Do I Have To Go Back To Reality?!

It was hard on all of us on Thursday to turn off vacation mode and get back to school and work. Thankfully I only had a one day week 😂 - but I only made a small dent in things, so coming week is going to be a bit nuts, that's for sure!

Running the rest of this week has involved a lot of meandering... trail conditions aren't great and road conditions have been metza-metza... ah, winter running, gotta love it! Friday I got up and out for a run but wasn't really sure what I would find. Things looked packed enough that I was lured down to the river, and it was so nice to be off the roads, but conditions were a mixed bag, with some decent packed trail and a lot of walking when the conditions deteriorated, so it was only a short loop. Pretty though! The rest of the run was a mix of roads and cart paths and powerlines. Even though my stomach is pretty much back to normal after the holidays and the stomach bug, I felt kind of off, so cut the run short. (10.0 miles)

Saturday I got up and out early for a shorter run. It was a nice, warmish morning, although very overcast with really flat light just before sunrise. They had finally cleared the sidewalks at the beginning of Highland Green Road and the back dirt road portion, so I did the full loop, adding on a shorter loop down to the river and back on the trails. Trails were more packed but a bit softer this morning, and the back road was pretty slick. Cut down to Topsham Crossing and came up the powerlines, adding on Canam at the end. (7.0 miles)

Then it was off to MDI for Sam's swim meet! All the travel made for a really long day, with a whole lot of sitting around, but Sam swam well and we had a yummy dinner at Mason's Brewing in Brewer before finishing up the journey home. Unfortunately, it was raining/spitting/snowing most of the way - poor Ryan! He has really gotten the brunt of the bad weather driving this week!!

Knew I wanted to get in a long(er) run this week, so this morning, it was (nothing like procrastinating 😉😆)! The unsettled weather was pushing out, meaning it was a bit windy, and with about an inch of snow/sleet falling overnight, things were pretty messy and sloppy, so it was kind of slow, ungraceful slog out there, but hey, I got it done. Another random meander out through town, down to the bike path to find it windy as all get out and rather slick, so a no go on that, up through Brunswick to Bowdoin, back around town with a short loop on the powerlines and up through Highland Green to finish it off. Would probably have been more ideal to have gotten in a shorter run on Friday and 20 today, but ah well. All told, it was a decent week (48 miles) and some good time on my feet no matter the breakdown. (15.0 miles)

Hoping this coming week is kind to us regarding both re-entry back to normalcy and with running weather too!