the daintiest trail runner in the world gets muddy

We went out for our town's Gallery Walk on Friday night, and the running store was open as well, so when we passed by I went in to sign up for the Mother's Day Telegraph Trail 10K, an annual event which is a charity fundraiser. Oddly, I've only run it once before, in 2009. It was a warm, sunny day and the race started at 10am; I almost passed out a few times, but ran the 5 miles (by my old Garmin) in 58:07.

But on Sunday morning, I woke to the rumble of thunder and the spatter of rain. Getting out the door was more a matter of proving something to myself than anything else - the race was only $20, not a big goal or anything - but I swapped my shorts for capris and put a wool singlet on under my short-sleeved shirt, then put on my rain jacket for the short run over to the start. Which turned out to be even shorter than I'd thought, as the start had been moved down the jeep road to the parking lot, which made a lot of sense (but added some elevation). To compensate, an extra loop was eliminated, though as the organizer said, "We call this a 5K and 10K, but really it's a short course and a long course."

It was the most miserable race of my life. Pouring rain, thunder and lightning, sucking mud, 800 ft elevation gain in the first 2.6 miles. I ended up leaving the jacket on - I'd planned on taking it off for the race, but the cold rain changed my mind. So I froze in the first mile and a half, overheated in the next, almost lost my shoes to the mud several times, and was passed by four people and only passed one. No awards other than random draw and I didn't get ANY. 1:00:24 for the 5.3 miles by Garmin. UGH UGH UGH.

A lot of my friends are 'real' trail racers, who have laughed at my distaste for less than perfect conditions, who have assured me that there is nothing so fun as trail running in the rain through thick mud. I want what you're smoking, is all I can say. Because UGH UGH UGH.