Final Stretch

Final stretch of August, coming right up! This is Sam's last week of work as a lifeguard, as the pool is closed next week for cleaning. And while school doesn't start until after Labor Day so there is one more week of vacation left, it just feels like summer is coming to a close.

Monday, Ryan and I got out for an after dinner walk. He was headed to a Mt A booster meeting, so he stopped at the school and I looped back home. (2.6 miles walked)

Wednesday was a 7:00 am run down to the river and back. Overcast and cool but humid and absolutely no air movement. (6.0 miles)

Sam worked until 3:00 and then headed over to Abby's for a sleepover, so Ryan and I headed to 555 for dinner, which was delicious!

Thursday was an afternoon road run once I was done with work. Tired. (6.0) 

Then we headed down to my cousin Sarah's house in Portland to have dinner with her, my cousin Nick and his son, and get the scoop on Sarah and Tom's dog Sugar, who we are dogsitting for this weekend at their house while they are away. They have a cute cat too, but he was hiding the whole time. Typical cat 😂

Friday used to be a lovely day where I didn't work and mostly focused on getting in a long run along with some errands. Things have morphed in the past year and work has crept more and more into my Fridays. I've also found that as I'm also often trying to get things crossed off my to do list and get to appointments that I've scheduled on my "day off," my Friday runs have just gotten shorter and shorter. Case in point today. Got up early and got some work done. Headed to the farmer's market, grocery store and to the dump to drop off the recycling. Did some packing for Sarah and Tom's. Got Sam up to the Y for her lifeguard shift. Stopped at the library on the way home, did my stretches and exercises and then finally got out the door at 10:50. Did a random run on the roads and then up along the Heath and back on the roads. Felt rushed. Didn't even take any photos! (6.0 miles)

Then it was home to shower and eat and try to get some things done on the personal computer before a massage with Lauren, which was lovely, and then up to the Y to pick up Sam, get home and finalize packing and head south to Portland. Whew. 

Ryan had gotten down to the house earlier in the day but was on the phone when we arrived, so Sam and I headed out with Sugar for a walk before dinner. (0.70 miles walked)

We headed into town for dinner at Crispy Gai - yum! - and then had an ice cream at Beal's and wandered around a bit before heading back to the house, and taking Sugar out for another walk before calling it a night. Sugar has two speed, full on or stopping to smell all.the.smells 😂 (0.64 miles walked)

Saturday morning, I got up and headed out around 7:30 and running up the road to Evergreen Cemetary, where I wandered around without a plan. Cool out but humid. One egret in the pond and two blubirds fliting about among the gravestones. (8.0 miles)

Then it was back to the house and off to the mall for school shopping with Sam. Way too many people doing the exact same thing, but she found some good stuff. Stopped at Crumbl on the return trip, although honestly none of us were that impressed with the cookies. Still, at least we can say we tried! 

Got out with Sugar for a short walk when we got back around 4:00. Warm out! (0.88 miles walked)

After a poke bowl dinner, I headed back to Topsham for the night, to check in on Gigi and get a few things done around the house. Got up and out for a run around 7:30, running roads around town, and sporting the new hat that I couldn't resist while we were out in the Old Port on Friday night. The image is from a series of paintings by a local artist called Shared Environment. Most are of critters that people often see as pests or "bad" creatures - raccoons, fox, squirrel, pigeons, skunks, etc. Personally, raccoons are one of my favorite backyard critters so the hat is just about perfect. (6.0 miles)

After my run, I headed back down to Portland, as Ryan was off golfing with Neal for the morning. I hung out snd got done work done and once Sam woke up we got out  for a lunchtime walk with Sugar. (0.88 mile walked)

Spent the rest of the afternoon working and doing a bit of reading, and then met up with Mom and Dad for an early dinner at Empire. Delish as always! 

Finished up the way with a 7:00 pm walk around the block with Sugar. She was fun to hang out with and a very good girl for the weekend! (0.86 miles walked)

Mid-August

Ryan was away all week, but what else is new? 😂😜 We definitely are living out our conversation of the new job involving more travel! So while he was presenting at conferences and client meetings and playing a ridiculous amount of golf 🏌(all in the name of client relationships of course), things were fairly normal here back home.

