Crazy (T)Rain

Amy and I had planned to meet early this morning for a run. But we cancelled due to the heavy rain, thunder and lightening. I was bummed to miss out on a run with her, but not so disappointed to miss out on a run in the crazy weather. So, I happily settled for a trip to Frosty's with Sam and Ryan instead. Yum, donuts! It seemed like the great start to a potentially lazy, rainy, inside holiday day, but what did I do when we got home? Why what else but don my running gear and head out into the exact weather we were trying to avoid this morning. Sometimes I really do question my sanity!

I got soaked very quickly, both by the rain and the deep puddles along the powerlines. I ran up Tedford and looped around on the back dirt Highland Green road to the ecology center, where I did the small lollypop down into the woods to check out the river. Running high along the banks, for sure. Then back to the road until I hit the pro shop, where I ran the cart paths. A plus to the rain was that no one out golfing today :-) I finished off my miles by running back along the powerlines with one snowshoe loop up on the Mt. A. trails thrown in. Got in a very soggy 10 miles, but felt good and was glad I pushed myself out the door to get in some good miles despite the weather. Maybe it's good to be a crazy runner every once in a while after all :-)

A Day Off

It has been a long time since a weekend day has passed by without either, or both, of us fitting in our runs around family time. But today, we both took the day off, and it was lovely. We loaded up the car with beach gear, and headed up to Reid State Park with my parents, my sister and Morgan. And amazingly, although it was Sunday of Labor Day weekend, when we arrived at the parking lot at 10:00 am, there were hardly any cars parked at Mile Beach! We win!

It was overcast with a thin fog bank out along the horizon, but honestly, all that made for perfect beach weather as it wasn't all that hot. The skies cleared on and off throughout the day, and we had a great time walking the beach searching for shells, playing at the edge of the waves and in the sand. It was high tide when we arrived and the waves were strong, so we didn't stray far into the water, but we had a great time.

In the surf

Running from the waves

Smile!

Fun at the beach

Walking the beach

Buried!

So silly

Sand fun!

For lunch, we headed over to neighboring Five Islands, and sat at the edge of the harbor, eating seafood and ice cream, and soaking up the views. 

Now that's lunch with a view

Cousins

Traditional Maine lunch for Dad and Ryan

Five Islands view

Family portrait

It was the perfect day off! Thanks Mom, Dad, Kristen and Morgan! We had a lot of fun :-)

Long Run Fail

Hard to call it a long run fail when it's a 3 hour run. But it was supposed to be 22 miles, and it only ended up being 15.25. Aie. Mom and Dad very nicely agreed to take Sam this morning so that Ryan and I could get in our long runs together. Since we had to work with Sam's sleep schedule and get her down to Falmouth to Kristen's and then get back to the Brad, we didn't actually start running until 9:00 am on the dot. We saw Jim, Nathan, Jeremy and Alan in the parking lot. They were looking pretty sweaty. Clearly, it was pretty humid out. But I honestly think it only got worse while we were out there. Or maybe I'm just looking for an excuse. Either way, the humidity was not my friend today and it put a big damper on the running.

Things started out well, out on the east side portion of the BBU course, when we ran into Jamie around 2 miles in. He turned around and ran with us, and it was fun to catch up. Back at the parking lot, none of us needed to stop so we continued on the course. At the top of the Ski Trail, Jamie headed to the summit and Ryan and I continued on the course. I told Ryan at that point that I could feel I was dragging a bit. The legs just didn't have much umph and I was soaked with sweat. But on we continued, and while I wasn't feeling great, things were OK. I stopped near the Quarry turn-off to pick some blackberries - yum - and then headed on down the hill. I think we held it together pretty well until the end of the road portion, after which it truly became a slog and there was a fair amount of walking involved. Both of us were feeling really off and it showed. The miles ticked by slowly. I actually did pretty well on the uphills, up Tote Road and up Lunch Break, but didn't have much energy on the downs or flats. A 13 minute mile here, and there. Yikes. Neither of us were willing to call it quits before we finished the BBU course, but somewhere in those final few miles, I told Ryan I was done as soon as we hit the parking lot. I ran out of water partway up Lunch Break and that just sealed the deal. I had consumed 60 oz of water and although I felt like I had to pee, and stopped a few times, nothing came out. It was time to stop. I am sure I could have slogged on, but it honestly was feeling like that simply would have been detrimental. I am blaming the humidity for most of the sluggishness, although when I looked at my log tonight, I realized that today's run brought me to 57.5 miles for the week (Sunday through Saturday - still on that schedule on my training calendar even though I'm now off on Saturday and Sunday) with 10 1/2 hours of running/hiking/walking time. That is very high for me, especially considering I've only put in two weeks over 40 miles in this training cycle so far. Low mileage? Probably. But it's what I've got, so I'm going with it. In any event, I'm trying not to be too rough on myself about today, although I am disappointed to once again not hit my mileage goals for the day. 

