Back to Reality & Off to Camp

Back to reality on Monday morning. Always hard after a fun vacation! Sam had swim practice at 9:00 am so I decided to do my run during practice to make the most efficient use of the time spent waiting. Forecast for the first four days of the week was for hot hot hot humid humid humid, and indeed it was quite toasty and heavy out there as I headed out on the roads up to the high point at Thorne Head. So soggy!

Was going to loop around town to add on a few miles and make it a longer run, but just outside of Thorne Head, I got a call from the Y that Sam wasn't feeling good and was waiting for me to return. Sigh. Tried to run the final few miles back as quickly as possible, but with the heat and humidity, I wasn't exactly speedy! Poor kiddo. Felt badly I was making her wait but thankfully, it seemed she just was a bit dehydrated and probably hadn't eaten enough before practice, and after some water and food and a bit of rest, she perked up and was fine for the rest of the day. (5.75 miles)

Another heavy, soggy run on Tuesday morning as I headed out on the powerlines at 5:30 am. The hot, humid, oppressive weather is just not my favorite, and having it be in the 90s multiple days in a row is just way too much for the end of June! Two deer seen, catbirds and towhees calling, deer flies buzzing and the scent of milkweed and hay scented ferns in the air. Couldn't resist stopping for a few handfuls of blueberries en route - yum! Finished up soaked. (7.25 miles)

I headed into work and Sam headed to Reid State Park with Neenie and Pip. Sounds like it was lovely out by the water and they ended up staying most of the day. Perfect on a hot, humid day! Sam sure is a lucky kid!

Wednesday turned out to be a true zero day. Temp was "feels like" up to 100 at one point later in the afternoon. Gah! The best course of action was just to stay inside in the A/C. 

I had requested Thursday off earlier in the summer, mostly to ensure we could get a good start on getting Sam packed and organized for camp, and in case we needed to get her Covid test that day. Yes, they are requiring all campers to either show proof of vaccination or a negative test. I am all for that, but getting a PCR test within 72 hours AND getting results back, especially going into a holiday weekend, was proving to be tricky, especially as the Midcoast testing tent was shut down on Thursdays. Thankfully they were amenable to a Rapid test, especially as they are testing all the kids 3 days into camp. Phew. So, test scheduled for Friday, which left more flexibility for Thursday. 

I headed out for my run around 6:45 on Thursday morning. Relatively speaking it was cooler, only in the low 70s but still quite sticky with a high dewpoint. Looking at the forecast, I decided to do my long run on Saturday as temps are predicted to be in the 50s in the morning. I knew that, even if it was humid, which it will no doubt be, that that would feel heavenly after the crazy hot temps earlier in the week! So, for Thursday's run, I ran out on the powerlines and looped around for a nice, mellow 10 miler. The milkweed is going strong out in the fields and I saw my first monarch caterpillar too! 💕🐛 Also made several stops for blueberries, and enjoyed the crown vetch and whorled loosestrife blooming amongst the grasses. Pretty morning even if I did finish soaked once again! (10.2 miles)

Spreading dogbane

🐛💖

Crown vetch

I always thought this was swamp candle, but I believe it's actually whorled loosestrife

I got back just as Mom was getting ready to take Sam up to swim and Ryan was headed out to meet up with Nate and Matt for a run. Even better, Mom and Sam stopped to get donuts before coming back home. Hurray for Frosty's being open again! So good 🍩😋💗 No pictures, because we ate them right up 😂 The rest of the day was spent going through the packing list, realizing we needed a few more things and heading to Target to get them. 😉😆 

Rain rolled in overnight, which was good because we certainly need it, and because it knocked the temperatures back a few notches. Woke up on Friday to the thermometer reading 61. Ahhh.... I didn't need to run so it was a mellow morning, followed up by a walk in the misty rain on the streets of Bath while Sam was at swim practice. (2.0 miles walked)

Beautiful clemantis growing on one of the fences along the sidewalk

The rest of the day was pretty mellow, with the rain continuing to fall, and in the evening, Mom and Dad joined us for Japanese take-out for dinner. Yum! 🍱🍣

One of our Bowdoin friends, Matt, is in town visiting with his family, and Ryan had the idea that he, Nate and Matt should join me on my long run on Saturday. I wasn't quite so sure, as I am admittedly introverted, stuck in my ways 😆 and sometimes feel anxious at the thought of running long with others, but then I of course realized I was an idiot and it would be great to have the chance to see Matt and get to run with friends. After many back and forth texts, we finally agreed on a plan and so I set out from Chase Reserve on Saturday morning at 6:30 am with a meet-up time of 8:00 down at the Burnett Farm bridge with the guys. 