Mom and Dad took Sam, Abby and Anne to Reid State Park on Tuesday, which was a wonderful treat for all of them! Even Mom got in the water, and it sounded like a great time all around! Definitely better than being in meetings all day at the office like I was 😉

That evening, I got out for a walk around the school block. Still warm out, but nice and breezy. Enjoyed watching the bumblebees on the globe thistle, and the babies out back later in the evening 😍😍 (2.6 miles walked)

Wednesday, I headed out for a run on the powerlines around 7:00. Got stung by a bee in the calf at mile 3. Ow!!!! 🐝 Thankfully I am not allergic but it did not feel nice! (6.6 miles)

Thursday, I did a mid-afternoon run on the roads around home. Warm. (6.0 miles)

Friday, after dropping Sam off at the Y for her lifeguarding shift, I headed out to run on the Whiskeag Trail and then tried to do a loop in Sewall Woods and ended up on some kinda-sorta trails with a lot of blowdowns wandering a bit and not quite managing g to make a loop 🤪🤷‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️Just keeping it chill. Left hamstring is a bit tight 😤 Gotta get back to the exercises a little more diligently! Nice morning. (6.4 miles)

Ryan was supposed to get in late Friday night but flights got delayed so he ended up staying over in Michigan until Saturday morning. 

Saturday I got up and out at 8:00 for a mellow wander. Nice morning! Definitely looking like late summer out on the powerlines. Several blackberry stops - gotta make all the stops while the berries are still out there! Definitely looking like late summer out on the powerlines. With some extra stretching and some exercises, the hamstring felt much looser this morning. Still, keeping it chill pace wise. (9.0 miles)

Then Sam and I headed into Freeport for some lunch and shopping. We ended up running into Abby, her mom and sister, and Abby joined us for our shopping trip, which was fun! Of course, we also stopped at Ben & Jerry's for some ice cream 😋🍦

Sunday, I headed out into the Cathance. I hadn't been out there in a while and wow, the river is super low. Missed the cardinal flower in bloom last year, so happy to see its brilliant red flower along the river banks! Warm out. (7.1 miles)

Back to Reality

It was back to reality, and boy oh boy did it hit! Oooooffff! 😑😩 I'm still catching up on work...

Tuesday I was up and out at 6:00 am for a run on the roads and along the edge of the Heath. Forest fire smoke was in the air, which always lends a lovely orange glow to the sun early in the morning but most assuredly is not great for the lungs! (6.0 imles)

Later that afternoon, Sam and the girls headed to the fair to enjoy some of the rides and time together! 😊🎡

Wednesday, Ryan and I took an after dinner walk around the block to catch up and clear our heads after long work days. (2.6 miles walked)

And then Thursday, he joined me in the late afternoon for a road run out to loop through Topsham Crossing. It was still warm out but there was a lovely breeze. One blackberry stop, one garter snake slithering across the sand and one spotted fawn seen. (6.0 miles)

Friday, I got some errands done in the early morning and then after dropping Sam at the Y for work at 10:00, I an on the roads up to Thorne Head and did a trail loop there before running back. Warm but breezy. (7.0 miles)

Saturday, I headed out around 8:15 for a run on the powerlines. Multiple blackberry and raspberry stops. Tired. The powerlines are looking like late summer with the purple asters out, the viburnum berries beginning to show and the blueberry leaves starting to turn magenta. (9.0 miles)

Sunday morning, Ryan headed off to the airport for a work trip, and I headed out for a short run along the edge of the Heath around 7:30 am before spending the rest of the morning volunteering over at Bradbury for the Breaker. (6.0 miles)

Then after lunch, Sam and I headed up to the Y for Jay's retirement celebration. So many people turned out to honor him for his many years leading the LRSC team and for all that he's done for so many swimmer and families. It was really lovely. The Y and swim team are going to feel a lot different with him gone, that's for sure!

Since we've gotten home, Gigi has been rather clingy 😹, and the globe thistle out front are opening  their lovely periwinkle flowers with the culver's root attracting many bumblebees! 

And to wrap up last month:

July:
147.4 miles run
58.6 miles walked
0.00 miles xc skiied
3x weights

YTD:
1,117.6 miles run
133.2 miles walked
3.34 miles xc skiied
23x weights

Paris & Chamonix! Vacation Week #2

Legs were super heavy on Monday morning from yesterday's run and walk and all the time we spent on our feet but I didn't want to waste the morning, so I finally got out the door at 8:00 am for a run. Ran up to Jardin de Luxembourgh and around the perimeter path and then headed back down to the Seine up through the Tuilleries to la Place de la Concorde and then back through the Louvre past the pyramid. (6.2 miles) 

We headed out around 10:30 and got crepes (again) before taking the Metro up to the Arc de Triomphe and making our way down the Champs Elysees. We stopped in all the stores, and let me tell you some of them were quite ridiculous, but it was fun and Sam had a blast! 

