First Snow

First snow of the season this year happened this week, although really just a solid dusting. But it sure does make everything look beautiful!

Val has also started up a TMR December Advent Calendar challenge, so that has added a bit of extra fun to my runs this week.

Monday morning was a two-hour delay for school in the morning due to the weather, and then a very long day at work due to a 4:30 meeting. Sam was happy for the extra sleep and I just got some additional work done at home downstairs in the quiet kitchen before heading into the office after I dropped her off. 

Tuesday was yet another very long day at work due to an all-day training followed up by a 5:00 board meeting. I did manage to take a slight break in the late afternoon in between the two, and got in a walk around the school block with Ryan, which was much needed. Too much sitting! (1.7 miles walked)

Finally got out for the first run of the week on Wednesday 😂😂 Back to my old bad habits! But I managed to get out of the house on time at 2:00 pm with all of Sam's swim stuff and with me all ready to run, so I'm calling it a win! I ran the roads from the Y and then circled through the cemetary on the way back. Nice, cold afternoon with some pretty late afternoon light. (6.0 miles)

Thursday was another afternoon run, this time around the Highland Green block in new shoes. Nice, cold afternoon with a very pretty sky. Also finally managed my first TMR advent square - a wingprint in the snow. Back road a bit sketchy in the road shoes. (6.0 miles)

Friday morning, Ryan took Sam to school so that I could get in an early morning run, but not so early morning that I was running in the dark. 😉 Crisp, calm morning with a sliver of moon and Venus seen as the sky lightened, and sun rising over the Androscoggin. Very pretty. The connector and the bridge stretches were slightly iced over and rather sketchy. (6.0 miles)

After a quick shower, I headed down to Portland to pick up coffee and visit with Emma for a while. It was great to catch up, and good to see her doing well after her surgery! I wished I could have stayed longer, but I had to go into the office for a few hours for a meeting. Silly work!

Sam had her first high school swim meet on Friday night! It was up at the Rockport Y, so while she rode the bus with the team, Mom, Dad, Ryan and I drove up to cheer her and the team on. Both teams were pretty small, so the meet was relatively short by our standards, and it was so fun to see the team together and watch Sam swim well! She swam the 200 free, 100 fly, and then a 50 and a 100 in two separate relays, PRing in both her individual events and finishing strong for her team in both relays. We didn't get home until around 10:30 but it was well worth it! Way to go, Sam 😊

Waiting for her laps in the relay

Headed out on Saturday for a run on the cart paths. It was a bit of a lollygag with a mixed bag of conditions and too much stopped time trying to search for 8 separate deer tracks for a TMR advent square 😂 Lots of other tracks too! (6.0 miles)

The rest of the day was spent Christmas shopping, and I think we could all agree that it was quite tiring! It's the most wonderful time of the year, indeed 😉😆😏

A rather lazy start to the day today, as honestly the weather did not inspire me to hop right up and out the door! Finally got out around 9:30. Fog and mist and temps in the highs 30s made for a rather damp run down to the river and back, with anything that had been traveled upon now rather icy. Felt a bit tired and creaky, but happy to finish up the week with 5 days of running and 30 miles. Pretty much exactly where I should be during this point of recovery and return to running after Rim to Rim. (6.0 miles)

Turkey tracks frozen in the mud underneath the ice

The original plan for the evening was to head up to Boothbay for our annual Gardens Aglow visit, but with the nasty weather and the gardens closing early, we were able to reschedule, which we did. However, we still headed over to Mom and Dad's for dinner and for some sugar cookie decorating! A fun end to the day!

Happy decorators!