Vacation Week

It ended up being quite an eventful and busy vacation week, even though we didn't go anywhere. 

After a relaxing Monday morning, we headed out for a walk at Wolfe's Neck after lunch. It was bright and sunny with a hint of warmth in the air, and we were hoping for some snow and ice free walking! We parked by the bridge and walked up into the campground, checking out the beach and then following the trail that connects the two main campground roads. There was still a bit of ice and snow to contend with in the shade, but it ended up being a nice loop, and had the added bonus of being able to stop in to say hi to the animals in the barn. (2.2 miles walked)

Always love this Wolfe's Neck view!

Love this little calf's crazy eyes! 

Then it was time for swim practice at 4:30, and I decided I might as well walk for part of the time, because, well, why not? Better than sitting on the hard metal benches in the warm pool area for 1 hour+. Sam did a great job getting in all her laps for their aquathon fundraiser. 150 laps in 1 hour! (2.2 miles walked)

Tuesday morning, I headed into work for the day and Ryan brought his car in for service. Well, turns out the Prius needed like $4,000 worth of work and we decided it probably wasn't worth putting that kind of money into a 10 year old car... which ended up meaning he spent the afternoon to do some car shopping. Sigh. Not quite what we had in mind... So, while he was doing that fun stuff, Sam hung out with Mom and Dad, and then I got in a run from their house before the two of us headed home. It felt a bit raw out and my legs felt a bit heavy, but on the plus side, the sidewalks around town were almost entirely clear. (6.0 miles)

Swinging bridge view

Got up and out on Wednesday morning for a run through Highland Green. Dragging a bit and way overdressed. Felt like spring - breezy and warm. It was already in the low 40s at 6:30 in the morning! (6.0 miles)

Then it was off to work for me, while Ryan continued with the car shopping. I think Sam won out for the day with a trip down to Potts Point with Mom and Dad plus Big Top and gelato for lunch on a beautiful faux spring day. Temps ended up climbing into the high 50s which is just crazy!

And then ta da, a new car, or well, a used but new to us car 😄 

I'm sort of sad that for the first time in many years, we don't have a hybrid vehicle in the family but I think the Subaru is going to be a good car for us, and certainly will allow us more room when packing for a camping trip!!

I had taken Thursday off from work and our original plan was to head to NH to stay at the Glen House on Thursday night and get in some xc skiing. However, the forecast was calling for a snowstorm on Friday, with snow falling through the day, so we ended up moving our NH trip to March, as we know what the drive from NH home is like in bad weather and we really didn't want to end up stuck in the car for like 4 hours on Friday! A bummer for sure, but there should still be good snow when we head over in a few weeks. 

Woke up to the thermometer reading 15 degrees, over 40 degrees colder than temps on Thursday afternoon. Wow, talk about a weather rollercoaster! I wasn't feeling super enthused to head out early for a run, so instead, I got the grocery shopping completed and a bit of work done before taking Sam over to Anne's house at lunch time to hang out for a few hours. Then, once I got home, Ryan and I suited up and headed out for a run together. Even though temps had risen into the 20s and the sun was shining, the wind was fairly stiff and quite chilly. Brrr. We headed out into Highland Green, and despite some tiptoeing across the remaining ice on the back dirt road, managed to get in a full loop. Ryan turned off for home right as my watch beeped 5 miles and I circled around again, coming back on the powerlines in the final stretch. The high route was clear of ice and snow, although quite soft underfoot. It was nice to share some miles with Ryan, and glad to have gotten the run in! (8.0 miles)

The snow started to fall on Friday soon after I came downstairs at 5:30. I was more than happy to have a true day off from running/walking and it was nice to not have anything on the calendar and just have a quiet inside day, relaxing and getting some household chores done, and of course doing some cookie baking (and eating 😋😉)!

A yummy treat on a snowy day

The snow was light and fluffy, and probably ended up amounting to about 4-5". Looked very pretty as I headed out for my run on Saturday morning, with the trees all snow-covered against the bright blue sky. It was chilly but calm, and screwshoes were the perfect choice, as the majority of the roads had a thin layer of hard packed snow atop the pavement. I decided I would make a play at redlining (a hiking term for hiking all the trails on a map/in an area/etc) Highland Green, which Ryan and I have talked about for a while. It took a fair amount of concentration to ensure I didn't miss any of the side streets, some of which are pretty much just literally driveways, and made the run a bit more interesting. And it turned out to be pretty much exactly the distance I was hoping for the day! (12.0 miles)

 

Turkey prints

Wing print in the snow!

