Autumn

The start of the school year signals the beginning of fall, even if the calendar doesn't quite agree for another week or so. And even more so, wandering out in the woods, on the powerlines, in the gardens at this time of year, the signs are there. Goldenrod and aster dominate the landscape, fields of yellow and white, viburnum berries turning blush pink, that scent that reminds any high school XC runner of fall - slightly sweet with hints of the fall detritus as plants turn brown, kind of indescribable, but it always brings a smile and memories. 

Monday was a late afternoon walk with Ryan to catch up after the workday. (2.6 miles walked)

Tuesday morning, I headed out at 5:20 am for a Highland Green loop. Pretty morning but it is going to take a bit to get used to dark morning run starts with a headlamp again! (5.0 miles)

Late starts on Wednesday are always welcome. Headed out at 6:25 for an out-and-back on the powerlines. Cool and crisp enough for long sleeves! Cool mist rising out on the powerlines. (5.3 miles)

Full zero day on Thursday, and then Friday, I headed over to the dump to run from there before moving on to the morning errands. Legs felt a bit heavy after strength and mobility done before I headed out, but a nice change of pace and place on a pretty morning. (5.2 miles)

We have a number of new board members starting this year at work, so Saturday was a work day, with a 4-hour board orientation event plus a bit of set up and clean up before and after. Started off the day with a road run around town. Felt a bit sluggish in the muggy air. Back at home in the front garden beds, the globe thistle, which had been chopped down by the landscapers in the early spring 😫, is blooming! So pretty. (5.4 miles)

Work event went well, and as Ryan had not yet been out for a run or walk when I got home, we headed across the street for a walk to catch up before I took a shower and collapsed on the couch with my book and a drink 😂😉So much extraverting! (2.7 miles walked)

This morning, I managed to sleep in (until 5:45 😆), went to Frosty's to pick up donuts (glazed pumpkin, the best! 😋🍩), did my strength and mobility, and then finally headed out a little after 9:00 am for a run. Ran along the Heath and through Highland Green. Nice out and felt decent. Happy to have managed to hit 5 days of running this week. Still being conservative and am going to build up slowly but hoping I can be back to my regular base mileage of 40 by October. (5.1 miles)

10th Grade!

And just like that, summer is over and Sam is back to school, and this year as a sophmore. Seriously, where does the time go?!

Monday was a holiday and a day of work for me. Got out for a mid-morning run on the powerlines, enjoying all the aster, viburnum and goldenrod - love those late summer colors! Warm and sunny. (5.3 miles)

After a quiet afternoon, we headed over to Mom and Dad's for an early dinner and then took a walk downtown for gelato 😋🍨Pretty evening. (2.0 miles walked)

Headed out around 6:20 on Tuesday for a run around the Highland Green block before heading into work. (5.2 miles)

And then Wednesday was the first day of 10th grade! 📚😍

Got in a nice walk in the late afternoon once I got home from work. With school back in session, the roads around school are busy again and the fields full of kids practicing. (2.6 miles walked)

Took a full rest day on Thursday, and then Friday, after going to the farmer's market, doing the grocery shopping, dropping the recycling at the dump, stopping at the library and then doing my strength and mobility work, I headed out around 11:00 for a run. Ran out on the powerlines again - hard to resist the late summer colors out there. (5.2 miles)

Look at that big Chicken of the Woods mushroom!

The rest of the day was fairly chill, a bit of work, some reading, and then Sam went off to the football game with her friends after dinner. 

Headed out around 8:00 on Saturday for a road run around town. Beautiful morning to be out, but tired. (5.4 miles)

Sunday dawned cool and crisp. Definitely a hint of fall in the air. After strength and mobility work, I headed out around 7:30 for a walk around the block. Beautiful morning. (3.0 miles walked)

Then it was off to Brad to volunteer at the finish line of the Bruiser. Ryan ran a great race and Emma won the series! Always fun to cheer on friends and have a chance to hang out and catch up with everyone!

Meanwhile, Sam was off at the mall with Lauren, Rohan and Kylee dress shopping for Homecoming.

And yes, and just for fun, from the archives:

@semi_rad’s Friday Inspirations’s email is always filled with interesting items. And this week, there was a link to the @appalachiantrail’s AT Hiker Photo archive ( https://athikerpictures.org/ ). So of course, I went and found us 😉😂 Too funny! We look a bit bedraggled but happy 😊 

End of August

It was a bit of a crazy work week coming back after vacation. Monday was a full rest day partly because I needed it after all our walking around Quebec City 😂and partly because my work to-do list was just a wee bit long 😜

Tuesday, I headed out for a loop around Highland Green just after 6:00 am. Very foggy and extremely muggy. Ironweed is in bloom in my garden beds out front 😍 (5.2 miles)

Wednesday, I headed out on the powerlines. Pretty morning but so humid. Viburnum berries are beginning to turn blush colored, and I found a nice patch of ladies tresses in my favorite boggy spot along the lines. (5.2 miles)

Got out for a late afternoon walk after work on Thursday. Beatiful afternoon. (2.6 miles walked)

Friday, I headed out early so that I could get a bit of work done along with my regular Friday errands before Sam and I headed down to the mall for some back-to-school shopping. Ran the cart paths, which I have not run in a while, and found that they have replaced the old bog bridges along the bottom of the Heath with a nice wide bridge. Very nice. (5.1 miles)

Sam and I stopped for lunch at Big Fin Poke for some delicious poke bowls to fuel up for our shopping trip 😂 Despite finding some very baggy fashions that clearly do not fit a small petite female, Sam came home with a good haul and we were tired out after 3 hours of walking the mall!

And these were XS! 😝

Meanwhile, Ryan was off playing golf with Dad and Rick. I think they were having fun 😉

Saturday morning, I did a road run around the block. Grateful to be back and feeling good enough to have gotten in 4 runs this week. Still being conservative though, and will continue to build back slowly. (5.4 miles)

Then after lunch, we picked up Mom and Dad and headed down to Harpswell for a walk down to the ocean through the fields and woods at Curtis Farm Preserve. Nice afternoon but still a bit muggy. (2.0 miles walked)

Sunday, I got back to my excercises and then headed out around the block for a longish walk. Muggy. (3.0 miles walked)

Hard to believe that this week wrapped up August and that school starts up next week!

And with that, here's the August wrap-up.

August:
70.72 run miles 
53.2 walk miles
0.0 XC miles

YTD:
970.72 run miles
214.20 walk miles
0.0 XC miles

With all the walking I've been doing while I haven't been running, I've already hit the 200 miles I had set for a walking goal this year. Of course, that means I am highly likely to not reach the 2,000 miles run goal I had set for this year. Oh well. Can't get it all the time!