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!