I'm not even going to try to write the backblog of my runs. Damn you cubes! So, this weekend...
Saturday the TMs split into two running groups. Ian, David, and Julia were doing 22 on the roads around the park. It's convenient that there are lots of dirt roads with some hills all around. Nathan, Chris (high school senior who is training with Jeremy), the Squirrel, and I headed out onto the BBU loop, starting from the park out onto the east side.
We thought it might be unrunnable, but it couldn't hurt to try it out. Surprise! There was lots of ice, but there was mostly texture on it. There were patches of bare ground, patches of mud, water under the ice that gave way to ice burgs, and untrod snow. When we got to the loop off of Ginn (run on Mindy's 40 run, but not on the Bruiser), I had to rely on my sense of how the loop went. I made myself proud in a couple of spots :)
I enjoyed talking with Chris. I'd met him before, but that was about all. He's planning on running the 50 miler at Pineland this year. I wonder if he'll be the youngest to do it yet. And while I was enjoying his company, I couldn't help but feel he should be running faster than running with us. When we crossed back to the mountain side, he and Nathan started pulling ahead. Good.
The going was actually harder on the mountain side, but we remember to appreciate the beauty of the loop. I wished I brought my camera to get some shots for the BBU FB page. Next time. I don't think either of us even thought of investigating Wickahenge. That must be a first. The power lines were almost like winter never happened.
Back at the summit, we were greeted with the sight of the raptor count. Even though we wanted to crank out our miles, we couldn't help peeking at the tally sheet.
Heading toward Lunch Break, we met Nathan and Chris coming back. Mindy asked Nathan if he was done after the BBU or if he was looking for more miles. I think he was on the fence till he heard we planned to go add our miles by heading backward on the BL at the bottom of Lunch Break. He envisioned icy slopes. OK, bye guys.
Lunch Break was a surprise; it was pretty snow/ice free. It was a pleasure to run down. Hence, the next portion of the BL was a surprise. The going was hard and slow. Hmmm... we still had miles to go. S&S decided to run the 8ish extra we'd need on the dirt roads before heading back. When we popped out onto Lawrence, we headed right till we turned onto Leighton. A nod to the Highland Coos and the neighboring Llamas, but no visiting, we had miles to go. At the bottom of Leighton, we turned right onto Chadsey Rd. I forgot it turned to pavement. Mindy let me have the dirt and ran on the road herself. I could feel each screw when I was on pavement. Fortunately, when we crossed Allen, Chadsey was dirt again. But, man!, the going was hard. This stretch seemed unending. As soon as we crossed from Pownal to New Gloucester, the pavement returned. We passed the entrance to Mt Pisgah. We'll investigate that trail again soon.
The houses started getting large and expensive looking. I stopped to empty my shoe and Mindy took the opportunity to stretch. It always amazes me when little specks of sand seem like big rocks. We reached the end of Chadsey road, but still needed a few tenths before turning back. Out onto a bigger road we went. I correctly guessed it was rte 231. It felt good to turn around. As long as our trek out was, we were surprised how quickly the roads back passed. At the corner of Leighton and Lawrence, I had to empty my shoes again. I picked a very inviting rock cluster to sit. There was a stashed Nathan bottle at the base. Hmmm...did one of the road TMs leave it behind. I was tempted to pick it up, but what if someone else had left it? Better just make a note of it.
When we were back on Brad's summit, we rechecked the bird tally. They'd spotted 3 Bald Eagles while we were running :D Heading down, our Garmins told us we'd at least have our 25 miles, maybe more. I'm glad E&Ls didn't take the entire weekend off. S&S needed rest and refueling. That was one of the more tiring runs I've done in a long time.
Today, Rick and I headed back to Brad. Mindy and Nathan were already in the lot. Rick, just beginning running again, didn't plan on running with us the entire run, but stopped after 4 miles to walk. We ran a mish mash of trails with a mish mash of conditions. Between yesterday and today, we totaled 35 miles. That will do.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
Two Weeks
Last week I ran two four milers during the week (oops, started this a week ago...I guess this should start, "Two weeks ago I ran..."). Both were in the fields, solo, apres dark. I could have used more time running, but there was none to be had. I think I texted the Squirrel on Thursday asking if it were Saturday yet. I needed the long run.
