Early May

The start of this week was a wash. And I mean that both literally and figuratively. We probably got between 4" and 5" of rain over the course of several days. It was nuts, we had a huge pond out back with ducks swimming in it, I mean, there was water everywhere. Combine the weather with work being busy and it meant another Wednesday start to the run week. 😜Swim started up this week too but the air handling system in the pool had to be fixed on Monday so there was no practice, and then Sam's stomach wasn't feeling great on Tuesday, so Wednesday was the start of swim too! Guess, we just decided mid-week would be a good time to get going this week 😂😉 

Couldn't resist running down to the river midmorning on Wednesday to check out the water levels. There was water everywhere. Trails were flooding, the riverbanks were overflowing and it was just plain damp out. First towhee and catbirds of the season seen! (6.4 miles)

Thursday afternoon was another run down to the river. Ran a bit further out into the Cathance. Still a fair amount of flooding but things were receding in spots as evidenced by the water lines. Four deer seen. (7.0 miles)

Friday morning I headed over to the field house and ran a nice loop out on the Commons, Coleman Farm and the Landing trails. It was really more like a flower tour with some running thrown in 😂, but the start of the spring ephemeral season just means lots of photos! Gold thread, trillium, wild oats, trailing arbutus, wood anemone, trout lilies, and violets galore. Breezy but nice out. (10.0 miles)

Took Sam up to early swim in the afternoon and took advantage of the nice weather to get in a walk around the Bath walk. Lovely out, and the neighborhood magnolia smelled so sweet! (2.0 miles walked)

Ryan finally had the procedure for his bursitis on Friday afternoon, so that meant he stayed on the couch to let things rest on Saturday, but I was headed up to Riverlands for the day to captain the start/finish aid station. My shift started at 8:00, which meant leaving the house at 7:00, which meant getting up early to get in a few miles before I headed out. Beautiful morning for a road run over the river. There is still a whole lot of water out there! (6.6 miles)

As always, it was great to be up at the race, catching up with friends, and helping and cheering on runners. It ended up getting pretty warm out there with temps in the 70s, and the blackflies had come out, but as long as the breeze was blowing it wasn't too bad. Came home tired from both standing all day and being social, but a lot of fun and I wouldn't miss it! 

Went to bed early night, and then got a late start for my run today, heading out around 9:00. Beautiful morning to be out, warm, bright and windy, with a lot of people, dogs and bikers out enjoying the day. Ran the powerlines and a bit in the Gone Fishing system. Starflower and false Lily of the valley leaves galore, plus trailing arbutus, false ginseng, shadbush, wood anemone in bloom and blueberry bells making an appearance. Had originally intended to go longer, but this ended up being the right distance for the day, as I was still feeling a bit tired from Saturday. Also I really should have brought some water with me, as it had warmed up into the low 70s by the time I was finished, and I was so thirsty! (10.5 miles)

End of April

Work and life and crappy weather got in the way at the start of the week, which meant I was saying to myself, 'nothing like starting the running week off on a Wednesday,' as I headed out the door at 6:10 am that morning 😂😉Ha! Ah well, that's just how things go sometimes. Ran the cart paths on a damp, overcast morning. However, despite the rather dreary weather, spring is starting to truly show itself! (6.0 miles)

The azaleas at our front window starting to open!

By Thursday, I was already pretty much done with the week and was feeling pretty much wiped out, but glad I managed to get myself out the door for an afternoon run down to the river and back. Beautiful out there. One turkey vulture and one turtle sunning itself in the Heath seen. (6.5 miles)

 

False hellebore along the river's edge

The one daffodil out front that is flowering 

And after one additional day of bright sunshine and warm temps, the azalea is out!

My plan going into the spring was to spend at least one day a month on an adventure run up in the hills/mountain as I lead up to Rim to River, so as Friday was looking like the best day of the weekend, I decided to heat up to Camden for a trail wander. Drove through a crazy swath of what looked like heavy snow as I took the back roads around Camden proper, but which turned out to actually have been some sort of freak hail storm that dropped a whole lot of hail in a concentrated area. Nuts! I started at the multi-use trail off Youngstown Road and ran up Bald before heading over to Cameron. From there I headed up to Zeke's Lookout before returning on my favorite trail in the park, Sky Blue. Woods were not showing much in terms of signs of spring, and the trails were pretty soggy, slippery and messy, with a number of blowdowns on Sky Blue and a whole lot of water everywhere. But, truly a beautiful day to be out in the woods with views from three peaks, quiet trails and some remnants of the hail storm too. (8.1 miles)

Ocean views from Bald 

Cameron vista

Hail!

After getting a few errands done on the way home, it seemed like too nice of a day to stay inside, so while Lauren and Sam walked down to DQ (oh the horror, no, Mom you cannot join us - so embarressing! 😱😆), Ryan and I headed across the street for a walk on the powerlines. My walking has taken the hit this month with no swim and Ryan still mostly staying off his feet due to the bursitis, so I was glad to get at least get in one walk this week! (2.0 miles walked)

And things are in full bloom out front! 💮

Had a lazy start to the day on Saturday, sitting on the couch and relaxing and reading until 9:00 when I headed down to the last indoor farmer's market of the season. Then once I got home, I finally headed out for my run. Still feeling tired, and allergies are making my eyes itchy and my nose runny, but nice morning for a run. Bright and breezy out there. (9.0 miles)

Mom and Dad had us over for dinner, and it was fun to catch up on their trip to Charlotte, but honestly I was ready for bed by about 7:00 pm 😂😴 Did manage to get a decent sleep though, which was nice, and then made my way out into the rain around 8:00 am this morning for a run. Windy and very very soggy run on the roads around town to finish up the running week. (7.0 miles)

Finished up the weekend cooking up some chickpea, chicken and potato curry for dinner plus pumpkin superhero muffins. Both seemed appropriate for the rainy day, and were delish! 

Gigi has taken to sleeping on Sam's bed, but she did not seem so thrilled when Sam joined her the other night 😹

April wrap-up:

Miles run: 186.44

Miles walked: 9.07

Miles XC skiied: 0

7 zero days


YTD:

Miles run: 698.3

Miles walked: 59.8

Miles XC skiied: 18.1

23 full zero days