Finally, Thursday morning I managed to get up, do my exercises and strength work and get out before dawn for a run. I wasn't sure what I'd find for conditions after Wednesday's rain and warm temps followed up by more seasonable temps over night, so I was happy to find that the snowmobile trail was solid, even if uneven in many spots. There was certainly some ice out there, but all in all it was decent. Got in a nice 5.2 miles, and the legs felt ok, with some tightness but not terrible. Cold and windy but a glorious sunrise to be seen. I never tire of these quiet early morning sunrises on my runs. One of the major motivators and reasons to get up and run for sure!
Friday morning, I headed over to the Cathance after dropping Sam off at school. I donned my Hillsounds and headed out from the ecology center parking lot, running the loop around the Heath first and then heading out along outer perimeter down to the river. The trails themselves were a mixed bag of conditions - definitely some good packed runnable stretches but also some good long ribbons of singletrack covered with ice, some bare sections plus some lovely undermined icy spots. It was not a fast run but I had a great time, and just really enjoyed being out there. It was cold and calm and quiet.
And after several years of hearing and reading about them, I was finally able to see the ice pancakes along the Cathance myself! I was so excited! It is a very cool phenomenon for sure.
The river was flowing quite high and out on the Rapids Loop, I stopped for a bit to listen to the roaring river, creating interesting ice sculptures on the rocks and trees along the edge of the river. It truly was a sight!
I tacked on a short lollypop out on the newer trails leading out to Head of Tides, and then ran back for a nice six miles for the morning. A good morning!
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