Early Morning Snowmobile Trail Wander

Decided to not stick to the training plan written on the calendar (not sure that's really new...) and take a step back week this week. I figure there is no sense grinding myself into the ground at this point, and although the lower right leg feels so much better after some serious stretching and rolling, I'm trying to be smart. Given the change, I figured it made sense to run "long" this morning, as we're headed down to MA tomorrow for the weekend after Sam's swimming lessons. Thankfully, it got fairly cold last night so I was able to head out on the snowmobile trails with no issue. Phew! I really don't want to be stuck on the road or in posthole hell quite yet :)

I headed out a few minutes before 6:00 with the dark sky above. It appeared the trail had been rolled, so it was pretty solid and it was pretty easy to avoid the postholes. In numerous spots a snowmobile had been out, churning up the trail, making lovely big icy death cookies just to keep me off balance, but really it was pretty good running. I had a vague plan in mind of doing the dump loop, but did a bit of wandering off onto side trails, etc to tack on some additional mileage. Overall, I felt good and it was a beautiful morning to be out for a 10 mile wander. Not too cold, not windy, with a pretty sunrise viewing through the trees out on the lollypop loop by the dump ponds.

Windy

I got out around 6:10 this morning after a fair amount of stretching and rolling of the right leg, which was thankfully feeling better. I guess a solid night of sleep with no coughing from the child to wake me up helped too! I didn't even try the powerlines after yesterday's warm temps and just headed off down the Connector right away.

There was a thin sheen of ice on the pavement, and I was glad I had worn my screwshoes for a bit of extra grip. Although the thermometer was reading 32 degrees, it sure felt colder out there this morning with the wind. It was whipping around and fairly strong on the back side of the Highland Green loop. Brrr! Also unlike yesterday morning, it seemed lighter out this morning and as always, the back of the community offered up a beautiful view of the sunrise with fluffy periwinkle clouds set against a light peach sky.

Luckily, the colder temps meant that the back dirt road had solidified enough to be hard packed again, making for easier running, although I still had to maneuver around the tire ruts and make my way around the machinery at the beginning of the road - they are doing some serious infrastructure work back there. As I ducked under some of the big machines, one of the workers sitting in his truck waiting for his shift to start rolled down his window, shook his head and said "You sure are dedicated!" I am not sure if he meant it as a compliment or that I was nuts to be out there, but I yelled back a big "Thanks!" anyway :) As I ran down the road, I saw Ryan, John and Michael's deep prints in the mud from last night, and was to be able to run a bit more easily than it looked like they had! ;)

Got in a nice windblown 5.25 miles for the morning.

Sink, Squish, Slide

I didn't run Monday or Tuesday because the combination of sick kiddo waking up coughing in the middle of the night multiple time both nights, therefore me not sleeping, plus time change, plus tired and slightly cranky legs just meant it wasn't in the cards. But this morning, it needed to get done! ;) It was a bit disheartening to have to wear a headlamp for the whole run when a week ago I didn't need one at all, but I guess the exchange for having it be light until much later in the evening is worth it. And I know the light will come back into my morning runs eventually.

But wow, the trail conditions have certainly changed the past few days with the warm weather we've had. I headed out into the foggy 37 degree morning and knew things would be soft, but never anticipated that I wouldn't even be able to take two steps on the trail without postholing! Yikes. I tried a few different "paths" but it was a no-go, so with regret, I circled back and took the Connector down to Highland Green Road instead. The pavement was completely clear so it was fairly quick running, but when I reached the back dirt road it was another story. No longer frozen, the road was a squishy, sloppy muddy mess. Ah, spring :)

I had a bit of trouble seeing exactly what I was landing on due to the fog and darkness so it wasn't quick back there, but it was fun to slide around in the mud for a bit :) Then it was back up the Connector and around the neighborhood to round the run out to 6 miles.

The lower right leg is feeling particularly cranky right now. I really shouldn't have waited so long in between Dr. Jamie appointments, I guess, but hopefully some good stretching and rolling will sort things out.

Not sure what the rest of the week will bring in terms of running. It will probably depend a lot on conditions. Nothing like a 50 degree day to get me thinking about running on dirt trails in the woods, but there is a lot of snow left out there to melt before that happens!

