Fun & Grumblings

It snowed all day on Mondays, so another snowday for Sam and a work at home day for me. I'd say we got between 10" and 12" of snow. We just stayed inside all day, but Ryan got stuck traveling home in the late evening in the final hours of the storm. He had a great trip aside from all the travel issues though!

Knew there would be a lot of snow removal happening on Tuesday morning, so I didn't even attempt to go out for a run, just waited until 3:00 pm to head out. Very sloppy even so. Second half of the back dirt road hadn't yet been plowed out, which was too bad as the Inov-8s were nice and grippy on the packed snow on the other portion of the road. (6.0 miles)

Wednesday morning, thing had iced up enough that it seemed unwise to run in the darkness, and by the time I left work in the afternoon, it had started to snow again. I pretty much just threw up my hands and said forget it. Which meant that Thursday afternoon was another Highland Green run. It was reasonably warm and while the sidewalks were sketchy, the roads were clear with the exception of numerous puddles. Still, my mood was reading pretty much like this meme. Winter was seriously messing with things!😂😑😉 (6.2 miles)

Took Sam to late swim in the evening and walked around the track for my customary 30 minutes. (2.3 miles walked)

Had an appointment Friday morning to get my license renewed and then headed over to Pennelville for a run around and down to Simpson's Point. Never tire of the ocean views. Thankfully the majority of the pavement was dry and clear, with only a few ice slicks to walk over and a few stops needed due to traffic. (8.0 miles)

Sam had a sleepover at Lauren's house Friday night, so Ryan and I headed downtown to Enoteca Athena for a delicious meal and a few drinks. Cheers!🍷🍸Fun to have an evening out!

Saturday morning, I couldn't resist checking out the powerlines, but while they looked promising with the lines rolled the previous evening and at least one previous snowmobile track, the snow was much softer than I would have anticipated and really wasn't packed at all unless I hit that prior track below the rolled snow. Any wet spots were either open water, mud, frozen icy death cookies or all three. Just not quite worth the effort, so after hitting Lover's Lane, I headed back via the roads. Had to put the spikes back on as the back dirt road was a full-on ice rink. Ah, winter running, gotta love it! Spitting snow and wind on the back half, but the sky was pretty heading out on the powerlines just after sunrise. (7.2 miles)

Then it was off to pick up Sam from the sleepover and do a few errands. I'll readily admit to feel a bit grouchy and probably hungry, so when Ryan then suggested a ski at Pineland in the late afternoon, I was not at all enthused. Ha. Sam voted to stay home and relax, and I eventually came around, and really did end up enjoying being out there once we got going. Emily joined us, and it was mostly she and I skiing together, with Ryan doing a lot of waiting for us 😂 and adding on some extra kms once we decided we were ready to head back to the cars. I couldn't believe how many people were there - it was packed! - but on the other hand, it was a nice afternoon and conditions were really pretty good with some nice tracks laid down for classic. (4.7 miles skiied)

We went out for a drink after our ski and then headed home with Japanese take-out. A full Saturday, and a fun afternoon!

Another relatively early start for today's run as we had brunch plans with Mom and Dad. Headed out around 7:15 and ran down to the bike path. Sidewalks were in reasonably crappy shape, and although the connector path was fairly grippy and not a bad surface, the bridge from Elm to the bike path had not been plowed at all and was a total sh*tshow. Ugh! I mean, seriously. How is this acceptable?!

Did have a pretty view out along the river, and saw two big eagles in an old oak tree along Elm Street. Legs weren’t feeling super peppy, but just kind of kept on moving and got it done. Haven't quite managed to up the mileage this month on my long run as I had originally intended, but this was a step in the right direction. (14.0 miles)

Then it was off to brunch at Mae's. Yum! And good to catch up for a few hours with Mom and Dad 😊

Finally Winter?

Ryan has been gone all week for a conference and then for a client visit out west, so it was just Sam and I. I am more than capable of holding down the fort here on my own and Sam is a great kid so it isn't like it is any trouble - although three late nights of swim practice is admittedly tough on me 😂😴 - but we missed having Ryan around 💗He, of course, was loving all the CA and CO snow and enjoyed a fair amount of skiing, and admittedly I was a bit jealous of those beautiful mountains he has been surrounded by!! Doesn't Tahoe just look amazing?!

