Cheryl’s 14 Mile Mud Run

      With all the hoopla about the sink yesterday, I neglected to mention the long run.   Cheryl decided yesterday that a 14 mile long run was in order, since there are no races in the immediate future.    I was ok with it,  even though it has been drizzly here for the last several days.  

Well,  yesterday,  it pretty much rained for the first part of the morning.   A fine, misty rain that sneaks up on you and soaks you before you realize just how much is coming down.   Add in the colder temps and the muddy conditions and you would think that it would be a good day to postpone a long run and settle for a shorter one.   Well,   No way!  Cheryl has been bitten by the running bug, after all….And it has seriously latched on!

Even Cheryl, at first,  thought about making it a shorter run….but after the third mile, I knew we were going to do the whole thing.  Besides,   the rain began to let up slightly as we trudged on.   By the time we turned around,   it had completely stopped and we almost had decent temperatures to run in. 

Even with two weather outer shells on,  I managed to get soaked.   The rain resistance is NOT 100% water proof….so eventually it soaks in.  Cheryl does not mind much, as she gets wet no matter what kind of weather we run in.   Usually she likes the rain because of the cooling effect.   ( just like Grandma’s Marathon!) 

But what got me was the mud.    We ran on the Kewash trail…so no sidewalk this time…just mud.   My bike does not like mud very much.   I sink in and it feels like I’m dragging  an anchor behind me.  Add in the “flinging” that happens whenever I go through a puddle or mud plot and I end up covered with thick layer of Iowa clay.   And I JUST put the garden hose away a couple of days ago,  figuring I would not need it.  Now my bike  makes funny clinking sounds and wobbles. 

Other than that,  I am planning on dipping my toe into the writing pool today.  I’m not sure how far I will get….I probably will have to read the existing story to familiarize myself with the plot line as I have it now.   I already have over 6000 words so far, so only 44,000 to go!   The distance seems daunting, but one page at a time, right? 

As for Cheryl,   she is obsessing over the results of the New York Marathon today.   They were playing the race as it was happening in Hyvee this morning.  She is clicking and calling out names I have never heard before.   I guess they are popular people from her running magazines…..but to common folk, like me,   they are total strangers.   To all those people who ran New York,  Well Done!   We will be there in a year or two…Hopefully.  

Hope everyone is having a grand weekend so far.   Monday I have to check my Jury Status to see if I still have to go in.   Fingers crossed I will not.