Beautiful Loop + Afternoon Ski

I was planning to head over to the Brad this morning for my long run, thinking it would just be me out on the trails until Ryan took it upon himself to text John to see if he wanted to get in a long run too. I was happy to have the company, but I am not so sure John was happy he had agreed when I picked him up at 7:00 am this morning. HA! :)

It was fairly chilly at the start, but I was banking on the fact that it would warm up so I dressed much more lightly than I normally might. We headed out on the snowmobile trails, and I was a little disheartened to find that the surface was fairly sugary and churned up in the woods. I tried to ensure that we kept an honest pace by staying a few steps behind John, but he kept moving quickly so I just tried to keep up :) Once we hit the corn fields, the trail seemed much more solid - amazing what a bit of sun will do!

Through the fields

I wouldn't have done the Beautiful Loop solo but John was game, so we set off down the powerlines for the full loop. We were surprised to find that we had somehow crossed the river without actually realizing it. Wow, that is a lot of snow! Or perhaps we were just distracting talking away ;)

We stopped at the bench and took in the view and had a quick snack before continuing on.

Happy runners

Powerline view

The trails were quiet - no snowsmobiles out - but we were following a solo set of footprints in the snow. Trails were in very good condition, with only a few soft spots and no ice to speak of, and we were moving along well. I was starting to feel the pace by the time we reached Lunchbreak, and we slowed to a walk and then once running resumed, it resumed slowly - well, for me anyway :)

The Boundary Trail was as well packed as it had been last Friday, and we headed up to enjoy the sunshine at the summit.

Bradbury summit

Smile

My watch was only reading 14.25 at that point and I wanted to get in 16 at least, so I suggested looping around to the parking lot via the Boundary Trail. Once again, it was a fun run in the opposite direction and a good way to end the run. I think both John and I were happy to be done when we hit the car, and although the training plan called for 20, I am more than happy with a snappy 16.3 in 2:45 on that loop! (although come to find out those tracks were from Andy, who ran the loop in 1:48! Wowza!)

Later in the afternoon, we met up with Nate, Shannon and family over at the Merepoint Golf course for some xc skiing. I remember running workouts on the golf course itself in college for cross country, but hadn't realized that there was a nice wide, flat trail out through the woods and down to the ocean along the edge of the golf course. The trail had been decently packed by snowshoers and skiers, and the trail etiquette was surprisingly good - the ski tracks were in good shape the whole way. With Sam being a little less than 100% and also on much slower, wider, heavier skis, she certainly didn't move as quickly at Finley and Charlotte, but she traveled along at her own sedate pace, never whining, seeming to enjoy being out there with friends. It was a gorgeous afternoon, warm and sunny and there was no breeze in the woods. Sam decided we should turn around before the end of the trail and we didn't push it. And at the end, despite the fact that she (and all of us, really) was tired and hungry, she smiled and said, "What a nice long ski!" Love this kid, and so happy to have been able to get out and enjoy the woods with friends! We were out for a good 1 1/2 hours, so we were really psyched it went so well.

Shannon and Annelise

Headed out

Beautiful day

Trying out poles for the first time!

Happy kids

What a nice long ski! :)

Suck It Up, Buttercup

Was all set and ready to go this morning when Sam started coughing and hacking at 5:45. Sadly, despite some back rubs, some water and the early hour, there was no getting her back to sleep, so we headed downstairs to cuddle on the couch instead. Sigh. So much for the early morning run before Ryan headed to Lost Valley for the Baxter Outdoors Winter Duathlon. Thankfully after a bit of resting on the couch and some breakfast, Sam seemed to bounce back and we were able to get outside mid-morning for a bit of sledding and a lot of tromping around and on the huge snow piles in the sledding area. The rest of the morning was spent coloring and writing letters to the grandparents and watching Magic School Bus.

Despite the beautiful weather and the fact that Sam seemed to be OK, I was feeling in a bit of a funk by the time Ryan got home around 1:30. He had had a lot of fun at the race, so was in no mood for me to be dreary. He pretty much said, "suck it up and go!" Ever the understanding hubby ;)

I drove over to the hiker parking lot and donned my snowshoes. I was surprised that mine was the only car in the lot but figured I'd see others out on the trail. Amazingly, I didn't end up running into anyone out there. Odd, because it really was pretty nice out and the trails were in good shape despite the fact that the temps were hovering right around 32 degrees. I ran along the Heath and then down to the river, meandering on the well packed trails up to the field. From there, as I headed out onto the Ravine Trail, the traffic thinned considerably, with deer prints (and deer postholes!) far outnumbering the minimal snowshoe tracks.

