Running in the rain

I couldn't very well get a picture of me running in the mud and rain, but here is a unique picture of an above ground root on the mountain.

08/12/08
Tuesday

Hill run at Bradbury. The trail was very wet, muddy and slippery but I managed to stay on my feet for the complete run. I decided to run all the uphills to the summit (twice) because the downhills were so slippery that I ended up going very slow and even walking some of the steep areas.

The uphill wasn't too difficult though I am sure it wasn't too fast. The pouring rain did not bother me very much nor did the puddles as I was wearing my NorthFace gortex trail runners. The roots and mud were a different story, very slippery and I had to pay close attention to where I was planting my feet and my balance.

This worked out well as it definately gives the core a work out. There were times that I wasn't sure what kept me on my feet as the terrain tried it's best to dump me. I found the wooden bridges to be the worst and keep my center of gravity pretty much over my feet with no toe push off at all.

There was a lot of running water and puddles and I struggled with my vision as my glasses continued to fog up on me. That was the times I struggled most with footing as I could not see the ground clearly.

I did one complete loop which included crossing the summit twice. I was surprised to see I was not the only fool out there. There was one guy that took off in front of me that had just finished a bike ride and when I was cooling down I passed two guys starting a run.

I averaged a 10:22 pace with an average heart rate of 147. My peak heart rate was 164 and my last mile was the fastest which showed me that I have pretty good stamina considering I was hill running and the weather conditions were tough.

I only have one more week of running before surgery and a 6 week layoff. I hope to run Bradbury at least one more time.