A Muddy Run

Saturday morning, I woke up to birds singing and the sun shining.  What a wonderful way to greet the day!  I had my alarm set because it was "race day".  I didn't want to risk the odd chance that I would sleep too late.  As I got out of bed, to begin my day, I was feeling my stomach flip flop with the usual nervous butterflies but, even more so, I was filled with excitement.  The day had finally arrived in which I would be running in my first 5K trail run.  Until this point, I was solely a runner who stuck to paths, streets,or sidewalks. 

Saturday changed it all. 

The morning was cool and quite breezy.  My neighbor and friend, Jen, and I arrived at the park almost an hour before the race was to begin.  We had no idea how many people to expect or what the whole process before the race would entail.  Well, an hour was entirely too much time.  We were able to walk right up to the check-in and get our race numbers and t-shirts.  The remaining time left us standing out in the wind that seemed to be a tad cooler than I thought when I first stepped out my door to feel the temperature outside.  No big deal.  We just chatted and jumped up and down or jogged in place to keep warm and warm up our muscles.  Of course we watched other racers arrive and do much of the same as we were doing.  I was just ready to get up to the starting line and begin the race. 

A woman with a megaphone announced that the race would begin in twenty more minutes.  Ugh!  Sometimes that last twenty minutes before the start seems like a lifetime. As we inched our way over to the starting line, I realized how much different it is to run a small race.  Don't get me wrong, I was glad that this was a small race since it was my first one of its type.  I have only run races that have had several thousands of runners participating.  This race only had 208.  I will say that this made my nerves much less jumpy than previous races.  Usually, as I am being corralled up to the starting  line like a herd of cattle, my adrenaline surges, my stomach filled with butterflies and I am pumped up and ready to run.  Instead, I stood there trying to figure out how they were able to do the timing accurately.  Typically, I would have a timing chip on my shoe and it would not begin my time until my foot crossed over the start line.  Well, I realized that because we were not at the very front...my time would be skewed.  Oh well, this was for fun, right? 

"All runners line up, get set....go!"  To be honest, I have no idea what they said because I was too busy talking to Jen and thinking about the timing accuracy.  There goes my obsessive and perfectionist thinking taking over, again. 

We were off!  We started off on really wet squishy grass in the park.  Within the first 200 feet, our feet were waterlogged.  One runner lost his shoe at this point already!  No good!  Running through wet grass was almost reminiscent of my childhood days.  The race carried on uphill, downhill and into the woods to the long awaited, muddy trail.  Most of the trail was single file.  It was not an easy task to pass another runner.  I was more focused on keeping my footing on the slick mud and uneven terrain.  This was a whole different ballgame than I was used to.  I had learned to look ahead when you are running.  Well, in this case, if you weren't constantly watching your feet, you would be falling every other footstep.  This took much more focus and maneuvering of myself than my typical road runs.  I was liking the challenge very much so.  What I didn't like was that I was not running as fast as I had set my expectations of myself.  I kept trying to remind myself that I was not experienced in this type of running and I should cut myself a bit of slack.  Easier said than done.  I have never run through calf deep creeks that were frigid before or crossed the creek at  a more shallow part in which you had to carefully scale the rocks or one wrong footing would cause you to go for a dip. 

The race continued on and I had my trusty iMapMyRUN app running on my phone to track our distance, time etc.  Was I crazy to be carrying my phone in my hand while running in a race that consisted of mud and water?  Yes, probably so. But, I have this thing, that I just have to track my miles and all the stats.  The perfectionist revealing itself again.  So, every so often I would glance at my phone to check the stats.  At 2.62 miles, I looked down at my phone and lost my footing at the same time.  Ugh!  Well, I caught my slip beautifully and recovered quickly, phone unharmed.  Wow, that could have been bad!  A little bit more mud on my running tights would just make it look like it was rougher back in the unexposed part of the trail when I came back out towards the last leg of the race into the finish.  Let the people who didn't brave the run believe it was a bit more down and dirty than it really was.  Well, actually, in truth, it was the muddiest that I have ever been in my life. 

After a very wet, rough and muddy 3.39 miles, I crossed the finish line with a time of 41:38.  I know it was my first trail run but, I am still very disappointed with this time.  I should have done better.  I did have lots of fun and am so glad that I participated in this event.  Jen and I had lots of fun and shared many laughs prior, during and after the race.  Advice to myself....check out and practice the trail before race day.  Next year I will be much better prepared and I will certainly rock out a much better time. 

Here is a link to see the course we traveled on this trail race.  What a fun, muddy, wet time it bestowed upon us.  Great job, Jen!  Thanks so much for joining me!  It wouldn't have been the same without you.  :)