Vacation Week

I woke up on Monday feeling rather creaky from all of Sunday's running and walking, and even though this run would make it 50 miles in 6 days, and 6 days in a row of running, not something I particuarly subscribe to or would normally do, I decided I didn't want to waste the holiday day off and finally, after a fair amount of stretching, headed out to run around 9:30. Just took it easy and the legs loosened up as a ran along. Nice morning with lots of birds chirping and the two resident eagles seen perched on the railroad bridge along the Androscoggin. (7.0 miles)

I picked up Sam after lunch and then Mom and Dad joined us for dinner, and it was nice to have a chance to catch up with everyone!

Tuesday was a much needed rest day and then Wednesday even though it is getting nice and light out earlier and earlier in the morning and I didn't actually need to be out in the darkness, I still ended up running at 3:00 before taking Sam to swim practice. Ooops! Good to get out though and thankfully my legs didn't feel all that bad. Things were a bit icy but I was able to loop around on the back dirt road as they had put an additional layer of dirt on the road by the quarry so it wasn't a mud bog! (6.0 miles)

Got home just as Mom and Dad were dropping off Sam after lunch and some shopping down in Portland, and the requisite trip to Fielder's Choice, of course! A fun vacation day for her and good to get her out of the house!

Then it was off to swim practice, where I took to the track for a walk. (2.1 miles walked)

Snow started late on Wednesday night, and we awoke to it looking like winter outside again! With the weather, it ended up being a quiet day with no running. I worked until noon and then Sam and I made pretzels and she worked on redoing the photo collage in her room while I did some stuff around the house and Ryan worked. 

It's always a gamble as to whether it is wise to get out early on the day after a snowstorm or not, and in this case, I chose to get the grocery shopping and some errands done first, and finally headed out around 10:30am. Ran out into Highland Green where the roads were fairly slushy, but I also got in some nice tire-tracked screwshoe running out and back on the back dirt road. Bright and sunny but very windy! (7.0 miles)

After lunch, we all headed over to the golf course so we could finally get out for a family XC ski! 😍And only a wee bit of whining from the kiddo about having to join us 😜 A beautiful afternoon out in the woods, and they had gotten out and machine groomed the preserve, which made for some nice skiing! Sam and I did a short out and back and then headed home to get ready for swim practice while Ryan got in some more time on his skis. (2.0 miles xc skiied)

😍😎

Saturday, it was back to Highland Green for the morning run. Bright and sunny but very cold with feels like temps at -7. Brrr! 😰Mostly clear pavement with some short stretches of ice, and the back road had been plowed and actually was pretty nice even just with my road shoes. Looped down into Topsham Crossing for some additional mileage, and then was happy to head back home to warm up. (8.1 miles)

Sam had her last regular season swim meet, so after a quick trip to the farmer's market, it was off to the Y, and back home to get some things done around the house amidst watching the meet. Sam had really solid swims in all of her events - she has really gotten strong this season!

Sunday was another cold morning but with no wind, it seemed slightly more moderate than yesterday. Still, I got very frosty out there! Headed out at 6:50am for road run around town. Beautiful along the river, with the trees along the banks all frosted over and the sun shining through the morning clouds. Still had a fair amount of packed snow and ice to contend with on the sidewalks and side streets, but doable. A few less miles than I had originally intended for the weekend, but felt good and know I still have a lot of time to build up, as I have decided to skip a spring race and am just working to stay consistent with weekly mileage a few miles on either side of 40 through the winter, which so far I've managed to keep up since mid-December. (12.0 miles)

Frosty! ❄

Then it was home for a quick snack and a costume change and out to Pennelville to meet up with Emma for a mid-morning walk. Temps had risen enough that it wasn't frigid, and it was still wonderfully calm as we walked along the quiet road out through the fields to Simpson's Point. Always good to catch up with Emma, and never a bad view out at the point! 💗(4.0 miles walked)

Mom and Dad are coming over for dinner tonight, which will be a nice way to finish up the weekend. And with that, vacation week is a wrap and it's back to reality tomorrow! 

Mid-February

We are now solidly in mid-February. School vacation is next week. Our birthdays are past, and for Valentine's Day this year, I threw together a meager bag of candy for Sam and called it good 😂 Can you tell we are not big on holidays in this house?! 

