The cold weather blew in this week and brrr, it was feeling a bit arctic out there! Also had the first real snow of the season, so it's looking wintry too.
Monday, to break up the hours sitting at the computer, we got out for a family afternoon walk around the school block. Cold and raw, but good to get some fresh air! (1.7 miles walked)
Tuesday, as has become typical 😩😩, I did not get out of bed, so there was no running, and instead, just had an extra long day of work with a 5:00 board meeting to cap it all off. Gah.
Have read several articles recently about willpower and the different camps of runners fall into, especially in these pandemic times - the novelty and permanence groups. I am most definitely a "permanence" runner, no doubt about it. My habits and routines run deep. And so even when it's cold and dark and conditions aren't ideal. When part of me feels like saying, let's just take a freakin' break! When Sam says, well, just don't run, and I say, well, that would be lazy, and finally trundle myself out the door. I have no real reason TO run but no real reason NOT to run, and so the permanence of it all, the routine, the consistency, the habit of 5 days a week of running for years on end, the fact that running is just a regular staple in my life wins out. And so, most of the time at least 😉, I get out the door and feel better for it.
And so it was that Wednesday morning, when the temperature was 12 degrees and "feels like" 0 degrees, I was out the door anyway. Even though, or maybe equally because, I skipped Tuesday and maybe that means I could just let it slide this week. Even though it's cold and dark and work is crazy busy and we're in month 9 of a pandemic here people!, and there are so many excuses just to stay in bed. Still 110 miles to run by December 31 to reach my arbitrary goal. Still chasing those numbers, still wanting the run, even if I don't always feel like it. I don't know if it's willpower, craziness, stubbornness, determination, obsession, a certain personality trait, a deep engrained habit or a combination of all of the above. But it's what I do. Because nothing gets done if you don't take that first step, and those miles aren't going to run themselves. And besides, who wants to sit around on the couch all day every day? 😈😉 But seriously, not me...
Ran a road loop around town and was greeted with a slowly brightening skyline, the sky filled with oranges and pinks, a golden glow on the horizon. Lovely. Calm, cold, bright. A frozen eyelash kind of morning. (8.0 miles)
The storm was supposed to arrive Thursday morning bringing with it a fair amount of snow. I set my alarm and hoped I might be able to get out before the snow arrived. As I headed out at 5:40 am into the darkness, the snow was just starting to fall. The wind was whipping and temps were reading 14 degrees, "feels like" 0. Brrr. I looped around Highland Green Road, the back dirt road a bit icier than expected, and then around the schools. In the final mile+, the snow started to pick up, coating the ground quickly. (6.0 miles)
By the time I headed into work less than an hour later, the snow was piling up out there. Luckily, it was light and dry and fluffy, and without many people on the road, driving the 2 miles down the road wasn't bad. I only stayed a few hours, long enough to get donation receipts printed out and assist with the Christmas gifting frenzy, and then headed home to work for the rest of the day at the kitchen table.
Snow continued to fall into the late afternoon hours, leaving a whole lot of light, fluffy snow on the ground. Wow! Winter is here!
Sam headed out back for her science project for the day after lunch - spend 15 minutes building as big of a "solid" as you can. It was tough work with the light snow, but she did a pretty good job! Looks like a volcano 😀 Then we put her to work cleaning off the back patio before she came inside 😂
Also discovered a package sitting out in the snow. Merry Christmas to me! A new waist light and headlamp. With 600 lumens on my waist, plus 300 on my head - which is more than my current Petzl - I think I should have more than enough light for whatever races and adventures await in 2021 😎😎 Excited to try the new set-up out but it's probably going to have to wait until next week. Even with fun new gear, if I don't have to go out in the darkness, I won't 😉
I'd say we ended up getting 14" of snow out of the storm. MUCH more than we expected, and certainly not the type of snow we typically get! This was all light and fluffy. So even though there was so much of it, it was easy to shovel, easy to move, a snap to clean off the cars. Nice! And so pretty too.
Dropped Sam at school on Friday morning and headed out to do the grocery shopping, a few errands around town and wrap up Christmas shopping. Roads were quite messy, as they often are after a big storm, so I wasn't in a huge rush to get out and get in my run. Waited until after lunch when temps had climbed to 25, and then donned my screwshoes and got out the door. Ran Canam and up to the new cut through to Mountain Road, which was unfortunately still blocked off and now had a huge snowpile as an additional blocker. Might have gotten a wee bit snowy tromping through it 😂 Ran out and back on the back dirt road, which was fairly decent screwshoe running except where it was straight powder on ice, and then returned over the snowpile to head home. Pretty out in the sunshine, and felt downright balmy when shielded from the wind. Good to get in a few miles. (6.0 miles)
Mom and Dad came over for dinner and with a gingerbread house kit for Sam and Mom to put together. After a few mishaps, it seemed to hold up and we set it aside to dry so it can be decorated on Saturday, even if it is a little crooked 😂
Temps were in the low single digits on Saturday morning and I decided to to relax, errr procrastinate, a bit before heading out in the hopes that it would get a bit warmer! Brrr! Took a while but finally around 9:00, temps were up to double digits and I got out the door. Bright, sunny and calm morning with very messy sidewalks and roads for another road wander around town. (9.0 miles)
Once I got home, Ryan headed out for a ski and Sam and I went over to Mom and Dad's house for some gingerbread making and decorating fun 💗
While the cookies cooled, we got out for a walk. It had warmed up to the 20s and felt quite lovely out with no wind! Sam, Dad and I walked down to the swinging bridge, and then back up the hill to pick up Mom and Ryan, who had just arrived, for a short walk around their neighborhood. Then it was back in for cookie and gingerbread house icing! (1.7 miles walked)
The cookies were delish, and even with some icing mishaps, it was a lot of fun! 😃
I was just about to head out the door on Sunday morning around 7:55 when Sam walked down the stairs and said, "Why are you still here?" Apparently, I guess 7:55 is NOT early enough to be going out for a run! 😂😂 Ran the River/Meadow road loop, and was thankful to find that the roads were in much better shape today, or perhaps it was just the route I was on. Either way, much easier running than Saturday. Still fairly chilly, and overcast too, but it was calm and the roads were fairly quiet, so all in al, a decent run. (12.0 miles)
It was supposed to warm up later in the afternoon and the forecast was calling for some light rain, so we decided to get out right after lunch for a snowshoe adventure. We're hoping to explore a lot of the trails we've explored during this pandemic spring, summer and fall in the winter season too, so we headed down to Harpswell to Long Reach Preserve. We were happily surprised to find it so well packed out. A bit thin in spots but otherwise, really lovely for snowshoeing. It turned out to be much balmier out than we anticipated as well, so we all warmed up as we hiked along. This is such a nice loop and we really enjoyed the pretty snow covered woods, the reach views and running some of the fun, little downhills in our snowshoes! A good way to wrap up the weekend! (1.7 miles walked)
Seriously - saw this and honestly thought it could pretty much sum up 2020, and is most definitely all three of us in this household 😂😂
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