Hopefully next Saturday morning will be crisp and clear. I'm planning on hitting the trails early for 24 miles before we head out on our camping trip, and I really want to have a good long run! Man, this training thing is tough. I am certainly still figuring out how to make it work, but with 2 months to go, there is still time to redeem myself (or at least I hope there is!!).

Afternoon 8

I changed into my running clothes at work, and one of my co-workers asked me how much I normally run. I told him that today I was "just" running 8. From the other room, I heard the other Danielle in the office yell, "Just?!" Hmmm... I sometimes forget that what seems like a normal afternoon run of no big significance to me doesn't always seem so to others :-) Guess that's ultrarunning for you!

Headed out into the Commons around 12:30. The sun was warm, the breeze was cool, but it was surprisingly muggy. I ran what has become my "typical" 8-mile lollypop loop - 3.5 through the trails in the Commons, the 2-mile Pennelville loop, and the more straight shot route back to Bowdoin for the remaining miles. A nice, if sweaty, afternoon run. My legs still felt a bit tired from Sunday's effort up in Acadia, but I realize this is just part of the game. Tomorrow's 22 at Bradbury might hurt a bit, though ;-)

Pre-Dawn Run

5:30 am. Pitch black.

I wait a few minutes.

5:37 am. Just enough light that I leave my headlamp at home and head out into the murky darkness, where I bumble along the powerlines in the low light. The air is heavy. The sweet scent of ferns fills my nose past Highland Green Road. It's still dark as I head down the hill past Rt. 24 at 2 miles, and it's evident there's to be no sunrise today with the heavy cloud cover.

I scared up a little mouse (white footed?) on the return. It jumps and scampers right into a rock with a little squeak, then heads off into the grass at the edge of the trail. Funny little thing.

Despite the mugginess, fall is definitely on its way. We're losing daylight fast.

Nice 6 miles to start the day.

Creaky Recovery Run

Worked a half day today, and got out for a run around 1:30. It was fairly warm and humid, and to say that the legs were creaky was a bit of an understatement ;-) Headed down to the river and took my time enjoying the singletrack. Took the back dirt road and powerlines on the return trip and was able to move the legs a little faster, but I certainly wasn't setting any speed records today! 6 miles in 1:00:48.

My Day as a Working Mom

Ryan commented that I could have compiled this. It is perfect. Could be me on any given day, and even better, it's complete with animated images:

My Day as a Working Mom

But in case you'd prefer to see photos of the cute little munchkin rather than laugh hysterically at an article poking fun at the realities of a working mom's day, here are a few from the past week. My parents's have been up visiting, so you know what that means! Yes, exactly :-) Photos!!

Cute kids (and kitties)

Fun in the splash pool

Cousins

Wolfes Neck

Exploring

With Pippi at the water's edge

Snacktime with Neenie

So happy!

Acadia Weekend

Mom and Dad nicely agreed to watch Sam for us this weekend so that we could have a short getaway. Thanks Mom and Dad! We left around 10:30 yesterday and headed north. Some of the swamp maples were starting to turn red along the marshes as we neared Bangor and exited the highway. We arrived at the Acadia Visitor Center a little before 1:00, marveling at the blue sky and wonderful weather. We donned our running clothes and headed up the spur to the carriage roads. Our route took us around Witch Hole Pond. The air was dry, the scenery, as always, was beautiful, and we did a lovely 5-mile loop before heading into town for a late lunch. Lunch was followed up by a bit of walking around town - we even ran into Judson's wife, Autumn, which was fun - before checking into our hotel. We couldn't just sit inside on such a gorgeous afternoons, so we headed back out and walked down along the Ocean Path before dinner.

