lunch, we headed south to Ryan's parents for an afternoon for Thanksgiving prep, game playing and pizza. 

Thursday, I headed out around 7:30 am for a run out through the marshes. Cold, bright and breezy. (10.0 miles)

Then there was more cooking and a whole lot of eating!! 😊😋

Didn't quite make it out early on Friday for a run, but enjoyed another quiet road run. Windy! (8.0 miles)

After lunch, we helped set up and decorate the Christmas tree. Yay Christmas! 🎄🎄

Somehow we managed to be hungry enough after all the Thanksgiving Day food and leftovers to go out to Agave for dinner 😂😂 It was a good margarita though, that's for sure! 🍸

Only 30 degrees on Saturday morning and didn't have any gloves or warm clothing, so decided to wait for a run until we got home in the afternoon. Got home around noon, in time to have lunch and get the grocery shopping done before finally heading out at 3:00 for a run. Still cold and windy! Sluggish legs. (6.0 miles)

Spent time in the office on Sunday morning packing up for the move to the new building - a bit of a disaster zone but Ryan was nice enough to assist and we made some progress! - and then got our Christmas tree and decorated,!

All of this meant a late dark cold rainy road run through Highland Green, as it started raining while we were decorating the tree 🤷‍♀️ but at least the house is cheery in the early darkness now! 🎄❤️ (8.0 miles)

To wrap up last month:

November:
170.9 miles run
17.33 miles walked
0.00 miles xc skiied
3x weights

YTD:
1,756.03 miles run
200.87 miles walked
3.34 miles xc skiied
34x weights

And to finish this post, Scott sent along some photos from our weekend in Massachusetts celebrating Nancy. Such nice photos 💖💖

Busy Busy

Three evening work meetings, and a full day of socializing at the new building ribbon cutting. Needless to say, I am tired 😜😂

Monday was a zero day, with too much work and a 5:00 pm meeting. 

Tuesday was filled with just too much work, and then had a 5:30 meeting. Wanted to be like Gigi but knew I’d be better getting a bit of movement before snuggling under the covers 😹 so took a late night, headlamp walk around the school block. (2.0 miles walked)

Finally an early morning run on Wednesday, it's been a while 😂😂, but only because I knew I couldn't run after work as I was spending the day at the new building helping organize things and then had a 4:00 meeting. What is up with the timing on all of this?! 😝😜 Ran up through town and took a short detour out over the bridge to check out the sunrise. Cold, calm and bright. Nice color over at Androscoggin. (6.4 miles)

Cold and calm. Nice sunrise. Tired and a long work day to go with the ribbon cutting at the new building, but needed the run to start the day right 😴🤪 Ran out and back through Highland Green. (6.0 miles)

I don't talk too much about work, but proud to be part of the team who has been working on building a new emergency shelter building the past year+. It is not quite done yet but Thursday was the official ribbon cutting, and it was a great turn out. So amazing to see so many people supporting the new building, and I don't think I've given so many hugs in a long time. It was a joy to meet up with so many friends I've known and worked with over the past 12+ years and have them celebrate with us! 

It's going to continue to be a busy month+ as we move from our current locations into the new building, get all the systems going and train new staff, along with moving current clients in, all before Christmas, but Thursday was a great celebration! 

And it was a really long day for the introvert that I am, with 6+ hours of socializing and giving tours of the new building. I was wiped and was asleep by 8:00. I also only ate one sugar cookie between 10:00 and 6:00 so there's that... 😁😁😜😜

After a long work week, it was so great to be able to meet up with Mindy and Val at Pineland on Friday morning for a run with friends! I did end up doing some work later in the afternoon, but for a few hours of running and then chatting in the market while we ate our delicious bagels, it was nice to be focused on me and get away from work! It was fun to catch up, and it was a nice morning to be out on the trails in the woods! (5.5 miles)

Saturay, I got some work done early, dropped Sam at the Y to get the bus to her swim meet and then parked at the field house to run out through the Commons to the water in Pennelville. Nice balmy calm morning. Witch hazel in bloom in a number of spots and belted galloways out grazing in the Pennelville fields. Always love running out through these friends - so peaceful. Also 100s of white/light grey/brian moths flitting about in the woods. Weird. (9.1 miles)

Then after a quick shower and lunch, I headed over to Mom and Dad's to help prep for the Raymond Thanksgiving meal on Sunday while Ryan headed up to Boothbay to watch Sam's swim races and pick her up so she could get home a bit sooner and join us for dinner and pie making. Sam swam great, and had some solid races for the first race of the season! 

Swimming backstroke in the relay

Sunday morning, I headed out at 8:45 for a run on the cart paths and roads around town. Nice morning. (13.1 miles)

Then it was off to Mom and Dad's for an afternoon of family and feasting! 🥧🍗 There were 16 of us with Larry in town and Brianna, Miguel and adorable 18-month old Eleanor. It was a lovely afternoon and evening 💗 Happy Thanksgiving!