Saturday did not disappoint. In fact, it exceeded expectations. Mindy and I opted to start early cause 24 miles on the trails can take a long time, plus, the earlier the better chance of OK trail conditions. We planned on running another Bigger Beautiful Loop and hoped the conditions wouldn't totally suck. The weather had been quite warm. However, I harbored some hope because conditions were surprisingly good on my Thurs night run. Ian also had posted something on FB or maybe TMR about good conditions on a run.
Not only were the conditions good, they might have been the best of the season. Of course, that pretty much meant they just weren't incredibly difficult. We talked about all the usual suspects, uh subjects and enjoyed the day, trail, run - the entire experience.
gIANt was starting his 30 mile run a half hour before ours. He was heading back to the parking lot for 8, then heading out after us. I wondered how long before he caught us. I just said to the Squirrel I needed to pull off and I better do it before Ian came along and caught me bare-assed. Well, I took a step off the trail when Ian and Blaine rounded the bend! Phew! Said a quick hi, told them to go on ahead, and finished what I started. When I rejoined them, Blaine was getting ready to head back. He wasn't in it for the full loop.
We enjoyed Ian's company for a bit before he continued on at his gIANt pace. I gave some course instruction and told him we were going to head the other way when we got to the power lines. Running the BBL gets you just under 20; we didn't want to get to the park needing to tack on another 4+ miles so we were going to run the other way on the power lines enough to get the necessary miles.
It was beautiful. The power lines seemed to go forever. We'd crest a hill only to see more. Scout and Squirrel were very, very tempted to just keep running. We could call someone to get us when we reached 24...Except neither of us had brought our phones and who would we call? Rick was in NJ. Pete might have been skiing. Linda was working....Sigh, we had to turn back.
Not long after we rejoined Ian's foot prints, we found a message. Love BBL and a funny moose. Funny how a little message from a gIANt can give you new life :) It kept us bubbling for a while. Then came the cows. Hey, cows! Hay! We later learned that there was more snow messages for us at the cows, but the cows buoyed us along. Back to the regular BL. Man, we were really sweating. It was hot. We weren't dressed for nearly 50. I realized I needed to start rationing my Nuun.
By the time we got to the Connector portion of the power lines, conditions were deteriorating. I'm glad we got our extra 4 in early. More snow messages!!! Squirrel recognized Unstrung work. Lunch Break was pretty hard, not quite as bad as last week, though. It was helpful knowing we'd been done back in the lot. I'm not sure which one of us wondered if Xar or Ian would be at E&Ls. Both of us couldn't imagine they'd still be there. But there were :D It was such a run!!! I don't even remember what yummy, comforting food I partook of, but it was just that. I think more so was having our other TM friends still there to relive, hash out, laugh about, and just bask in a day well spent. I love running.
Sunday, I had to play plant supervisor 6am to 6pm. I thought my legs/feet would be much unhappier with steel-toed shoes and concrete floors all day, but they were fine. Thanks to daylight savings, my after-work run was mostly in the daylight. I did an uneventful 10k.
The past week was a crazy work one. I went from the 12 hours on Sunday to 14.5 on Monday, and 13+ on Tues. Wed and Thur was my normal 10. Still I made sure I got out twice during the week. The conditions were quite varied. My feel were wet, muddy, and cold. Perfect foil to my hours inside. Friday, things were under control enough at work to leave an hour early to pick Ryan up from Portland for the weekend.
Saturday, I planned to run with Jedi and Squirrel, but had to go into work first. I thought I'd still make it to the park on time. When it became obvious I couldn't be at Brad for 8, I texted the Squirrel suggesting she and the Jedi go ahead on the BBL and I run it backwards when I could get there till I met up with them. She suggested we just push back our start. After clearing it with Jedi, we were able to meet for 8:30. Unstrung was on board, too. Mindy and Xar ended up having similar time constraints so decided to head out with us, then turn back when they were 1/2 way through their limit. Jedi George and I were down for the BBL. Conditions were not great, but the weather was. We had lots of icy stretches and lots of lumpy, frozen fields that gave way to cold water. It was great to run with him. He's our Yoda. Run the 100, we will.
