Weekend Fun (plus the rest of the week)

Work started early on Monday morning as I was at the computer by 6:30 am. Therefore, by 11:00 am, I needed a break! Ryan was planning to run so I headed out for a walk along the powerlines. 2 miles and pretty much 30 minutes right on the nose - solo walks are a good time to practice power walking! (2.0 miles walked) 

Snuck out late afternoon on Tuesday for a run along the river and back. Didn't feel super peppy but was happy to get out. Things are greening up out in the woods, and although I didn't find any trillium, I did come across one lovely blooming trout lily and the first patch of goldthread out in the Cathance. Plus, the pair of geese are nesting in the Heath, which was fun to see. And when I got back, Sam was out biking with Pip 💗 (6.1 miles)

Wednesday was a misty, rainy day, and the morning run was the same. Kept it nice and mellow and had a good meander along the powerlines. (6.0 miles)

Thursday was a regular work day, with a whole lot of errands thrown in at the end of the day so that I could have as little as possible to cross off my to-do list on Friday. With Riverlands 100 coming up over the weekend, I was headed north to pick up soup from Keri for one of the aid stations, and since I would be up that way, I planned to leave early and get in a run around Ragged too! After 14 months of almost exclusively running on the roads and trails around Brunswick and Topsham, the idea of a bit of a run adventure sounded pretty awesome!

Left the house at 6:30 and arrived at the new Round the Mountain trailhead on Hope Street a little after 7:30. There were no other cars in the lot. It was bright but cool and breezy and I was glad to be in tights and have on my arm sleeves. I headed up the wide gravel path, but turned off onto the Georges Highland Path shortly thereafter. The ascent up to the Little Ragged ridge was lovely. I really enjoyed this new to me stretch of trail through the pretty woods. 

Blue bead lilies emerging

Top of the ridge

Still some trailing arbutus to be found

Spring beauties all closed up

Took the ridge towards Ragged and headed down the Red Diamond trail. I love the ledgy section up high with views out towards the water. 

Mountain cranberry

Down at the lower chair, I was planning to head right to hook up with the Round the Mountain trail, but it was not well marked from that point so I did a bit of wandering around wondering where the heck I was before I finally found a tree with a RTM sign! Of course, then I went the wrong way on the trail before I realized I needed to be going the other way 😆 Once I righted myself, I ran along the RTM trail until I was the sign for Fitzy, one of the mountain bike trails that loops off the RTM. From my map, it looked like Fitzy and Five Brook would make a nice addition to my run, adding a few miles. Fitzy was straightforward and some fun singletrack running, but once I turned off on Five Brook, there were various offshoots and unmarked intersections and in one spot, I was like, ok, I have NO idea which direction to head. I took out my phone at that point and then just hoped like heck that I was going to end back up at the RTM trail! Eventually, I came across a few signs that said Snowbowl, so I figured I was at least headed in the right direction! HA! Popped out just where I thought I would, but whew, wasn't expecting quite so much navigation excitement!

Once I got back on RTM, it was very straightforward, with the wide gravel path winding its way through the forest back to the parking lot. The trail had some steeper grades than I had anticipated but it was pretty through the low woods.  Honestly, I think it would be better riding than it was running, but it was evident the creators had put a lot of work into the route with an amazing amount of bridges along the way, and it was a fun way to make a nice route for the morning. And always fun to explore new to me trails! (10.3 miles)

First trillium of the season!

First spring beauties too.

From there, I headed to Moose Crossing to pick up the soup, and of course, a bunch of plants too 😊 There were a lot of people there, so I only have the chance to briefly chat with Keri and Tyler, but it was lovely to get a big Keri hug - thanks, science! Looking forward to more of those in the future when they aren't quite as busy!

Ryan and I were in charge of aid station captaining the start/finish for Riverlands weekend, so I took the early shift of 8:00 to 8:00 on Saturday. I knew I would be standing around all day, and wanted to get in a few miles before I headed up, so I actually got up with my 4:00 am alarm and was out the door as the sky began to lighten at 5:00. Of course, the one day I am up in time to see the sunrise, it is so overcast that there was no real color in the sky but it was still pretty crossing the Androscoggin. 😉😁😂 (6.0 miles)

Then it was off to the race! Spent the day under and around these two pop-up tents in the parking lot, which sounds funny and weird, but it was amazing 💗 It was truly wonderful to see and chat with so many friends after so many months spent without much social interaction beyond the family! We knew most of the volunteers and many of the runners, and that made it even more special. Val and Mindy, and the entire TMR family, put an amazing amount of work and time and love into this race, and it is always great to be a part of that positive energy! Of course, I will admit that I was exhausted from spending 12 hours on my feet by the time I left but it was well worth it 😃

Ryan and Sam had slept in and Ryan dropped Sam off at Mom and Dad's around 11:00, arriving to the race around noon, where he then proceeded to stay up for 27 hours and man the aid station until the race ended at 2:00 pm on Sunday. Meantime, I got home around 9:00 pm on a quiet house on Saturday night (Sam was staying over at Mom and Dad's), got my stuff put away, took a quick shower, and plopped myself into bed! 😴😴

The cats woke me up early on Sunday, but I had a leisurely morning, finally getting over to the field house around 8:30 for my run. Ran out through the Commons and Coleman Farm, looping back through the Landing trail. A few ladyslipper leaves starting to emerge but it is too early yet for them. However, there were a few beautiful stretches of goldthread covering the forest floor out in the Commons and some lovely fields of blooming trout lilies out in Coleman Farm. Gorgeous! I was definitely feeling a bit sluggish, and my legs were tired, but it was a lovely bright morning to be out in the woods. (10.0 miles)

First fringed polygala of the season!

Ladyslipper emerging

Stopped at Wild Oats to pick up some cheesecake as the evening's dessert and then after a quick shower, headed over to Mom and Dad's. Coleman Farm had been so beautiful earlier in the day that we decided to head over there for an afternoon walk. The daffodils along the pond truly are beautiful and it was fun to share in all the trout lily love with Mom and Dad 😃 A beautiful Mother's Day walk, and so wonderful to be able to share it with Mom! 💕 (2.3 miles walked)

And just for fun, Gigi was very helpful this week while I was reconciling bank accounts 😹😻

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