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)