December

Wow. It is seriously amazing sometimes how quickly time seems to fly. I can't believe we are in the last month of 2021. 

Monday was an indoor track walk day. Keeps me occupied for at least a portion of the 1 1/2 hours I am up at the Y during Sam's swim practice at least! (2.2 miles walked)

Tuesday, I just could not rally and get up and out into the cold darkness. Sigh. So, I did some work early in the morning instead and then left work early to get in a late afternoon run. Didn't feel great, but glad to have gotten in a few miles. Overcast and definitely slightly sketchy underfoot with the remaining snow and ice. Ran up over Mt. A, hit a few of the cart paths and then ran back via the road and powerlines. The sun sets early these days and the sky was starting to change color at the end of the run. (5.0 miles)

And then sometimes, it really is just worth getting yourself up and out! Wednesday morning is late start, which means I don't have to get out quite as early, so I waited until the sky was starting to lighten and then headed out on the roads. I could see the clouds ahead changing color and starting to light up with pinks and oranges as I ran down Elm Street to the connector. Made it up onto the bridge in time to see a glorious sunrise aglow over the Androscoggin. Seriously, wow. So pretty. And yes, for the record, I did have Toad the Wet Sprocket lyrics in my head the rest of the run... "Now open your big eyes, take in the sunrise." Felt practically balmy this morning. (5.2 miles)

Friday was a field trip! I headed south to Portland to meet up with Val, Mindy and Anne at Evergreen Cemetery where a pair of river otters have been hanging out in the cemetery ponds for the past month or so. It was quite a breezy morning but the sun was shining brightly as we set off rather randomly through the cemetery to get to the ponds. No otters on the first stop so we wandered around, making loops on the trails and then stopping back at the ponds to see if the otters had emerged. On a few of our stops, we were able to see them swimming and diving through the waters and eating fish at the edge of the thin ice that was forming in one section of the pond. Very cool. The otters were like mini fish-eating celebrities - there were a lot of people, including a number of photographers with very big lens, milling around the pond edges hoping for a view!

There was a lot of stopped time in this run, but it was a good exploration with friends and always neat to run someplace different! And once we finished up our run, Anne suggested a short jog down to a nearby bakery for post-run treats. Yum! A fun morning indeed! (6.1 miles + 0.3 to the bakery!)

Then during Sam's swim practice, I did a short walk around the track. (2.1 miles walked)

Saturday, I headed down to the river and back. Cold and bright. Saw nine deer and a few misshapen ice pancakes plus some neat ice forming along the banks of the river. (6.0 miles)

Then after lunch, it was off to get a Christmas tree! Of course, the tree we picked had way too big of a trunk to fit into our tree holder, so there was a bit of sweating and swearing as Ryan worked to saw off some of the lower branches and knots so we could actually get the tree up. Eek! 😱 Gotta love the holidays 😂

But seriously, it is always fun to unpack all the ornaments we've gathered over the years, and I really do so love having a tree up. So bright and cheery! 

Poof! It's Christmas!

Oh, Gigi! 😹

Sam got her room all decorated too!

And then, because it just so goes with Christmas decorating 😂, I made a big pan of chicken cabbage fried rice for dinner. Pretty tasty!

This morning, I headed out for a road run around town. Nice and quiet. Kept it fairly mellow. The right leg is still a bit cranky but otherwise, I am feeling pretty good and happy to finish up a decent recovery week of just over 30 miles. (8.0 miles)