Hours and Hours and Hours of the BL

There was a snowstorm Thursday that left around 10 inches of the fluffy kind of snow.  Ian had messaged me Friday night asking me to look for signs of snowmobiles crossings along the BL.  I did see they'd crossed Rt 9 at the power lines near the gravel pit.  He and Emma had done reconnaissance from the other direction.  Some of the crossings showed signs of traffic, but a couple didn't.  Did that mean the river crossings were open?  Well, time would tell.

Maureen, Ben (who I know I've seen before, but don't really know), Ian, Emma, Blaine and Xar were there for the chilly start.  Maureen was sporting snowshoes.  Though the snowmobiles had been through, the dry snow was not packed.  It was the running-in-sugar or mashed-potatoes conditions.  I think Maureen had the best grip.  I was amazed at how quickly Ian, Emma, Blaine and Bed pulled out of sight.  How could anyone run that fast without traction?!

Xar and I ran along appreciating Brad dressed in his finest.  It wasn't long before I was hot.  We were working very hard.  I need to find a way to pump this heat to my Nathan Pack tube.  It froze early and hard.

Maureen bounded back towards us.  She had to keep it short since she is just coming off a stress fracture.

Xar and I pushed on.  Out the back boundary of the park onto the BL.  I only wanted to run 2 hours, so knew I wouldn't be running the entire loop.  Just before the 1 hour mark, I checked with Xar on her time limit.  None.  Hmmm....I kept wanting to show her more of the loop.  In the gravel pit, I told her about the pair of black labs Rick and I always see coming out of the woods up ahead.  And then, almost on cue, they bounded out of the woods!

They immediately pounced on a moose carcass that we'd just spied.  Their person came on skis.  She wasn't worried about them with the bones.  She said they quickly tire of the heavy treat.  We visited with Angus and Porter for a while.  The pace was slow, but our time always looks way worse cause of the stops to smell the roses(?) along the way.

We didn't go much farther after the pups; I was going to be well over 2 hours.  On the way back, we fell through the wet spots several times.  Were we less careful or less caring?  Back in the park, we spotted a perfect natural lean-to.  We were pretty sure the Squirrel could actually use it in a pinch.

Wow!  That was a hard 9.15 miles, but, of course, we had a great time.

Saturday afternoon the snow started.  It just kept coming.  Sunday,I knew to leave extra time to clean off the car, but I didn't realize the roads would be that slow going.  A quick text to alert the Squirrel that I'd be a couple minutes late.  When I pulled into the lot, Xar and Mindy were both there.  We planned on the Beautiful Loop.

Incredibly, the trail was easier going than yesterday (to start out).  The new snow on top of the snowmobile track somehow gave better traction.  That was true for about 3 or 4 miles.  Somewhere in there, Mindy and I noticed Xar was falling off the back.  We stopped to wait, but she waved us on.  We decided we had to go.

This was very familiar.  Scout and Squirrel on another BL adventure.  We guessed where water was under the trail.  We did a decent job of staying fairly dry.  When we popped out onto Rte 9, Mindy took the time to dig out all the snow from under her Inov8's tongues.

I forgot how long the next stretch of power lines is.  We expected our lounge chairs any second.  We started accusing CMP of taking them.  When we came across a snomo bridge, I was thrilled that we didn't have to worry about the big water crossing.  I'd forgotten this new bridge from last year that only bridged a smaller rivulet.

When did this stretch end?  I kept thinking I saw the road crossing up ahead.  Where were our chairs?  That's where I planned on having a Happy Tot.  There!!!  We rejoiced!  Then there was much laughter trudging over to the recliners.  Man!  The snow was deep.  Was it here that the Squirrel suggested tunneling under the snow like her brethren do?  While we were clearing the chairs, a pileated woodpecker flew over, laughing at us.

Just after this fun, we came across the real river.  There were all kinds of caution open water signs.  We turned back to find the detour that Ian had discovered last season.  Finally, the road.  We had just a short jaunt to get back to the power line.  The second road crossing came much quicker than I expected.  Next would be the substation.