Meanwhile, we did get a bit of a dose of winter here this week. Monday was a holiday for Sam and I, and I could hear the sleet hitting the skylights when I woke up. Lovely. Had a few quiet hours on the couch before finally gearing up to head out for a run around 8:00 am. There was a solid coating of snow and icy stuff on the ground but the screwshoes provided more than enough traction, although it certainly wasn't a quick run between conditions and the strong winds. Ran around Highland Green and added on a loop along the river, which was pretty with the roaring water. It wasn’t doing anything when I first headed out, but the freezing rain picked back up a few miles from home - nothing like wind driven ice pellets to the face. Ouch!😂 (7.0 miles)

Later in the afternoon, Sam and I made pretzels, which is always a fun (and yummy) project! 😋🥨

Then a quiet evening at home with no swim practice,  as the Y was closed due to the weather. Tuesday was a regular day at work followed by a doctor's appointment, and then home to cook up dinner and get Sam to the Y for late swim practice. I took to the track while she swam, just for a bit of movement. (2.2 miles walked)

Wednesday, I headed out at 3:00 pm for another Highland Green run, adding on a loop down to the river. Very balmy afternoon. Roads were just wet, but the back dirt road is being torn up by all the construction vehicles and was muddy and slushy. The trail down to the river was slushy but with my trail shoes and for such a short stretch, it was fine. Can't resist a run along the river, looks the same but different every day 💗(7.0 miles)

And then another walk on the track in the evening during Sam's swim practice. (2.1 miles walked)

Thursday was a rest day from running and walking, with work, swim and grocery shopping keep us busy, and then we got the call late in the evening that due to the incoming storm, Friday would be a snow day. Sam was certainly happy with that! ❄❄

And so it was that Friday started on a quiet note, with some time spent sitting on the couch reading, some time on the computer getting things done, a bit of laundry and cleaning, and then finally after lunch, heading out for a run. I’d say we got about 6” of snow, and it was above freezing so with the ground reasonbly warm beneath and where things had been shoveled and plowed well, it was down to just wet pavement. Elsewhere things were a mix of slush and packed snow. Yet another loop around Highland Green with an add-on down to the river. A few tracks but slow going with the new snow. Still, so pretty in the woods with all the snow! The back dirt road was a mix of plowed, untracked and tracked by a big truck. Screwshoes were perfect. (7.0 miles)

The Y was closed again for the day, and honestly, it was nice to only have to handle swimming for 3 of the 5 days this week and I know Sam always welcomes a day off. The girl would just melt into her bed all day every day if she had the chance - ah, the life of a teenager 😂😂 The snow had tapered off in the late afternoon, so Mom and Dad came over for dinner. We hadn't seen them all week, so it was nice to have a bit of time to catch up! 

Sam had an away swim meet on Saturday, with drop-off for the bus at 9:45. Not knowing exactly how things were going to look in the morning, I decided I'd run after dropping her off, so had another quiet morning and then went down to the farmer's market for a quick trip before getting Sam up to the Y. Which meant I didn't head out for my run until around 10:30 am, but at least by then the sun was out and temps were warming up a bit. I had originally intended to just stick to the roads, but I couldn't resist heading over to the Gone Fishing trails to check them out, as I had seen on Facebook that they had been groomed on Friday evening. Sidewalks were definitely not ideal, with a few slips along the way even in my trail shoes, and the trails, while groomed and ridden by at least a few bikes, were still fairly soft and sloppy from my point of view in my spikes. Things definitely need to set and firm up a bit more to be ideal for running. Still, very beautiful out in the woods with the snow still stuck to the trees and nice to have things looking good and wintery! Not quite the 15 miles I was originally planning but certainly seemed like enough. (12.0 miles)

Sam had a good meet, swimming a hard combination of events, and was pretty wiped by the time I picked her up at the Y around 5:00. These away meets are long days, for sure. We got thai take-out for dinner and went to bed early.

