Wet and Dirty at Muir Beach Trail Run

Yesterday was the Muir Beach 33k Trail Run. Might have been the most epic run I have ever done, due entirely to weather conditions.

While watching the news last night, I learned that it was the rainiest November 7th in area history. It was coming down absolutely sideways when I woke up, but after much contemplation, I went out to the race anyway. I figured that's what us runners do; we run, regardless of conditions. But man, was it brutal: torrential rain - I was soaked through on the first mile - gale force winds and ankle high mud. And that is on top of the hills; I think the course featured about 5,000 feet of climbing. The most treacherous part was the last two mile descent down into Muir Beach. Due to trail work, that area of the course literally slid out and it took all my concentration not to fall. I was successful, though others around me were far less so. Lucky no one was severely injured; it was that gnarly. I have never been so dirty in my life and have the pictures to prove it (will post some later).

Like all epic adventures though, in retrospect it was actually was a lot of fun and it was an experience I won't soon forget. I actually ran pretty well, too. I took it out very conservatively given the conditions and started at the back of the pack, but no one passed me all day. I picked it up during the middle miles and was happy about how my legs responded, especially considering that I am coming off a big block of training. I am definitely responding well to my training and look forward to seeing how my two big races go later this month. I have two hard ultras on back to back weekends. Should be interesting.