Midweek Running and Fun

Monday and Tuesday turned out to be zero days as I could not get out of bed  in the morning ;) So when Wednesday morning rolled around and it was snowing lightly, I figured I'd get in a short run anyway and hope conditions weren't too bad out there. Well, I should have stuck with the roads as even with screwshoes on, the powerlines and trail between the Mt. A. fields and Mountain Road were slick with powder atop ice and sketchy as all get-out. A slow 3 miles before I headed into work.

Yesterday, I stuck with the roads and found mostly clear pavement. A nice calm morning, if chilly. 9 degrees as I headed out in the pre-dawn darkness. Brrr. Ran out and back on Highland Green Road at an up-tempo pace for 5 miles.

Last night I stopped and did the grocery shopping on the way home, did the cleaning in between dinner and reading and bedtime and asked Ryan to hit the farmer's market for me mid-day on Friday, leaving me with nothing but fun to accomplish on my birthday :) I met up with Val, Mindy and Keri up at Scoutland and we had a wonderful wander out through the fields around Val's house. The conditions were awesome - we could run anywhere, it was all so solid! Such fun. With a thin layer of newer snow atop the hard-pack, we saw tons of tracks. Turkey, crow, lots of coyote tracks, skunk, squirrel, mouse, snowshoe hare, fox, twisty, turny vole tunnels. No deer tracks though, but lots and lots of the other critters out and about. Set against the bright blue sky, the snow-covered fields were truly beautiful. Up high in the sky, we watched a bald eagle soar, and later a hawk along the river. We got in a nice 9 miles, laughing, talking, smiling and running along. After the run, we enjoyed a yummy soup made by Val for lunch and they surprised me with birthday cake. I am so fortunate to have such good friends :) It was a wonderful way to start the day!

I finished up the day with dinner out with my two favorite people, at Sam's favorite restaurant, followed up, of course, by a trip to Gelato Fiasco! Yum! The perfect finish to a great birthday :) I am a lucky lady indeed!

Big bowl of soup! Yum!

Cheers!

"Mommy, I could only fit nine candles on the cake!" ;) Ha ha!