Louis Vitton

Christian Dior (with dragonflies!)

Cartier

Louis Vitton running shoes?! Crazy!

Nike store

Solomon store

We stopped for a late lunch of pizza and antipasta and then made our way down the rest of the Champs Elysees and past la Place de la Concorde and back through the Tuileries, where Sam, Ryan and Dad took a ride on the ferris wheel. Very cool views from up there!

Then it was back past the Louvre back to a stop for choux (cream puffs) at Odette before dinner. Sam had a blast shopping and it was a lovely afternoon to be out, but I was pooped 😂🤣 Shopping is way more tiring than running 😉 (5.3 miles walked)

The week in Paris went by quickly, and although I know we hit all the touristy spots and a few times the crowds were kind of overwhelming, it was still fun to take in all the sights and I think we did a pretty good job of making the most of our days. We certainly didn't do much sitting around, and Mom and Dad really held their own. A few times, Mom had more energy at the end of the day than Sam and I did 😂 I was impressed! Feeling very grateful to have been able to spend this time in such a special city with them 💗

We sent Mom and Dad off on Tuesday morning to the airport and we walked ourselves and our luggage over to the Sixt car rental location to pick up our car for the second leg of our journey out to Chamonix. Getting out of Paris by car was harrowing - the drivers and bikers were crazy - but Ryan did a good job navigating the chaos!

The rest of the way was mostly highway, with some very rural, agricultural stretches and some pretty rolling hills and the bigger mountains as we got closer to Chamonix. It was a 7 hour drive, so we didn't arrive until around 4:30. We checked quickly into our Airbnb and then went out to walk around and get dinner. Such a gorgeous spot. Very touristy though, but I can see why! We are looking forward to exploring for sure! (2.98 miles walked)

In the Airbnb

View from our window

Town views

😂

Glace!

Managed to get up and out around 6:45 am on Wednesday for a run along the river and through the valley. Temps in the 40s, bright sunshine and stunningly clear views up into the mountains. Legs felt a bit rough but I was sticking to the flats and just kept stopping to take photos - it was so pretty it was hard not to!!! 😉😂 (5.1 miles)

Then after breakfast, we headed over to the tram for our reservation to the top of the Auguille du Midi at 9:40 am. The tram heads up to the mid-station, where we got onto a second tram to go up to the summit. I am not great with exposure, it is the one true thing that panics me, so I had to be very careful where I looked, but it was a very cool view out over the valley as we rode up.

The summit is up over 12,000 feet and despite the bright sunshine, it was pretty chilly. They have created several areas where you can walk out onto platforms, up strairs and through the summit in a tunnel with windows out into the snowfields and glaciers beyond, all to take in the views safely. And truly, the views were amazing. It hardly looked real, looking out over these jagged pointed peaks and the snow. Definitely a special place to be able to visit, even if the exposure truly did rachet up my panic!

After about an hour exploring up around the summit, we headed back down to the midpoint and disembarked to get a snack at the little bar there and to soak in the views and the sunshine. Not a bad spot for a bit of relaxation, that's for sure!

From there, we hiked out on the trail to Lac Bleu, marveling at the scenery, and then continued on the Grand Balcon Nord trail out to Mer de Glace. While we were much lower than the summit, at 6000-7000 feet for this hik, we took it very easy and just enjoyed the views, stopping often for photos and water. It was a popular trail, with a lot of people going in both directions but it was easy to see why. Truly beautiful! (4.38 miles walked)

Lac Bleu

So many flowers! A lot of this Adenostyles alliariae in the wet spots.

Couldn't stop taking photos of the views!

💗💖

We crossed multiple crystal clear streams

Phyteuma

Alpenrose

Bearded bellflower

There were a number of little fritillaries flitting around amongst the flowers

An alpine succulent! Mountain Houseleek

My first thought was that this looked like a closed gentian. Turns out it is gentinia purpurea - I was thinking in the right direction!

