Nice and Easy

Yesterday's run was 5 miles along the bike path with Snowman. I wanted to get the run in before lunch while it was still relatively warm and sunny, so we headed out around 11:15. The bike path was totally clear, and we enjoyed a nice, mellow run, despite the strong headwind on the way back. Saw a pair of hooded mergansers swimming in the opening waters along the river's edge, as well as a richly colored robin and a really bright cardinal, gleaming in the sun. I was excited and thought it might be a tanager, but upon reviewing its song at home, we came to the conclusion that it was a cardinal.

I had intended to get up and run 3 miles this morning before work, but Snowman turned off the alarm and I didn't get up until 8am! Guess I was tired! Oh well, I'll get another run in on Saturday to round out the week.

On an unrelated note, they have closed a section of Route 1 in Woolwich, which is smack dab in the middle of my commute. This morning I got caught behind a single-wide mobile home making its way north. Ugh. The detour is along these windy residential streets, and this oversized load sure did cause a lot of issues! People were swerving to the side to get away from it; a few tractor trailers coming in the other direction were looking pretty angry and all of us behind him were moving along at a snail's pace. This is what I have to look forward to for the next three months before they fix the bridge and reopen the road! Fun fun :-)

Adventure in the Commons

Snowman and I just got back from a run in the Brunswick Town Commons. We must have both been craving a break from the bike path, as when I suggested a run with our YakTrax in the Commons, Snowman said he'd been thinking of the same thing. Probably should have waited for a day when the snow was a bit more solid, as with yesterday's rain and the warm temps the snow was pretty soft, but it was nonetheless nice to be doing something different than running on pavement! A good change of pace.

Along the main drag things were packed down pretty well. Many people use the Commons to walk, run, xc ski, bike, walk their dogs, etc, so there had been a fair amount of traffic on the trail. Being relatively light, I stayed a bit more on top of the snow than Snowman, who while by no means heavy, still has 35-40 pounds on me. Eventually we broke off from the main path onto a narrow more single-track-esque trail which meanders through the woods, breaking off here and there into different routes through the area. As foot traffic got lighter, the snow was less compact and both of us were slipping, sinking and sliding around. Probably only a 3 mile run, but definitely a good workout! Eventually we looped around to the main path, enjoying the harder packed snow on the way back to the parking lot.

And now we're off to meet Nate, Shannon and little Finley at Frontier for dinner! Yum!

Katahdin

As this week is vacation week, there is no Nordic Meisters, so we are home for the day, Snowman working and me with a bit of free time on my hands. I spent the early morning running around town doing errands and then drove up to Lewiston to go to the Bates Art Museum.

David Little, an artist I know through the gallery, had been involved in creating an exhibition that was showing at the museum. The exhibit, "Exploring a Contemporary Vision of Conservation at Katahdin Lake", featured works by artists who had participated in the conservation of the area around Katahdin Lake, which was subsequently transferred to Baxter State Park for preservation forever. There were two charcoals by Marston Hartley as well as a work by James Fitzgerald of Katahdin, both well-known early 20th century Maine artists, and then a series of works by the contemporary artists. Very neat. In conjunction with this exhibit was a display of photography depicting different scenes and areas around Katahdin Lake and along the Thoreau-Wabanaki Trail. Some interesting photos of people skiing, snowshoeing, canoeing, etc.

I was glad I made the trip up to check the exhibitions out. And boy did seeing those images of Katahdin make me yearn to get up there. What a magical place. Can't wait for September!

A weekend of eating...and a bit of skiing

Snowman's parents came up for their "Christmas present" this weekend. The present being a weekend at our house, complete with a homemade dinner, free xc skiing and a nice dinner out. They drove up to Great Glen on Saturday and enjoyed a ski there. The plan called for them to take a Snowcoach ride, but it didn't work out... turns out the coach they had planned to go up in got stuck in a ditch so maybe it worked out for the best! They followed Snowman home through the backroads of Maine and New Hampshire, over the huge frost heaves on Rt. 119, just in time (before I started without them!) for chicken cacciatore and pumpkin pie made by yours truly (I know, a random combination but yummy).