On the way down Brad, we ran met lots of puppies. George, I think, enjoyed visiting them as much as I did. He did say that I really do need a goat. Yup.
Sunday, I trod on virgin ground, well, for me. I met up with Xar to run Mt. Pisgah repeats (the N. Monmouth Mt. Pisgah). The trail had icy stretches, but the snow to the side of the trail was firm and we could bypass the risky spots. There is a fire tower at the top. Of course, our hill repeats included a tower summit. The view was well worth it, even if the Whites were in a bit of a haze. I approved of most of the graffiti in the tower and all of the seahorses running up the road to the tower. Good stuff. We called it quits after two hours. I will definitely run there again.
The rest of the afternoon I napped on and off. Yum.
Saturday did not disappoint. In fact, it exceeded expectations. Mindy and I opted to start early cause 24 miles on the trails can take a long time, plus, the earlier the better chance of OK trail conditions. We planned on running another Bigger Beautiful Loop and hoped the conditions wouldn't totally suck. The weather had been quite warm. However, I harbored some hope because conditions were surprisingly good on my Thurs night run. Ian also had posted something on FB or maybe TMR about good conditions on a run.
Not only were the conditions good, they might have been the best of the season. Of course, that pretty much meant they just weren't incredibly difficult. We talked about all the usual suspects, uh subjects and enjoyed the day, trail, run - the entire experience.
gIANt was starting his 30 mile run a half hour before ours. He was heading back to the parking lot for 8, then heading out after us. I wondered how long before he caught us. I just said to the Squirrel I needed to pull off and I better do it before Ian came along and caught me bare-assed. Well, I took a step off the trail when Ian and Blaine rounded the bend! Phew! Said a quick hi, told them to go on ahead, and finished what I started. When I rejoined them, Blaine was getting ready to head back. He wasn't in it for the full loop.
We enjoyed Ian's company for a bit before he continued on at his gIANt pace. I gave some course instruction and told him we were going to head the other way when we got to the power lines. Running the BBL gets you just under 20; we didn't want to get to the park needing to tack on another 4+ miles so we were going to run the other way on the power lines enough to get the necessary miles.
It was beautiful. The power lines seemed to go forever. We'd crest a hill only to see more. Scout and Squirrel were very, very tempted to just keep running. We could call someone to get us when we reached 24...Except neither of us had brought our phones and who would we call? Rick was in NJ. Pete might have been skiing. Linda was working....Sigh, we had to turn back.
Not long after we rejoined Ian's foot prints, we found a message. Love BBL and a funny moose. Funny how a little message from a gIANt can give you new life :) It kept us bubbling for a while. Then came the cows. Hey, cows! Hay! We later learned that there was more snow messages for us at the cows, but the cows buoyed us along. Back to the regular BL. Man, we were really sweating. It was hot. We weren't dressed for nearly 50. I realized I needed to start rationing my Nuun.
By the time we got to the Connector portion of the power lines, conditions were deteriorating. I'm glad we got our extra 4 in early. More snow messages!!! Squirrel recognized Unstrung work. Lunch Break was pretty hard, not quite as bad as last week, though. It was helpful knowing we'd been done back in the lot. I'm not sure which one of us wondered if Xar or Ian would be at E&Ls. Both of us couldn't imagine they'd still be there. But there were :D It was such a run!!! I don't even remember what yummy, comforting food I partook of, but it was just that. I think more so was having our other TM friends still there to relive, hash out, laugh about, and just bask in a day well spent. I love running.
Sunday, I had to play plant supervisor 6am to 6pm. I thought my legs/feet would be much unhappier with steel-toed shoes and concrete floors all day, but they were fine. Thanks to daylight savings, my after-work run was mostly in the daylight. I did an uneventful 10k.
The past week was a crazy work one. I went from the 12 hours on Sunday to 14.5 on Monday, and 13+ on Tues. Wed and Thur was my normal 10. Still I made sure I got out twice during the week. The conditions were quite varied. My feel were wet, muddy, and cold. Perfect foil to my hours inside. Friday, things were under control enough at work to leave an hour early to pick Ryan up from Portland for the weekend.
