Fall

Officially fall on the calendar, and finally feeling like it too.

Monday was a long day at work and Tuesday too, with the auditors in the office for our annual financial audit, and honestly just did not have the energy to run. Wednesday, however, I did actually manage to get up and out for an early morning run and caught the sunrise over the Androscoggin as I crossed the connector bridge. Beautiful. A nice morning for a run even if the legs did feel a bit creaky. (7.0 miles)

Thursday was an afternoon run on the powerlines. Lovely to not be soaked in sweat 😜 - yay fall! Nice out. The powerlines have that autumnal smell to them, like drying grass and ripened berries. I don’t quite know how to explain it but I always love it. (8.0 miles)

Friday morning, I headed over to Wolfe's Neck for a run after dropping Sam and school and doing a few errands. Beautiful morning. Legs a bit heavy but being down by the ocean always makes me smile. Asters galore along the roads. (10.0 miles)

Then it was Ryan's turn to get outside - he and Dad went up to the Meadows to play golf! Fun!

It was too nice to stay inside all afternoon so once Sam got home from school, I took a solo walk around the school block. (1.7 miles walked)

We had a quiet weekend with nothing on the calendar. Honestly that was kind of nice, and as I was taking a down week, I was in no rush either weekend day to get out the door. Finally got out on Saturday around 10:30 for a mellow meander on the powerlines. (6.0 miles)

And then after lunch, dragged the rest of the fam out (or at least the kiddo 😉😆) for walk. We headed to Long Reach Preserve and enjoyed the quiet trails. Overcast with very flat light down along the water, but the bog was showing some lovely signs of autumn, with the white cotton sedge highlighted against the red moss in the bog and some of the swamp maples starting to turn. (2.0 miles walked)

Sunday was another lazy morning, with some time spent reading on the couch and enjoying pancakes made by Ryan - yum! I finally headed across the street for some hill repeats on Mt. A. around 10:00. Nothing special, but good to get in a little vert to wrap up the week. (7.0 miles)

Hurricane?

It was a busy week at work, and I pretty much didn't even try for a midweek morning run. Sigh. Didn't run Monday or Tuesday, although Ryan and I did get out for a late afternoon walk around the school block on Tuesday. Started misting partway through our walk. (1.7 miles walked)

Rain on Wednesday meant that I pushed off my run until the afternoon once the rain had stopped. Headed out on the powerlines at 3:00. Soupy, saturated, squishy, and so many puddles. A few remaining blackberries and many mushrooms. Plus the viburnum is looking lovely. (8.0 miles)

Last of the season...

The afternoon running leaves me with heavy feeling legs but the daylight is nice. Another 3:00 run on Thursday. Ran a loop out in the Cathance. The view of the Heath is always so pretty, especially on blue sky day, and still so many mushrooms. Warm. (8.0 miles)

Love that view!

Friday morning, I headed over to Brad after dropping Sam at school and getting a few errands done. Overcast and cool out with temps in the high 50s. Looped around the mountain side. Legs were not quite on board but at least I got some hills in. (10.0 miles)

The talk all week was of Hurricane Lee, and the fact that it was inevitably going to make waves (literally and figuratively) in Maine on Saturday. However, it seemed the storm broke up a fair amount once it hit the cold northern waters, and while I know Downeast Maine was getting hit harder than we were, it mostly seemed like a non-event. I headed out at 8:00 and ran a road/trail mix loop around town. Eerily quiet out there, well except for the whipping wind! 🤪 Seems like most people were heeding the warnings and staying indoors. Honestly it wasn't that bad out, with only a few sprinkles, a fair amount of small debris on the ground and some strong wind gusts thrown in. I definitely won't complain though. (10.1 miles)

We did end up venturing out after lunch... for ice cream with Mom and Dad 😂😂 I mean, what's better than taking advantage of the Fielder's Choice take-out window during a hurricane! 😉😆😋😊

Sunday morning dawned bright, cool and breezy as I headed out a little before 8:00 am. Stomach was off from the start so modified the goal a bit to just get to 20, but happy to be able to get it done. Lots of small debris down but otherwise things in decent shape out there. 7 deer, one monarch, and lots of aster and goldenrod. (20.0 miles)

Anne was home from MSSM for the weekend, so Sam joined the whole clan for Bowdoinham Days before heading to Rocky Ridge for some apple picking and apple cider donuts. I met up with them there, because can't miss out on that annual tradition with them!😊 A good way to wrap up the weekend!

