What was I thinking?

I went over today's run a million times in my head. Where would I run? What route should I take? How will I make this a little less hilly? Treadmill? No way! I thought I had come up with a couple of good options, but as I was driving my daughter to school this morning, I passed by the park, as I always do, and thought "that's it! I'll run to the park and back!" Why am I such a wimp? I haven't been on the trail since November.

Now I was excited. I just didn't want a boring 7 mile run. Also, I didn't want to go fast. I ran hill repeats yesterday and I should do a slow recovery run today.

So, I headed out the door. The sun was shining. I was actually getting warm. For the first day in a while, the wind wasn't blowing and the temperature was above freezing. Everything was going great. First mile clocked in at 10:52. Perfect. I left the neighborhood and headed down the main road. Pretty soon, I made it to the fire road that led into the woods. Uh oh. Right away, I knew I made a mistake.

What was I thinking? Why did I assume the ground would be frozen solid? The path was rutted with animal tracks. To say it was muddy would be an understatement. I tried to run around the mud on the side of the trail, but then I would become trapped by mud islands. My only choice was to wade/walk through the mud. Second mile: 11:14. Here's where it gets really interesting.

I've been running the same trail for three years. I love that I know where the trail is even when the forest floor is completely covered in autumn leaves. I know this trail like Sakajawea knew the river. Well, remember those pictures I posted a couple of weeks ago from the ice storm? The ice caused trees and branches to fall in all of the neighborhoods. I can tell you now, that trees and branches also fell in the woods, even though no one was there to notice. My run on the trail became more of a hike around the fallen trees and tangled branches and shrubs. There were even new creeks! Third mile: 16:06. I could have quit and made my way back to the road, but then I'd have to figure out another 4 miles to run and they would be boring miles. I was going to finish what I started. So, out to the clearing, up to the prairie (also muddy), and back up the other trail. The one with the 200 foot climb. In the mud. Yes, I was determined. But, experience apparently matters because I finished the fourth mile in 15:46.

Once I got out of the park, my shoes were caked with mud. Traction? Nonexistent. I finished the entire 7 miles in 1:32:34. My goal was to be slow and not bored. I think I accomplished my mission.