Then it was off to the Y to get Sam to her swim meet. She had a solid day and has made so much progress this season! We are proud of her effort to push and improve and so glad she's found a sport she loves. After the meet, Mom and Dad joined us for dinner, and then it was off to bed early as it is going to be a rough transition back to a regular school week. Aie!

The original plan for Sunday was that I'd be doing a course check of the snowshoe course with Emily in the morning before the snowshoe race. Unfortunately, the race had to be cancelled, as even though we got some new snow, there was most definitely not enough for a safe snowshoe race. So instead, Emily and I made plans to meet up over in Brunswick for a road run, and then as Sam was headed back over to Anne's with Abby for some mini donut making, we also decided we'd meet up with Ryan after the run for some xc skiing over at Mere Creek. 

It was bright and sunny but the wind was pretty strong as we headed out from Pennelville to loop around down to Simpson's Point. It was great to catch up as we ran along - it had been a while since we've seen each other! We stopped to enjoy the nice view down at Simpson's Point and I was surprised to see that all the ice was gone from the bay with totally clear water. Very pretty, and very breezy! Of course, we got back to the car and my watch was not yet at a nice even number, so we did a a bit looping around before we stopped 😂(8.0 miles)

After a quick change, we headed over to the golf course to meet up with Ryan for a ski. Most definitely dust on crust and things were rather bony on the more "backcountry" trail through the woods that we took as part of our route, but it was a beautiful morning to be out. I did, however, take one lovely fall right into the scrubby little pine I was trying to avoid when my ski caught on some sort of obstacle - oh so graceful! 😂 Thankfully it was a slo-mo fall and more funny than anything. Just very typically me. Ha! 😉 We had fun skiing out onto the grasses out along the tidal river and along the ocean's edge, but by the end of the loop, Emily and I were most definitely tired. Still, she did a great job as a relatively new skier, and it was fun to share some ski miles with her and Ryan! A fun way to wrap up the weekend for sure 😊 (4.2 miles xc skiied)

Variable

This word describes my mood, the weather and the conditions this week. All over the place!

Monday was an indoor track walk. While it has gotten light enough to get outside now during practice, conditions have not been conducive with sidewalks either icy or wet or both. I think the outdoor swim walks will have to wait until the spring session starts up. (2.2 miles walked)

Tuesday ended up being a totally off day. I don't recall, was the weather bad? I feel like it was, or maybe that is just my lack of enthusiasm this week talking 😂 Ah well. 

Was working from home on Wednesday, so after I dropped Sam at school, I headed over to run the Gone Fishing trails. Trails were very solid, quite literally, with a lot of stretches of hard ice, and some nice hard packed snow stretches out in the further reaches of the system where there had not been as much traffic. Happy to have been able to get out. (6.2 miles)

Thursday, I got some work done early and then snuck in a run after dropping Sam off at school and before heading into the office. Ran out and back on Highland Green Road. 20+ degrees warmer than yesterday's run. Breezy. Nothing much of excitement. (6.0 miles)

One of the things I’ve realized in my training over the past few years is that in order to hit my yearly mileage goal and also take two days off from running every week, I like to have a bare minimum run mileage number. For me, it’s six miles. Of course, there are exceptions due to tapering, coming back from racing and injury/sickness, etc, but that is my benchmark on shorter run days. So, on a day like Friday when I’m seriously unenthused and feeling pissy about how climate change has created these extreme peaks and valleys in our weather and how it should not be 50 degrees in mid February and it’s oh so ugly with bare ground and slick ice and it’s windy as all get out (which btw, along with 33 and rainy, and high80s/90s and humid, is one of my least favorite running conditions especially when i can’t hide from the wind in the woods due to crappy trail conditions), I tell myself to just go run the bare minimum and that will be good enough. Gosh, can you hear the crankiness?! 🤪😬😂😱 Headed over to Highland Green again, and even got in a bit on the back road, which started out promisingly down to dirt but I had to turn around once it became more ice than sand. (6.0 miles)

Got in another track walk on Friday evening. (2.2 miles walked)

