Scrued

Normally, I'm a pretty good sport about running in bad conditions. But today it kind of did me in. I met Ian, James and Val at Bradbury at 8 this morning. Ian's plan was to do the full Bradbury Xtreme Badass (27 miles of all three race courses) and I was aiming for a "Scruiser", the Scuffle course (6 miles) plus the Bruiser course (12). It was overcast, but not too chilly, and I don't remember if a light rain was starting to fall yet when we set out. I was feeling pretty good and the miles of the Scuffle course went by more quickly than I thought they would. Ian and James pulled ahead about halfway into the Scuffle and Val and I chatted and enjoyed the time on the trail. When we got back to the parking lot after the first 6, I was starting to get a little cold and the rain was starting to pick up. We hit the Bruiser course and the plan was the Val was going to duck out part way through since she is saving her legs for a much longer run next weekend. Once onto the course, the rain got heavier and steadier and even the trees weren't protecting us much anymore. My long sleeve shirt was sticking to me and the cold fabric was getting chilly. The Lanzo trail is the O Trail's slightly less-annoying cousin, but still a little bitch. And in the rain the rocks and leaves were slippery which made the pace and rhythm even slower and more disjointed. As the rain came down harder, I confessed to Val that I was getting ready to call it quits early and would cut out with her when she was ready. We ended up doing about 1/2 the Bruiser and came back on the end of the Scuffle course. I'm glad I decided to adjust my plans and hopefully I'll get in a nice long run tomorrow. Back at the car I had a dry shirt to change into, but had the heat cranked the whole way home. The hot shower felt great. I'll be interested to hear how Ian and James fared - whatever they ended up doing, I'll still consider it Xtreme badass-ism.