Monday was a swim walk, and an outside one at that! Sunset is now just after 5:00 pm meaning I very comfortably got in a 30 minute walk before the sun even started to set. It was a bit chilly, but so nice to be outside and not walking in circles on the indoor track. (2.0 miles walked)

Tuesday, I didn't get up and out early and then had late afternoon meetings and a new employee starting so I couldn't sneak out early. Ah well...

Thankfully Wednesday I was working from home, so I was able to get a bit of work done early, drop Sam off for late start and then head out a little before 9:00 for my run. An overcast and calm morning for some miles in Highland Green. (6.5 miles)

Ryan had a late meeting, so I took Sam to swim for 6:00 pm and got in a walk on the track. (2.2 miles walked)

It most definitely turned into a spring-like day on Thursday, so warm in fact that when I headed out a little after 3:00 pm, I was wearing shorts! This is pretty much unheard of in the winter-time for me, but seriously it was so warm. I did the Highland Green loop, which was pretty much a bad idea as the back dirt road was a sh*tshow, with deep mud, ice and slush. Oops. It was kind of fun, although the road shoes definitely are now a bit worse for wear 😂😂 (6.0 miles)

Friday was overcast with temps in the high 30s, and I almost made it through my run before the rain started, but did get a bit wet in the final two miles. Nothing like rain and 30 degree weather - pretty much the worst! Ugh. Not the nicest of days, but the view out at the point was lovely, with high tide and almost glass-like waters. Did 10 x 60 sec on/90 sec off after the first two miles, as I would like to work a bit on some turnover in these upcoming months before full-on 100 miler training kicks in. (8.0 miles)

Sam headed off to OOB with Lauren and family for the weekend, so Ryan and I headed downtown to Enoteca for a fun dinner out. As always, delish!

Coffee martini- yum! 

With no plans for Saturday, I had a leisurely morning and then went to the farmer's market before heading out for my run. We had gotten a thick dusting of snow in the evening hours on Friday, which made for a nice surface to run on out on the powerlines, adding a bit of tackiness atop the ice beneath, but also making the uneven surfaces a bit harder to make out. Between that and my legs feeling rather sluggish, it was a bit slow going, but a nice morning to be out, and so many animal prints seen in the new snow! (8.1 miles)

Sunday was Val's birthday run up at Riverlands. She's been holding these fatass style events for a lot of years and it is always a fun day! So while Ryan headed up to Mt. Abram to ski, I headed up for some miles with friends. But first was the walk in to the island (1.5 miles walked) - a good chance to chat and catch up with Mindy, Tami and Nicole - before we started the run. 

As I said to Janel in the parking lot, only Val could convince such a large group of us to get up early on Sunday and walk out over the ice to an island in the middle of winter 😂 It just shows how much we all love her!😍The run route consisted of a 6-mile out and back on the snowmobile trail. Ran a bit with Dana as we headed out and then caught up with Peter for the remainder of the miles, perhaps pushing the pace a bit too much as we were chattering away. 😉Then back at the island for a few oreos and fritos before heading back out on loop #2, this time with Billy and Tyler. I don't often have the chance to run with either of them so it was good fun catching up and running together. Tyler took off in the last few miles to finish his miles up with a fast finish, but Billy and I were both going farther so we just kept up a more reasonable pace. Ha! 

Val caught Billy, Tyler and I finishing the ice crossing as we headed back out for loop #2

I wanted to get in 15 for the day, so I headed out for another 1/2 lap, then realized Billy was right behind me, so stopped and let him catch up so we could run together for a bit longer before I sent him on his way to keep running and I turned around to head back to the island. The fun part of this sort of out-and-back was seeing everyone at different stages. It made for a great energy for the day! Overall, a lot of fun with a beautiful day, solid ice and decent conditions, even if the snow was getting a bit soft in the sun in the end. Such a fun celebration 💖(15.0 miles)

The only downside of the day was the long walk out, but nice to be able to chat more with Mindy, even if I wish we could have just been transported back to the car. Ha! (1.5 miles walked) All in all, a really nice way to wrap up the week, and definitely got in my steps for the day.😂

Variable

The weather has been extremely variable this winter with big shifts in temperature. From -40 with windchill last Friday to 48 this Friday. Wow! That is a serious swing.

