I arrived at my Mom’s house on Wednesday afternoon to spend a week with her – my spring break of sorts. The weather has been typical March weather, and all over the place. Thursday’s high was 74°, and last night’s low was 12°.
After driving for six hours on Wednesday, I needed to move my legs when I woke up on Thursday, so I headed out for a country roads run. I was treated to a beautiful morning as I took off for my run in a short sleeved shirt and capris.
After leaving the lane I grew up on, I had a choice to turn left and head up this extremely steep hill, or turn right for an easier run. I chose to turn right.
The early part of my run followed a babbling brook that fed into a river. The beauty of this moss covered log caught my eye…..
After running around a sharp curve, the North Fork of the Holston River came into sight, and I was rewarded by the soothing sound of flowing water.
I ran along the river for a while, and then came upon this beautiful piece of bottom land that used to be part of our family farm. My parents sold it back in 1998 when my dad retired from farming.
Next I ran along this section of the road where it’s relatively flat, and wide open. It’s always nice to have a safe place to move off the road when a car drives by, and those places seem few and far between on much of my country roads runs.
A little farther along I come to a swinging bridge that is still maintained by the highway department. I don’t really think it leads to anything in particular, but it brings back a flood of memories for me because we used to have our Sunday school picnics here each summer.
After I turned around, I got one last picture of the river before kicking it up a notch for my uphill run back home.
Considering part of my run was on gravel, and the rest of the run was much hillier than what I run at home, I was thrilled with my time. I was even more happy with how my post run selfie turned out!
My jonquils and hyacinths at home have hardly poked their heads out of the ground, so I was surprised that Mom has so many blooming. They’re lovely, and finally gave me a dose of spring fever.
And then this happened….. I woke up Saturday morning to 21°, snow, and droopy flower blooms.
Fortunately, I had checked the weather forecast before I left home, and brought my winter running clothes with me. Wearing a couple more layers than I had two days earlier, I ran eight miles. I’m slowly ramping up my mileage as I start a new training cycle for the ZOOMA Half Marathon in Annapolis in late May.
My fingers are crossed that March will make an about-face, and go out like a lamb! I’m ready to shed these extra layers!
- Questions:
- What’s the weather like in your neck of the woods?
- Are you going away for a spring break this year?
- Who raced this weekend?
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Wow flowers are blooming?! It’s so cold this morning hard to believe it’s almost April! I love that old wooden bridge.
Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner recently posted…5 Spring Veggies To Love
It’s 17° here at 9 AM, and I’m nervous what all of Mom’s beautiful flowers will look like when it warms up this afternoon. And yes, I was shocked, too, at how everything is blooming here. It’s much higher elevation, and usually this area is about two weeks behind us. They’ve had some really warm days the last few weeks when it wasn’t very warm where we live, and that’s made the difference this year.
Wow that is beautiful scenery! I see daffodills starting to poke through the ground by me but no blooms yet. It is the never ending winter…
Kelli recently posted…Monkey Knife Fight & Primer on Bike Tires
Unfortunately, last night’s hard freeze had Mom’s flowers either drooping their heads or laying flat this morning. It was so sad to see them gone overnight.
what a beautiful place to run. looks like the perfect setting to clear your head. we had a cold snap here this weekend and our daffodils are looking so sad.
kristin | W [H] A T C H recently posted…SUNDAY MORNING
Mom’s flowers looked pitiful this morning, too. 🙁
Gorgeous! Can’t wait to see the flowers in full bloom in DC 🙂 Fortunately I do not have seasonal allergies..so bloom away buds!
Jennifer recently posted…2015 Shamrock Half Marathon Race Recap Part 2
Same here! I’m hoping to make it into DC to see the Cherry Blossoms this year.
We have bipolar weather here for sure!! We have had freezing days and days close to 80 all in the same week for all of March.
The roads you get to run from your parents house are amazing!!
Kim recently posted…Mixing It Up Again (3/22 – 3/28)
Bill and I also have a few favorite trails we run on when we’ve down this way, but when I come alone I tend to keep my runs close to home and along the country roads. If I’m lucky, I see at least one of my uncles or aunts drive by!
Simply beautiful! I would so enjoy running there. I love the swinging bridge.
HoHo Runs recently posted…Viking Half Marathon
And depending on which route I decide to take, I might not see a single car. You would love it!
your pictures are beautiful! what a gorgeous area – and omg i’m with on this weather. ugh! i think this week is supposed to be great, though!
Courtney @ Eat Pray Run DC recently posted…April Abs Challenge – Rock Your Core!
What a crazy yo-yo with the weather! Such a beautiful run. 🙂
Courtney @ Don’t Blink. Just Run. recently posted…31 Day Blog Challenge – Day 30
Today was my third run while visiting Mom, and it was back to a short sleeved shirt and capris.
Beautiful flowers! And running by the water is the best- so soothing!
It’s actually gorgeous here right now and almost all of our snow is gone! I’m sure that will change soon though and we’ll have a snowstorm 🙂
Abby recently posted…Workouts and running through pregnancy – third trimester
How late do you you usually get snowstorms?
Good thing you checked the weather beforehand and were prepared! Our flowers bloomed in the warm weather a few weeks ago and then that cold snap and the snow hit and now they’re not doing so great. Happens every year!
Meagan recently posted…Mill Mountain Mayhem 10K – Volunteer Recap
Our flowers were far enough behind that they were fine this year.