Tracks seen on the Osippe River Trails Yesterday

Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus)


Human (Homo sapien)


Horse (Equus caballus)


White Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus)


Snow Shoe Hare (Lepus americanus)


Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)


Eastern Grey Squirrel (Sciurus caroliniensis)


Common Racoon (Procyon lotor)


Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias tamias)


Domestic Dog (Canis lupis familiaris)


Trail Runner (Templi pedester)

New Woods to Explore!

Saturday I ran through unbroken snow in my Dion running snowshoes over extremely hilly terrain with Scout. It was in the teens, very comfortable since I was working hard. We left from camp and headed into the woods with the goal of seeing where the trail went. The "trail" that starts at the corner of our drive is an old tote road, by the looks of it. It had about a foot of fresh snow on it and made for some excellent snowshoe running. I promised myself I would do an out and back to avoid the embarrassment of coming out in someone's back yard twenty miles from camp and having to call Kevin for a ride. That is the sort of thing that happens to me when I explore new trails. I hate to turn back. I just have to see what's around the next bend.

We ran mostly downhill for a few miles before hitting an intersection. I turned right and went up and down some ridiculously steep short hills before hitting a major snowmobile trail. I didn't know how Scout would behave around snowmobiles, as he had never seen one before, so I turned and tried the other direction. We went several miles, steadily downhill. Our camp is near the top of a small mountain, so running from camp always involves hills. I tell myself it's good for me! When I realized the trail was not leveling off but continuing to descend indefinitely, I decided it was time to turn back while I still had enough strength to climb back to camp. Running back up was a killer! By the time we made it back I was huffing and puffing like a 2-pack-a-day asthmatic.

The next day temperatures had plummeted below zero. I was going to cross country ski, but decided I would stay warmer on snowshoes. This time Kevin joined me and Scout. I wanted to show him the trail so he could give me some input about where I was headed and how I could turn this into some sort of long loop. Kevin has an uncanny sense of our position on the map no matter how many twists and turns we make in the woods. Using direction, topography, distant landmarks, and intuition he can usually give a pretty accurate account of our position. After checking out the intersection, he felt the left downhill option (that Scout and I started but turned around on Saturday) would probably work for some sort of long loop. He thinks it will join up with a snowmobile trail that comes out near the bottom of a dirt road I am familiar with and that will eventually take me back up the hill to camp. I'll try it next time I am feeling energetic and adventurous.

Ice and Hills

We just got back from another fun weekend in Vermont. The snow in Burke is pretty sparse, so there was no cross country skiing or snowshoeing. The mountain is open, but Kevin is a little particular about open trails and snow conditions, so he didn't want to snowboard, either. We managed to have a fun time anyway.

Saturday, we took a brisk hike on the trails. I had planned to run, but even with spikes it was way too icy! There was about an inch of solid, clear, smooth ice covered by a couple of inches of powdery snow. Even walking was treacherous. I had to slide down some of the steeper hills on my butt.

Sunday we went to get some building supplies for finishing the trim work on the camp. I had Kevin drop me off 5 miles from camp on the way back. Running to camp from town is all uphill... steep, steady, slippery uphill. To make matters worse, a friendly black lab joined me with about three miles to go. I turned and brought him back home when I realized he wasn't going to go back on his own. That meant running back down the hill. It looked like he was going to stay so I headed back up again, only to hear him clomping along behind me about a half mile later. I turned around and started back down the hill and soon he ran off ahead, going toward his home. I turned and ran back up. As I neared my turn with a mile and a half of the steepest climbing ahead, Good Old Blackie caught up to me again. I ran up the icy dirt road, scolding him between gasps for oxygen, "you are a very bad dog. You should not be chasing runners. You are going to be in big trouble when you get home." He just jogged along beside me with his tail wagging and his tongue hanging out of his mouth. When I got to camp, Kevin came out and told my new dog friend to "go home". Blackie turned and trotted back down the hill. Apparently, Kevin has more clout with dogs than I do. It was a good solid hill workout. And the doggy distraction probably helped keep me from thinking about how hard it was.

Icy Hilly Single Track

After working all weekend, I was happy to have today off to celebrate the new year with Kevin and Scout. We drove out to North Conway and traveled the rogue mountain bike trail that runs around the back side of Rattlesnake Mountain. Kevin walked and I ran over the hilly terrain. I get up ahead for a while, then turn and run back until I find Kevin again, then do it all over again. It's a fun way to get miles and hills in. Scout runs a bit with me, then gets worried that we are leaving Kevin too far behind and stops to wait while I go on. Then when I turn around and meet him coming back, he gets all excited and joins me running back for Kevin.

Hilly stuff out there! And today it was very icy, too. I wore my Brooks Adrenalines, which I never cared for until Kevin studded them with screws. They work great on ice. Coming back, a mountain biker passed us and Scout looked at him moving fast over the ice, looked at me moving slow over the ice, and made his decision. He took off with the cyclist with his tail wagging. I took chase. Luckily, the cyclist stopped on the trail and waited for me, otherwise I'd still be out there chasing them. Bad dog.

We wrapped up our day at The Moat with a few beers and some good food. Its been another great day in the woods with my honey and my (bad) dog.