There were tracks that stopped mid-bridge, so mine were the only ones along the side hill and up along the ridge out to the Blueberry Trail. There, I followed old snow-covered snowmobile tracks out to the old road, at which point, a fairly well packed snowshoe trail appeared heading out in the direction of Head of Tides. Still, it was pretty slow going. I contemplated turning around at Cathance Road but really wanted to say I had snowshoed to Head of Tides :) so I crossed the street and ran down to the parking area. Snowshoe run to Head of Tides accomplished! Now I just had to get back. HA! ;)

Despite the fact that I was out there for 1:30, I only managed to run 6.75 miles, so obviously, trail conditions were not ideal but it was a fun trip. And of course, once I was out in the woods, I was thankful that Ryan had pushed me out the door :)

Beautiful day for a snowshoe out to Head of Tides.

Bright sunlight, soft snow.

Anatomy of a Friday

Most of my Monday through Thursdays are pretty standard and involve getting in an early morning run a few days a week plus the typical routine of getting Sam to school, working all day, picking Sam up, getting dinner ready, rushing around in the evening to get organized for the next day and then going to bed early to do it all over again :)

Fridays are the wildcard in the equation. I might work half a day, or get up early to go for a long run, or volunteer in Sam's classroom in the afternoon or any combination of those things. Today, I did none of those things, but nonetheless kept pretty busy (read: ran around like crazy).

I was up a little before 5:00 am for my run. I drove over to the hiking parking lot in Highland Green, noticed the car thermometer was reading -1 and regretted not bringing my buff. The sun was just beginning to rise as I put on my snowshoes and headed up into the woods. Very pretty.

I ran around the Heath, enjoying the soft pink light above the snowed over marsh, then headed across the street down to the river. Conditions were pretty solid where there had been a lot of traffic, with the packed snow crunching loudly beneath my snowshoes. In other spots, conditions were still crunchy but softer, if that makes any sense, and out on the Rapids Loop someone had taken a walk without snowshoes, and my oh my, there is still alot of snow out there! They must have postholed in at least 12" or so in numerous spots. Ugh.

I had contemplated heading out to Head of Tides but no one had been out that way since the last snow and I wasn't feeling super ambitious, so I decided to stick to the main Cathance trails instead, and so wandered back on the trails through the woods down to the river, retracing my steps up the Barnes Leap trail and back across the street along the Heath. My face was getting kind of cold by the end, and no wonder, when I got back to the car I realized my whole face and hat and the edge of my coat was coated with frost. And I had a few frozen eyelashes too :) Brrr! Ended up with 5 miles on the nose in a little over an hour. Solid start to the morning.

Then it was home to shower, get Sam and I breakfast, send Ryan off to work, and get organized for the day. I dropped Sam off at school and then stopped to pick a few things up at the grocery store and get gas in the car before heading home to load the cats up into the carriers to take them to the vet. Always good times. Luckily, this morning was only a brief struggle ;)

I then spent the next 25 minutes listening to a chorus of meows and yowls, the two of them echoing each other the whole way down to Falmouth Vet. Oh the joys. It was good to catch up with Katy, though, and both cats are healthy, if fat :) Then another 25 minutes of feline harmony on the way home.

Managed to get the shower cleaned, one load of laundry folded and another one started before a brief lunch, then it was on to dusting, vacuuming and swiffering both floors, cleaning the bathrooms, cleaning the fridge and the microwave, doing more laundry and cooking up roasted sweet potatoes for dinner before realizing that I really needed to head out to the dump to do the recycling if there was any chance of doing that plus picking up the beans that I forgot to get at the store this morning for dinner plus vacuuming out the car - which looked like a kid picked up all their snacks and dumped them on the floor (oh wait! that is what happened!!) - before getting Sam at school at 3:15. I acknowledged that there was no way I was going to have time to sit in line to get the outside of the car cleaned, but oh well.