💗

Still Hot and Humid...

Started off the week with the Labor Day holiday. Met up with Emily down in Yarmouth to run the Westside Trail. Earlier in the summer, we had explored part of the trail but I had never been to the end before. It was a beautiful, summer-like, bright, warm and humid day. We had fun chatting away as we ran along, and even ran into Emily, Ian and the kids, who were out for a walk. What timing! Of course, we were only 2 miles into the run and the second we stopped to talk, I started sweating like mad. 😂😂 The powerlines were awash with aster and goldenrod - so pretty! I didn't get any photos but we did stop at the beach by the Cousins Island bridge on the way back so that Emily could jump in the water so I at least got a few on the run photos there. I did take off my socks and shoes and wade in up to mid-calf, but that was enough. Ha! Definitely feeling like it was taking a bit too much energy to keep up with Emily by the end. Maybe a bit too much to run 6 days in a row the week after a 50k, even if the mileage was relatively low?! Oops. Oh yes, and most likely, darn that age gap!😉😜Ha! But all told, a fun run and a good way to start off the day! (10.2 miles)

Then it was home for a quick lunch and Sam and I were off to pick up Dad for a walk. Mom was out looking for an outfit for our friend Al's funeral later in the week and Ryan was headed back to MA for our friend Jon's dad's wake. Aie. 😢

The three of us had a nice time catching up as we walked through the fields and woods down to the water's edge. It was high tide, so there was no beach to walk on but still, always lovely to get down to the ocean. And for the second time in one day! (1.5 miles walked)

Snuck in a quick run around Highland Green on Wednesday between dropping Sam off for late start and getting on a call at 10:00. Summer conditions continue... another warm and humid day. (6.0 miles)

Ryan spent the day on Thursday prepping for his Friday colonscopy (oh the joys of getting old, and I’m so excited for mine in November 😬😬😫😫), and then on Friday morning, after I dropped him off at the hospital, I headed out for my run from there. I knew there were some trails around the campus and it appeared from the Strava heatmaps that there was some connection from there down to Thomas Point Road, so I just figured I'd wander around for a while. The trail loop on the hospital grounds was much more technical - narrow, rocky, rooty - than I would have expected! I'm guessing it doesn't get much use. Took an old road from there out to Thomas Point Rd and got in a few road miles along the marsh before heading back. Pretty. The procedure went more quickly than I anticipated so I only got in part of my run before Ryan was ready to be picked up and we headed home. Definitely warm. (6.0 miles)

After I made sure Ryan was OK and was settled in on the couch, I changed into a new, dry set of running clothes and headed across the street for my remaining miles. Looped up through Highland Green, along the back dirt road and back on the powerlines. Found a nice patch of ladies tresses in the boggy area where the cotton sedge and rose pogonia also bloom. (4.0 miles)

The ideal scenario for Saturday was to get in the long run, but it was insanely humid and already (or still??) 70 degrees when I headed out at 7:20 am and I just did not feel great and had no energy so it turned into another 10 mile day. Ran a loop through town, mostly road but with a few trail sections mixed in. Not ideal but it just means I'll be getting up early on Sunday to get in the long run before I head to Bradbury to volunteer for the Bruiser. As always, nothing like long run procrastination. 😭😜 (10.1 miles)

Ryan wanted to get some movement in after a morning spent on the couch, so I joined him for a late afternoon walk around the school block. Way too hot. (1.7 miles walked)

Then of course, because I had to get up early, I didn't sleep well. Sigh. Ah well, I was out the door a few minutes before 5:00 am this morning anyway. Dark for the first hour. Still humid but temps were only in the mid-60s so it was at least cooler than yesterday! Ran the cart paths twice before running some roads, looping around on the Foreside trail and then back up into Highland Green for a few more cart paths and road miles to finish things up. Five deer, one fox and one red eft. Felt reasonably OK energy-wise but of course, soggy and soaked by the time I was done, and doing a bit of beating myself up over having originally wanted more than "just" 20 miles for my long run this week. But glad to have had the drive to get up and get those miles in regardless, especially at the end of a rough week conditions-wise for running. (20.0 miles)

Then it was off to Bradbury, where it was fun to catch up with friends while helping at the finish line and to cheer all the runners in! 

And just because, here is Gigi looking cute 😻