Sunday morning after a breakfast of banana bread, we headed over to Pineland. It was a beautiful day, although a bit windy. We headed, as is our custom, out into the Oak Hill loop, where the snow was really pretty nice! We made our way slowly along the trails, enjoying the woods and chatting. Snowman and I got in a bit of "up-tempo" skiing by adding on some of the additional loops of the main Oak Hill trail along the way. As we made our way back to the visitor center, we noticed it had gotten really crowded. There were a lot of people out enjoying the skiing today! Always great to see :-) Hungry from all the skiing, we had sandwiches at Foley's Bakery, and then went home to relax a bit and clean up before, yup, you guessed it, eating again!

Our dinner reservations were at Azure Cafe in Freeport. Lots of Italian this weekend! We enjoyed a long dinner complete with an shared appetizer of seafood cake, salad, chicken marsala and tiramisu and coffee for me. Yum! We attempted to walk off a bit of our dinner by wandering through LL Bean. Not sure it did much, but we did enjoy looking at the fish in the new aquarium!

Then, as if we could possibly be hungry again, we capped off the weekend with breakfast at the Broadway Deli in downtown Brunswick. It was pouring, warm (45 degrees) and foggy. Not much else to do but eat on a day like today, right?! :-)

A great weekend! Thanks for visiting guys!

Slip Slidin' Away

After Wednesday's storm of 6-8" of snow, followed by sleet, followed by rain, followed by cold temps, all of which made for some wonderfully thick ice out and around town, I did not get a run in yesterday morning. However, it warmed up into a beautiful sunny day which, combined with Brunswick's clearing of the bike path, made it possible for Snowman to get his run in during the afternoon. So, I figured it would be smooth sailing this morning. Perhaps with a few patches of ice to content with, but nothing that I couldn't handle. I awoke to a thick dusting of snow. Hmmm... perhaps it would be a bit more interesting on the bike path than anticipated. Oh well. I was up, so off I went.

My car was on the only one in the lot at 7:01 am, but Brunswick DOT had already made one pass along the path, clearing most of the snow off one side. Not perfectly, but enough to be able to distinguish between the pavement and the ice. I decided not to don my Yak Trax, as although they do a great job, they definitely feel heavy on the feet. They would have helped in some spots, but in others, they would have just been dead weight. I made my way along, waving multiple times to the plow guy as he went by three times during my 5-mile out and back run. You have to give these guys credit! Things pretty much went run run run, slip, run, shuffle, slip, run run run, slip... Not my most graceful effort, but all in all a good morning run and not super slow either (43:00), which given the conditions I was happy about. And now it's off to work!

Perfect Blue Sky Day for Nordic Meisters #4

After a fun dinner with friends Nick and Sue, and a sweltering night in Snowman’s apartment here at Great Glen (Snowman finally closed the heating vent around 2am, which made things a bit more bearable), we awoke to crystal clear blue skies and a gorgeous view of the Presidentials covered with snow. What a nice change from yesterday! However, the temps were still hovering in the low single digits, so I waited until around 10am to head out for my week #4 Nordic Meister (everyone else's week #6) ski run. The sun was shining and there was no wind so it seemed warmer than the thermometer reading of 10 degrees, which was nice. I felt much better on my skis today, thank goodness! The snow was a bit slow and I could hear it crunch underfoot as I glided along, but I attempted to keep relaxed and enjoy the ski. My unofficial time was 25:17, which seemed pretty good to me, but who knows? As I was finishing up my ski, Snowman was headed out for his warm-up so I joined him on a short loop through the system before coming in for lunch. Definitely a great day to be out on the trails!

Photo of me skiing along the field is courtesy of Snowman (aka the Marketing guy at Great Glen)

Whipping Wind and Blowing Snow

Sounds like a great day to get out and xc ski at the base of Mt. Washington, right?

7 degrees and very windy with high gusts blowing the snow around the Great Glen lodge.