Hit the dump, the store and the car vacuums. Got the top layer of grime off the seats and floor, and threw out a bunch of crap from the back seat. Wondered if I had left the stove on. Sh*t! Drove home to check. It was off (of course). Drove to school and arrived with several minutes to spare. Woohoo! Chatted with a neighbor while waiting for Sam to arrive. Then it was off to her PT appointment (she thinks it is just so much fun to play with Miss Rebecca, which is awesome, and she really is getting much more strength and flexibility in her right ankle, which is great). The home again to cook up dinner and sit on the couch with Sam for a bit before Ryan got home. A few games of Uno and a round of hide and seek before bathtime and bedtime for Sam, and now I'm about ready for bed myself :)

Midweek Running

Got out yesterday morning at 6:00 am for a nice loop along the snowmobile trails out onto Lover's Lane toward the dump. Conditions were pretty solid and it was nice to be able to move along at a decent winter clip :) The back side of the loop hadn't been touched by snowmobiles after the few inches of snow we received Sunday night but there had been a snowshoer and a few fat bikes out there, so it packed down slightly at least. Once again, another beautiful morning to be out, but no pictures this time :) Ended up with 6.7 miles for the day.

More snow last night. I haven't slept well the past few nights, so I wasn't feeling very energetic, which essentially meant I wasn't feeling mentally prepared to trudge along on my snowshoes :) So once again I put on my screwshoes and headed across the street. The snowmobile trails were a bit too soft due to the 3" of new snow and the warmer temps, so I turned off and did an out and back on Highland Green Road instead. The road had been plowed although not super well, but it was enough to enable me to be able to tick off two miles in the low 9s and one at 8:45 pace. Hey, that's pretty good for me in sloppy winter screwshoe conditions so I'll take it :) It was so "warm" (32 degrees) that I only wore one pair of tights and a light top underneath my jacket! Woohoo. First time that has happened in a long while!

Frosty

Today was the last snowshoe race, which meant I knew I would be better off getting my run done before Ryan left the house in the morning; otherwise there was definitely the chance it wouldn't get done, and I was determined to get it done. So, when the alarm went off at 4:30 this morning, I went downstairs, looked at the thermometer, which was reading -4 (!), sighed, and went about getting ready to run regardless.

I headed out around 5:35 am, running toward the glowing orange horizon. I know I am constantly saying this, but it truly is awesome to be out running early enough that I have the chance to watch the sky lighten and the sun rise; it truly is magical. The snow crunched beneath my feet and the cold air stung my throat. The snowmobile trail was like a highway this morning - maybe not a perfectly straight or evenly packed highway, but man, there had sure been a lot of traffic! I knew this meant it would be a good day to do the dump/Lover's Lane loop, as if there was going to be traffic on the back side of the loop through the woods it would be now.

As I meandered through the woods, the sky was turning a pale pink, the tree branches were frost covered, the birds were singing. Yes, it was -4 and my buff was completely frozen, but damn, if it just wasn't beautiful out there.

Had to do a bit of extra on the neighborhood roads to get to 7 miles for the morning, but I was determined to get to 40 miles for the week so I did what had to be done :)

Turned out to be a very good call to get in the run early, as we ended up being at the park from 10:00 until around 1:15, after which we headed to Edna & Lucy's to eat and catch up with everyone while waiting for Ryan to arrive. Just as Sam had had enough and said, "Now where the heck is Daddy?" he walked in, so we continued to hang out while he and John ate. Sabrina was nice enough to bring out a big piece of brown paper and some chalk markers for Sam to color with, so we were able to have a leisurely few hours there before heading home. A good day all around! And now that the snowshoe series is over, let the melting begin :)

Beautiful, if Soft and Slow

OK, so I did actually get out of bed at 4:30 am this morning thinking I was going to run. But it was -7 and you know, I'm kind of over running in those temps, so I just fed the cats and climbed back into bed instead :) Dedicated, right?! Ryan headed off for the Brad to mark the course while Sam and I headed to the Y for swimming, and to Frosty's afterward of course :) Then it was home to bake cookies and cupcakes for tomorrow's race.

By the time Ryan got home around 1:00 pm, the sun was high in the bright blue sky and temps were in the mid 20s. Perfect. Since I was going to have a chance to run in daylight again, I thought I'd head over to the Cathance for a snowshoe run. The snowmobile trails could wait until tomorrow morning, when they would likely be a better choice, with much firmer surface and less crowded than on a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon anyway.

