Snowy Sunday

Got out just as the snow was starting to fall this morning. I wasn't feeling like running roads so I decided to risk it and head over to the Cathance and see how conditions were. Getting there was rather unpleasant over Mt. A and along hole #3. Even along the Heath wasn't the best, as although there had been some traffic, things weren't super packed. But once I crossed the road and hit the Cathance proper, the trails were pretty sweet! There had been a lot of traffic and things were packed out nicely. It was really nice running!

I meandered along, enjoying the trails, the flowing river and the gently falling snow.

I did a few loops and then headed back via Highland Green Road to avoid the aforementioned terribleness that was Mt. A and the gold course. Snow was falling a bit more heavily now, and the sidewalks were picking up snow but although I ran cautiously, I didn't come across any ice until literally two steps before I was going to stop and put on my spikes to hit the powerlines. It was a slow motion fall, but still ouch! After picking myself up gingerly, I continued on my way and willed myself to finish up with a few laps around the neighborhood to get the 10 I was intending!

Despite the fall, it really was a nice run and it was great to get out in the Cathance and find some good conditions!! (10.0 miles)

Wrapped up the week with 48.6 miles, and happy to have felt pretty good overall, but still, looking forward to a down week next week 😀

Vacation Week Running, Swimming and Camp Fun

Sam had a great vacation week at Riverview doing all sorts of cool stuff like sledding, snowshoeing, going snow tubing at Seacoast Adventure Park, making fruit and veggie maki rolls, doing chinese-inspired bamboo paintings and creating a scroll with chinese characters and a spirit animal (hers was mountain lion).🐯 Such fun! She also did her swim team aquathon on Tuesday night, swimming 75 lengths in a hour 😀🏊💪, and today she had a swim meet! I'd say we've kept busy! 😂

On the running front, I got out on Wednesday morning for a few water tower hills. The sidewalks were icy and the roads were a bit sketchy without a lot of open shoulder but the sunrise was glorious and even if it wasn't the fastest, at least I got in a few hills! (6.4 miles)

#hillwithaview

Friday, I headed over to Brad for my long run. It was a gorgeous morning as I headed up to take in the view from the summit. The snowmobilers had definitely been out on the Northern Loop and the trail was a bit soft and churned up, with most of the side trails not touched much at all by people on foot, so I crossed the street and found the singletrack trails on the east side nicely rolled for the fat bikes. Despite the nicely groomed surface, things were still a bit soft but overall, not bad. I meandered around until 8:30 and then looped back to the lot to meet up with Anne.

We ran an out and back on the snowmobile trail, chatting away as we ran along. It was nice to have company for a few miles midway through my run - thanks Anne!! 😀 Always good to catch up!

Once I dropped Anne back off near the lot, I still had 7 miles go get to 20. The pace definitely slowed a bit in the final 1/3 of the run, but I just put in my ear buds and ran along. Listened to the Morning Shakeout interview with Mike Wardian - he is one crazy talented dude! A few bikers had been out on the singletrack since I had first run them and with their tracks, things were a bit more packed and runnable. I meandered around on the east side for a few miles and then finished up with a final trip to the summit. Temps had been steadily rising during my run, and in the final few miles, the snow was definitely getting that tacky feeling beneath my Hillsounds, but all in all, a good morning and glad to have gotten in my miles! (20.0 miles)

This morning, after dropping Sam off for her warm-ups at the swim meet, I headed out for a quick road run before her first event, which of course was event #1 for the meet, so time was at a premium! Another gorgeous morning, complete with three bald eagles soaring above and a nice view looking out onto the Whiskeag. (6.0 miles)

I'll wrap up the week with the 10 miles I was supposed to do today 😉 and hopefully get it in before the rain/snow starts!

Snow Running Fun

Finally a few days in a row where the snow running has been at least fairly decent. Hurray!

