Traveled out to Farmer Tom's to record some gps data, assisting with a map update. Completed 2.7-miles of snowshoeing in a foot of unbroken powder, with fantastic company.
Once completed, I drove just a few moments to park at a snowmobile crossing, and snowshoed out past Peppermint Park, for an additional 3-miles of snowshoeing, before taking the 'shoes off to run the remaining 3-miles back.
Ended the day with 8.7-miles in twenty degrees with beautiful sunlight.
I finally stopped at the Swan Preserve in Canton, right near the Canton/Granby/Simsbury border.
I have been passing by this little area each time I have driven out to Burlington to explore the Tunxis, and I kept thinking "... one of these days, I'll see how close these trails get to McLean's West Ledge Trail".
The map at the Kiosk, as well as the online available information, showed Red, Yellow and Blue Trails, with a bit of a possible extended trail to the west. This would be the one I hoped would get me close to West Ledge.
A bit more exploring on a very cold, nearing dark, afternoon. Parked at the old Granby Library on East Street, and hoped to tie up the connections between Dismal and East Branch Salmon Brooks.
I think I have it pretty well wrapped up, from Holcombe Preserve, over Crag, to Dismal Brook. Completed with a frozen face and a mere 3.8-miles on my legs.
Another trip to the Granby Land Trust' Dismal Brook Wildlife Area for a run in the snow. It was interesting to see that the parking lot was already plowed when I drove in (we had about 3' of snow). Excellent attention to the properties by this Land Trust.
Ran for 5.5-miles including some "off the grid" paths. Excellent day, wonderful trails.
Took a short ride out to Simsbury to run along their highland ridge, hopefully making a connection to McLean.
Had a decent time for the first half of the adventure, even made it McLean rather easily with good footing on the short half-mile bushwhack section. The trouble started while on the further western trail (blue I believe).
Snow began to fall, and it ended not being much, maybe a solid inch covering everything. The issue was this is a very, very rocky section, and there was ice on most of the rocks prior to the snow falling. The snow covered all the ice, and after losing my traction a couple times I decided to gear back to a crawl.
It seemed to take forever getting out of the area, it was that slippery on the rocks. By the second half of the run, the views were gone, snow was falling, and I was out an extra 45-minutes longer than I expected to be. But, I have a connection I can work with, and I have another potential connection as well. And, I ruled a third option out.
Finished pleased with the run and 7.7-miles on my legs. Not bad for a Tuesday.
Very cold again today, with more wind. Drove to McLean to check the end of Westledge Trail, something I had noticed once upon a time and wanted to research to see if the path connected anywhere.
The end of Westledge did make a loop, and I think there may be an idea within this area for me to explore this winter. We'll see. On the way back I took the old forest road I hadn't been on in many years, and ended on the Ridge Road. Another success!
Ended the day with 9.2-cold, slow miles.
Started the day in Seth & Lucy Holcombe Preserve, trying to connect toward the Old Granby Library. Had wonderful success, with a variety of options.
Still felt good after that 5.3-miles, so I quickly (it was getting dark soon) drove over to the Dismal Brook Wildlife Area to see if I could make a connection to Holcombe Preserve from those trails.
Again, success, with only a quarter mile or so of bushwhack. Got in another 3.2-miles to get a daily total of 8.5-miles on my legs.
One change to my running that I have had to implement, if I wished to meet the mileage goals I have set, is to do more running on the road rather than strictly stick to the trail.
Over the past 28 years of running, up until last year I just didn't run on the road. Most likely less than 20-miles total per year. Many years, in the 90's and 00's, most likely not even a single day of running on the road.
Between longer and changed work hours, especially during daylight savings where I just have no actual daylight time to run in, and the loss of a real winter season for snowshoeing, I needed to make the change to some running on the road and sidewalks around town.
I purchased some very cushioned Hoka Running Shoes last January, and ran about a third of my miles on the road in 2020. It ended up as follows:
This allowed me to get some running in on days when I normally wouldn't have been able to. The careful approach and better road running shoes kept me from being injured. In the end, I managed to complete my goal of 1275 total miles in 2020. Moving some of my miles to the road allowed me to achieve this.
Took a late, late morning run along the New England Trail, which in these parts is the Metacomet Trail.
I ran 6.9-miles from Route 20 to nearby the Farmington River, and back. I did some exploring on newly built mountain bike trails through some of my journey today.
'20 has turned the corner to '21, and here's hoping all things can return to a more "normal" status.
After a fine treat of DL's homemade cinnamon buns for breakfast, I made it to Phelps & Mountain Road parking around 11:00 a.m. Went north, with the idea of turning around at Route 57.
The run, and my body, felt great. I have taken it easier over the past couple weeks seeing as I was going to finish 2020 roughly 50-miles over my set goal of 1250, and saw the opportunity to go easy a bit.
Ran with shorts, but a long-sleeve tech-wick top with a fleece vest, as it was 37-degrees and pretty much sunny. Very good call on the layers, I was totally comfortable throughout the run.
Completed 9.6-miles at 5 mph pace. A satisfying start to 2021.