I was hoping for an attitude turnaround on Saturday, but honestly I wasn't feeling much better. Temps had dropped 40 degrees by the time I woke up in the morning, and I really wasn't looking forward to an icy road run. So, despite knowing what I'd probably find out there, I put my spikes in my pocked and headed across the street. Didn't find anything I wasn't expecting, about 60% ice, 40% bare ground. Honestly, it would be better if it all just melted at this rate. The ice is hard and thick and I'm going to need a new pair of spikes next season at this rate, they are wearing down quickly with so much solid ice running! Did a bit of a random route and found a few bingo squares while I was out there too. (9.1 miles)

 

The trail had become an ice river. Had to bushwack up along the edges to stay upright!

The ice had frozen in step-like formation down the trail

We had dinner at Mom and Dad's on Saturday evening and then Sam spent the night so that Ryan and I could head up to Riverlands on Sunday morning for Val's fatass birthday run. The plan called for us to walk 1.5 miles up the trail and out across the frozen Androscoggin to an island with picnic tables and a fire pit, and then do some loops from there, hitting a second island en route. Apparently, in the summer you can camp out on these islands, which is pretty cool!

It was cold but bright, and spirits were high as we met in the parking lot for the walk out. Despite a lot of noise coming from people dragging sleds and all of our spikes going crunch crunch crunch underfoot, it was fun to have some time to catch up with people as we walked along. (1.58 miles walked)

After we all got ourselves situated on the island, Val laid out the course instructions, to which most of us said, what was all that blah blah blah, we'll just follow you! 😂😁 So the group headed back across the ice and up the snowmobile trail. Compared to conditions around home, it was heavenly! Definitely some icy spots, but mostly hard packed snow. Ryan and I had decided we would run together for the day and found ourselves chatting with George and KB, a new runner, about the AT and other things. Then it was off onto the ice again to tag the second island before we headed back.

Ryan and I decided to do the additional short loop to make up the longer route on our first round, so instead of heading back to the aid station, we continued down the snowmobile trail back to the parking lot and then returned on the singletrack trails. We were joined by Jose, a Spaniard now living in Auburn. It was fun to meet him and hear a bit about his travels. He was also quite speedy!

Got back to the aid station island at 7 miles, grabbed a bit of food and water, and then quickly got cold! The wind was picking up and I most certainly had generated enough heat to be sweating on the first loop, so we didn't linger too long before heading back out. It was just Ryan and I on this trip, a bit quieter and more tired, but still fun in that 'hey did we actually run up this hill on the first loop?' kind of way😂 

Running on the frozen river was most definitely a unique experience. There were several different textures of ice underfoot and a few creaks and cracks and groans here and there too. On our second trip to the second island, when it was just the two of us, it was very quiet out on the ice, which was neat but also a bit eerie. 

This was Ryan's longest run since Hamsterwheel, and my feet were starting to hurt from the uneveniness and the pressure of the spikes, so we were both happy to return to the aid station with our watches reading just a little shy of 12 miles, where we changed clothes and hung out by the fire relaxing and chatting with friends. (11.96 miles)

After a bit of hanging out, the two of us along with several others, decided it was time to make the trek back to the cars. The walk felt a bit more cumbersome this time around but we were all happy to have had the chance to join in on Val's birthday celebration and get in some miles on the trail (and ice!) with friends and share some miles with Ryan. And for me, it was just the attitude adjustment that I needed. Yay running! (1.57 miles walked)

Sam and Mom had made cheesecake earlier in the day, so we enjoyed the deliciousness after dinner. The perfect end to a great day! Yum!

Thaw & Freeze

The snow had been so lovely with trail conditions the best they've been all winter (at least around home), but alas it didn't last. 