I ended up having to park at the hiker parking lot along the back dirt (mud) road instead of at the Ecology center lot, and so started up the hill and connected to the Heath trail. I ran into a group of older women snowshoeing, who said, "My, you're athletic!" and then a small group of skiers, one of who looked at me incredulously and said, "You are actually running on those snowshoes?" Ha. I honestly haven't been doing a lot of running where I have had the chance to run into anyone on the trails so I got a big kick out of these comments. I think of myself as normal, but maybe not so much? :)

Then it was across the street and down along the river. The trails have all seen a lot of use, but things were still amazingly soft and I slipped off the thin ribbon of packed stuff more than a few times into the fluff and did some good sliding around. Overall, it was fairly slow going but I wasn't actively pushing the pace either, more just trying to enjoy the woods and get in some miles. Many deer tracks out there and some pileated woodpecker signs too. I stopped at the little rock outcropping before turning up from the river in the hopes of seeing the mink prints again, but no luck.

Heading up from the river to the field, I ran into a pair snowshoeing. Again, it was another, "You're running? In showshoes?!" ;)

I wanted to get in an hour/5 miles of running, so I turned left to run the Ravine Loop and then crossed the bridge to the trail out of Head of Tides. Not quite as much traffic this way and definitely some good slipping going on on the sidehill, but it really was just so pretty out there. I turned around at the Blueberry Trail junction and headed back to the car, ending up with 5 miles on the nose. What a beautiful afternoon to be out!

Pretty Darn Great

I know I am pretty darn lucky to have (most) Fridays off to run, get stuff done, volunteer in Sam's classroom and do the things that don't get done the rest of the week, etc. And today, I was even luckier to be able to spend 3+ hours out on the trails at Bradbury, running 18 miles. And even better, in screwshoes! Hurray.

Ryan was nice enough to hang with Sam this morning so I could get an early start, so I hit the trails a few minutes after 7:00 am. It was in the single digits but no wind and the sun was out, so it really was pretty comfortable once my hands warmed up (which took about a mile). I had on one of Ryan's vests over my hydration pack so the hose wouldn't freeze and it worked pretty well, except that with my big gloves it was tough to access the hose and my gels. I headed out onto the snowmobile trail, enjoying the dry snow crunching underneath my feet. It was decent running, although a little more churned up than I would have liked, which meant I had to work a bit harder than I would have liked too. The trails and the woods were quiet, although I did see a lot of deer activity and some great turkey prints out in the corn fields. It was there that I was also scared half to death by a pair of black labs (presumably the ones Val knows) who were friendly but who I really didn't want running with me. After a few minutes of standing still, they turned back around and I continued on to the powerlines. I ran for a few minutes along the lines themselves, but I most certainly do not know the Beautiful Loop well enough to even think about wanting to run it solo, so I turned around when the Garmin beeped 5 miles and headed back to the park.

Back at the parking lot, I stopped at the aid station (car) to change my shirt, hat and gloves (sweaty and getting cold because of it) and have a snack before continuing on. Although the snowmobile trail was nice, I wasn't digging it enough to do another out-and-back, so I decided to try out the mountain side. And I am very happy I did - it was great running over there! I ran up the Ski Trail and the Northern Loop trail to the summit, stopping at the top to take in the sparkling light on the ocean in the distance, then took the Boundary Trail. Now, I do not have much love for the Boundary Trail, but I have to say that today, it was awesome. It was perfectly packed and I was running it in the opposite direction we normally would, which meant it was mostly downhill and I was just having so much fun.

I saw that the Connector was well tracked, so decided, what the heck. Lovely out there as usual. I was surprised to find that, near the junction with the Tryon trails, the trail was groomed and the grooming continued both up the mountain toward the Feldspar Quarry and down toward Lawrence Road. Since I've never gone right at the junction before, once again, I said, what the heck. Well, this was not a stretch friendly to wildlife recently. It appeared that the groomer had run over a skunk :( and then right past the Quarry, there was a full, fairly new, deer carcass in the middle of the trail. I'm assuming it had been dragged out into the open, but I did not wish to get close enough to find out for sure. And of course, right then, my Garmin beeped, as it does every half hour, which means "time to eat!" HA! Yes, such good timing ;) If the carcass hadn't been there, I probably would have continued on the groomed trail just to check it out, but instead, I turned around and headed down the hill to the road.