Trifolium alpinum

More bellflowers

Prairie smoke - I always thinking the Dr. Seuss flowers when I see this type of plant

Just amazing!

Firepink as we headed towards Mer de Glace

Refuge at Mer de Glace

We stopped for a snack and to use the bathroom at Mer de Glace, and took the cable car down to the Ice Caves. Very cool side trip that we hadn't known about, but also depressing as they had signs as you descended down to the glacier on the stairs after the cable car exit showing glacier levels from prior years. The glacier has shrunk so much 😌

Cable car ride out to the glacier

View out over the glacier

Ice cave entrance

Then, after we climbed and cable-cared back up, we took the train back down into town. It made for a nice cars, trains and automobile style loop for the day, except it was tram, hike, train! 😉😂😊

We stopped back at the Airbnb and took quick showers before heading out into town for dinner. Went to a delicious taco restaurant - yum! A good end to a fun day!

Cheers!

Very yummy, but very spicy, chicken tinga and roasted savoy cabbage veggie tacos for me

We were all tired and decided on a quiet morning, heading out around 10:30 for a late breakfast and then up to the gondola up to Planpraz, and then the tram up to the Brevent summit. From there, we hiked along one of the ski trails and then veered off onto one of the singletrack trails that circled around to the Col de Brevent and down to the summit tram. Passed a number of people out doing the full Tour de Blanc route. And yes, I sound like a broken record, but boy was it beautiful! Gorgeous views across the valley to Aiguille du Midi and the entire range, as well as out the other side of Brevent to all the hills and mountains on that side. Spectacular. Oh yes, and many flowers! And an ibex 😍😍 Very cool. (2.1 miles walked)

Breakfast view

Tram up to the summit

Amazing views across tthe valley to the Mont Blanc range

Thyme

Veronica Fruticans

Field scabious/widow flower

Field mouse-ear (I love these names!)

💗💗

Veronica Alpina

Starry Saxifrage

Large-leaved Leopard's Bane

Alpine daisies

Views off the back of Le Brevent

Yes, the trail went down (in our case) these ladders. I was not a happy camper!!

More mountain houseleek

Mossy Saxifrage

Such a cool stretch of trail

Bellflower in the high alpine

Col de Brevent

Just so pretty, we could not stop taking photos!

Forget me nots

Looking down into the valley as we descend from the Col

Prickly goldenfleece

Ibex!

Taking in the views

Looking down on the midpoint

Back at the midpoint, we had lunch and then took the gondola back down to town. After a quick stop back at the Airbnb to shower and change, we headed back out to wander the streets and check out some of the stores before dinner. 

Friday morning, I headed out at 6:30 am for a run up to La Floria. Such a pretty morning! I swear the French are not early risers - town was super quiet and I only saw one person out on the trails. It was humid and a bit warmer than the past few mornings as I ran on the streets up to the access trail up to the the hut, with some beautiful views as I got up on the wide gravel road out of town. From the hut, there was a short stretch of mostly flat singletrack and then some very steep, tight, loose switchbacks down to the ski area gravel road, which was very steep. And I suck at steep loose trail stuff so the way down took me way longer than it should have 🤪😂😬🤷‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️ Once off the hill, I took the trail back to the Airbnb along the river. It was fun to get up into the mountains for a short bit! (5.0 miles)

When I got back, Ryan headed out for his own run adventure while Sam and I got packed up and the Airbnb organized for our depature. Then we all did a short mellow walk down along the river and back before stopping at Rose du Pont for a delicious lunch. Hard to imagine ever getting bored of these views! (1.8 miles walked)

And with that, we said our goodbyes to Chamonix and hit the road for the 8 hour drive back to Paris, where we arrived at the airport hotel all feeling a bit loopy, tired and hungry. Had a late dinner down at the bar and then headed to bed. Travel went smoothly on Saturday, with no real lines, no delays and no hassles, but it was a long day with the time change. We were all happy to get home to our own beds, but truly, this was the most amazing vacation. Feeling so grateful to have had such a great trip, and be able to spend time in Paris with my parents and get to experience the beauty of the Alps in Chamonix with Ryan and Sam 💗💗

With the long weird travel day on Saturday, I didn’t sleep great but I got up and out around 7:15  for a run on the powerlines. I was happy to get out and feel ok, even if I did keep the pace very chill. It was a berry trifecta type of run with a lot of berry stops. (10.0 miles)