Snowmobile tracks lead us around to the left of the substation.  The water issues normal for this area were a non-issue.  Crossing Alan Rd we found that the snowmobile trails were closed due to CMP work.  We were going to head out anyway, but were unsure of exactly how the trail went.  We ran back to Alan Rd and up it to Sweetser.  From there we jumped on the power lines.  Even though there were no snomo trail, we knew this like the back of our hands.  Onward!  Whoa!  The drifts surprised us.  Man.  It. Was. Hard.  We periodically told ourselves this was great training.  Were any other Haliburton people doing anything like this?  Nah.

The bridge crossings were scarey.  The footing was dicey.  You couldn't even see where the bridges started and ended.  By the time we were at the bench, I asked Mindy if she had any problem with heading back down Elmwood.  Nope.  She was good with that.  I think yesterday's hours were catching up with me.  I was tired.  Even on the road, the footing wasn't great.  We drifted out towards the center when we could to get to the bare road.

We planned to go up Lunch Break.  The snowmobile trail turned off onto the original BL course.  We weren't sure we would be able to stay on course on Lunch Break.  OK, we'd follow the old way.  I'm glad we did.  It was truly beautiful.  I'm glad we always seem to be able to appreciate our run and where we run, no matter how tired.

Back in the park, I was too tired to deal with changing.  With no E&Ls to warm us, we just got in our cars and headed home.  Damn.  We did good.

Perfect Start

After I finished wrapping presents, Rick and I packed up for a Christmas run at Brad.  We were the only car there.  The light snow picked up as we ran.  Brad is normally beautiful; this was really perfect.  We kept the pace cautious.  With the snow, it was hard to know where there was ice.  No matter, we just enjoyed.  After six miles, we were pretty snow covered.  Time to head home for Christmas with the kids.

Christmas Eve Morning with Brad

I eagerly headed back to run with Brad for the third morning in a row.  This time I had him all to myself.  Actually, I did come across two separate mountain bikers, both of who expressed surprise to see anyone else out.

Sunday, I'd been amazed that screw shoes weren't really needed.  The trails were pretty ice-free.  We covered 7.7 miles on the east side.  I figured I knew the conditions for my solo run.  I struck out on the east side portion of the Big Brad.  Immediately, I could tell I better be a little more vigilant about the footing.  There were large stretches of hoar frost ready to give way.  I also came across large stretches of total ice-covered trail.  I was sure to break through if I tried to cross it.

some little guy's awning

he even has a welcome mat

one of the only other people out

coon tracks - love (blogger doesn't like my heart symbol )

alligator

hippo

I stayed on Fox West instead of crossing over to Fox East like the Big Brad does.  There was more stretches of ice/puddled trail.  The one really flooded spot that Xar and I had released the day before was still flowing nicely.  We do good work :)

From there I wound around different trails to finish with the 8 that I wanted.  I smiled when I let me stop with 7.98.  I was close to picking the right trails.  Upon uploading, SportTracks said I'd gone 8 even.  Yup.  Me and Brad.

something was missing (missed)

Screw Shoes Not Required

Yesterday, I was sure that it would be treacherous footing at the Brad for today's run.  It was so wet and the temps dipped pretty low at night.  I never expected that the ground could absorb so much at this time of year.  Still, it's probably a good thing that I now have a pair of screw shoes at the ready.

Rick and I were the first in the lot...or so I thought.  NJ Dave and Jordon ran in to lot seconds later.  I waved, but had no intention of opening the door yet...It was cold out there and I wanted to keep whatever heat was in the car in the car.  Then I could hear them saying something like Merry Christmas or happy holidays.  Oh!  They were leaving.  I would have opened the door if I thought they weren't gonna be joining us on the run.  Oops.

