Notes
Sunny, cold at start, 19 deg. warmed up as time went on. Goal was to run for time today, 3 1/2 hours on my feet. Didn't worry about pace or distance. Forgot my gloves so had to keep my in my sleeves, especially starting out. Felt a little sluggish at the start. There was a little less than an inch of fresh powder from last night, but the trail was pretty firm on the sides. It was groomed out wide. Pretty loose where the snow machines had been. There is a lot of snow in the woods. Stayed on the main trail all the way out. Went down to the river at the first trail down, lots of activity on the river, ice must be really thick it has been so cold. Kept going all the way to the Bradford intersection. Stopped and had a GU deciding which way to go. Out to Conant road didn't look like it had been travelled much, so I headed out the Bradford loop since it was groomed. Saw lots of animal tracks, fox and rabbits. Got to the gate, the trail back had only 2 snow machine tracks so I kept going through the gate. Climbed up and up, not too steep though. The trail turned to a plowed road. Then I came upon a small camp. Looped around to have a look, nice little camp. Kept going and pretty soon the guy whose camp it was came driving down the road, he smiled and waved so I guess I was all set to run there. Came up at the base of a ledge and then out into a field. The snow machine trail went left, so I followed it up and across Upper Street. I ran up to the top of the next field and a little beyond before turning around. Stopped to take a video of the view before heading back. Took the other half of the Bradford trail back. It was mostly ok but slow running, post holed deep a couple times though. Made it back out to the main trail then headed back to the intersection. Got out a half of PBJ and ate that on the way back. Went down the trail to the river at the Middle Earth aid station. By the time I got back to the area of the Ledges trail, the sun was softening the snow and it started balling up in my cleats. Had to scuff my feet to clear it. It was ok in the shade of the woods. When I got back to the beaver bridge I noticed a snow machine had driven down the Homestead trail, so I tried that. It was pretty good, between that and the snowshoers it packed all the way back to the picnic area. Stopped there and had another GU. Continued on the Homestead and the footing was still good. I did power hike the steep hill. When I got to the main trail I was about 5 minutes shy of 3:30, so I went down the Porcupine a little ways. It wasn't as good as Homestead. Right after getting on this trail, I felt something pull in the arch of my right foot. I think it was from pushing off on my toes too much. Seemed ok after. Finished right at 3:30. Good run, not too tired. No major aches or pains.
Gear: NB tights, short tech T, Brooks jacket, headband, waterpack, sunglasses