Saturday we headed over to Val and Linda's for their annual Mockingbird Lane birthday get-together and run. Ryan was planning to run long and I was hoping to get in a lap plus a little time out on the trails with Sam. In the end, it all worked out pretty well - Ryan got his miles in, I got a late morning lap in and Sam and I had a nice little walk on the trails together in the morning, well, after a slight meltdown over not wanting to wear her snowshoes anyway 😂😁

We started out right after the runners and both of us ended up abandoning our showshoes, as they were not needed with the nice firm surface. We saw everyone heading back up from the river, enjoyed a bit of downhill running and saw lots of turkey tracks! (1.4 miles walked)

Wheee!

Turkey tracks

Down at the river

Around 11:00, enough people had finished up their runs that I felt comfortable heading out for a lap on my own while Sam hung out inside. The sun was shining brightly and conditions were pretty decent. The wind was cold but otherwise, it really was a lovely morning to be out, and I was glad to be able to at least get out for a lap before heading back inside to eat all the yummy things people had brought! (5.5 miles)

Sunday morning dawned cold and bright. I headed out a little before 7:00 am for my long run. I had originally planned a road run but thought I'd try the powerlines first, thinking they might be nice and firm (finally) after another cold night. The powerlines themselves were a mixed bag with some good running, a lot of ice and a lot of death cookies, ie. big chunks of snow and ice churned up by the snowmobiles, but it was decent enough that I kept going. I ran out on the Lovers Lane loop near the dump and found some nicely rolled winding trails that meandered through the woods out on either side of the dump pond. The trails made for some really nice running! A bit later, I ran into a group of mountain bikers who said they'd been maintaining and rolling these trails for riding, so I thanked them for creating such a nice surface for me to run on! The deer also apparently appreciated the trails as there were tons of prints along the way 😀 It was fun to wind around in the woods on nice flattened snow (and bit of ice) and I did several "loops" before making my way back out to the main powerline trail.

Morning frost

Fun trails!

I added on a loop on the roads around the high school to round things out, and was very happy to have gotten in my miles! (20.1 miles)

Today, I have the day off from work but Ryan is working and Sam is at camp, so I am free for the day! I reached out to Val to see if she was up for a run, thinking she is someone who is almost always up for a run 😂 She invited me to join her up at her place, so we ran the fatass route again with a little bit extra to bring Piper back to the house midway through the run. A light snow was falling and there as a bit of wind, but the trails were in good condition and it was fun to catch up as we ran along! Thanks for the run, Val! It was just what I wanted and needed for today!! 😀 (6.2 miles)

February Miles

How is it that it is already February 15? January seemed to drag on forever, but February is just flying by!

Monday was a rest day, and Tuesday morning it was cold and dark and windy and I just could not get myself out of bed so instead I fit in a quick run between work and swim team practice. I was able to take the high route on the powerlines, which gets the sun and was therefore about 99% ice-free, out to Highland Green Road for a nice afternoon out and back. (5.0 miles)

The snow rolled in Tuesday night and Wednesday ended up being a snow day. Both Ryan and I worked from home, and later in the day Sam and I went out and cleaned off the cars, and then while I shoveled a path around the side of the house and cleared out the patio out back, she made a snow fort. We ended up with about 8" to 10" of snow, and man was it heavy! Whew. That was workout enough for the day 😂

Which meant that Thursday morning, I was up and out early to get in a run. I ran down to the Connector, which was clear, but I was happy for my screwshoes on Highland Green Road, which had a nice packed snow layer atop the pavement. A truck had driven out onto the back dirt road which I followed until the tracks ended and then turned back around. On the return trip, I took the powerlines. There had been one or two snowmobiles through, but it was still a bit too soft. All in all, a nice morning to be out with a lovely sunrise! (6.1 miles)

This morning, I headed out with no real plan in mind, just knowing that I wanted to get in either 5 or 10, the two numbers I'm looking to hit over the next two days before my long run on Sunday. I couldn't resist the lure of the snowmobile trail, and although there had been a few more sleds through, it was still too soft. I ran down to Tedford Place, took off my spikes, ran the road up to the connector to the back dirt road, put the spikes back on and ran the back road, which was essentially sand-covered ice up around the loop. Once I hit the pavement,  I took my spikes off again, but then couldn't resist what looked like a fairly well packed snowshoe trail running down from the Ecology lot, so I put my spikes on again 😂 and ran down to the river.