Playing tourist

Dinner was, of course, followed up by ice cream and Ben & Bill's. Yum!

A whole row of deliciousness!

This morning, after a sad free continental buffet breakfast at the hotel, we set off for this morning's adventure. Ryan had devised a loop that started us at the Eagle Pond trailhead, ran us along the road for a mile or so, then up on the North Ridge Trail to the summit of Cadillac. It was another perfect morning. Cool and crisp with blue skies and warm sun. Awesome. We were chipper and happy at the start, enjoying the climb and the views out over town and ocean.

Up the ledges

Great running

Happy runners

At the top we took the obligatory summit photo, and then headed down the South Ridge Trail, which had gorgeous views out along the ridge and was great running until we hit treeline.

South Ridge vista

Summit photo

Ryan running along the ridge

We did a fair bit of hiking both up and down the mountain, but ran when we could. It really was fun! We hit Rt. 3 having run/hiked almost 8 miles in 1:45. Then it was up the road, a quick scramble up onto the Park Loop road then up onto the carriage roads to Jordan Pond House. We stopped to refill our waters, go to the bathroom and take a quick break at Jordan Pond, and then it was back on our way. Still miles to go! We took the "Around the Mountain" loop back. We've done this loop before, but never having already run almost 10 miles beforehand. The carriage roads, while very well-graded and totally runnable, on this loop, begin fairly benignly but it is a long climb, with the final stretch along the edge of Sargent Mountain being mostly above treeline with great views and steeper grades. I felt pretty good for about 2/3 of the way, but the pace definitely slowed in the last few miles uphill. My legs simply wanted to do something else other than climb. There was no chance to use other muscles. 

No photos after South Ridge, so here's a map of our route instead :-) 

After a brief stop at the top, we headed on out. The way down was, well, mostly downhill, with one other up that was rather mean, and which neither of us remembered. The downhill actually might have been more painful. Again, simply because it was so consistent. At the turn-off to Eagle Lake, it was more downhill. We saw a ranger biking up and Ryan stopped to ask him where junction 8 was. Turns out we went the wrong way. Argh! I was pretty worked at this point and ready to be done. So to hear that we'd just added miles to our trip was not what I wanted to hear. Aie. Then, we both ran out of water. The day had gotten warm and we'd been doing well hydrating. Yes, Aunt Betty Pond was gorgeous - covered in water lilies. But the route seemed to drag on. We hit 20 miles and the end was not in sight. We just going. My Garmin had died before we even started the run so I didn't have that to look at. So what else to do but keep running? Slowly and a bit painfully. I had one small almost-meltdown near the end. I just so wanted to be done! And ta da! There was the carriage road along the lake. We were done. Hurray! 22.25 miles in 4:09 moving time, with about 25 minutes of stops added on. We probably bit off a bit more than we should have with this one, but it was one heck of a run, and although we both struggled in parts, we did it. Epic MDI long run mission accomplished :-)

Overall, I think we averaged around 15:00/mile over Cadillac, but once we got off the technical stuff, most of our miles were in the high 9:00s, with the final 2 miles of the climb in the "Around the Mountain" loop in the 10:00s and the final 2 miles of the whole run in the 10:00s too. I ate well until around 3 hours, at which point, I didn't. Think I managed 3 gels, 2 full bags of honey stinger chews and 3 shot blocks during the whole run, with about 60 oz. of water consumed, and I would have had more if I'd had any left in my pack :-) I definitely had a few low points, but mostly I just kept reminding myself "relentless forward motion" and "keep moving." We went through long stretches without talking, just toiling away side by side or a few steps apart, but it was really great to be able to go on a long adventurous run with Ryan! Overall, I'm calling it a success and definitely a good training day!

We headed to Two Cats for brunch, arriving just before closing. We almost fell asleep at the table, but were revived by the deliciousness placed before us. Yum! 

All worn out

Two Cats - yum!

It was a fun getaway, and even more fun to have Ryan healthy enough to go on a crazy run adventure with! Many thanks to Mom and Dad for allowing us to have a bit of time together. Sam, of course, had a blast while we were away, but I think we were all happy to be home together this evening!

