As I was changing my clothes after my run today, a couple pulled up and parked next to me in the lot. The cute, young lady got out of the Jeep and asked me if I had a good run. My response was "I survived. And I only fell once so yeah, I guess it was good."
But that only sets the scene through a pinhole. You see, I was covered in mud. I don't think I had any higher than my knees, but my shoes and calves were doused. In fact, my shoes were so bad that when I got home, my socks were muddy. And so were my toes. So yeah, I guess it was a good run.
As for the falling part, it was on my first lap and I missed a rock or root and took a spill. As I run more trails I'm becoming more familiar with falling. And I don't like it. I used to pride myself on staying upright. Maybe I shouldn't have made that comment to myself about never falling. Oh well. Nothing was broken, bruised, or twisted. The impressive part of the fall was that I managed to do half a roll. I tripped with my left foot and stumbled and half caught myself with my left hand. As my right hand was reaching out to catch myself, I somehow changed my reaction and landed on my forearm and rolled a bit onto my right side. As usual it happened insanely fast and incredibly slow. If you've fallen before, you know what I mean. Anyway, the half a roll helped slow my momentum and I got up, dusted myself off, and had a little laugh to myself. As I thought about moving again, I looked right next to where I fell and saw a heaping pile of horse shit. And it was fresh. Somehow I missed it. Thank God. So I snapped a picture and got back to running.
Here's the pile of horse shit I narrowly missed rolling in:
The first loop was decent but muddier than I expected. Bad enough I had to skirt many of the sections on the extreme edges of the trail. And it's apparently normal because there was a beaten path in many sections where other hikers had done the same thing. Even the horses skirted some of the worse parts, or at least tried to. But I didn't feel too bad about slipping since the horses slipped plenty too. I guess four-hoof drive can only do so much in thick mud.
My muddy Altra Lone Peaks after my run. Gnarly.
My Altra Lone Peaks worked great. I had no issues with the mud other than nearly losing a shoe once or twice. The mud only stuck to the sides of the shoe and only stuck to the bottom treads for a stride or two before coming off. I did get some mud inside my shoes but I expected that since the toe-box has a mesh-like fabric to let your toes breath. If air can come out, mud can get in. My only complaint is the lack of velcro (or a surface to adhere velcro to) on the heel of the shoes to allow my gaiters to stay put.
The second loop was just as muddy and a bit hillier. There was a section that run under a power line but that added some hills to the mix. I tried to keep my aid station stops short and managed fairly well. Refilling is easy but finding the motivation to punish yourself a little more is harder. The final loop was a repeat of the first but with a bit more added on. I somehow missed a turn on the first loop so went back to see what I missed so I wouldn't get too lost during my race. Did I mention this was a dry run for my next race? Sorry, it is. Was. Whatever.
The Lone Peaks have a "rudder" on their heel but clearly it doesn't keep the mud from spraying up your legs.
Overall, I felt good. I didn't have everything dialed in like I wanted but did a fair job. My hydration was good seeing as I peed at least twice. My electrolyte levels were okay but not as good as they should have been. I think a few electrolyte tabs at the aid station would have helped. My fueling was lower than it needed to be. I was doing okay the first two laps and had a decent amount of gel going in. But the last loop I didn't take in enough solid food so I started to lag behind on pace and energy levels.
My muddy toes. Obviously before my shower. And yes, I have hairy Hobbit feet.
Weather:
Temps were around 40F when I started and 45F when I finished. Moderate cloud cover with some sun. Light breeze coming off the lake when I passed by or was out on a peninsula.
Fluids and Fuel:
Breakfast was two breakfast burritos and an iced latte. During the run I had some Hammer gel along the way (two flasks that had maybe 4 gels total), one e-Gel at the start, one bottle of water, two bottles of Hammer Fizz, and one bottle of flat soda. I also had a Honey Stinger waffle. Recovery was a chocolate Zico followed by a Joey Jr. at Moe's Southwest Grill (with chips and salsa).
Gear:
Nothing special for the run. Continuing to use my new iPod. Had continued success with my Altra Lone Peaks.
Aches and Pains:
Since the trail was so muddy, I had to deal with tons of ankle twisting and wobbly strides as I adjusted to rocks, roots, and mud. Nothing really hurt as I stayed loose but after an hour or two I could feel things getting sore. Near the end I could feel my legs protesting but nothing major. Knees are a bit sore right now but again, nothing too terrible. I did step on a few stingers (sharp, pointy rocks) and managed to kick one or two rocks (which always hurt). Beyond that, things felt okay.
Codename - Horse Shit
There was tons of it out there. You couldn't go 25 feet without seeing a pile of it. It was in various stages of decomposition; fresh to stale. I only managed to kick one pile when I wasn't looking and avoided the rest as much as I could.
Splits:
Lap 1 - 49:07
Aid Station 1 - 3:23
Lap 2 - 49:59
Aid Station 2 - 4:46
Lap 3 - 1:26:26
Finish - 3:13:42
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