There must have been a fairly sizable group out hiking as things were pretty packed, but still just soft enough that I didn't want to keep going further than the short loop along the river. I stopped to take in the view and noticed a set of tracks skirting the open water across the river, crossing the trail and heading up into the woods. Who goes there? Perhaps a coyote? The prints were decent sized. Pretty with all the snow along the riverbanks and on the evergreens.

Once back at the road, I took my spikes off for good and ran roads for the rest of the run, crossing over to the Highlands and then running up Summer Street to the water tower. The sidewalks were treacherous and there is not a lot of room on the roads right now so instead of coming back up Main Street, I took Bridge Street up and wound through the neighborhoods before finishing up on the sketchy sidewalks back home. All in all, it worked out perfectly to 10 miles on a very random route! 😆😅

6 + 6

Intended to get up yesterday to run before Ryan went over to Brad to mark the snowshoe course but woke up to hear the wind roaring, and knowing it was dark and icy out, I just decided to go back to sleep and run later. I mean, even if it was still windy and icy later, it would at least be daylight!

Headed out around 2:00 pm. Decided to drive over and park at the ecology lot to jump right into the woods and avoid the wind. There was only one car in the lot and I had the trails all to myself. The river was roaring, I was hidden from the wind and there were some nice packed runnable stretches to enjoy. Of course, there were also a few bare spots as well as a lot of ice scattered in between the packed trails, but overall, it was a good afternoon run! (6.0 miles)

Finally broke into the Yeti finish cookie after dinner. It seemed sort of a shame to eat such a cool looking cookie, but it sure was delish! Yum!

This morning, I got up and out early for a run before Sam and I headed over to the Brad for the race. It was light enough at 6:20 to not need a headlamp (hurray for more light!) and although it was cold, there was no wind so I was comfortable enough all bundled up. I took the high route on the powerlines to get over to the road and it was almost ice-free. I was treated the entire way to a glorious sunrise. Lovely. (6.0 miles)

Later in the morning, we headed over to Brad to help at the race. As always, it's great to hang out with friends and see all the happy runners cross the finish line without having to snowshoe race myself 😂😂 Ha! A good way to wrap up the weekend!

Recovery Week

Pretty mellow week in terms of running. Got out Tuesday morning and ran an out and back along Highland Green Road. Powerlines were a bit soft, roads were a bit slick with ice and the legs were a bit stiff but nothing horrible. Pretty start to the sunrise at the end of the run. (5.0 miles)

It warmed up into the high 50s during the day despite the cold start and I decided it was just too nice to sit inside during swim lessons, so I put on my Inov-8s and took a walk around Bath in my work clothes. Ha! I think the loop I walked will be a good one to use later in the spring/early summer as a short pre-sauna run for Western States! (2.0 miles walked)

Wednesday morning, I attempted the trails but things were so icy after all the warm weather yesterday that I aborted to the roads. (5.2 miles)

Yesterday, I headed out onto the bike path for a longer run. It was grey and dreary and raining slightly but I was layered up and once I got going, I was warm enough despite it only being 37 degrees out. Thankfully it wasn't windy, so that helped too! The path along the Connector to the Highlands was pretty icy and sidewalks were a bit sketchy but luckily the bike path itself was clear of ice and was just wet. The legs are definitely still feeling last weekend's miles so it wasn't the prettiest of runs but just keeping it easy this week, so that's OK! (11.0 miles)

TARCtic Frozen Yeti Report: 31 and 44

At some point back in the fall, Linda messaged me asking if I was going to run the TARC February race. They had revived the TARC 100 miler in a new fashion, making it a 30 miles to 30 hour ultra race and hosting it in the middle of winter. It was intriguing and sounded like it would be a good impetus for winter training. But on the other hand, much like the TARC Hale and Back, this had the making of 'well that sounded like a good idea at the time' kind of event 😂😂

Still, this weekend rolled around with us driving down to MA on Friday evening so that both Ryan and I could head over to Hale on Saturday morning for the inaugural running of the TARCtic Frozen Yeti. I had initially had grandiose ideas of possibly running 45 miles to commemorate my 44th birthday that Sunday, but as the event grew closer in the side view mirror, I realized I needed to revise my thinking. I had recovered pretty well from JFK in November, but the reality was that I had only managed two 20 mile runs in January so 30 would be more than enough of a stretch!