The sun was shining, the trail was groomed and I had more miles to run, so I headed up the trail to the field, where I did a small loop following the groomer tracks and then back to Lawrence, retracing my steps back to the park. There, I turned left on the Boundary trail and then up the Northern Loop Trail to go back up to the summit. At the top, I saw two snowshoers, the first people I had seen on the west side of the park. Since the Boundary Trail was so much fun the first time around, and it would bring me back to the parking lot with 18 miles run, I decided to do another loop. I was certainly feeling the time and miles a bit more the second time around, but I stand by my thought that it was indeed an awesome trail to run today.

Saw the snowshoers finishing up their hike, and the older gentleman said to the woman, "1:02, not bad!" I made some small talk with them, and he said, "So what? You were out for 25 minutes or so? How'd you get back so fast?" I laughed, and said, "Well, actually, I hate to say this, but I've been out for over three hours," to which, he signed and said, "Well, that doesn't make me feel so good about our hour!" HA! :) Ended up with 18 miles in 3:20 moving time (3:34 total time), and very happy indeed. Hard to beat a beautiful morning spent running in the woods!

Snowy Roads

More snow yesterday. Once again I just didn't feel like putting on my snowshoes. I know, I know, I should be embracing it. This is the winter for snowshoeing without a doubt. But I am pining for dirt, so the thought of many more snowshoe runs to come sometimes just gets to me. I headed out a few minutes before 6:00 am as a light snow was falling. There were about 3" of fluffy stuff on the ground. The powerlines were soft, but Highland Green Road was in decent shape. They are working on the end of the dirt road section, so I couldn't do the loop and just stuck with the out and back. Nothing fancy, nothing fast, just another 5 miles added into the mileage bucket :)

This....

...might just be my favorite picture of the winter so far...

I do wonder sometimes what Sam thinks of us. All this running and racing. And then I realize, well, it's all she knows. It's normal in her book. And then I think, oh boy, well she's in for it :) She just doesn't realize how crazy we probably are. Ha! But I love it. I love that she wants to do these things. That she is excited to run a race, to volunteer at an aid station, to make cookies and treats for the winners, that she understands (at least a little) why it is important that Mommy and Daddy get out for their runs and skis and snowshoes, that she wants to go outside when it is cold and the wind is whipping and can last for an hour (or longer!) on the sledding hill on a frigid day, that I can see the joy in her face as she runs down the trail and tromps in the snow on her snowshoes in the Cathance. I know we might not be exposing her to the more typical team sports out there, but I do hope that we are exposing her to what will become a lifetime love of nature and the outdoors; that she is learning that running and skiing and snowshoeing out in the woods can be a powerful and wonderful way to connect with yourself and your friends and the world around you; that she can learn that being out there, maybe not as the fastest, but just doing it, is the most important.

[As for running today, no way. Temps were -20 this morning. I'll be back at it tomorrow.]

Uninspired

I so so so so did not want to run this morning. But the weather was calling for intense cold and windchill overnight tonight into tomorrow morning, so chances of actually getting out tomorrow looked slim to none. Reluctantly, I decide to swap my rest day today for tomorrow, which meant that I was out the door this morning, snowshoes in hand, at 6:00 am. I ran out and back on the snowmobile trails to Lovers Lane, and about the only good things I can say about the run are that I got out there, it wasn't cold and I only needed my headlamp for the first few minutes. Otherwise, it was a very low energy slog on soft, newly rolled snow, which only heightened my lack of umph out there. But hey, it can't all be feel good, fast days and I know I will certainly appreciate being able to sleep in tomorrow!

Sam's First Snowshoe Race!

I was up early this morning to get my run in before we headed up to Waterville for Ryan and Sam's snowshoe races. We got about 4" of fluffy snow overnight, but I really didn't have it in me to take out the snowshoes again after yesterday's long run. However, I really should have, because, honestly, the run wasn't great. The powerlines were soft and slow; and the roads were essentially unpowed. In fact, the best part of the run was the back dirt road portion of Highland Green as it was packed solid underneath just a few inches of snow - someone had been out in a big truck sometime overnight and there were good tracks for running. But I suppose if what I was after was a run on tired legs, I got it :) 7 miles in 1:20.

