Busy But Quiet

Is it possible for a week to be busy but also quiet? A weird combo perhaps, but that is how I'd characterize this week. Ryan headed out of town on Wednesday for a work trip, and Sam had a lot of things on her social calendar catching up with friends, so there was a lot going on but I also ended up having a fair amount of time to myself at home. Like I said, busy but quiet. 

Monday was a zero day and Tuesday, it poured all day until around the time I finally headed out for a run around 4:00 pm. But there was still so much moisture in the air and it was so heavy, it didn’t much matter anyway. Still finished soaked. Started on the roads and then hopped on the cart paths once I saw the empty golf course parking lot. Some cool mushrooms, lots of puddles and one deer. (7.0 miles)

Dropped Ryan at the airport on Wednesday morning and then headed home to work the rest of the day. Sam went out to lunch and to see the Barbie movie with Anne, Thistle and Diane, and said it was fun. And yes, of course they all wore some sort of something pink! 😎

It was too nice to stay inside all day, so at 11:30, I headed out for a walk around the school block. Warm. (2.0 miles walked)

I had taken Thursday off thinking Sam and I might get in some sort of mother-daughter day fun but it turns out she had other ideas 😂😂 and ended up having Rohan over in the afternoon and then I dropped the two of them plus Lauren off at the Topsham Fair for a few hours in the early evening. 

So instead, I got some things crossed off my to-do list and got in a nice run out in the Cathance without having to rush out super early. Headed out around 8:00 am. It was nice out but still pretty humid. The river was roaring with all the recent rain. Humid and rainy, this is the theme of the summer here! 💦 Some cool mushrooms, and so many blackberry stops - I just can't resist! (8.0 miles)

Friday, I headed across the street for some hillwork on Mt. Ararat. Not the strongest session, but some hills are better than no hills, right? Nice morning, if still a bit humid, and the trail stretches were slick and squishy. (8.3 miles)

While I took the cats to the vet and got some chores done, Mom and Dad took Anne and Sam to Reid for some beach time. I think they got the better end of the deal 😂 and they had a lot of fun in the water too!

Sam was invited to join Lauren and her parents for a day at Funtown Splashtown on Saturday, so I didn't start my run until after they had picked up at 9:15. Definitely a late long run start for me! I meandered around on the roads and trails around home. Nice morning, warm and sunny with a bit of a breeze. Felt decent although too many stops and also just can’t pass up the blackberries 😂😋 with a longish stop at home at mile 18 as I’d run out water two miles back. Decided to ditch the pack at that point and ran the final four close to home. Happy to have finally surpassed 20 miles in this training cycle! Two bluebirds, one deer, one snake, coral and black trumpet mushrooms and a boatload of blackberries. (22.1 miles)

Sam stayed with Lauren's family at their OOB condo overnight, so Mom and Dad invited me to join them for pizza at Nomad with gelato for dessert. Yum! A nice evening with them 😊

Got up early and out to the door so I could start my run over at Bradbury at 6:30. I ran a loop of the Breaker as a course check and then looped around on the mountainside on the trails I enjoy more than the Boundary and South Ridge 😉to get in some additional miles, finishing up with a final out and back mile on the east side to round things out. Trails were really sloppy and slick, with the air soupy, saturated, stagnant. No air movement and a lot of deer flies. Lots of mud, slick roots, and mushrooms. After taking a few miles to warm up, legs felt surprisingly ok. Happy to round out the week with 40 miles over 3 days. (10.0 miles)

Then I helped at the start/finish aid station and had fun catching up with Emily while we cheered on runners and filled out water cups! After our shift was done, it was nice to have the chance to chat with people as they finished up their runs for a bit before heading home.

Sam got home in time for us to join Mom and Dad for dinner and then we wrapped up the weekend with a stop at DQ 😉🍦

And to finish up the post, your Gigi shot of the week... Sam was trying to organize her string for her bracelet making, but Gigi decided it would be better if she just lay down on top of it all. Silly Gigi 😹