Had two back to back late afternoon/early evening meetings on Monday so didn't even get in a walk for the day. Then Tuesday was an afternoon run on the Highland Green roads. Legs felt a bit heavy after Sunday's long run but a nice afternoon to be out. (6.2 miles)

Then it was Ryan's turn for an evening meeting, so I took Sam to swim and walked on the track. (2.1 miles walked)

Wednedsay I was working from home, so headed out mid-morning. We had gotten an inch or so of snow overnight, so the roads were a snowy/slushy mix, the back road was a bad idea with snow on ice and the short stretch of powerlines that I ran featured some decent sticky snow, but with no traction, it wasn't ideal. I just couldn't resist trying it out. Ha! 5 telephone pole strides in the final mile, as I really would like to feel less plodding on my road runs. Guess I had better work some speed or hill work into my routine! 😉😂 (6.4 miles)

Friday morning, I had really hoped to get out on the trails but with warm temps overnight and predicted to get near 50 during the day, I knew it wasn't the day for it. So, I settled for the next best thing, a road run out on the roads around Pennelville and out to Simpson's Point. My favorite road running spot. Balmy, damp, foggy, calm morning with two bluebirds seen and a neat foggy view out at the point. (8.0 miles)

Ryan headed over to NH so he could ski on Saturday with Peyron so it was just Sam and I for the weekend. We kicked things off with supermarket sushi and Wild Oats treats for dinner on Friday night - veggie brown rice sushi rolls, edamame on the side for some extra protein, wine (because why not!) and a delicious cream puff for me - yum! 😋🍣🍪

Temps dropped enough overnight that I thought I had a chance at a trail run on Saturday morning. It was right around freezing when I headed out at 8:00 am, with bright sunshine and a stiff wind. The early stretches of the powerlines were riddled with postholes from people getting out on the trails yesterday when it was warm - grrr! So annoying, and ankle-busting too! But once I got beyond Topsham Crossing, the trail was in fairly decent shape overall and it was good solid running. I added on a short stretch of the Gone Fishing singletrack, which were in OK shape except for the big dog and the deer prints on the trail. Definitely not completely ideal conditions but nice to be out on the trails. (8.3 miles)

We had dinner over at Mom and Dad's and had some fun decorating heart-shaped cookies too 😊

Had plans for a longish road run this morning, but didn't quite manage to get out as early as I had intended, and so made a slight pivot and decided on a shorter trail run so that I'd be back in time for Anne to come over and hang out with Sam as planned for the day. Conditions were much firmer than yesterday and I got further out on the Gone Fishing trails on some of the lesser used sections which were nice and smooth. Still a lot of deers using the trails, as evidenced by all the tracks! A bright sunny and calm morning, and by not trying to cram in the miles, I ended up being much happier and feeling less stressed because of it, so all in all, a good change of plans. (10.1 miles)

Later in the morning, Anne and Sam made some lovely pink heart-shaped rice krispie treats, and may have gotten sprinkles all over the floor in the process 😂😉

Funny cat pic for the week: Not quite sure Gigi understands the correct way to use these weights... 😹😹 Silly kitty!

Here's the January wrap-up:

174.6 miles run
18.9 miles walked
4.7 miles xc skied
6 full zero days

COLD!

The week started out normally enough, with a day off on Monday and then an afternoon Highland Green run on Tuesday. I am just coming to accept these afternoon Tuesday runs 😂 although hopefully once we get a bit more morning light in the spring and there isn't fear of black ice, I'll get back to some more morning running! Mostly clear pavement but still some patches of ice at the seams of the sidewalks, etc. Out and back since the back road isn't really usable right now. Windy! (6.1 miles)

Wednesday, I was working from home so I headed out mid-morning in between meetings and hit the powerlines. A nice bright crisp morning to be out, and while the powerlines could do with a bit more traffic and were on the soft side, it was doable. Didn't have a lot of time so kept it short and sweet. (6.0 miles)

Ryan was over in VT for work, so I took Sam to late swim and got in a walk on the indoor track. (2.2 miles walked)

Thursday ended up being a total day off from activity too, as Sam woke up not feeling great so stayed home from school and didn't go to swim where I had planned to walk, and I had to be in the office for both a 9:00 am and a 3:00 pm meeting. Ugh, Sam has been sick a lot this year. I really don't like keeping her out of school but sometimes it just seems like the best course of action. Thankfully this time around it seemed to just be most congestion and nothing more.

Friday was actually a day off from school due to a professional development day, which was nice for Sam as it meant another day to rest. But the talk of the day was the crazy cold front moving into all of New England on Friday. Even without any wind, temps were predicted to get down to close to -20, with temps dropping throughout the day. 

