Mom's birthday, trail running, snow returning

Last week was my mom's birthday and she was passing through town after dropping my sister off at college. She mentioned at Christmas a few times that she wanted a coffee maker. She said all her kids drink coffee and she thinks it would entice us to stay the night more often.  So I got her a coffee maker for her birthday.  Summer helped unwrap it.

Over the weekend we went up to visit Dawn's family and it is much more hilly in the Cleveland area along the rivers.  The Youngstown Marathon looks pretty hilly, so I need to get some hill running in when I can.  It was a VERY sloppy run, but so much fun.

I ran along a few of the cliff overlooks down to the river.  This photo, above, doesn't do the depth justice.

Five muddy miles later and I was regretting wearing my good road shoes.  But hey... it was fun, right?!  I was very thankful to have a trash bag in the back of the car.

When I got back to Columbus I rinsed off all the mud that I could.  Then I took out the insoles & shoe strings then tossed them in the washing machine.  18 hours on the heater vents around the house and they are back to being squeaky clean... for the most part.  I hope to get another 150 miles out of them... I am at 264 miles so far and hoping to get 400 miles before retiring them.

I also think I might look into getting trail running shoes. I saw some on sale at Kohl's. It would be nice to get a pair of shoes that I know will get dirty AND actually get more traction.

A couple of mild days before the winter temperatures return. Today we will stay cloudy with some early patchy fog and a spotty rain shower possible throughout the day, highs in the upper 40s. Clearing overnight could lead to patchy fog for early Wednesday morning. Increasing clouds through the day Wednesday with some spotty rain possible later in the day and overnight. Temps fall fast on Thursday with some flurries and light snow showers possible. Flurries stick around for Friday and the weekend with temperatures struggling to get above freezing. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael