The Cold, The Wet, and The Muddy

Jonnene and I are not as warm as we look...there be a whole lot 'o shivering going on!

Saturday was one of those days where I only did a smattering of activities but it took a long time to do them, so the day felt busy although you could count on hand everything you did but still have fingers left over. It was definitely not a waste of a day however I can look back and think "is that all I did?"

It started out getting up early this morning to walk the dogs in 33-degree temps and giving them only a short walk at that because Jonnene and I had to be at the 10-mile Trail Run at Lake Bistineau State Park by 7:30 latest. Jonnene is still nursing her shoulder so she would be a volunteer but I had to run the darn thing. Rain had passed thru late Thursday evening into Friday morning and the trail was a muddy, wet mess. There were over 70 people doing the 10-miler (over 80 were doing the shorter 3.8 mile run) and none were looking forward to sloshing thru deep puddles in freezing temperatures. So this race was not a matter of when you were getting wet (it would be very soon), it was a matter of how wet you got. I was slightly overdressed but that's how I race and I would be quite comfortable throughout the run...probably could have done without the vest but that was no problem. The start was a mass/mess of bodies flying down a wet clay hillside and eventually stringing out into a single-track trail. I got behind Denise Cook and let her pace me for the first two miles before she finally left me (she's a fast runner and ended up third woman overall). Only one mile into the run was our first big puddle and it was three steps through KNEE-DEEP freezing water which certainly woke me up. This would be first of at 25-30 such crossings of various lengths and depths...the most memorable being a virtual mini-lake when I made at least 13 steps in water just below my kneecaps...there was no avoiding it, you had to go through it. Eventually you just ignored it all and ran through most everything. Sometimes you got surprised by a puddle that didn't look like it could be that deep and it was. The water and trails were churned up and mushed up by the runners ahead of me and you would get muddy one minute and wash it all off the next!

Eventually, everyone was spread out over the trails and for a long time I was running by myself. I got lost one time which really messed up what little rhythm I had and it took nearly a mile for me to settle down and get my head back into the game. As soon as I felt I was recovering, an ankle got snared up in a vine and I went heels over head down on the trail. I remember grunting as I hit the ground but I popped back up again and kept running, noting that there was nobody around to see my fall....no witnesses but I wasn't embarrassed by it, that just happens on these runs sometimes.

The last three miles were the worst...nothing but water and mud everywhere and there was no getting around it. Lifting my feet out of that mess was a chore and really slowed me down (seemed to slow a lot of people down). I caught up with two other guys in the last 1/2 mile but couldn't get around them when we hit the last quarter mile across a field to the finish.

Finally crossing the finish line at 1:39:48, about 15 minutes slower than I wanted to do. However, what I wanted to do involved much drier conditions and that didn't happen either.

I was glad to be done and Jonnene was there to greet me. She had been helping to remove timing chips from the shoes of finishing runners (probably because those runners mostly had frozen fingers and couldn't do it themselves!). I finished with a 9:59/mile average but like a friend said, with the conditions you couldn't concentrate on a personal best, you had to just survive to finish. I was the 4th Grand Master (50+) out of 16 to finish and 30th overall. When we got home Jonnene had to soak my clothes to get most of the mud and filth out before they could put in the washer! Every time we drained the bucket there was nothing but brown water going down the drain!

After getting home and cleaning up I had to go to the women's basketball game at Centenary. Two of my cycling kids are on the cheerleader and dance squads and I had promised to go to the game to see them perform. It was a lot of fun and the women's team lost a close one to North Dakota State 67-61. I think Jonnene enjoyed it more than I thought she would and I was glad she came along. Afterwards we ate a VERY late lunch at Newt's before heading home for a quiet evening of just vegging. Busy day indeed, not a lot to show for it but that's okay. I'd like to get a ride in on Sunday but it's going to be a cold day, too. I'm ready for some warmth!