But no matter, it was my birthday and a Friday, so I had planned to meet up with Val and Anne for a run at Brad and so just bundled up with lots of extra layers! I started around 9:30 to get in a few extra miles, and as the sun was bright and I was protected in the woods, it didn't seem all that bad and honestly I was hot from the run up to the summit!

Got in 2 miles on the dot once I got back down to the lot to meet up with Val and Anne, and we headed out together for some miles over on the east side. The mountain bikers have been out in force, and with their grooming and all the traffic, the singletrack was pretty sweet! Best trail running of the winter for sure, and so nice to have a chance to be that crazy runner out in the cold weather with friends 😎😂😍 (2.0 solo + 6.0 for a total of 8.0)

They surprised me with delicious ricotta cookies that Anne picked up from Maple's as a birthday treat. I am so blessed to have such nice friends 💕 Of course, it was too cold to stand out in the parking lot this time around to eat our treats together but so sweet!! And yum, that was a delicious cookie too!

After lunch and a few errands, we headed over to Mom and Dad's for dinner and birthday cake. I am one lucky girl to not only have my parents nearby, but to have my mom bake my favorite cake for my birthday. Thanks Mom! 💖Can't believe I'm 48 but what can you do? Time just seems to fly on by, and I still feel young at heart!!😉😊😆

And yes, this was the temp when we left their house. BRRR!!!!! 💨💨😰😰

Needless to say, we dripped the faucets, opened the kitchen cabinets, and had the heater, our only source of heat in the whole house, cranked up as far as it would go, with a space heater going in the corner for a few hours before bed too just to keep the pipes as warm as possible. On nights like this, I am incredibly grateful to have a roof over my heat and the means to heat it. I know this is not a given, and while I know there were warming centers open in most towns to help those in need, it shouldn't have to be that way and that is a sad thought for a cold night. 

The wind howled all night, and the thermometer was still reading -14 in the morning. Thankfully, we did not have any frozen pipes and the house was toasty warm. Sam had an away swim meet, so I got her up to the bus and did a few errands around town. Temps slowly climbed but the wind was still whipping, and yup, it was cold out there 😉😆 Finally, after lunch, temps were reading above zero, so of course, I thought, well, it's warmed up, let's go for a run!! Never said I was sane 😜😜 It definitely felt colder than Friday but once again, I just bundled up and I was fine while I was moving. I drove over to the Gone Fishing trails, and was mostly protected from the wind and enjoyed the nice twisty singletrack that had been groomed and packed by bikers. Got some nice eyelash-sicles while I was out there too! And then I happily came home to eat leftover birthday cake 😋 (6.1 miles)

Thankfully, the forecast was right and the cold, while insanely intense, was fairly short-lived and by the time I got up this morning, it was in the high teens. Much more reasonable! I suited up and headed over to Brad for my long run. Couldn't resist taking advantage of the nice singletrack over there! Headed out a little after 8:00 am and looped around on the east side for a short bit before running up to the summit. Always a pretty view!

From there, I took Boundary down to the Connector, all of which had been packed and tracked, but definitely not as smoothly or with at much traffic as the east side. Some serious ice as I was climbing up towards the trail to Tryon, and while it wasn't nearly as easy or fast as the really packed east side singletrack, it was fun to just wander out into the woods and enjoy the quiet, calm morning. Still had a bit of time when I got back to the parking lot, so headed back across the street for a few more smooth east side miles before looping back to the lot to meet up with the TMR group. 

The lot, which had only had two cars in it when I headed out, was now packed to the gills with cars and bikers. It was like a convention or an event, but no, apparently it was just a regular Sunday. Wow. So.many.bikes. The TMR group was doing the Beautiful Loop, which of course, was appealing, but a 10:00 am start and knowing there was potential for some less than ideal conditions depending on snowmobile traffic, had caused me to decide on my own plan to start at 8:00 and then join up with them for whatever remaining miles I had left. Turns out, it worked out perfectly for me to join them out to the corn field and then turn back. The snowmobile trail seemed in better than it had on Friday and was actually pretty solid running, with some ice slicks in spots and a few wind-drifted stretches. It was fun to catch up with Manuela, Steve and Rick during the run, and although I was starting to get hungry in the final few miles, I felt pretty solid energy-wise which was great, as this was definitely the longest effort in a while! (16.0 miles)

Then home for more cake 😋😂, some house cleaning, a bit of relaxation and spaghetti pie for dinner. Yum!