And with that, I'm headed to bed!

Friday

Just a quick post before I head over to Sam's daycare for the end of the summer party, which includes a big bounce house in the backyard. Sam has been talking about the bounce house for days. I think she is just a bit excited :-) I love that my job is flexible enough that I can take a summer Friday off. I am lucky, indeed.

Dropped Sam off this morning, ran a few errands and then headed over to Bowdoin to run in the Commons. Although the air was warm, the breeze was lovely and it was a beautiful morning to take a wander through the woods. Had hoped for a few more miles, but ended up with 6. I could have pushed for more, but it just felt silly to do so. I'm still recovering from the sinus infection and while I feel so much better, I still feel a bit tired. This week is a lost cause in terms of mileage anyway, so a few miles isn't really going to make the log book look much better :-) I'm just hoping I have enough energy to get through a good long run with Ryan on Sunday. We're headed up for an overnight in Bar Harbor tomorrow night (thanks to Mom and Dad for watching Sam for us!), and Ryan has been scheming a big loop through the park for us. Looking forward to it!

And now it's off to the party :-)

Back to the Land of the Living

Well, not running 20 miles on Sunday might have turned out to be a good thing after all, as by Sunday night, I was feeling pretty badly. Incredible sinus pressure that then coupled into intense ear pressure on Monday, making it feel like someone was jabbing something into my left ear. Lovely. Ryan will tell you it left me feeling rather cranky. The pressure was so intense I couldn't sleep, and nothing, not sudafed, cold meds, ibuprofin, claritin, nor a combination of the above, was helping. So, Tuesday morning I headed to the doctor. Yup, massive sinus infection. "Oh," she said, "you have a lot of swelling going on." Indeed.

Well, thank the heavens for antibiotics, because by yesterday afternoon I was feeling pretty good. The pressure was gone. I was still stuffy with a lot of nasty snot, but I actually felt almost 100% myself again! So, of course, last night, I decided I'd try to run this morning :-) Just to get the legs moving, you know.

Up in the darkness, and out at first light. The sky was a soft pink color, and a low mist was rising above the fields. As I popped out of the woods at the end of Mountain Road, the pinky-orange sun was emerging on the horizon, casting a gorgeous light on everything. Running along the Heath, the cotton sedge was blooming, little white orbs sitting atop green swaying grasses. Stopped for a few blackberries at the end of the powerlines, sweet and juicy. Ah, it sure is good to be back running! Just don't feel quite whole without it.

Not Quite

Another night of not sleeping. Poor Sam was all stuffed up last night and we all suffered. I was stuffy too. Silly allergies. But I was up early anyway and was downstairs eating breakfast so Ryan and I could head out for our long run on the Willowdale trails when the phone rang at 6:30. I saw that it was Chris, and knew! The baby was on the way! I picked up and indeed, they were at the hospital. Meg's water had broken but she wasn't very dilated. I talked with Irene and Dana, who were so excited - they would quickly get ready and head down south. So I knew our run was kaput. I was excited for them, but bummed for us. Oh well. But then, it appeared that Dana wasn't doing well. He was all dizzy. And then suddenly sick. He went back to bed. Maybe they weren't leaving after all. Regardless, the run still wasn't happening, so Ryan and I both went back to bed too. I was tired. Sam woke up around 8:30 and we all came downstairs. Dana still wasn't feeling well. I had sort of lost my desire to run. It wasn't going to be at Willowdale. It wasn't going to be with Ryan. Bah. I figured I'd just make this weekend my back-down week and so headed out for 8 miles on the roads. Ran 8:30s, and tried to convince myself that two back-to-back days of road 8:30s had to be good for something. But it wasn't a long run.

Ryan made it known he still wanted to get in a long run and he didn't want to run roads, so he headed off to Willowdale himself. Bah again. I was feeling down. And I was feeling badly for Irene and Dana, who so wanted to be at the hospital for their newest grandchild's birth. But it wasn't happening. Meghan was progressing quickly, and Dana was not. Sam's newest cousin, a baby boy, arrived sometime around 1:00 pm. No name yet, but he looks cute, at least in that newborn kind of way!

