Another Fun Week

After a long day at the computer on Monday,  I headed across the street at 4:00 pm for a walk on the powerlines. Blueberries, wood lilies, and a beautiful Eastern Swallowtail a gorgeous patch of milkweed 😍 (1.9 miles walked)

Nate came over for dinner, and it was great to have the chance to catch up. It has been way too long! So nice to be able to get together with friends again 💜 #thanksscience

Tuesday morning was a run on the powerlines. Multiple Towhees, one deer and one Common Yellowthroat seen. Very heavy and humid out. So soaked. (6.7 miles)

Mom and Dad came over for Taco Tuesday - yum! - and we took a look at the Y Facebook page, where there was a photo of Sam and Anne getting ready to head out onto the lake on stand up paddleboards earlier in the day. What fun!

Woke up to rain and another very heavy feeling morning Wednesday. Sunrise is getting later by the day, and it always seems darker on the rainy mornings, so when I looked out back, I could just barely see these little forms rumbling around out in amongst the strewn birdseed on the ground. Turns out it was 5 (!!) baby raccoons and mom. So adorable to watch them!

4 of the babies and mom, the 5th is somewhere behind the tree 💗🐾

A little bit later, I headed out for my run. Stuck to the roads. Finished up soaked again, but usually seems better to be wet from rain than sweat! 💦💦(8.0 miles)

Worked three long days Monday through Wednesday, but I can't complain as I was off on Thursday and Friday for some fun! Thursday morning, Ryan and I headed up to run/hike Ragged and Bald. Such a cool trail system and neat area. Always a joy to get up there! Of course, it was another super humid, high dew point day, and everything was wet - the rocks, the roots, us - as we started out in a thick fog/cloud. Parked at the new Round the Mountain Trail parking lot on Hope Street and then ducked onto the Georges Highland Path to head up to Little Bald.

Cool light 😍

Ryan was not impressed with the weather and may have been grumbling by about a half mile in... but seriously, we were soaked pretty much right from the start, which was kind of nasty! So soggy. 💦💦

We took the top of Red Diamond over to the summit tower of Ragged and then looped back around on Georges Highland Path. I had forgotten how that stretch was a lot of exposed rock and definitely much more hiking than running! But there were at least a lot of blueberries to stop and eat. Yum!

We continued back on Georges Highland Path over Little Ragged and down to Barnestown Road, carefully maneuvering the wet rocky ledges. Lots of bunchberries turning red, many mushrooms and some pretty patches of blue bead lilies, along with some clearing. As the clouds dissipated, the heat turned up a bit.

Between the weather and the terrain, Ryan was definitely not enjoying the route as much as I was. We have differing opinions on what constitutes a run, and he was just not having any of it today. 😁😂Honestly, I thought he was doing great, but he was definitely not entirely pleased with me. Oops! We had some nice views at the top of Bald, but before we headed down, Ryan gave me the car keys and told me we were going to go our own pace on the way back. We pretty much got to the bottom of Bald together, but then looking at Strava after the fact, I managed to get 6 minutes ahead of him on the 1 mile climb back up to Little Bald 😂 What can I say? I much prefer the ups!

Skies cleared out nicely and I stopped for some views at the open ledges before the final push to the junction. From there, I apparently lost 2 minutes on the final 1.6 mile descent, but I did enjoy the slightly more runnable terrain! Of course, it was still insanely humid, and I finished up with shoes squishing and everything completely soaked! Ha. Sign of a good summer day in the hills 😉😊 (9.6 miles)

Emily had messaged last week to see if we wanted to run on Friday. Originally the plan was for both of  us to head over to Brad to meet up with her, but in the end, Ryan decided to take the day off running so I headed over solo. Yet another hot, heavy, humid morning. See a pattern here?! Seriously, the humidity could give us a break!! It was great to catch up with Emily and we chatted away easily the entire time we were running, but I was feeling Thursday's vert and humidity and time on feet, and I was definitely dragging a bit. We ended up cutting things a bit shorter than planned, but it was still so nice to get in a run with a good friend! Thanks, Emily! Oh yes, and I was completely soaked when we finished 😂😂💦💦 (8.6 miles)

Headed back home and cleaned the house and got a few things done. Ryan finished up work and then headed over to Highland Green to play 9 holes of golf, so after I finished up prepping for dinner and making pasta salad for Saturday night, I sat on the couch for a bit and then decided around 5:00 pm that I would head out for a walk. What can I say? We've said it before, I just am not good at sitting still! 😆 It was still warm but there was a bit of a breeze at least and I just stuck to the shade as much as I could. (1.9 miles walked)

Saturday morning was camp pick up and a day off from running. Fed the cats and then went back to bed for a bit before finally coming downstairs and enjoying a bit of quiet before we headed out around 8:45 to pick up Sam! While I have enjoyed the time with Ryan, and we've made the most of the two weeks Sam has been away doing some exploring and seeing friends and having fun together, I really have missed the kiddo a lot and was so excited to see her and hear about camp! 💗

It was so cute to see all the kiddos milling around together, calling out to each other to say goodbye, etc. Sam and Anne were all smiles and it was clear they had had a blast! Yay camp 😀

It was also clear that Sam was exhausted 😂😉 but she did rally for a mid-afternoon walk on the powerlines with me to check out the wood lilies and pick blueberries. Always love time spent walking with my girl 😍 (1.8 miles walked) 

Rain started overnight on Saturday, and it was wet and dreary when I woke up. My intent was to stack a long run onto the end of the week and get in a 3-week block of solid miles. But I'll be honest and say my heart was not into it with the rain pouring down outside, and instead I went back to bed. As anyone who reads this blog regularly knows, I'm continually modifying my running "plan," so I have no problem acknowledging that something is just not "right" for the day and moving things around. Whether I get in a big week this week or next doesn't really matter much in the grand scheme of things, and that long run will still be beneficial next week. Or so goes my rationalization anyway 😉

So I lounged around until I got so antsy that Ryan pretty much kicked me out the door at 10:00 am. It was pouring down rain, the cart paths were flooded, the gully at the bottom of the powerlines was filled with water ankle-deep and I was soaked in minutes. It was kind of funny actually. I did manage to find the first few ripe blackberries of the season along the powerline stretch, though, so yum! (6.0 miles)

We didn't end up doing much of anything all day due to the rain, which is just what Sam needed. Camp is tiring 😊

And a few random odds and ends to round out the post...

Whatever it takes to be comfy, Gigi 😹

Someone posted this online and this is totally how I feel...