Back to Winter

Monday, the original plan was to get in a walk during Sam's swim practice, but we got stuck in traffic trying to get on Route 1 and then in the detour due to a police incident. It literally took us 30 minutes to go about 2 miles, so we ended up cutting through the fairground and deciding to just head home when it became apparent that we would likely not get up to the Y until at least halfway through practice. Sometimes, that's just the way it goes. 

Tuesday, I did actually manage to get up and out for a run. Very chilly, with weather.com reading -3 degrees. Brrr. Thankfully it was calm out and with the days getting longer, a headlamp was not even needed, even starting at 5:30. Hurray. I did come home fairly frosted over! (6.0 miles)

We got a mix of snow and then rain overnight, enough to create crusty 3" or so by the time I got up on Wednesday. Decided to get in my work early and then headed out for a run at 3:00 pm, when the sun was high, most of the snow had melted off the pavement and it was a bit warmer. I headed out onto the back dirt road, which was much slicker than I anticipated, so even with my trail shoes on it was a bit more effort than it should have been. (6.1 miles)

More snow on Thursday morning! This time of the fluffy variety, making it very easy to move, which was nice. Probably another 3" or so. Wait, is it winter again?! Got in a late night walk (or at least late for me 😂) on the track during Sam's 6:00 swim practice.  This is the last week of practice for the regular season with the statewide meet on Sunday. It's going to be nice to not always be rushing out of the house up to the Y five nights a week, but I've enjoyed watching Sam get stronger and more confident this season, and it is nice to have some built-in walking time too. Spring session starts up in May, so at least I should be able to walk outside by then! (2.2 miles walked)

Headed over to Bradbury on Friday morning after dropping Sam at school. A nice cold, bright and calm morning. Ran up to the summit and back, with fairly soft and not super packed conditions making it a bit slow going on the way up, and then headed across the street. I stuck to the perimeter trails for the most part and they had all been groomed and/or biked, leading to a pretty decent surface for running. Pretty thin in spots and definitely soft in others. Didn't have a ton of energy but it was great to get out in the woods. (8.0 miles) 

Only 3 degrees when I woke up on Saturday, so I stayed on the couch relaxing and drinking coffee for a few hours before I finally headed out around 8:00. Stuck my spikes in my pocket and ran across the street. The powerlines had only seen some foot traffic and the snow was soft and uneven. I made it down to Topsham Crossing and then took off my spikes and headed up the pavement to the back dirt road, where I put the spikes back on. That made for some great running, actually, but then it was once again off with the spikes up to the entrance to the Cathance trails. It looked promising, but the snowshoe tracks only lasted partway through the system and then it was loosely packed to totally untracked. Still, a beautiful blue sky morning and the woods and river were quite pretty. But not so good for running 😉😂Bushwacked into the edge of a yard and once again, took off the spikes and finished up on the roads. A bit of a morning mishmash, that's for sure! (8.1 miles)

The river looking lovely as usual

Untracked trail

After lunch, we joined Mom and Dad for a nice walk down to the swinging bridge. Many ducks and seagulls hanging out in the water and on the edge of the ice. It had warmed up a lot and was quite pleasant out! We enjoyed chatting away and catching up as we walked along. (1.8 miles walked)

A lone pair of ducks sitting on the upward side of the bridge away from the melee

Misty rain and 34 degree temps greeted me when I came downstairs on Sunday. I'll admit I just did not want to go out, so instead I lounged around a bit and then once everyone else was up, I finally got around to cleaning the downstairs, which was desperately needed. The cat hair was seriously building up! Eeek. 

Sunday was Sam's session at the end of the season Y State Meet. This year the meet was hosted by LRSC instead of up in Orono, mostly due to the Covid protocols for the UMaine system, I'm guessing, so we lucked out with Sam being able to swim in her home pool and only having to drive up to Bath! The Y was hopping when I dropped her off for her warm-ups, and then it was home to turn on the live stream and watch from the comfort of our couch. 

Sam set PRs in all three events! We are so proud of how she's swam this season and all the hard works she's put in. It has been fun to watch, and the meet was a great way to wrap up a strong season!

She got first in her 200 freestyle heat and came home with a heat winner ribbon 

LRSC "tattoo" 🏊💗

The meet was efficient and quick, so after picking her up (and getting a new sweatshirt, of course!), I headed out for a mid-afternoon run. The skies had cleared, the sun was shining and it had warmed up into the mid 40s. Stuck to the roads and didn't feel super wonderful, but happy to get out and get in a few miles to wrap up what ended up being a down week.  Two eagles seen in "the" pine tree along Elm Street. (7.2 miles)

February wrap-up:
159.65 miles run

18.9 miles walked

4.2 miles xc skied

5 full zero days

YTD:

303.65 miles run

37.9 miles walked

6.1 miles xc skied

9 full zero days