We headed up to Waterville around 7:30. The drive wasn't bad, and with the fluffy, but wet, snow sticking to the trees along the way, it was very pretty. The Quarry Snowshoe Shuffle was being held at the Quarry Road Recreation Area, near Colby. It was a beautiful morning for it. Warm and no wind. The Fun Run was first, so Sam and I suited up and got set next to the four other kids and one mom who were taking part. The route was a little lollypop, with the beginning and end on groomed trail and the middle on narrow, partially packed singletrack. Sam did a great job running the groomed stuff, and we kept up a good clip walking along the singletrack. The 0.5 mile lollypop took us 15 minutes. Not bad for a 5-year old! She was very proud to get her medal at the end :) and then had a great time playing out in the snow with the other kids while the adults were out running the 5k.

It was truly lovely to be able to spend so much time outside playing in the snow and not be freezing! I could take these winter days!

Ryan and Sean both had good races, with Ryan coming in 2nd and Sean 4th. Gines did a great job with the course and the prizes, and we all had a lot of fun. We met up with him and his family for lunch in downtown Waterville after the race to round out the morning.

Ready to run!

Sam and Daddy

Movin' on the groomers

Singletrack

Coming into the finish!

Quarry Snowshoe Shuffle ready to roll

And they're off!

Mockingbird FatAss Snowshoe Run

This morning was the 6th annual Mockingbird Lane Fat Ass at Val and Rick and Linda's. I missed a few of them due to work, but did make it over there last year and it was a great time. Of course, Last year involved a whole lot of sunshine, warmth and a big, slushy stream crossing. This year was bright and sunny too, but conditions couldn't have been more different. It was -7 at the start and the stream crossing? You didn't even realize it was there, it was covered with so much snow! But on the other hand, it was another great day for a long run with friends!

I drove over with John, Laurie and Tom, enjoying catching up with them in the car, and then chatting with others as we all put off to the very last minute going outside and suiting up in our snowshoes. Yes, snowshoes were pretty much mandatory. There were a few who went without, but based on the slipping, sliding, postholing tracks I saw, I'm not sure they were the wisest ;)

The "loop" was more like an out-and-back Y. There was a bit of lovely singletrack through the woods at the beginning, then out on a soft section through the field to connect up to the snowmobile track, then back across the street for another out and back on more snowmobile trail. Conditions were pretty decent, and the first loop went by a little too quickly. It took a few miles for my hands and feet to warm up but after that I remained fairly comfortable for the rest of the run. The first loop was spent leapfrogging and talking with Joe, Laurie, Bob, Tom and John. We got back to the house in a little under an hour. I ran in to remove my buff and change into lighter gloves, and when I got back out, Emma was suited up to run, so we headed out together. It was great to run with her, and we had a good time chatting away and continued a good pace, spending a bit of time running with Blaine and others along the way. 

Although I had a few gels in the first two laps, by the end of lap #2, I was feeling hungry so I had a few cookies and some coke and ran in to go to the bathroom before heading out again. The group had gotten pretty strung out along the course at this point, and many people had moved from running to relaxing inside and eating and chatting away the afternoon. That was pretty tempting, I must say, but I knew I really needed to get in another lap so off we went. I was starting to feel the effects of 10 solid miles on snowshoes, and definitely slowed down on this lap. Thankfully Emma was there to push me along! I am sure I would have been walking otherwise!!

I finished up with 16.2 miles in a moving time of 3:30, definitely a snowshoe distance PR! And let me tell you, I was whooped  :) I went right inside to get something to eat, and sat for a while and caught up with Amy, which was great - it has been too long! Ryan and Sam arrived a while later, and then it was so long relaxation, as Sam and I got suited up to go across the street for some sledding while Ryan got in a loop of his own. Sam and I did a number of repeats up the big snowmobile trail hill on the other side of King Road, and Sam had a blast sledding down. The final run was a race between Sam on the sled and Ryan on his snowshoes. Ha! Then it was back inside to sit by the fire and talk and eat with the small group who remained. Many thanks to Linda, Val and Rick for opening their homes to us and giving us an excuse to all get together to run and hang out. We had a great time - what a fun day!

Here are a few photos, blatantly taken from Facebook ;)

Beautiful blue sky and lovely snowmobile trail

Running off into the distance

Emma and I enjoying the wooded singletrack