Nature Preserve

Rainy, muddy run through the quarry and the Nature Preserve with Chris and Paul. I should probably make it more of a habit to check the weather forecast in the mornings, but I never really plan for anything. All I brought with me today was a long shirt, shorts, a hat, and Mt101s. Of course no socks. Today might as well be as good a day as any to go sockless and hope I don't develop any blisters. As it turns out, I didn't get any despite the fact that my shoes seem to be just slightly loose. Might have to start trying this more often. The only down side of the MT101s is that in muddy conditions, they offer almost no ankle stability. This particular route has lots of steep uphill and downhill sections and the latter usually culminate in a sharp turn at the bottom which means you really have to trust your footing in order to plant and turn. Of course I have no confidence at this point, so I probably looked a bit like a ballerina tiptoe-ing down the hill trying desperately not to build up too much speed before inevitably face-planting in the mud. Luckily, it went OK and I had no spills.

We got to talking about preparations for the AOR relay at the end of April and many of the logistics still need to be worked out. For some odd reason, I realized that this will be one of the first races I've been in since Broad Street last year. Not terribly frightening, but remarkable nonetheless.

Should be about 5 miles in 42:48