More of a slide than a run...

Shortly after I woke up that morning, I knew it was going to be a messy day. While Saturday had been relatively dry though overcast, Sunday morning greeted me with the sound of water pouring through the gutters onto the brick walkway outside my bedroom window.

I was pretty psyched.

I can't really explain it, but the rain is a big motivator when I run. Perhaps because it never gets too cold here to run in the rain, or maybe its because I end up feeling like a bit of a badass, or maybe its that great post shower feeling of still cold but warming up that is reminiscent of days in early March in Georgia when my brother and I would brave the chilly water of our pool and follow up by watching Beetlejuice wrapped up in blankets on the living room couch.

Lately, I've been thinking its the mud.

On Sunday, I set out to do 27 miles, the longest distance I have yet to run. I packed up my Hydrapak, grabbed some GU, downloaded the most recent podcasts from my favorite shows and called a cab.

The cabbie took me out past the St. John's bridge (above). It was partly obscured by low lying clouds and I knew that most of my run would be spent in the quiet cover of fog. The rain had slowed to a drizzle as we approached the Wildwood trailhead on Germantown Road and I happily took off my rain jacket and stuffed it into my pack. I paid the cabbie and ran off into the woods.

It was pretty sloppy. And while the puddles and muck made the downhills a bit of a thrill ride, it was hard work and I was reduced to a walk through many of the more treacherous parts. It was slow going. Then, around three and a half hours of it, I passed the 18 mile marker and slipped and twisted to the side. My right leg gave out and I felt a great strain in my quad. No good.

I had strained my quad two nights previous in a less than exciting adventure that involved squatting down to put food in the dog's bowl. That morning, I hadn't felt the strain at all, so I went out with positive thoughts that I could make it through the run.

I guess I was wrong.

I was very disappointed. I had to chose to ride it out with the possibility that I wouldn't be able to move the next day or to cut it short. Because J and I have a big roadtrip planned for next week with heaps of skiing, I opted to bail. This was the first time that I would not be able to finish a distance I set out to achieve. I finished up the half mile of trail and the 1.5 miles home for a total of only 20 miles. I know that's still a decent distance, but falling so short of my goal left me feeling like I had hardly done anything at all.

This is especially disappointing since I didn't even make it to my favorite part of the trail that winds through the redwoods with big climbs and steep downhills that give me the sense of skiing without snow as I careen down them.

But, perhaps it was for the best. I want to be in the best shape for our ski-athon next week and I really don't think my shoes could have handled too much more mud.