Out Like A Lion, In Like a Lion

Oh yes, I am well aware it is supposed to be out like a lion, in like a lamb, but early April has been quite windy. Definitely still in the lion phase...

Tuesday, March 30, Ryan and I got out for a late afternoon walk around the school block. Damp and dreary. (2.6 miles walked)

Wednesday morning, I headed out around 6:20 am for a road/trail out and back through Topsham Crossing. Still damp. And so many worms on the pavement. They were everywhere 😬😩 Also one small patch of trailing arbutus budding! (6.0 miles)

Got out around 3:45 on Thursday for a run on the cart paths. Cool, overcast and windy, and the legs felt fairly sluggish - meh! But the trailing arbutus had opened 🌸 Also found the rest of the deer at the edge of the woods along hole #8 🤪😬 (6.0 miles)

Friday was a late afternoon run down to the river and back. Waited in the hopes of avoiding the rain. It was quite dreary with a bit of a fog/mist but not raining! Trails are very squishy. River is roaring. (7.0 miles)

Saturday, I had hoped the wind would die down and with that, got some work done and some stuff done around the house in the morning instead of heading right now. But alas, still windy when I headed out around 2:00 pm. Looped around town with a mix of road and trail. Trails surprisingly decent with only a bit of ice and a few mud sinkholes. With hazel blooming and heard first of the season peepers! 🐸 (11.0 miles)

Sunday was Easter. Had a quiet morning and then had a late breakfast of pancakes and bacon once Sam woke up, so it wasn't until the afternoon that I finally headed out for a run. Soggy out and definitely felt sluggish. Random road and trail wander. (10.0 miles)

This past Wednesday was another Topsham Crossing run, except in the late afternoon. Bright but a bit of a colder and stronger breeze than I’d prefer. Crocuses, one phoebe, one kestrel and one turkey vulture riding the air currents. (6.0 miles)

Thursday was a 3:45 pm run down to the river and back. So windy! Four deer seen and the river is roaring. (6.0 miles)

Got a bit of work done early on Friday then headed out around 9:45 for ar un on the powerlines. Nice out if breezy. Peepers, some colts foot blooming in the sun and a lot of skunk cabbage but otherwise not much of spring is showing yet. Trails have dried out finally after all the recent rains. (10.0 miles)

After a quick lunch, I headed out to get the errands done and then came home to pack for our quick trip down to CT for the weekend. We had a tour scheduled at Quinnipiac on Saturday at noon. With a lot of traffic on the road, we arrived around 8:00 at the hotel and got ourselves settled in. I woke up early and headed out for a run a little after 7:00 am on the roads from the hotel. It was seemingly quite rural right around the hotel except we were right off the highway. Very windy. More in bloom down here and a pretty reservoir to run by. (6.0 miles)

We had breakfast at the hotel and checked out, heading over to Quinnipiac a bit early to walk around. Very pretty setting, right at the edge of Sleeping Giant State Park, with a sprawling campus. The tour guide was very talkative and it seemed like they had some interesting program offerings. Definitely not an urban school and unfortuantely no pool, which is a bummer even if Sam isn't intending to swim competitively in college, but we all liked it there. Still, it was tour #1 of many as we head into that season, so we'll just have to see how it all plays out!

After our tour, we stopped in Hamden for a late but yummy lunch at a random poke place and then got on the road, getting home a bit before 7:00 pm. 

Sunday, I headed out early to get the grocery shopping done and pick up donuts, and then promptly sat on the couch to eat said donuts and read my book and did not get out to run as planned. Got some work done instead and then finally headed out around 2:00. Ran a mix of roads and trails. Underdressed. Why is it still so cool and windy?! (10.2 miles)

Hopefully spring will bring a bit of warmth and a bit less wind these next few weeks!

Here are the March stats:
151.62 miles run
9.33 miles walked
4.22 miles xc skiied
3x weights

YTD:
420.00 miles run
24.8 miles walked
4.22 miles xc skiied
10x weights

Catching Up

False spring arrived for the first part of the week of March 9th. Ran in shorts and a t-shirt because 62 degrees feels quite toasty right now 😂! The upper route on the Powerlines is down to dirt and there was most definitely a fair amount of mud on the back dirt road. (6.1 miles)

Worked from home on Wednesday morning and got out for a mid-morning walk around the school block for heading in for an afternoon of meetings. (2.0 miles walked)

That evening Sam and I headed out to her high school swim team banquet. Good to see all the kids together and celebrate everyone's accomplishments! Sam had a great season, as did the team in general and it's always fun to hear about it!

Thursday was an afternoon run wandering on the trails, back road and side walks. Dreary and spitting rain. (6.0 miles)

Worked and did errands on Friday morning and didn't get out to run until later in the afternoon. Geez, I think I have to officially call myself an afternoon runner now 😜 Mix of roads and some still yet less than ideal trail and cart paths. (6.0 miles)

Sam and Abby had a sleeepover Friday night, so I headed to the farmer's market on Saturday morning for some veggies and to pick us up croissants 😋 It had snowed in the early morning hours, so I wasn't in a rush to head out to run. Got some work done and then once the snow had mostly melted, I headed out around 3:00. I desperately wanted not to just hit the pavement so did a mix of roads, powerlines, back dirt road and cart paths. Conditions not ideal but made me feel a bit better than just road. Also got hailed on 🤪 (8.0 miles)

Sunday, I headed out for a run around 11:00. Felt kind of blah. Mostly roads but couldn't help but check out a few stretches of trail. (8.75 miles) 

Tuesday was a 4:30 walk around the school block. Blustery! 💨 (2.0 miles walked)