However, we had come up to ski, so ski we did. I was all excited to get two days of skiing in a row, so we bundled up and headed out. I hadn't been out on my skis in two weeks, and I think that combined with my rushing across the fields to escape the winds caused the ski got off to a bit of a rocky start for me. I couldn't get my hood up; I put my poles on wrong and got them tangled up, causing me to do a face plant as I attempted to fuss with them and continue forward simultaneously; then Snowman had to help me fix my poles a few minutes later. Ugh! I was all flustered. But eventually I got into a better groove, and despite the cold and wind, the skiing was great. Once we got across the fields and into the woods, the winds died down and we were able to enjoy the quiet trails (surprise, surprise, there weren't many other people out today!) and nice snow. And boy is there a lot of snow! It has been a great winter so far up here.

It turned into a nice hour-long ski, and I'm glad we braved the wind and cold to get out there. Plus, as we were stopped to fix my poles, I saw a downy woodpecker working away at the bark on one of the birch trees. Always nice to see a bit of wildlife out in the woods :-)

Hello Sunshine

I awoke this morning a bit later than planned but happy to see the sun peeking out! It has been a bit of a gray sky week, so this was a nice turn of events. It was cold (10 degrees) and crisp out as I headed out the door to get a short run in before work. With all the snow on the ground, combined with the slush and ice from earlier this week, I was back to wearing my Yak Trax. I headed down to Highland Green, enjoying the sun and the nice clean new snow on the ground and covering the pine tree boughs. Not a super fast run, but good to get out one more time this week.

Snow, snow and more snow

This has been a weather week... from dry to rainy to slushy to snowy, we've had it all. Currently, it is snowing... still... We received about 5" yesterday and more of the light fluffy stuff has been falling from the sky since this morning, piling up outside. It looks like winter again out there, and it sure does look pretty! As I was brushing off the car this morning, one of our neighbors grumbled and said, "I thought we were done with this!" But really, it's only the 8th of February (and Snowman's birthday! Happy Birthday old guy :-)), so winter shouldn't be over quite yet! I'm looking forward to enjoying the snow next week up at Great Glen, and maybe getting out to play in it this weekend too :-)

The Next Event

So, now that the 10-miler is completed, it's time to focus on the next event. Yup, there's another running race in our future: The Pineland Farms Trail Challenge on May 25th. Although we ski at Pineland in the winter, we have not yet used the trails in the "off-season." But we do know that the system is well designed, with many rolling hills through the fields and woods of the Pineland campus. The race offers three options to us crazy trail runners: a 50 miler; 50k (31 miles); or 25k (15.5 miles). Being as we are crazy but not that crazy, we plan to do the 25k. And then enjoy the BBQ and free beer at the Memorial Day picnic and awards party :-)

So, with this event in mind, there's a lot more training to be done! After a few more days of stretching and recovery, I plan to take a look at the calendar and see what needs to be done to run a good 25k in a few months. Should be fun!

Recovery Run (I hope!)

After a day of nothing but sore muscles and sitting around yesterday, I really wanted to get out and do a short run today in the hopes that things would loosen up. We awoke to wet, sloppy snow, so I spent the morning doing errands and doing things around the house. Finally, the snow stopped and I managed to cajole Ryan into moving away from his computer where he was immersed in work and get both he and I out the door. As we headed for the bike path, a cold mist fell. Not many people out on the path today, but it was nicely cleared, which made for an easier run. We settled into a mellow 9-minute per mile pace for our 3-mile run, which didn't feel all that mellow, but which will hopefully help us feel more like ourselves by tomorrow!

10 on the 3(3)rd

We couldn't have asked for better weather for the Mid-Winter 10 mile Classic. 35 degrees, no wind, overcast. Perfect. Arriving an hour before the start, we went through the typical pre-race routine: got our packets and nice long-sleeve wicking t-shirts, hit the bathrooms, did a bit of stretching amidst the throngs of racers (691 finishers), went for a brief warm-up, met a fellow Bowdoin alum (it's a small world in southern Maine!), put on our timing chips, another trip to the bathroom, more stretching, final bathroom trip and then a quick jog to the start, just in time. Phew. The gun went off, and away we went! The first mile was a bit uphill with a few rolls, but despite that, with all the crowds of people around me taking off quickly, I went through a bit faster than I would have liked, 7:40. Oh boy. Time to take it down a notch. The next mile was pretty hilly, and that slowed me down a bit naturally, so I hit 2 miles at 16:00. OK. That's better.