Tuesday was looking like it was going to be nasty with cold rain falling, so I opted to get in a daytime run on Monday as I was working from home. I headed out after dropping Sam at school and ran the powerlines to take advantage of the good conditions. A calm and overcast morning with conditions a bit softer than they had been over the weekend but still quite decent. (6.6 miles)

Lots of bird nests visible this time of year, especially when topped with snow

Squirrel and mouse prints

The weather did indeed pan out to be nasty on Tuesday, so I was happy to take Sam to swim and get in a walk on the track for a bit of movement. Definitely an oddity to be taking her to late practice and to be at the track on a Tuesday, when the direction is the opposite of what I typically would do on Mon/Fri! (2.3 miles walked)

Wednesday, I was planning to get in the afternoon, as I knew things would be way too icy early in the morning, but those plans went sideways when we got a new dishwasher delivered and then the guys were here for 4 hours with a lot of hassle getting the old machine out and leaving with the new machine hooked up but sticking out 4" into the room due to a pipe that would need to be cut, and then with it not even working! GAH! WTF?!? Not ideal. Needless to say, that all caused a wee bit of stress in the house and wreaked havoc on the afternoon and evening plans.😨😬😱

Which meant that Thursday morning saw me up and out at 5:30 into the darkness. I decided trails would be a safer bet and actually found things in decent shape, except for some stretches riddled with postholes and several large iced over puddles. Running the powerlines led me right into the sunrise, which is always neat, and the sky was quite lovely on the return trip. (6.0 miles)

Pre-dawn glow

Friday, I met up with Val, Mindy and Anne for a late morning run over at Bradbury. I did a few errands on my way to the park and arrived fairly early, so figured I might as well check out conditions. Temps were in the 40s and it was bright and sunny. We planned to meet up at Lawrence Road just to ensure options, so I headed up onto the Connector and out for a bit on the powerlines. The field was a bit pockmarked with postholes but once in the woods, things were solid and nicely packed. And wow, those powerlines are wide and well-groomed, which made for some nice running. Got in 3 miles before everyone else arrived. 

Squirrel foraging

Then it was back out to the powerlines with the group. Already a bit softer just an hour later, but still some nice running and so nice to be in the warm sun! We headed across Elmwood and up the big hill, running along the powerlines until we hit the turn-off for the Big Brad connector up to the Royal River trail. No one had been that way, and while there was a thick crust that we could mostly tiptoe along, there was also a fair amount of punching and sinking through at random. That was definitely a slow stretch, but we came across a lot of tracks which is always fun. Once we hit the road, it was back to the lot via the Royal River trail. A fun adventure and always good to catch up and get in some miles with friends! 💗(8.0 miles total for the morning)

Obligatory thermometer and bench shot 😍

Breaking through

Raccoon prints

The river was so pretty

Love the shadows from the trees and the bright blue sky

Sam didn't have practice on Friday night due to a high school swim meet, so we headed over to Mom and Dad's for a yummy dinner and to catch up with them for the evening.

Temps were predicted to be in the 40s all day on Saturday, so I planned on a road run for the morning. I parked over at the Pennelville fields and ran up Pleasant Hill Road, crossing over on Woodside and Rossmore to Simpson's Point. Balmy, breezy and overcast, with a lot of other runners and walkers out enjoying the nice mild morning. Enjoyed seeing a number of bluebirds flitting about and some mergansers in the tidal river down at Maquoit Bay. (10.7 miles)

After lunch, Ryan was set to meet up with a neighbor who does home improvement work so that he could hopefully fix the pipe and hook up the dishwasher, while Sam and I headed over to Mom and Dad's for a walk across the swinging bridge into Brunswick for gelato. Lots of ducks, both mallards and black, and seagulls along the edge of the ice on the river, and some yummy gelato too. Lovely to be out enjoying the slightly unseasonably warm afternoon and to spend some time with my parents. (2.5 miles walked)

We arrived home to find the work on the dishwasher wrapping up, and hurray, now we have a bright, shiny, new, and most importantly working dishwasher!!

Wasn't sure what I was going to find on Sunday morning, but temps had dropped into the 20s so I knew there would be a lot of ice on the pavement after all the melting Saturday so I figured the best course of action was to don my spikes and see what the trails yielded. Very very icy, making for not the easiest or most comfortable to run on, and as a light snow started to fall, it only got slicker. Didn't feel super energetic but glad to get in the miles. Trails were about 60% ice. (8.5 miles)

Found a neighbor's missing YakTrax

Sam and Abby ended up outside, sliding down the frozen hill out back for several hours after lunch, and Ryan went over to Brad for his run, so I had a quiet afternoon in the house catching up on some chores and bills and then doing a bit of relaxing on the couch with my book! I did ponder getting out for a walk, but decided I was happy with what I'd accomplished running/walking-wise this week. 40 run miles and just shy of 5 miles of walking.