Bradbury Snowmobile Trail Run

Yes, yes, I know, it's such a shame that I only had to work a half-day today and then had a few things to exchange in Freeport, which put me oh, so close to Bradbury. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, there was hardly any wind, and the car thermometer was reading 22 degrees. Woohoo! Off to Bradbury I went. The plan was to head out on the Snowmobile Trail and just see what happened. After yesterday's excursion in our neck of the woods, I wasn't sure what I would find. Well, I think I found the best screwshoe run of the winter for me so far. The grooming machine had been out at some point on the Link. It was a veritable highway. It was also packed solid. Ahhh. Perfect. A lot of little debris down, but nothing that couldn't be jumped or run over. At the junction with the Snowmobile Trail, the groomer went right and I went left up the hill. The trail wasn't quite as groomed from there but it was still a very firm surface without much ice. Oh, I had to skirt some good ice in a few of the spots I would have expected to find it, but really, it was some nice running. I was very happy. It felt so nice to not have to worry about every step and wonder if I was going to punch through or slip on the ice. I actually pondered running more than my intended 6 miles, but just as the Garmin beeped 3 miles about halfway between road crossing #1 and #2, I saw a huge ice flow up ahead, almost as if there had been some flooding? I wasn't willing to risk it, especially since I was alone so I took it as a sign that 6 miles would be enough for the day.

Had the trails to myself except for two guys on mountain bikes with huge tires headed in as I was headed out, and two snowmobilers headed out just as I got back to the park edge on the east side. Managed to run 56:30 for the 6 miles and even got the last mile in under 9:00 pace ;) A happy run in the woods for me!