End of January

Monday night was an indoor track walk during Sam's swim practice. It seems the early January rush of New Year's resolutions has died down; there was no one else on the track for the majority of my walk and it was quiet. Well, except for the buzzer from the basketball games going on below. (2.27 miles walked)

Several inches of fluffy snow fell overnight and it seemed unwise to head out in the morning given all the ice I knew likely existed below that pristine surface! And so it was that Tuesday was another afternoon Highland Green run. Quite pleasant with clear roads, blue skies and moderate temps, even if the legs did feel a bit heavy. (6.0 miles)

Wednesday morning, I headed out just as it was getting light. I ran a rather random route through Highland Green enjoying the pretty sunrise, the crescent moon above and the cotton candy pink sky. A bit hard to move with a lot of layers, some slick icy spots and the cold, but glad to have gotten out. Finished up all frosted over, only 2 degrees and "feels like" -5! Brrr. (6.1 miles)

By Thursday, we knew there was a good potential for a large snow storm coming through on Saturday, so I had pondered getting out for a run after work so that Saturday I could sit inside all day and watch the snow fall, but honestly I just did not have the mental energy to actually follow through. Ryan did, however, suggest we get out for a walk, and it was nice to get in a bit of movement and air and chat as we walked. (1.7 miles walked)

Had to get on a work call at 10:00 on Friday morning, so I headed over to Brunswick a little after 7:00 to get in my run before getting on the computer. Parked over at Pennellville and enjoyed a nice run out along Maquoit Bay and down to Simpson's Point. Overcast and calm. Sightings included a pileated woodpecker, two bluebirds, hooded mergansers and what I think was a coyote pouncing on something in the Crystal Spring Farm fields. Neat. (10.75 miles)

Coyote (?) in the field

Hooded mergansers (females) playing in the tidal river along Rossmore

Simpsons Point 

Woke up on Saturday morning, looked out the window and was like, great, it's not snowing yet - I'll be able to get in some miles before the storm really starts 😂 Never said I wasn't a crazy runner 😉 Cold, blustery and spitting snow as I headed out a bit before 7:00. Ran over to Highland Green and then put on my spikes to run up and back on the back dirt road and then returned home via the powerlines. Back road and powerlines both very icy but a nice change from the more typical out and back on the pavement that I've been doing. Finished up just a wee bit frosted! ❄(6.5 miles)

Then it was time to settle in on the couch with a warm cup of coffee and to make some Pumpkin Streusel Superhero muffins. Yum!

Snow continued to fall through the day and overnight, and we woke up to about a foot of fluffy new snow on Sunday morning. Hard to tell exactly with all the drifting that occurred due to the strong winds, but certainly a good amount of snow! After a leisurely few hours on the couch finishing up my book and getting some shoveling done, I finally headed out for my run around 10:30. Bright blue sky, cold and windy. Wore my screwshoes and they worked pretty well on the roads, which were mostly hard packed snow with some slush and some clear stretches. Back road and powerlines had not yet had any traffic. Hopefully the snowmobilers will get out and pack down the powerlines soon! (6.1 miles)

Then, after lunch, we headed over to Mere Creek. A beautiful afternoon for a xc ski along the Kate Furbish trail. A lot of other people obviously had had the same idea, as the parking lot was full, the trail was quite well tracked leaving deep ski track troughs, and we even ran into Jeremy, who we hadn't seen in ages, along with Kristen, Phil and Cooper! Still cold but lovely to get out and enjoy the nice new snow! (1.9 miles xc skiied)

Wrapped up the weekend with pizza and games at Mom and Dad's house. Yum!