I was volunteering at the TMR "not snowshoe" race at Brad in the morning, and decided that instead of trying to cram my run in before heading over I'd just plan to run in the afternoon. Who am I?!? 😂😂 This week sure has turned into a lot of afternoon runs! It was a reasonably small field so registration duty was fairly chill and there was some time to chat with friends before the race started. I took off shortly after the runners did their first short 1-mile loop around Knight's Wood Trail and got home just about the same time as Sam, whom Mom and Dad had taken up to Mae's for brunch - yum!! Lucky kid! After a bit of lunch and some cookie bar baking and beet roasting, I headed out for my run a little before 2:00 pm. Skies were whitening up in advance of another snowstorm coming in later tonight, but it was relatively calm out and comfortable with temps in the high 20s. Out into Highland Green again, and grateful for dry pavement without much ice to contend with. A good way to wrap up the running week, and felt fairly decent. (7.0 miles)

Fun with Friends

There was a lot of Highland Green looping this week. Tuesday was an afternoon, bare minimum, just get it done, tired kind of run. Back road was too icy so just did an out and back. (6.0 miles) 

Wednesday ended up an afternoon run too, although was at least feeling better on that run! Wore my trail shoes and was glad to have them on the back dirt road. Two deer seen and some pretty late afternoon light in the sky. (7.0 miles)

Thursday, I took Sam to late swim and walked around the track while there. (2.2 miles)

Rain overnight washed away what little snow we had on Friday, but there was a break in the precipitation around 9:00 so I headed over to the Commons for a run. Squishy, sloppy, soggy and very spring-like with temps in the 50s. Also, very windy. Took some of the side trails, which was fun but most of them are low-lying and were quite wet. Followed some ribbons off one of the side trails onto what looked like a trail extension but then got mired in a swampy blowdown-ridden area and in trying to go around, ended up at the edge of someone's yard. Decided the best course of action was just to cut through out to the road from there, and thankfully, the yard was quiet and it wasn't an issue! Oops. Sorry people. Saw one bluebird out in the Bowdoin fields. Otherwise, quiet. Was testing out the Inov-8 Ulta G 280 and was please with how they felt right out of the box, comfy, cushiony and with decent grip. Rain started up about 1.5 miles from the car, but by then I was pretty soggy anyway! (7.3 miles)

Another walk on the track on the Y later that day. It was so warm out, I was tempted to walk outside but it is not quite light enough late into the evening for that just yet. (2.2 miles)

Woke up to ice coating everything on Saturday morning and then procrastinated until the last possible moment before heading out into what I knew would be less than ideal conditions. Even Highland Green, which is usually a decent go-to in bad weather, was bad and was pretty much just a solid ice slick. Lovely. (6.0 miles)

Thankfully the main roads were fine as we were set to meet up with Keri, Tyler, Mindy and Pete in Freeport at Mast Landing for lunch. We dropped the kids off in town to shop while we enjoyed a nice lunch, drinking beer and catching up. It was so good to see everyone, and fun to hear about Tyler's race! 

Mom and Dad came over for homemade pizza and spinach beet salad for dinner later, so it was a full but fun day!

Sunday morning, I headed down to Portland to meet up with Emily for a trail tour. We parked at the community gardens outside of Evergreen Cemetary and then wandered down to the pond and then out through the back of the property to connect via some roads to the Fore River Sanctuary to check out Jewell Falls and a few other out-and-backs along the Forest City Trail. It was fun to have a tour guide for some new-to-me trail exploration! Thanks, Emily! Great to spend a few hours on the trails and catch up. It was cold and windy, with a lot of frozen mud, but otherwise the trails were pretty much clear. Longest run since No Business! (12.0 miles)

Happy New Year!

We headed home from Massachusetts after lunch on Saturday and dropped Sam off at Old Orchard Beach to spend the rest of the weekend with her friend, Lauren, on the way. Then it was home to unpack the presents, start the laundry and attempt to get things organized again before we sat on the couch to eat homemade pizza and watch Glass Onion, the perfect fun movie for the evening. I was in bed by 9:00 pm and I only managed to be up at midnight because my alarm was set for 11:55 pm so I could come downstairs to register for Rim to River 100 when it opened at 12:00 am. Yup, that pretty much sums up New Year's Eve for me! 😂 

I've never been a huge New Year's Eve fan but I do like the concept of a new year, not because I like to make resolutions, but because it's a chance to start fresh, to take on new challenges, to ponder what lies ahead and see what happens in the next 12 months, and let's face it, there's nothing as exciting as a blank training plan waiting to be filled 😄😊😉 Excited to have Rim to River on the calendar as it looks like my kind of race, with new trails in a beautiful place that I have not yet explored, and it is yet another chance to drag Ryan with me to a far-flung location in the name of racing. Sorry, Ry!! 😉 At least it looks like there will be decent food options this time around though 😂