Saturday, I planned to run with Jedi and Squirrel, but had to go into work first. I thought I'd still make it to the park on time. When it became obvious I couldn't be at Brad for 8, I texted the Squirrel suggesting she and the Jedi go ahead on the BBL and I run it backwards when I could get there till I met up with them. She suggested we just push back our start. After clearing it with Jedi, we were able to meet for 8:30. Unstrung was on board, too. Mindy and Xar ended up having similar time constraints so decided to head out with us, then turn back when they were 1/2 way through their limit. Jedi George and I were down for the BBL. Conditions were not great, but the weather was. We had lots of icy stretches and lots of lumpy, frozen fields that gave way to cold water. It was great to run with him. He's our Yoda. Run the 100, we will.
On the way down Brad, we ran met lots of puppies. George, I think, enjoyed visiting them as much as I did. He did say that I really do need a goat. Yup.
Sunday, I trod on virgin ground, well, for me. I met up with Xar to run Mt. Pisgah repeats (the N. Monmouth Mt. Pisgah). The trail had icy stretches, but the snow to the side of the trail was firm and we could bypass the risky spots. There is a fire tower at the top. Of course, our hill repeats included a tower summit. The view was well worth it, even if the Whites were in a bit of a haze. I approved of most of the graffiti in the tower and all of the seahorses running up the road to the tower. Good stuff. We called it quits after two hours. I will definitely run there again.
The rest of the afternoon I napped on and off. Yum.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
:D :D :D
Yes! This weekend was the running I love.
Mindy and I didn't know what kind of condition the trails would be in. The weather had been pretty warm. We'd had some new snow during the week, but also rain. The forecast was for rain starting sometime during our run. OK, we'd bring changes of shoes and socks. We'd try the trails, but bail for the Animal Loop if they were just too sloppy.
Just the Squirrel and I headed out on the Beautiful Loop; some of the guys were running/snowshoeing/marking the Blizzard course. The trail was soft, but very runnable. Good, we'd just keep going till it conditions seemed miserable. We had lots to talk about; the early miles flew by. When we popped out onto the power lines, I thought we'd be turning onto the road when we reached rte 9. There were large stretches of unavoidable deep slush. At rte 9, we opted to try the next section of trail. We'd turn back if it was still just slush. Yay! Great call; the conditions improved. There was random post holing and patches of slush, but nothing we couldn't handle.
Before the weather had made us suspicious of the trail, we'd thought about trying to make the BL bigger by taking a trail that splits off just before the big stream crossing. The snomo sign indicates it heads to Run Around Pond. We could always out and back on it or pop onto the road to get back to the BL if there was no trail that looped back.
Another good call! It was fun to be on unfamiliar trail, slightly unsure of where we were heading. We both thought it was sort of like out Triffittville run, without the bushwacking. We did have some more slush stretches, a bridge-out-cross-the-pond-if-you-dare crossing, and feet that froze and thawed repeatedly. Eventually, we came to an intersection of snomo trails. The signs helped us pick a rte back to the BL. We reached power lines, I knew they'd get us back to the sub-station. I just didn't realize how long of a stretch it'd be.
This was our first hill running. With the softening of the trail and the drifts that were in the fields, the hills were harder than they should have been. Scout and Squirrel took turns reminding the other how much strength training we were getting in. We'd laugh when we post-holed (since we avoided injury). Cresting one of the hills, we finally spotted a tower we knew was near the sub-station. It was really surprising how many hills we crested before we finally reached the tower.
Our power lines (the ones on the connector) were difficult. We knew the field when you branch off the power lines would be really rough. The good part is the most beautiful stretch of the BL follows. And, of course, we were still telling each other what good training it was. It took a lot of telling each other how badass we were to endure Lunch Break. We were very tired and it was untouched. It was deep and deeply beautiful. At the summit, phew! We realized, though, that we'd need to add a little extra to get our 20.
Fortunately on the way down Northern Loop, we ran into a couple with the sweetest golden. Gracie was almost 10 and had a lovely gray muzzle. She almost enjoyed me milking her ear as much as Spot dog. It was just the boost I needed. Mindy and I ran directly across the road to the Link. I think at the same time we both realized we'd been on this trail already today. OMG. It didn't even seem like the same run. We only needed another six tenths. Done. E&Ls for us.