Hmmm... Well, I felt pretty good. Maybe I could keep up 8-minute miles for the rest of the run. It was worth a shot. The course mellowed out a bit, and the next few miles went by relatively smoothly with me hitting 8-minute miles pretty consistently. Cool. I got passed, I passed a few people, I caught up to a few more, and the miles kept flowing. I also, as usual, managed to to get into these strange voids between packs of people throughout the race. I am not sure why, but this seems to happen to me often during races. My theory is that once I get at a comfortable pace, I can quite literally keep at that pace without much effort, and even if I feel I'm going faster or slower, I'm usually not and am steadily plodding along, as other surge and drop around me. Who knows...

I was feeling pretty tired by mile 7, but was still keeping a pretty even pace. At mile 8, I noticed my right arch feeling a bit tender. Turns out I had a nice nickel-size blister there. Ugh. Anyway, knowing I was nearing the end, I tried to keep up the pace and when we hit mile 9, I really wanted to pick it up... Well, most of mile 9 was uphill, and although I could see the big line of runners in front of me, I could not quite manage to pick many of them off. Oh well. I kicked it in as much as I could during the final stretch, even managing to smile when Snowman's "Happy Birthday" reached my ears right before the finish line. What a birthday morning :-)

My time was 1:20:39 (8:04 pace); 293 of 691 and 16 of 44 women in my age group. I'm pretty happy with that! Meanwhile, Snowman did awesome, putting out a great effort and finishing in 1:12:15 (136th). Wow! You can check out the final results here. If you're ever looking for a good mid-winter run, this is it. The Maine Track Club put on a great race!

After the race, both of us were feeling pretty dead. A bit more exertion than expected perhaps, with my pace taking more effort than I would have liked. After stretching and showering, we had some pizza and ice cream and headed south to Neal and Kendra's in Boston to watch the game. Snowman drove while I slept in the passenger seat. Boy was I tired! Anyway, hanging out with those guys was a good way to end the day, even if the game's conclusion left something to be desired. All in all, a wonderful birthday, complete with a good run, phone calls from my friends and family (thanks guys!) and a good dinner too! No complaints here :-)

Day Before the Race

Snowman and I went for a 20 minute run this afternoon to get out the kinks and get a little blood flowing in our legs before the race tomorrow. It was also a nice way to unwind and reflect on the past few days. We had been down in Massachusetts Friday and today for Snowman's grandmother Edith's wake and funeral. Although Edith had been sick for a while, it was still a sad occasion. We heard some nice remembrances of her over the weekend, and hope that she is now at peace. She will be missed.

Mellow 3

I took yesterday off because I was tired, so today I got up and out the door at 7am for a short 3-mile run before work. I felt a bit creaky and am still a bit stuffed up (This whole cold thing has just got to go! Be gone, I say!), but it was good to get the blood flowing. In any event, I'm as ready as I can be for Sunday's race. Snowman and I plan to get in an easy 2 or 3 miles on Saturday to work the last of the kinks out and that's about it. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather and look for me in the middle of the pack :-)

Nordic Meisters #3

Well, this is actually week #4 for Nordic Meisters, but as I was home sick last week, it's my week #3 :-) Snowman had a meeting in Lincoln this morning, so I made the drive over to Great Glen myself. Couldn't miss two weeks in a row! It was a beautiful morning, complete with a glimpse of the Pressies as I crested the hill in Hebron. And the views from Great Glen were even better! Blue skies and wonderful scenery, made even better by no wind and moderate temps. And the snow coverage was great. Pretty fast conditions. Can't beat it. I finished in 24:40, which I was pretty happy about considering I'm still recovering from this cold that just does not want to quite go away. Maybe it was the new poles! Nate gave me a great deal on a set of last year's poles that just happened to be my size. Nice and light. A good upgrade from the pair I've been using the past few years.

After my ski, I met up with Kim and little baby Nolan, and we all went out for a mellow spin around the fields, Nolan enjoying the ride in his pulk and Kim getting in an extra workout pulling him around! It was great to catch up with Kim, who I haven't seen for a while.