Somewhere in there Xar pulled in, as did her friends Bob and Paul.  We were doing the intros when Joshu (Joeshoe?  That's how the name is pronounced, at leasts) came over.  He had seen something about the TMs on Brad's website.  Turns out he'd grown up very close by and was back for the holidays.  Should we head out?  I thought Emma was coming, but she and/or gIANt are usually one of the first in the park.  Hmmm...maybe something came up.  Fortunately, waiting for Gnarls gave Yana time to show up!!!  Two weeks in a row!  More introductions.

Thinking, still, that it was going to be icy, I led us across to the east side, the least hazardous in ice.  Yana and I were up front so I had the pleasure of yaking with her the majority of the run.  We started out on the Bruiser course.  Talking Doctor Who with Yana, we unintentionally picked up the pace.  We tried to rein it in.  Then, on the Bat Cave Loop, Rick and Yana picked the pace up even more talking about the troubles of the world.  We realized Xar, Paul, and Bob were no longer with us.  We decided  to head back to bring the group back together.  We made it all the way to the beginning.  Oh, they must have gone straight on Fox East.  Heading back across the street, I saw Xar and co. starting out the Northern Loop.  HEY!  We met back up.  They swore they took the Bat Cave Loop.  I think they must have taken one of the crossing paths along the way.  Or.  Maybe they got really tiny.  Any way, they continued up the mountain.  Of course they should have; it was a beautifully clear day.  Paul and Bob needed to see the view from the summit.

Yana, Rick and I were good with our 7.7 miles.  We went to Edna and Lucy's to enjoy the last of E&Ls till 2013.  Rick and I were treated to the best special ever.  Yana had a breakfast sandwich and took one of the pear and goat cheese sandwiches home for later.  Wow.  Pretty good two days in a row with Brad and friends *u*

Road Closed

I knew I wouldn't be on time for the 8 am run as soon as I saw the road closed sign.  Hmmm, was it just from my approach to Brad or would those coming from the south be blocked, too?  I debated my options, but arrived at what I figured was a win/win.  I'd park at the Lawrence Rd parking near Tryon.  That way I could run at Brad and maybe hook up with other TMs.  No heading to Pineland for me!

Wow!  Brad hasn't been that wet in a long time.  A river was practically flowing down Tryon.  The going was slow.  There was mud and some ice.  My feet were instantly wet and cold.  They would take a few miles to warm up, but, even with repeated dippings, they did.  When I didn't see any TMs early into the run, I assumed they were all on the east side.  My detour had me starting a little late; if they were heading out the connector, they'd be well on their way.

I think there were three cars in the Bradbury lot when I arrived.  The Unstrung hero's car stood right out.  I didn't recognize the others.  I thought I might have noticed a Hoka track on the Northern Loop trail.  She wasn't around. Hmmm, how to let her know I was there.  I took some toilet paper from the out house and used it like a ribbon to adorn a few pine boughs that I put on her windshield, using the wipers to keep it all in place.  I was pretty sure she would attribute that to me.  I was totally oblivious to her message she'd left.  In the dirt, right next to Xar's CAR car door, she scratched out a message indicating she'd be running counter clockwise.

I decided that people always head out in the Bruiser direction (totally not true), so I'd head the other direction to try to intercept.  Luckily, I found Xar playing in the water early on Knight's woods.  She was happy I wasn't dead.  What would be my funeral plans?  Totally would employ the Peace, Corpse!  So we continued our runs with water play and trail clearing thrown in.  Some places we pussy-footed around water, most places we plowed right through.

There were no mountain bikers out.  They can't handle french fries like we can and, apparently, that's not all.  I realized that 15 miles was going to take a long time at this rate.  Maybe I'd go by time instead.  Xar had no time constraints.  When I decided it was time to head back to my car, she decided to come with.  I was happy to have her along for company, but figured that meant I'd be solo at E&Ls.