We headed out around 5:50 am and caught a glorious sunrise as we drove along. As we neared the Hale entrance, a thick dusting of snow coated the ground and the park road was incredibly icy. Traction was most definitely going to be necessary! It was cold, around 5 degrees, but thankfully the true deep freeze had passed and at least we weren't going to be dealing with sub-zero temps!

We lucked out and arrived early enough to snag one of the parking spots near the Powissett Lodge, which served as the start/finish line as well as the one and only aid station of the race. Each "loop" of the course was ~15 miles, comprised of three separate 5 mile loops, all of which started/ended at the lodge. This allowed for a nice indoor aid station and meant that each loop was split up into easily digestible portions. They did a great job of differentiating the loops, with each loop marked with either red, white or blue marking by the lodge. Out on course, we followed the typical TARC signs and pink reflective tagging. 

I have raced a lot of miles at Hale - probably around 200 at this rate! - so many portions of the course seemed familiar, and it was fun to run down the finish line steps of the TARC 100 😍

After a few words from the RDs, and a quick photo by Carolyn, we headed outside for the Yeti howl and then off we went, up an icy, snow covered stretch of pavement. 

I knew I wasn't going to be racing this event, so I settled into what felt like a nice comfortable "all day" pace and tried to stay upright amidst the conga line of runners once we got onto the singletrack. Hale is not a truly difficult place to run but the singletrack is technical and the trails are winding. There aren't a ton of big ups or downs but there are enough little steep inclines and descents to keep you on your toes. Add in the rocks and roots plus the current conditions which meant that in between all those rocks and roots there was tons of ice covered with a thin dusting of snow, and conditions were interesting, to say the least!

I fell in with Christopher, RD of Wapack and Back, and we chatted away the first red loop, which ended up being around 5.5 miles, climbing up and over some of the higher points of the park. Christopher kept me amused with his ultra stories and I enjoyed chatting with him. Several times he said, hmm, I really shouldn't be running with you, this is too fast, so I wasn't surprised to lose him back at the lodge where I continued onto the white loop without stopping in at the aid station. It was cold but I had warmed up nicely and with my bladder hose tucked into my jacket, I had no issues with my water freezing, thankfully! 

The white loop looped up and around through the woods and crisscrossed the powerlines, and by then, runners had spread out and I was mostly running alone, catching glimpses of a few people here and there through the woods, and soon enough I was back at the lodge for the final blue loop. I found this final loop both times around to be the hardest mentally as it seemed to go on forever and took us on several sections of trail that seemed as if the mileage was just for the sake of mileage and not because it traversed the best trails. However, it did take us next to the ponds along Membership Beach and the finish line beach for TARC 100, which was fun, and running along, I could hear the ice shifting and groaning.

Trail sights...

Noanet Pond

Ice floe along the trail

As I was running the gnarly singletrack in the final stretch back to the lodge, I heard a "Woohoo" from up on the road and so knew that Ryan was headed back out on red loop #2 and therefore, wasn't too far ahead, but far enough 😉 I had planned to stop at mile 15 and go into the lodge to change clothing if necessary, refill my pack and get some real food to eat, and I most definitely dawdled here. I had only had 4 gels through mile 15 and could tell I needed to take in some additional fuel. So I chatted with Carolyn, filled my bladder, changed my hat and gloves, went to the bathroom, and managed to eat 4 Oreos, 1 piece of bacon and have some coke before I headed back out onto the red loop for time #2. 