Finally got out for a morning run on Wedsnesday morning just as the sky was lightening. Pretty sky, and pussywillows seen starting to bloom! Did a lollypop on the powerlines, back dirt road and Topsham Crossing. (6.0 miles)

Thursday, Brunswick and Topsham got about 4" of snow. Snowing hard in the morning and apparently it was some sort of ocean effect swirl that just settled right over the area. Weird and definitely unexpected! Had to be at work at 6:45 am for delivery of the whole building generator, which is HUGE BTW, so no morning run. And still spitting snow when I went out at 3:30. Damp, grey and snowy. Winter isn't leaving us quite yet! (6.0 miles)

Friday, I waited for my run until the afternoon in the hopes of as much snow melting as possible. Ran the cart paths and it was messy! Still a bit too much snow and definitely sloppy but nice to get off the roads! (7.0 miles)

Ryan got home on Friday night after 12 days away for work. Nice to have him home!

Saturday, I got out around 2:00. Too windy to be really enjoyable but tromping around on the cart paths and powerlines was kind of fun if messy. One red tailed hawk, turkey tracks, lots of mud and one patch of decomposing deer with tufts of fur and bone. Gotta love a dead thing sighting! 🤪 (11.0 miles)

After dinner, Sam and I drove down to DQ to get our first of the season soft serve! 😋🍦

Sunday morning, Emma came up to meet me for a run. It was great to see her and to have a chance to catch up! We had fun chatting away as a light snow came down. We ran one of my regular road loops. Nice and quiet at 7:30 on a Sunday morning. (8.0 miles)

Ended up with another few inches of snow from Sunday, and when I headed out on Tuesday afternoon for a run, things were quite messy with too much snow underfoot on the backroad, so just stuck to the pavement for the rest of the loop. This time of year is always rough, as you WANT it to be really spring with warm weather and yet, despite the calendar saying it's spring, we just are not there quite yet... (6.0 miles)

Wednesday was a 5:00 pm walk and talk with Ryan around the school block. Nice out if a bit of a cold breeze. (2.6 miles walked)

Headed out on Thursday afternoon for a run on the cart paths. Felt sluggish and a bit off, plus the ground was extra mushy so nothing feeling very fast today 🤪 More snow has melted off the green on hole 8 where I saw the deer fur and bone the other day and more parts are appearing. Never know what you’ll see out there. One red tailed hawk soaring and my one hobblebush starting to show some buds. (6.1 miles)

Wasn't feeling great on Friday and even cancelled on a planned run with the ladies 😢 Sigh. Got some work and errands done, and then settled in on the couch for the afternoon to read a new book and watch Shrinking in the evening with Ryan. 

Felt better Saturday morning so decided to head out for a run after lunch. Cold and breezy, but a bright blue sky. Took it very easy and ran the cart paths. Still a bit of snow and ice in spots but 90% clear. A thin sheen of ice on the Heath. (7.0 miles)

Today, Ryan was nice enough to go out and get us donuts in the morning so we spent a few hours relaxing on the couch before doing some house cleaning. Then after lunch and getting some work done, I headed out around 2:30 for a run. Very windy! With no real plan in mind and still wanting to take it easy, the run featured a little bit of everything - road, singletrack, cart path, back dirt road, powerlines, ice, mud, snow. Ryan headed out for his own run while I was out there and we ran the final few miles together, which was fun! Four turkey, a few skunk cabbage coming up in a protected sunny spot, and two mallards seen. (8.7 miles)

Ryan ran up the gravel pile on the back road

With swim season done, Sam has been doing some lifeguarding up at the Y along with relaxing and spending time with her friends and buying too many squishies 😆 which are apparently all the rage right now. Also, she dissected a sheep eye in Anatomy!

💗

Let There Be Light!

First week of March, more light, more snow, more melting, daylight savings time. Winter isn't over but we are all thinking of spring regardless!

Tuesday was a dreary afternoon run through Highland Green before more snow came in overnight. (6.1 miles)

Thursday was yet another afternoon Higland Green run. Nice afternoon with a lot of melting. (6.1 miles)

Got out mid-morning Friday after getting a bit of work and errands done. Another Highland Green run. Legs felt clunky and I didn't have much time, as I was dropping lunch off to Sam at 11:30 before the team got on the bus for the high school state meet up at Colby. (6.0 miles)

Then after a quick lunch myself, we picked up Mom and Dad and headed back up to Colby for the second Friday in a row. The meet itself was a long, very inefficient event that started late and then dragged on for 5+ hours. AIE. The kids were good sports but it was a lot. 

Sam swam great, getting PRs in both the 200 free and 500 free and swimming in the 200 free relay. A great end to a great season! 🎉🏊💗 Always so fun to watch this kid in her element and enjoying time with her team and in the pool! Proud of her for a solid season with only one small bout of sickness this winter. Hurray!

Chilling

Strategizing

Yawning and zoning out while awards were announced for other events before the 500 started 😝

None of us got to sleep before 11:00 pm and I felt off the rest of the weekend. Ha! Rained in the morning on Saturday so I wasn't in a rush to get out the door. Hit the farmer's market and got a bit of work and housework done before finally heading out mid-afternoon for a yet another run around Highland Green. Dreary, grey, misty, damp. Bleh. (8.0 miles)

Stomach didn’t feel great on Sunday, so I held off running until mid-afternoon. Definitely shorts weather with temps in the 50s! Back road was wet ice but otherwise just very puddly elsewhere. Had wanted 14 but all things considered happy to get in 11. (11.0 miles)