I pointed out what I'd thought was Partridge Berries.  Xar corrected me.  It was Wintergreen.  Hmmm.  It didn't have berries.  Did I call Wintergreen the wrong thing all my life or do Partridge Berries look like Wintergreen?  I was very confused.  To my surprise, not all of the flora that I learned in my childhood was correct.  Was this another example?  I said Partridge Berries seem to be found in places with Running Pine.  I told Xar about Campfire Girls.  On Tryon, we saw Partridge Berries.  They were similar in leaf, but definitely different.  Running Pine was all around.  We also saw this cool moss that looked like mini ferns.  Oh, somewhere on Ragan we saw a dueling hippo and alligator.  It was a crazy run.

 Xar decided it was time to head back when we reached the place you could choose to head up to the quarry or down to Lawrence Road.  Heading back to my car, I realized I could get to 12.5 if I went a little further.  So I went up the hill like I was going to go to the power lines.  Well, I'd just go to Coyote Corner.  Just as I was about to turn around, I noticed a huge black cat.  HUGE!.  I called, "kitty, kitty" in my kitty voice, but he gave one look and took off on a dead run.  I thought if it was close to dark, I'd have sworn he was a panther.  I stopped watching him.  What was that noise?  The river!  I decided I should continue to the bridge to see the source.  Very cool.  On the return, I realized I could still hear the raging water just before I headed down the hill to the car.

At Edna and Lucy's, I ordered a cup of soup, hot tea, and a chocolate chip cookie.  Mmmm.  Xar came in before I was done!  What a great finish :D

Night Running

Rick ran with me after work on Wednesday night.  The ground was sloppy.  It made slow going just from bad traction, but it was slush, not ice.  I was happy to have Rick's company.  It made for a fairly late supper, but I managed to get supper on the table before Rick's bedtime :)

Thursday night, was an IRS meeting.  The footing was much better.  Running down the hill, or maybe up, Unstrung asked if Dick had been around.  Nope, not since the last time he startled at us at an IRS meeting.  I think he was done with us running on his resting ground.  Then, after our stream crossing, all of a sudden, Dick!  And another, and another, and another.  Xar exclaimed, "So many Dicks!"  Back across the street, heading for the hill, we saw eyes in the brush line along the edge of the field.  I think there were 6 pairs!  We ran towards them.  They moved off.  I think at least one bounded away in deerlike fashion.  Our guardian deer!  It was a great night out.

Weekend with Brad

Saturday was cold, but not horribly so.  I was surprised that only four people showed up for the TM run.  However, I'm not surprised by who.  Ian, David, Mindy and I headed out on the mountain side.  Ian was picking the course.  Mindy and I stayed with the guys till I needed to pee.  Brrrr!!!!  We were still in sight of them till we headed up Tryon.  A large group of mountain bikers kind of contributed to the separation.  We weren't gonna run as long as the guys either cause we wanted to be done in plenty of time to get to The Hobbit event early. 

We went out the power lines looking for unicorns.  There weren't showing themselves this run.  Were we not pure enough of heart? 

Not very far after the possible unicorn location, we heard steps from behind.  We were reunited with David and Ian!  We ran less than a mile with them before deciding we'd better head back.  When Ian found us at Edna and Lucy's he said something like he thought we had somewhere to be.  Well, yeah, we could have kept running, but then E&Ls would have been off the table.  The yummy Cauliflower soup and hot tea was almost necessary for the total experience.

Sunday morning, back at Brad, we waited to see if anyone else was going to show.  I swear a couple of others (at the post-Hobbit event) had indicated they were joining us.  Mindy, Rick, Ruby and I waited a little extra.  Yay!!! It was a good thing we did cause Yana drove in!  The five of use headed off on the east side.   We ran the reverse of the BBU east-side piece, but added the Island and Bat Cave loops since we wanted 8ish miles.  Yana is always a treat to run with.  The miles sped by as we caught up.  We all agreed to a New Year's Day run. 

Oh, I couldn't get my Nathan pack line thawed out, even sticking the valve down my shirt.  I'm going to have to figure something out.  I never wear an jacket or anything I could put the pack inside of. 

