49!

Holy crap, how am I 49 years old?!? It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that I am now only one year away from being 50. Perhaps this is just how you feel as you progress in age, but I always thought of 50 as so.old and now I am just about there, and while I am most assuredly not the same bright eyed and bushy tailed young girl that I once was and I have to acknowledge that things are a bit more creaky, there are many more bags under my eyes, I take a while longer to recover and on and on in many ways, on the other hand, I don't feel old. You know? It is a strange dichotomy. 

In any event, it was a slow start to the week on the running front, but otherwise, life has been speeding along at a high pace with work and swim. 

More snow than anticipated fell overnight Sunday and into the morning hours on Monday, so Sam had a 2 hour delay. Then as last Friday night's swim meet was rescheduled to Monday evening due to Friday's weather, we spent a few hours at the pool in the evening, cheering on the team and enjoying the extra festivities for Senior Night. Such a fun atmosphere! And Sam won her 200 and 500 free events too. So exciting! 

Ryan was down on the deck timing and got this photo during one of Sam's events: 

Look at those shoulder muscles!

Fun on deck

Senior night fun

Left work early enough on Tuesday to get in a run but was feeling tired and rather uninspired so I went for a walk around the school block instead. A bit icy. (2.1 miles walked)

Wednesday was late start and then I had a 9:00 meeting, so I headed out to Highland Green around 10:30 for my first run of the week. Back to my old habits 😂😂 Icy enough on the sidewalks and back road that I was glad I was in trail shoes. Also meant I could do the river loop on the mostly packed trails and be ok. Always nice to get down to the river, and pretty with the snow on the trees. (6.0 miles)

Thursday, I took Sam up to the Y for swim practice and then headed out on the roads for a run. Overcast, damp afternoon, and I was definitely overdressed. A pair of common mergansers seen in the inlet. Just getting it done, but woohoo, actually got in a few sub-9:00 miles there - HA! Maybe finally coming back? (6.0 miles)

Frosty's has been closed for their January break, but opened up Thursday, so on Friday morning I headed out early to not only get the grocery shopping done and library books and recycling dropped off, but to pick up some donuts! 😋🍩Delish!

Then it was off to Brad to meet up for Val for a run. Great to catch up and the trails were nicely groomed and packed. Almost balmy out there, so the trails were a bit tacky with the spikes towards the end but pretty great! Always nice when there is good snow running! (7.5 miles)

Friday evening was another swim meet, this one up in Augusta, so we all went up to cheer. Sam had some solid races and looked strong! And it was a bit smooshed but sort of fun to sit right on the deck to get some closer-up photos!

Look at that rise coming out of the water! Movin'!

Saturday, I was up early and headed out around 7:30 for a run on the powerlines and Gone Fishing. No 49 mile or 49k run to celebrate the day, definitely not in shape for that 😂, instead the longest but still just barely double-digit run since Rim to River will have to do 🤪 Cold and windy. Powerlines either really nice or the opposite. Gone Fishing groomed but quite icy underfoot. (10.0 miles)

Then it was home to eat a donut with my protein recovery drink before doing a few errands and dropping Sam at the Y for yet another swim meet 😉😆

Multi-tasked and watched the swim meet live stream along with the Olympic marathon trials, which were fun to see! And then it was over to Mom and Dad's for some champagne to celebrate, a delicious dinner and of course, the requisite crazy cake! Thanks, Mom! A nice way to wrap up my birthday day 😊🎂💗

Sunday morning dawned cold, bright, and breezy. Ran roads around Topsham and Brunswick. One eagle seen soaring over the Highlands. And a Jeremy Litchfield sighting. Finally managed to get in the miles for a 40 mile week 🤪 It's only taken three months. Ha! 😂😂 Then it was home to a piece of cake with my protein recovery drink! 😉😋(10.4 miles)

Sam and Lauren went to see a movie, have lunch and to wander around Target in the afternoon, so Ryan and I headed over to the Cathance for a walk after lunch. It had warmed up and a nice afternoon for a spike walk in the woods. Trails were fairly icy, but as always pretty along the river. (2.25 miles walked)

January wrap-up: 

113.54 run miles

9.37 walk miles

0.0 XC miles

This is my lowest mileage January in a number of years, with Covid, even though mild, definitely knocking me off track. But, as always, grateful to be able to get out there nonetheless. And the hope for February is to keep the mileage steady at 40 miles each week, and start back up with some strength training, which I really slacked on at the end of 2023. That will hopefully put me in good stead come March to up the mileage and add back in some hill training.