What's Next?: 47

Monday, February 7, 2022

47

Nope, not 47 miles, 47 years 😂😉 And I did not run any variable of 47 on my birthday either. Didn't seem to be a need. That being said, how the heck am I now 47?!?! Sigh. I do honestly believe that age is just a number, but wow.

Ryan headed to VT mid-day on Monday for the day/night for a client meeting, so it was just Sam and I until Tuesday evening when he got home. During her swim practice on Monday, I walked the track, which seems to have become the norm. I did notice, while circling around and around, that it was still fairly light outside for almost the entirety of the walk. Thinking I'll be able to take my walks outside again soon, assuming decent weather and decent sidewalk conditions! (2.2 miles walked)

Tuesday, I ran after Sam got home from school. Nice afternoon and I decided to try out the back road and do the Highland Green loop instead of an out and back. Was happy to find the back road was good and grippy with my trail shoes, making for a stretch of lovely running. (6.0 miles)

Got up and out Wednesday morning just before the sky lightened to do the Highland Green loop again. Overcast and calm, with a neat owl fly-over in the semi-darkness at the start. (6.0 miles)

I had taken the day off on Thursday with the hopes of getting out for a fun birthday adventure, but the weather had other plans, with on and off cold rain all day and the forecast for an incoming winter storm overnight. With temps hovering right around 40 and spitting rain, I knew it would be best to stick to the roads for my run, so I headed over to Pennelville to do a run out along Rossmore and down to Simpson's Point. Even in bad weather, the point always offers up a good view. (8.0 miles)

Knowing it was likely to be a snow day and a good day to just be able to stay inside on Friday, I spent the rest of the day getting my errands done. I did make sure that one of my errands was a stop to pick up lunch and some birthday goodies at Wild Oats, as due to the weather and Thursday swim practice, we decided to wait and have a combined birthday celebration on Saturday with my parents with thai take-out and cake. 🎂 Can't have a birthday day without some sort of treat, after all! 😋😍 It was a pretty quiet day, but it was nice to not have to be in the office and to get messages throughout the day from family and friends, and catch up with Andy on the phone in the evening. Haven't talked to him in ages!

Woke up to a call from the district that there was no school for Friday and padded downstairs to the sound of a snow/sleet/hail/freezing rain mixture falling from the sky. The mixed precipitation continued all day long and I was glad I had run on Wednesday so I didn't feel like I had to get out! With no outside activity, it was another quiet day, with some reading, some chores done around the house, and a showing of Encanto, which was quite cute, for Sam and I.

After clearing off and moving the cars on Saturday morning, I decided I might actually be able to get out of on the trails for my run, as things were pretty solid underneath a thin layer of fluff. Cold, breezy and bright, and I managed to stay on top of the crust for the majority of the time on the powerlines until after Rt. 24, where the mountain bike groomers had been out grooming the loop around Lover's Lane and on the Gone Fishing trails, which made for pretty decent running. Still a bit of work and fairly slow, but nice to be able to get out on the trails and into the woods! (9.5 miles)

Sam had a late afternoon swim meet, with some good strong swimming. Then it was off to Mom and Dad's for thai take-out and birthday cake for dinner. Yum!

Temps dropped into the negatives overnight - brrr - so I didn't rush out on Sunday morning, waiting until around 8:30 when the temperature had finally moved at least slightly above zero to head out. Couldn't resist heading out on the powerlines to Gone Fishing again, and am glad I did. Conditions were even better than Saturday, easily the best snow I've run on all winter. Things had firmed up nicely. Ran the same route, with one additional lollypop loop. Very quiet, bright and cold. (10.5 miles)

The deer had their own highway

Sam went over to Anne's house after lunch for a few hours, so Ryan and I decided to head out to Long Reach Preserve for a walk. Nice, firm conditions, great for spikes, and some lovely views and frozen sea ice down in the Reach. A good way to wrap up the weekend and always nice to get in a few miles with Ryan! (1.8 miles walked)