Fog & Mud

It seems like the vast majority of days this week involved dense fog along with warmer weather, the requisite snow melt and subsequent mud. Ah spring!

Monday after lunch, we headed out for a walk to check out the trails. Mostly soft sand and mud, with only a few patches of ice remaining. (2.7 miles walked)

Super foggy on Tuesday morning and I did not get out to run. Had a board meeting from 5:00 to 7:00 pm though, so I was able to out for a mid-afternoon run on the cart paths to break up the day and get away from the computer for a bit. First cart path run of the year and the first run in shorts too! Breezy, bright and beautiful, with a lot of squishy, soggy, muddy ground underfoot. Only a few patches of ice en route, all of them easy to get around. Saw three Mourning Cloak butterflies flitting about up on Mt. A. Seems really early for them to be out but it was lovely to see! (6.0 miles)

Had to wait until it got light enough to not need a headlamp to head out in the morning on Wednesday as it was incredibly foggy out once again. Mild and windless. Looped around Highland Green and saw one porcupine en route. Stopped to ensure he crossed the road safely before continuing on. (6.0 miles)

Work was super busy all week, and by Thursday afternoon, I was all.done. Ryan took Sam to swim and I headed out across the street for a late afternoon walk on the powerlines before starting dinner to clear my head and get away from the computer. Warm and overcast. (1.8 miles walked)

Yet another foggy morning on Friday, with intermittent rain and gusting winds as well. I suited up in my rain gear and headed out for a run after dropping Sam at school in the morning. Ran the cart paths and out into the Cathance to check things out. Very soft, squishy and sloppy, but I'd say 99% ice free. The puddles were cold and there was definitely mud. River was roaring. Nice to get out in the woods. (8.0 miles)

Mom and Dad came over for dinner and we all tried to work to finish up the most recent puzzle, without much success I might add. It is proving maddeningly difficult. Even Gigi wanted to help! 😹😹 

Woke up feeling rather tired and meh on Saturday morning so took my time getting out the door and settled in a shorter road run. Bright and sunny with a bit of a breeze. (8.0 miles)

Mid-afternoon we headed over to Mom and Dad's for a walk into Brunswick for Sam to get gelato. Skies had become a bit more overcast and it was feeling chilly, but she didn't mind! For an 11-year old, gelato is good anytime! 😉 There is a lot of water in the Andro right now - it's always cool to see the water walking over the bridges into town! (2.3 miles walked)

Although the weather was calling for rain on Sunday afternoon, the morning, while overcast and rather raw, was dry. I headed over to Bowdoin and parked at the field house, starting my run out through the Commons before taking some of the roads out to Simpson's Point. 

From there, I decided to run the short distance down Middle Bay Road and check out the trail I've noticed near the entrance to the Landing. I was surprised to find some well defined singletrack through the pine trees, it was quite nice actually. I stuck to what appeared to be the main trail, but there were several offshoots as well, and after a mile or so, the trail popped out along Rt. 123 where I knew I could connect across the road to some of the singletrack trails at the edge of the Commons. Always fun to find new trails to run!

Finished up with some looping through the Commons and around the field house, with a fair number of people out walking in the final few miles. 

Although I was looking closely, no plant life greening up quite yet, but I did see several red winged blackbirds and three bluebirds out in Pennelville, plus a turkey vulture soaring. Felt decent, and although the run was pancake flat, still happy to have gotten in another 15. (15.0 miles)