So not quite what we had wanted, but you get what you get, and you don't (or you try not to) throw a fit. Congrats Meg and Chris! Welcome to the crazy world of being a parent! And welcome to the world little baby boy! Looking forward to learning your name and seeing you soon! And in the meantime, hopefully I'll be getting some of my scheduled long runs in :-)

2x Weldon Farm

We were all up early this morning so that we could fit in our runs before Ryan's grandparents came over to visit. Ryan was part of the pick-up crew, so he was out around 7:00 am for his run; I headed out about a 1/2 hour later. The plan was to get in 10 miles, so I decided to run the Weldon Farm loop twice. It was in the mid-50s when I headed out - ahhh! perfect! - and I went out trying to keep the pace easy and comfortable. Got back to the house at 5 miles, just as Dana and Ryan were headed out. Took a few swigs of Gatorade and headed out again, this time running the loop backwards. Around 7 miles, just before the hill, I needed to pee, but there is poison ivy in this area almost everywhere - ack! I saw a long driveway at the edge of a field, and hopped off the road and into the woods in an area that was thankfully PI free. Luckily no one drove down the driveway while I was there :-) Legs started to feel a bit tired near the end, but still managed to run the last 3 miles faster than the others and got in what was a decent 10 miler, all before 9am.

Spent the rest of the day hanging out with the family. Sam had a lot of fun with Great-Grammie, Bampie, Grammie and Grampie. It was a lovely day and we spent a good chunk of the day outside enjoying it. For dinner, we headed to Newburyport for a yummy mexican food dinner, a walk along the river and then a stop for ice cream. Best of all, Sam was so tired out from all the activity that she was asleep by 8:15. A win win! :-)

Playing train track with Grampie

Enjoying the beautiful day :-)

Playing ball

Bampie, lookin' cool

The girls

Newburyport evening

Yum!

7 Before 7

Does it count as a double if I started this morning's run less than 12 hours after starting last night's run?! :-) I was up and out this morning by 5:45 am. The air was nice and cool - felt lovely! Ran the cart paths plus a loop around the Heath+ to get in 7 miles. Although I always feel like I should have some animal sightings in the early morning, all was quiet. Couldn't resist one brief stop at the end of the powerlines on the way home to pick a few blackberries. It is certainly feeling like the end of summer with these cool nights/mornings, and I just don't want to miss out on these last sweet summer berries!

In other news, we are planning a joint birthday party for Sam and her best friend Anne. The kids are so excited. As for the rest of us, well, we're gearing up for a few hours of total chaos :-) The Rumpus Room, where we are having the party, told Kristen that she would send along a party planning list, to which Ryan replied:

"Checklist for the party planning?
Huh?

 1. Bring kids.
 2. Let them destroy.
 3. Give them sugar-filled snacks and cake.
 4. More destruction.
 5. Go home."

Yup, think that about sums it up :-)

Evening Run

Didn't quite have the energy for the morning run today, so when Ryan got home, I ate 1/2 my dinner and then headed out. Although the day had seemed warm and muggy, by 6:30, it was pleasant and breezy out. I ran across the street to do the Highland Green loop. My legs seemed heavy at first, but warmed up as I ran along. Despite it being evening, I actually managed to run a fairly decent pace for the loop. Saw a little porcupine at the edge of the grass near the raspberry brambles. I said hello and he scurried of into the brush. On the way back, in the same area, I saw a deer and her two fawn. I stopped to walk so as not scare them but they took off, white tails up, into the woods. Had to make a stop to eat a few blackberries along the way too :-) Can't resist!

Glow

Didn't quite have the energy to get up early for a shake-out run yesterday morning, so this morning was it. Got out a little after 5:30 am for a slow shuffle around the block. There was a bank of low, light purple clouds in the sky, and with the sun rising through them, the horizon was aglow with a soft light. Very pretty. Was a bit surprised by how tired I felt. Guess I did put in a good effort on Sunday. Ran four miles with a few stops to pick blackberries along the way.

In other news, last night while I was shucking corn out back, Sam was drawing on the patio with her chalk. With no prompting, she decided to draw daddy, complete with a head, two long stick legs, arms out of his head and eyes. Then she added me and herself, and drew a box around us signifying a house. The roof looked more like grass than a roof, but hey, I'd call that representational drawing. Nice job, Sam Sam! :-)