Rain!

Although we got only a short slight drizzle this morning during our run.

However, the ground is saturated.  This morning, we found ponds and streams where there used to be none.  We jogged/slogged/waded for 1:40, but it might have been only 9 miles.  I really don't know.  We jogged around to the back side of the forest, and then we dove in.  I thought that we were on a new trail at one point, but it might have been merely an old one rendered unrecognizable by the water running over it.

My socks are atypically stained grey because they've recently done a few controlled burns, and so some of the pools were saturated with ash. 

I had flashbacks of my one and only official ultramarathon, one of the North Face races, this one on Bear Mountain, NY.  It had been raining heavily for a few days by then, and I lost count of stream crossings--I even lost count of how many times I was running on a trail that was actually a stream bed including loose rocks.  Coupled with my intestinal issues that morning (this was before I found out that I can't hack gluten), and getting lost, I didn't make the first cutoff.  I was so tired, I didn't care.  After over six hours of sliding over water and rock, and through mud, I was euphoric to sit on the bus of shame.  Maybe one of these days, I'll register for another ultra. But would there be much point to it?

I'm not even sure if I'll do a marathon this fall.  I've been considering it, but my strength has been so inconsistent lately.  Maybe I should be content to work things out of my system before it's blazing hot.  It's like I'm experiencing two days in one, the shady, cool (and, as of lately, wet) day, and then the muggy steamy sunny day.

At any rate, I've been sleeping better, which is a good thing! And we bought more plates for the E-Z curl bar.