Looking Back on the Week and the Year

This past week has given me some great trail runs. Wonderful winter trail conditions continue here in southern Maine. I hear plenty of trail runners lamenting the lack of snow but I don't get it. What's to complain about when the trails are rock hard and fast? What's not to love about the scritch scratch of screw shoes on icy frozen dirt? Snowshoe running is fun, but for me it's only for when conditions demand it. Then again, if we get a freak storm and it snows a foot tonight, I'll be singing the praises of running in snowshoes in my Blog. I'll also be posting about joyous gliding through the woods on cross country skis. Snow, no snow... it's a win-win situation.

This was my first week back to work and it's been extremely busy. I've had to do my first two evening headlamp trail runs of the winter because of my work schedule. (I enjoyed them immensely). My other runs were a bit rushed and shortened. Scout has only gotten in two trail runs and a jog around the Kezar Falls streets this week. (I think being so well rested has made him a faster runner. He sure made me work hard today). The house is definitely less tidy, we ran out of cream for coffee, the laundry is over-flowing, and I haven't shaved my legs in a week. But I am starting to find balance again. I am settling back into a good routine.

I will be working this New Year weekend, but will make time to reflect on what a happy and wonderful year 2011 has been. Many of us could whine and complain about the economy, injuries, illnesses, personal finances, losses, relationships, injustices, prejudices, and evils. Or we could count our blessings! I have a loving husband, two great kids, a fun puppy, two cool cats, a comfortable house, my health, a job, the woods, the rivers, and the mountains. Also, I have the use of my right arm back. And think of all the good things ahead! Happy New Year! Have fun and be safe. Count your blessings.

Prime Trail Days

I'm still getting in good mileage with lots of medium and long runs at a modest to medium effort. The weather and trail conditions are spectacular! This has been a good base building period for me. Today I ran about 8 miles on the hilly single track in Parsonsfield with Scout. I've had a cold this past week and my runs have fluctuated between wonderful and terrible. I don't know how my energy is going to be until I start running. I set out each day anyway, run when I can, and walk when I have to. I don't let it bring me down, it's just a cold.

Today I was able to run the first (mostly) uphill mile without any problems so I knew we had a good run ahead of us. With a sunny sky and temperatures in the mid 40s, I was surprised to find patches of ice here and there. Scout likes to dash off ahead of me, so I can spot the icy patches whenever I come to them. He slips and falls, then skids across the icy patches on his side or butt at full speed, sweeping all the leaves off the trail so I can see the ice. He's a good trail friend.

My P90X strengthening program is going well. That is to say, I can't take a deep breath without my chest muscles hurting, I can't cough or laugh without my abs killing me, I can't brush my hair without feeling the burn in my triceps, and I can't walk up and down the stairs without my quads throbbing. In a few short weeks I'll be getting into shape and missing those aches and pains. I'll find myself wondering if I'm working out hard enough since it doesn't hurt anymore.

So my endurance training is going well and my strength work is kicking in. But I'm still lacking in the speed department. I keep threatening myself with speed work. I'm just waiting for the mood to hit. If it doesn't come to me on it's own, I'll start the first of January. The very words, repeats, intervals, tempo runs, threshold runs, and progression runs give me a queasy uneasy feeling. I'll probably have nightmares tonight now that I have put them in writing.

Double Workout Days

Since injuring my shoulder in July and then finally having rotator cuff repair surgery on it in September, I haven't been able to do any upper body training in almost six months. This is the first time since college that I haven't worked out. It's starting to show! So I re-started P90X a few days ago. With this program, you do the exercises along with a video of four ridiculously fit and energetic people doing the workouts with you. They make me jealous, so I work harder to prove something to myself. It's a weird concept, but it has worked well for me in the past! Sure, the trainer, Tony Horton, is annoyingly corny. Plus the music on the videos sounds like something out of a porn movie. But the workouts are very effective. I considered shaking things up a little by switching to "P90X 2" or "Insanity", but today I looked online for costumer reviews of the original P90X and found over seven thousand positive reviews and about eleven reviews that claimed they followed the program exactly and it didn't work for them. So I decided to stick with something I know works. My abdominal muscles, upper arms, chest, and shoulder blades are delightfully sore and tender today. It's already working!

In addition to the strength work outs, I have been running trails almost every day. I guess my explorations of the Leavitt Plantation trails are not going un-noticed. Yesterday I found thin string stretched across the trail in various places. It was difficult to see until I ran into it, breaking it each time. This string wasn't there last week. I think the mad trail builder is on to me. He must have suspected someone is using his trails and put the string across to find out for sure. As I mentioned in past posts, the land is open for public use so I really don't think there is any reason I shouldn't be using these awesome trails. If the guy would accept volunteer trail work or even a trail pass fee I would probably be willing, because I know building and maintaining trails is hard and time consuming. But he doesn't operate that way. He only offers guided mountain bike rides for a fee. So I'll keep running around out there until we run into each other and talk things over one of these days.

I've also been out on the Ossipee River Trails regularly. This afternoon I put in a quick four miles with Scout. I did the P90X Plyometric workout earlier in the day, which is a killer. Plus I have a cold. So I had a little trouble getting myself out for the run, but once I got going it was great. I need to start working on picking up the pace of my runs. I am just so darned relaxed and happy out there, I forget to put a little work into it now and then.

I'll be returning to work the day after Christmas and the runs and workouts will be harder to fit in, but I'm hoping I can keep it going through the winter.