mud | Day With KT

Saturday I had big plans!! I was running the Grasslands Trail 50 and I was ready to finally complete 50 miles!!!

I trained well for this race and felt both physically and mentally ready to finally complete a 50!

Since the race started at 6:00 am it was still dark –

It was really dark and since we were in the middle of nowhere (the grasslands) there weren’t any true lights – just our headlights (knuckle lights for me).

About 10 seconds before we started the director said we should have our ankle bracelets (timing chips) – oops!!! So I started a little late since I had to run over and get mine but I wasn’t worried since we had 50 miles.

The first hour or so was horrible – it was so dark and no one could see anything. Hard to follow a trail when you can’t even see. And the water and mud was unavoidable.

This particular area of Texas had a bit of snow a few weeks ago and since the snow melted they have had lots of rain. It rained all of last week.

The trail looked like this

in the good spots. There were plenty of areas that were even worse than this.

I hit 13.1 in around 3 hours – my all-time slowest half marathon and by far the hardest half of my entire life. I tried not to let myself think that I still had 37 miles – I just focused on finishing one mile at a time.

Around mile 16 it got to the point that I was doing more walking than running because of the conditions and the number of times that I had slid and stumbled thanks to the huge amount of mud on my shoes.

My feet stayed wet and muddy, the temperature never got above 50 and I was cold. Not once did I warm up. My breathing was hard even though I was walking more than running and when I could run it was slower than my cool down miles usually are.

Basically there was nothing about this race that I enjoyed!! I was miserable and didn’t even feel like it was a race – just something to be endured. I was afraid that I was going to end up seriously hurting myself – thankfully I only took one major fall!

Finally I got back to the main area (around mile 19) before starting the next loop (there were 4 different loops plus an out & back) and I told my sister that I was done.

You can tell that there wasn’t a single happy thought running through my head.

I think more than anything I was upset because I trained to run 50 miles and I was ready to run 50 miles!! What I wasn’t ready to do was slog through ankle deep mud (sometimes even deeper) for 50 miles at a pace slower than my slowest cool down pace.

I sat down for a minute and then decided that being miserable for hours and hours wasn’t something I wanted to do so I QUIT!!!

My shoes probably weighed 8 pounds each – not kidding!!! I threw them away!

This wasn’t a race for me – it was just something that I hated!!! Even if I had sucked it up and finished I wouldn’t have felt like I ran 50 miles because it wasn’t running like I want to run!

Once again I learned something about myself – I HATE trail running!!!

Would you have stuck it out in the mud?
Does mud and having wet feet bother you? I hate it – I don’t even like it when my shoes get just a little dirty!!!

One day I will run 50 miles but it wan’t Saturday. It will not be in a trail race!!!

Happy Monday!

Kim

Saturday was one of those days that will always hold a special place in my heart – Hunter ran his first half marathon and I had the privilege of being with him every single step!!!

If you notice, this race was a trail run. Now, I love running and have run for many (many) years, but I’ve never done a trail race. Quite honestly, I thought it just meant dirt and grass instead of a road race.

Even in the information about the race, it didn’t really say much –

See the part in the above paragraph about some creek crossings that require you get wet?! A little misleading!!!

First off, Hunter and I drove to El Dorado (about 1.5 hours from where we live) Friday so we could pick up our packets, see where the race was and then have a nice relaxing evening at the hotel. Jordan said he didn’t want to go and Chris had drill weekend so it was just the 2 of us.

Everything was great and we had a nice evening. I learned that Hunter snores (a lot!!!). And, I listened to a heavy thunderstorm ALL night long – it was still raining when I got up at 5:30.

We left the hotel a little after 6 to drive to the race site. About 20 minutes after we got there we had a super happy surprise –

Chris took leave (without telling me!!), got up at 3:15 and drove through huge storms so that he could spend the morning with us!! Such a great surprise – true love!!!

Hunter was super quiet while we were waiting to start – he said he was just ready to run and quit standing around!!

Because of all the rain, they had to make a change to the half because a bridge was out (gushing water over it) and they didn’t want us to run over it – nice!!!

We finally started and I could tell right away that we were running slower than normal. About half-way through the first mile we went through a small ravine and I realized that my efforts to avoid the puddles before the race were a complete joke!

Oh, well – might as well just go with it!!

Around mile 3 Hunter wanted to slow down and I told him we were already going a lot slower than normal – I think he was just worried he wouldn’t be able to finish.

The 4th mile was an experience!!! We were running along and then this happened –

There was an area that was washed out and almost impassable. There was a rope tied to a few trees and basically one or two people had to pull it taut so the next person could use it to get through. It took a long time and then not even a quarter mile ahead we had to cross a stream and get over a log and up a steep bank to move on. Good thing Hunter was there because he showed me (and the people behind us) an easier way to get back up. (no picture because by this point our hands were covered in mud!)

Mile 4 took 26:57!

During mile 5 we left the forest (or whatever it was) and had to run up a mountain (OK, not a mountain!!) to get to the top of the dam (hence, Storm the Dam Trail Run).

Seriously, when we saw the hill on Friday Hunter figured we would have to run up it but I said, “No way – it’s way too long and steep!”

at the top - hard to tell how big the hill was — at the top – hard to tell how big the hill was

We didn’t get a full picture of the hill but Chris was at the bottom when he took the above picture. The nice thing about running along the top of the dam was the view! Gorgeous lake view for almost 2 miles!!!

Around mile 6 or 7, Hunter said he had to go to the bathroom – ummm…..plenty of bushes. He said, “No.” I told him to just suck it up then!!!

For about 4 miles Hunter was pretty cranky and I had to just keep him going.

It’s funny because all the pictures Chris was able to get make it look like a fairly easy trail run! However, it was not!!! We spent 8-9 miles of the race slogging through 2-3 inch deep mud and water. It was like skating on mud – fun stuff!

Around mile 11, Hunter finally realized that he was going to finish even with all of his discomfort!!! He started being a little peppier and we picked off over 15 people in the last 2 miles!!!

almost done - finally on pavement!! — almost done – finally on pavement!!

(FYI – the girl in the green shorts ahead of us, passed us at the end – turns out she was the marathon winner – they started an hour before us)

Hunter was happy to see Mrs. Beisel (she used to be the counselor at his elementary) and her cute son!!! I think it was the first time he had smiled since we started!!! He said he smiled one other time during the race!!

Not gonna lie, this might have been the only time the entire morning that I wasn’t smiling – I was a bit overcome with emotion and pride in Hunter!!

Like Hunter said, he trained for a road race. We ran through mud, creeks, hurdled numerous trees, climbed through barbed wire…..

Hunter’s shorts took a beating – I think he fell at least 6 times during the race!!!

Ummm….I don’t like to get my shoes dirty normally and this was mud to the extreme! Surprisingly, I loved every second of it and would do it again (even after a thunderstorm!!).