I passed a few people here and there, but ran alone with no one in sight for much of the rest of my time out on the trails. I was still feeling pretty decent on red loop #2 but by the time I got back to the lodge, I was wondering if I would find Ryan in there, as he had said he wasn't sure if he'd get past 20 miles, and honestly, I would have been fine to have found him there, as 20 on these trails in these conditions would have been more enough! But alas, Ryan had obviously headed back out, so I had no choice but to eat another oreo, have another cup of coke, change my hat and gloves again and head back out! 😂  Plus, really, although my mind had momentary thoughts of stopping, I had no real reason to, as I wasn't hurt and was still moving well enough, it was just that I had been out there for 4+ hours and nothing more. 

The temperature had warmed up but the wind had also picked up and somehow on this second time around, it seemed the ice had gotten a bit more slick. I spent a fair amount of time picking my way up and down the inclines and tiptoeing along the edges of large sections of ice. My energy was fairly solid but I was definitely walking a bit more here and there on this stretch.

Back at the lodge, I once again wondered if I'd find Ryan inside, didn't see him there, resigned myself to another 5 miles, changed hat and gloves, had another oreo, a piece of bacon and two cups of coke and headed back on out. As I walked around the edge of the lodge, another runner was headed out at the same time. I told him he could feel free to sneak around me, but he said, nah, I'm not in a rush and I asked him how far he was planning to going. He said, I'm not sure, I'm thinking 45, but after we finish this blue loop, they'll let us off with dignity, so we'll see. HA! Indeed. Dignity, I said, that is totally all I'm going for 😂😂

Caught in the act 😆

Final loop

I was happy to find that I felt fairly solid in those final 5 miles and although there was inevitably walking and a bit of moaning about the endless feeling I had about this blue loop, my pace was decent overall and I finished with a smile, happy to be done but feeling pretty good about what I had pulled off for the day. Ryan had finished well ahead of me, darn him, 😂😃 but seriously it was my own fault, as overall, I did a lot of dawdling at the aid station, adding 22 minutes to my time with stops 😑😁 Still, I finished well within the range of what I had thought I would, with 6:23 moving time and 6:45 overall time for what my watch captured as 31.6 miles. Not too shabby for an ultra on February 2nd! 

Many thanks to the RDs and volunteers for putting on a fun event and doing a great job with the course, the aid station, course marking and overall atmosphere. TARC never fails to deliver! Even bigger props to all the runners who got in their miles on this course in difficult conditions and to the four people who completed 100+ miles in the 30 hours. Wow!! Impressive. 

RESULTS

After hanging out for a bit and chatting with Carolyn and a few other runners, we packed up and headed back to Irene and Dana's. Sam had had a great day hanging out with them, playing pool, cooking and relaxing! Many thanks Grammie and Grampie 😌😍

Homemade chicken noodle soup followed up with birthday cupcakes was the perfect finish to a fun day on the trails! 

This morning, I was happy to feel pretty decent without a lot of stiffness or hobbling, and after the requisite cup of coffee, we went out for a big post-long run breakfast before Ryan, Sam and I got ourselves organized and headed home. The skies had lightened and temps had risen by the time we got back in Maine, and I told Ryan I thought we should take advantage of the nice afternoon and head out for a short hike. There may have been a bit of grumbling on his part at my suggestion, but even so, he and Sam nicely indulged my idea of a birthday walk 😘 so we donned our spikes and headed out into the Cathance. There had been a fair amount of traffic so the trails were fairly well packed, the river was running really high with some incredible layers of ice, and there were tons of animal tracks to ponder along the way. A lovely walk in the woods! (1.0 miles walked)

Her real feeling about this idea 😂

Cajoled into smiling 

Cool layers of ice

One lone ice pancake

Running down the hills!

My girl 💕

Lots of snowshoe hare prints 💜

Finished up the day with dinner and cupcakes that I made for myself on Friday, because birthdays just aren't birthdays without Mim's crazy cake! 🎂

And so with that, 31 miles are done and I'm now 44. Didn't quite get an equal amount of miles for years, but it was a fun weekend full of running, family, time spent in the woods and cupcakes so I have no complaints! 😍