How would you like to be cold, wet, muddy all at the same time? Well, I had my chance at the annual Pere Marquette trail run on December 8th. It was my first run at the park and the conditions would be much different than any race I had participated before. The temperature was in the 40s with ice and mud on the 7.5 mile trail, with multiple hills to get through!Since this was a trail run and there were 600 runners, the start was staggered in waves every 30 seconds to break up the faster runners and to spread the line out a bit. Therefore, the early runners had the distinct advantage of a clean trail, unlike the rest of us who galloped our way through a mix of ice, snow and mud during the entire race.
I did my best to during the flatter stages but the hills were difficult to climb (as most people would walk the hills) as I had to maneuver around the walkers on the slippery ice and snow to get around them, so most times I walked just to get my heart rate down. The cold air just zapped the strength but managed my second wind around the 4 mile mark when the trail was at its muddiest, where each step was like thick, chocolate pudding which stuck to my shoes adding more weight to my stride each time. Too bad the temperature wasn't below freezing where this mud would have been easier to run on.
Toward the end when we climbed some huge steps for what seemed like hours, my legs were starting to feel the pain and as finally reached the summit and I began my descent back to the finish, I put the body into overdrive and through caution to the wind and pushed myself to get to the finish line at 1:20. (10:46 minute/mile). This was the most difficult run to date as the conditions made it difficult to open up during the entire run.
Well, here's to some mud in your eye..... ;-)
Mr. Red Horse
Brett