Fearful, Fearless

Or, in other words, TNR, ThNR.  I did another solo TNR.  This time there were no coyote howls, but the memory was still fresh.  Then, on my second time across the street, there were four pairs of eyes peering out from the tree line.  I yelled, but they stayed.  Again, couldn't make myself continue up the hill.  So I turned back to just do laps around the motocross track and around the yard.  Of course, there are no coyotes on this side of the street and, somehow, I truly believed the ones on the other side never cross over.  I managed to get in 5 miles, mad at myself for being scared.

Thursday, I decided to run with my tonfa.  I felt confident the entire run.  I didn't even nervously sing at the top of my lungs.  I did break into song once, but that was just to sing.  The tonfa is pretty easy to run with.  I got in just over 6 miles.  

TWMiH3

Sunday was the running of the third annual Till We Meet in Hell.  I'm calling it a huge success.  We had 29 runners and a few not-running-this-event-but-still-into-it TMs.  In the 90 minute time, we totaled 205 miles.  Andy was pushing the pace and covered the most ground.  It was fun and, even knowing Andy, amazing to see him fly by.  He did come up short of Jeff's prediction, but only by six tenths of a mile.  The very beginning there were spots that we pretty slick; we'd had some black ice over night.  While a few other TMs pushed hard, some just ran, some walked, and others played.  Unstrung, Squirrel, and Scout ran, laughed, fenced, posed, and ran like we were ten years old.  The talk may have been for mature audiences, but totally immature at the same time.  I told Rick it was a good thing we weren't all in school at the same time; we'd always be in detention.

Post race, the TMs headed to Gritty's for food, beer, and TM awards.  We finished up with a gIANt birthday cake.

234,965+6,408,231=6,664,196

Um, that's my attempt at being funny.  Scout and Squirrel had 18 miles to get done on Saturday, a cold, rainy day.  Fortunately, we had a gIANt addition for the first 9+ miles.  It was good to have Ian for several reasons.  Of course, the biggest was that we got to have his energy and Ian-ness along.  We don't get to run with him much.  Oh, sure we run at the same time at Brad, but he's often in the faster group.  Today, he chose to hang with us, not feeling like running the "balls out" pace that Andy (the only other TM braving the day) had in mind.  With the conversation, we barely noticed the rain that periodically picked up.  It would also wane, but never seemed to stop.  Though it was a relaxed pace for Ian, it was slightly faster than what S&S would have run without him.  That was also a good thing.  We ticked the first miles off like nothing.  Ian also led us on some unfamiliar trails; it was fun exploring.  When he was ready to head off, we were more than half done. 

We chatted with Ian a bit in the parking lot before heading back out.  It took a while to warm up.  Luckily we chose the mountain side so it was we were working hard right off.  We just did a few miles, not really wanting to leave the park out the connector; we'd heard shots.  So with six miles left, we ran back to the east side.  Was there miles, not counting the O that we hadn't done yet?  Well, there was a trail or two that we hadn't seen all of and reversing direction on others, it all seemed pretty fresh.

We were happy to finish up, change into dry clothes, and head to E&Ls for yummy, hot food.  I gave Emma a call so she could hand off Ian's cake for tomorrow's event. HAPPY BIRTHDAY :D

Singing and Howling

I went out by myself after nine pm.  I could have run pre-dinner, but it cuts into the amount of time I get to see Rick.  Besides, it's dark then too, so what's the difference.  Getting out is more than half the battle.  I told Rick not to let me get too "nesty" on the couch.

So, I started out doing pretty well.  It was a beautiful night.  But it didn't take too long for the little hairs on the back of my neck to be standing up.  Alone, things lurk in the dark.  I resorted to my normal tactic, loud, not-in-tune singing.  I pretty much know that the animal life wants to avoid me, even more so if I'm singing.  I smiled as I started some of the songs both Mindy and I knew (though from different areas) as childhood songs.  Oh, it was ugly out there!

