Heaven is a muddy run

Last night MM and I took the dogs up Prospect Heights, over South Fork and then the Powerline Pass trails.

It was a partly sunny evening, the air still and fragrant with leaves and flowers and thick, gooey mud.

We took it easy, since we're tapering (oh, tapering is such fun!). We ran slowly. We enjoyed the views.

Most of the trail was muddy, some of the mud deep and thick, the kind that covers your shoes and creeps up your ankles and makes a thwarcking sound when it finally releases your foot (I just made up the word twarcking, but think it fits, no?).

It was impossible not to get muddy so we went with it and really, it was like being a kid again. We were splattered with mud up to our knees, and it was fun. I couldn't stop laughing. I felt so very free.

The dogs had a blast, too. MM is dogsitting Tena'ina for friends, and these poor, misinformed friends actually had her groomed (groomed!) before leaving her in his care.  This was Tena'ina's first trail run. I think we've converted her.

Tena'ina in the mud. Her legs are normally yellow, hee, hee.

Hoping to get in more lazy-paced trail runs through next week. Then, it's marathon time. I don't know about any of you but I enjoy training for a race much, much more than actually running a race. I've had some awesome runs, both alone and with MM, and most of these have been on trails. Oh, I so love trailrunning! But if I weren't training for a marathon, I doubt I'd do 20-mile trail runs. So it's all good.


Running: 11.5 Tuesday, 5 Thursday
Writing: I was up until 6 a.m. trying to edit my second novel into shape. It still isn't in shape, sigh, sigh.
Reading: Anne Tyler, Anne Tyler, Anne Tyler (any and everything I can get my greedy hands on)