Grasslands Half: The Return of Mud

March weather in Texas is pretty unpredictable, and trail running can be pretty unpredictable. Combine those and you have March 21st and the Grasslands Trail Half Marathon. You just never know what you might get.  In my five years of running it, I have seen just about every condition one could imagine.  In 2010 it was my first trail race and it was pouring rain with temperatures in the 40s (and dropping).  It was snowing by nightfall! I reluctantly returned the next year only to find a super dry trail with tons of sand and warm conditions. I wasn't there in 2012, but Mr K ran the marathon and dealt with terrible heat.  In 2013 we had thunder and hail (and the famous Mr K quote "if the hail gets much bigger, take your hydration pack off and cover your head with it).  I was rewarded with perfect trail conditions and weather in 2014 and ran a smoking PR that day.  And then that brings us to 2015...and unusually wet spring....and the return of the mud.

Team K Shoes

It has been raining and raining and raining this spring.  Or at least it seems like a bunch of rain coming off of a couple of years of drought conditions.  I held out hope that the trail would drain before the race on Saturday, but I knew that the chances were not good.  My fears were confirmed as we approached the race and caught a few glimpses of the trail as it crossed the road - huge puddles of mud!  Thankfully it was not cold so I knew that it would not be an exact repeat of 2010, and I was determined to have more fun than I did on that day.

Post Race with Ninja and Elaine

We found many of our friends at the start and then the race was on.  Almost immediately I found my feet covered in mud and felt myself slipping and sliding in the mud.  I was instantly annoyed and thought about how nice it would be to just turn around.  I know people who love running in the mud, it just doesn't bother them - heck, they are even good at it!  But not me, it really just annoys me to the core.  I had a quick talk with myself and decided if I didn't change my attitude it was going to be a long and miserable day. I also reminded myself that I had friends going 26.2 and 50 miles in that mess - surely I could slog through a simple 13.1 miles.  Mr K had gotten ahead of me, but was waiting and said that he would be hanging out with me.  He likes the mud better than I do and I have no doubt that he could have left me behind on several occasions.

So. Much. Mud.

Because of the rainy weather, I have not been able to get on the trails as I intended this spring and I could feel that taking its toll a bit.  My shoes were covered in mud and became quite heavy after a while.  We even stopped a few times to "wash" them off in a clear puddle - now they were wet and muddy.  Some sections of the trail were so bad that I feared losing a shoe as I could feel the "suction"of the mud pulling against my shoe!

I kept on smiling and talking to those around me and soon enough we were at the aide station near mile 10 where Lesley had Oreos and M&Ms for us.  I could have just hung out there for a while, but she would not let me stay.  Knowing that there were only 3 miles left gave us a bit of a pep as we headed towards the finish line.

Always nice to see Byron at the race

The last mile or so of this race is always a challenge mentally as the trail takes us right past where our cars are parked before taking us back into the woods again.  The mud got thicker again through here which doubled the beat down.  I was so thankful to see the finish line and even more thankful to see that we made it in just under 2:50.  A far cry from my worst race out there (3:35 the first year) and also a far cry from my best (2:12 in 2014).

Posing with Stude

Our friends were there to cheer us in - turns out that Stude won the whole thing and Drum was second female.  I hang out with a fast crowd, y'all.  The Barnwells, the new race directors, did a terrific job providing us with an enjoyable race experience - they even provided the mud for free. The post race BBQ was delicious and well worth the time on the trail.  I can't decide if Grasslands is "the race I love to hate" or if it is "the race I hate to love," but I keep coming back year after year despite the unpredictable conditions.  I suppose that is all a part of the fun.