The morning was overcast, misty and humid the temp pretty much didn't budge from 58 degrees all day long. I started off with the short Calderwood trail loops on both sides of the road and then headed down the pavement to Wolfe's Neck. Once I hit the dirt farm road, I veered off onto the Deer Run Trail into the woods behind the farm. I noticed that what had once been an unmarked turn-off a short ways in was now marked as connecting up to Brewer Woods, so I decided to take the turn and do a little bit of exploring. Some nice deep woods meandering with a short loop at the end. Then it was back on Deer Run, which is rugged and rooty with lots of short ups and downs into and out of drainages. Definitely not quick, and especially not on a day when everything is wet! Hooked up to the Farm Loop and down to the marshy edges of the Little River and then up and along the Discovery Trail, which I had never taken previously and which winds through the back of the pastures and pops out at the new dairy barn. Then a quick loop through the campground and a stop at the rest rooms and down to the bridge just a few minutes past 8:00 with my watching beeping 8.0 miles just as I arrived!

From there, the group of us headed off up the hill to Wolfe's Neck State Park, with much banter and laughter along the way. We looped through the park, and then ran the road, a light mist coming down, up to Flying Point Road. 

There, Nate turned around and headed back to the car, while Matt, Ryan and I headed down Litchfield Road. Ryan had initially proposed picking up the Kelsey Brook trail at the end of the road, which runs along Mitchell Ledge Farm, but when I ran that stretch last fall, I didn't think much of it as it doesn't get a lot of use, is hard to follow and is very overgrown down along the brook. I had proposed just running the road to the end and picking up the trail there, which is what we ended up doing. So a few more miles of easy road running and then back into the wet, rooty woods! 

We ran up Brimstone Hill and then back along the Forest Ridge and Jack's trails, reaching the car with my watch reading 19.25 miles, so we headed up the road for the short Calderwood loop that runs along the ocean to finish out the run. It really ended up being a great morning on the roads and trails with friends, and I am so happy Ryan made the suggestion that the guys join me and that it all worked out! It was a fun loop with a good mix of technical trails and easy roads, and I felt good the whole time. (20.3 miles)

While we were out, Sam got up on her own and then she and Neenie headed to Dunkin Donuts for hashbrowns and donuts 😊🍩 We got home around 11:30, got showered up and then after eating a plate of fruit and veggies, headed over to Fielder's Choice to have ice cream for lunch! So good, although Ryan and I both felt fairly horrible after finishing off those huge sundaes 😂😂

Before we collapsed on the couch for the rest of the afternoon, we headed across the street for a short and slow walk on the powerlines, just to loosen up the legs and get the kiddo out for a bit of activity. So many blueberries, some beautiful, fragrant milkweed, one more monarch caterpillar seen and the first of the season wood lilies too! 😍 (1.7 miles walked)

Fireweed

Rain started back up again overnight, and I woke up to temps just the same as they were on Saturday morning. The radar didn't show the rain as abating at all, so I donned my raincoat and headed out around 7:30. Hard to resist the powerlines with the berries and caterpillars and wood lilies during these summer days! A lot of deep puddles out there, one deer, several blueberries stops, about a dozen wood lilies and one other monarch caterpillar seen 💗 Felt a bit creaky, so kept it nice and easy. Finished up very soggy, but better to be wet from rain than soaked with sweat! (8.0 miles)

Happy to wrap up the running week with 51.6 miles, and looking forward to ramping things up a bit with two more decent weeks while Sam is away. 

Speaking of which, we headed out after lunch for camp drop off in the spitting rain. Anne and Kristen arrived right after us and the girls got themselves settled in, Sam on the bottom bunk and Anne on top bunk 😃 Sam was definitely feeling some nervous excitement, so we didn't hang around for too long after we got the girls bunks made up. I know on my end, I am going to miss her a lot, and it is going to be hard not talking to her for two weeks, but I also know she is going to have a great time and this is such a great experience. And of course, it will be fun to have a bit more time with Ryan and to do some adventures while Sam is away! First up, a run/hike over in Evans Notch to Speckled Mountain tomorrow. 

😍😍