I was about to start my third and last lap, heading for the hill across the street when I heard the coyotes.  I stopped for a few moments.  It wasn't like the night when Rick and I heard them where the one group was answered by groups from all around.  There was only the sound of a clan from across the street - gulp - where I was headed.  They did sound fairly distant.  I shamed myself into sticking to what I know to be true; I am safe running at night around here.  I was good heading across the road.  I was good heading towards the hill.  Hmmm, was my headlamp getting dim.  I was looking for glowing eyes in the surrounding fields.  My beam was not illuminating very much.  I got creeped and creepeder.  I don't think I made it half way up the hill before I needed to turn back.  There were no more coyote howls or yips.  It didn't matter.  My irrational brain had taken over.  I ran to our side of the street and did a lap on the motocross track.  I finished with almost 5 miles.

TNR IRS MFR WTH Dick

Tuesday night was much needed after Tuesday day.  Turns out Scout and Unstrung had similar work days; both required running with friends to recover properly.  We complained a little to each other about our days, but then just started enjoying the IRS silliness.  The joy of running with a friend in the dark, mist, with woodcocks.  After our run, Ryan explained infinities of different sizes and meeps.  The perfect follow up was some Daily Show.  Yup.  The day ended mended.

It Begins

I can't believe I'm gonna just write a few sentences about this weekend.  I just want to get current.  It was the start of S&S's 50 mile training.  We'd been doing a good job of maintaining so it wasn't a very big difference in miles.  Saturday we ran for 16 frosty, frosty miles at the Brad.  We ran a combo of east side and mountain/connector.  Xar was there at the very start and for our last couple miles.  It was a boost to see her heading towards us on our return from the power lines.

Today S&S were accompanied by Rick and Danielle.  We ran gingerly along the iced trails making sure of our footing.  At 9 we ran back to the parking lot, hopping to pick up Unstrung.  A text let us know not to wait for her; the icy conditions had her running late.  I'm glad Danielle was able to join us.  It sounds like she's gonna try to make more Sunday runs.  Nice.

The weekend miles deserve far more coverage, but, like I said.  I wanted to start the week without a backlog.

The Guiltless Doves

On my solo TNR, I discovered I'd wrongly accused doves of terrorizing me.  Last year at this time, when I started running at night, there were many times when a bird would fly up right next to me.  Once I even felt one's feathers.  I cursed them.  Unstrung became more so when they went up (mostly due to my reaction to them; I startle big).  The Squirrel said she thought they were stupid birds.  I spent a year thinking they were the either mean or stupid. 

Tuesday, heading up the hill across the street, one went up immediately on my left.  Screaming, then swearing.  Damn doves.  I was doing two loops, on the way back up the hill, I reminded myself to be on the lookout for the dove.  What's this?  In the middle of one tractor track, was the prettiest little bird.  I'd never seen a woodcock so close up.  It was beautiful.  I got very close before it went up.  This time I was very prepared.  A little wave of guilt ripples through me.  I didn't hate the woodcock at all, but I'd instantly damned the dove.

On the way back down the hill, I reminded myself to be prepared, to steel myself against the startle.  Nope, the little guy wasn't back yet.  Yeah, right!  He'd just moved far enough down the path to lull me into complacency.  When I startled, instead of being mad, I smiled at the bird.

I got in just under 4 miles.

Wednesday was the reconvening of the IRS!!!  I looked forward to the fun of sharing the weirdness of running the fields at night.  I told Unstrung all about the woodcock.  Of course, we named him Dick.  That led to all kinds of silliness.  If someone names their son Dick, they should call their daughter Vagina.  Yup. When I suggested maybe we should go with Peter to be more subtle, Xar was sure the bluntness was more appropriate. 

Dick did not disappoint.  Unstrung was flapped.  And then again.  The second time, at least, she got a good look at Dick.  A great start to this season's IRS.