Headed out around 9:00 am on New Year’s Day for a run on the cart paths and down to the river. Warm, with sloppy, soggy, slippy trails and paths and bright sunshine. Tired. (8.0 miles)

Then it was off to Target, the grocery store and to pick up cat food and do some more laundry. Too nice to stay inside all afternoon though, so we headed over to Skofield Shores in the late afternoon for a walk through the woods and down to the rock outcropping to take in the view. Trails were muddy and variable, but the view out onto the bay is always beautiful. Found a few American witch hazel trees in the woods too - we were too late to see the trees in bloom as the petals had fallen off but the pretty little yellow flowers were still evident. Neat. (1.47 miles walked)

Another quiet evening at home, and then up for a run on the roads on Monday morning. Bright and sunny out and right around freezing, meaning all pavement was covered in a thin icy sheen. Lovely. 😑 Still tired.  (8.0 miles) 

Kristen, Phil, Anne and Thistle came over for dinner on Monday night as a final last hurrah before heading back to work and school on Tuesday. It was great to see them and to have the chance to catch up, as we hadn't been able to do so earlier in the vacation! Overall, it was nice to have time off from work and to spend time seeing everyone, but I feel the time around the holidays always throws me out of whack. I'll be glad to get back to routine, even if it is probably going to inevitably be a bit rough this week as we all settle back in.

Tuesday and Wednesday were a bit nuts at work catching back up and tackling the long list of all the end of the month and end of the year things that need to be done. Planned to take Tuesday off from running, and then just did not get up and out in the drizzly dark morning on Wednesday, so instead settled for a late afternoon run around Highland Green. Honestly, it was much nicer out by the time the afternoon rolled around so I was OK with it. Balmy and calm, with a lot of people out walking their dogs and even saw Bill and Ian B on the loop too! Guess everyone had the same idea! (7.0 miles)

Ryan's week had also been crazy and he had a late meeting on Thursday, so I took Sam to swim and got in an evening walk. January always seems like an extra busy time of year at the Y and there was a lot of activity on the track and elsewhere. (2.2 miles walked)

Met up with Anne, Val and Mindy at Bradbury for a run on Friday. Arrived early so ran up to the summit and looped around on Tote for a few extra miles. A fine layer of snow lay atop everything, making it slightly slippery, but it was OK as long as I took it easy. Looped back to the lot just as the ladies arrived. We headed out onto the east side, chatting away as we ran along, and finished up with a trip up to the summit. Snow started falling midway through the run, adding a light layer atop the evergreens. We wrapped up the morning in the parking lot, eating delicious bagels from Maples that Anne had brought for us as a post-run treat. Yum! And great to start off the new year with some time in the woods with friends! (2.8 miles solo + 5.9 miles)

Snow continued to fall and we awoke to a few inches on the ground on Saturday. Just enough snow that spikes were useful and just wet enough that there was a lot of clumping! Headed out into the Cathance and then extended to the Blueberry loop before doing a bit of roads to finish things up. Slow going but beautiful out in the woods with a lot of critter tracks, the roaring river and all the trees covered with snow that looked like icing. (10.0 miles)

After my run, took a quick trip to the farmer's market and then up to Bath to drop Sam at her swim meet. She had a great meet, swimming some fast times! We are proud of her no matter what her times, but it is always nice to see the hard work paying dividends. 

This morning, I headed out early on the roads down to the river. Pretty morning, chilly and calm. Sidewalks were in reasonably clear with the exception of the connector path which was still solid snow and ice, plus some random icy patches elsewhere. (6.6 miles)

Trying to remain consistent and relatively conservative for this month. This was week #5 with a 10 mile run as the long run and I've hit 40 miles 4 of those 5 weeks, so the plan for the rest of the month is to remain in the 40-45 mile range but rachet up the long run to 15 for the final two weeks. It's always a balancing act through the winter, but as I am contemplating a spring race, I do want to ensure I'm building up a bit. 

Then later in the morning, I headed down to Portland to meet up with Emma for a walk on the Pride Preserve trails. Temps had warmed up so it was comfortable being out walking. Pretty woods with some neat little fairy houses tucked along the trails, and so nice to have the chance to catch up  with Emma!! 😍 (4.1 miles walked)

Gigi and Ronnie got several new cat toys in their stocking for Christmas, but of course, it's much more fun to just sit on Ryan's wet, stinky gloves 😹Ah, the cat life!