Today, I needed to get out early to get miles before the Blizzard. There had been a light snow during the night. It was quite beautiful. The conditions were similar to the start of yesterday's run. The fresh snow let me see all the activity of the nocturnal animals. Wow! Critters had been very active, especially the skunks. I smiled at all the tracks. Then I saw the most beautiful, unexpected rainbow. It was a full, wide arc. I kept expecting it to vanish. It didn't seem to make sense, but stayed there for at least 25 minutes. I wondered if anyone else saw. As if that wasn't enough, the chickadees are singing their springtime song! I hated to stop. I could only get in 7 and still make it to the race on time.
Mindy and I didn't know what kind of condition the trails would be in. The weather had been pretty warm. We'd had some new snow during the week, but also rain. The forecast was for rain starting sometime during our run. OK, we'd bring changes of shoes and socks. We'd try the trails, but bail for the Animal Loop if they were just too sloppy.
Just the Squirrel and I headed out on the Beautiful Loop; some of the guys were running/snowshoeing/marking the Blizzard course. The trail was soft, but very runnable. Good, we'd just keep going till it conditions seemed miserable. We had lots to talk about; the early miles flew by. When we popped out onto the power lines, I thought we'd be turning onto the road when we reached rte 9. There were large stretches of unavoidable deep slush. At rte 9, we opted to try the next section of trail. We'd turn back if it was still just slush. Yay! Great call; the conditions improved. There was random post holing and patches of slush, but nothing we couldn't handle.
Before the weather had made us suspicious of the trail, we'd thought about trying to make the BL bigger by taking a trail that splits off just before the big stream crossing. The snomo sign indicates it heads to Run Around Pond. We could always out and back on it or pop onto the road to get back to the BL if there was no trail that looped back.
Another good call! It was fun to be on unfamiliar trail, slightly unsure of where we were heading. We both thought it was sort of like out Triffittville run, without the bushwacking. We did have some more slush stretches, a bridge-out-cross-the-pond-if-you-dare crossing, and feet that froze and thawed repeatedly. Eventually, we came to an intersection of snomo trails. The signs helped us pick a rte back to the BL. We reached power lines, I knew they'd get us back to the sub-station. I just didn't realize how long of a stretch it'd be.
This was our first hill running. With the softening of the trail and the drifts that were in the fields, the hills were harder than they should have been. Scout and Squirrel took turns reminding the other how much strength training we were getting in. We'd laugh when we post-holed (since we avoided injury). Cresting one of the hills, we finally spotted a tower we knew was near the sub-station. It was really surprising how many hills we crested before we finally reached the tower.
Our power lines (the ones on the connector) were difficult. We knew the field when you branch off the power lines would be really rough. The good part is the most beautiful stretch of the BL follows. And, of course, we were still telling each other what good training it was. It took a lot of telling each other how badass we were to endure Lunch Break. We were very tired and it was untouched. It was deep and deeply beautiful. At the summit, phew! We realized, though, that we'd need to add a little extra to get our 20.
Fortunately on the way down Northern Loop, we ran into a couple with the sweetest golden. Gracie was almost 10 and had a lovely gray muzzle. She almost enjoyed me milking her ear as much as Spot dog. It was just the boost I needed. Mindy and I ran directly across the road to the Link. I think at the same time we both realized we'd been on this trail already today. OMG. It didn't even seem like the same run. We only needed another six tenths. Done. E&Ls for us.
Today, I needed to get out early to get miles before the Blizzard. There had been a light snow during the night. It was quite beautiful. The conditions were similar to the start of yesterday's run. The fresh snow let me see all the activity of the nocturnal animals. Wow! Critters had been very active, especially the skunks. I smiled at all the tracks. Then I saw the most beautiful, unexpected rainbow. It was a full, wide arc. I kept expecting it to vanish. It didn't seem to make sense, but stayed there for at least 25 minutes. I wondered if anyone else saw. As if that wasn't enough, the chickadees are singing their springtime song! I hated to stop. I could only get in 7 and still make it to the race on time.
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