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.

CountryRoadSunrise
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.

GoatHillSunrise
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…..

MossyTreeBabblingBrook
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.

NorthForkHolston
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.

BottomLand
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.

CampbellFarm
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.

SwingingBridge
After I turned around, I got one last picture of the river before kicking it up a notch for my uphill run back home.

SunShiningOnNorthForkOfHolston
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!

GarminShoeJonquilSelfie
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.

MomsJonquils
MomsHyacinths
And then this happened…..  I woke up Saturday morning to 21°, snow, and droopy flower blooms.

SnowyJonquilsHyacinths
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.

GarminShoeJonquilSnowSelfie
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?