I ran Taylor Mt Half Marathon today on very sore legs but it was a beautiful day. I really had second thoughts about running today but who wants to DNS if you’re not injured.

The day started out pretty good, I could walk down the stairs. Happy, happy. I’ve had really big issues with my legs for a few days, they have been so sore it’s been ridiculous. I had to slide down the stairs on my butt yesterday morning and getting in and out of the car has been a really painful experience. I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt like this, not even after a full marathon. And for no reason.

When I parked at Taylor Mt 45 minutes before the run it was 22C but when we all took off at 9.30 and disappeared into the forest someone told me it was 29C. It was hot and muggy from the start and it got worse after few miles in the race. I don’t want to complain about the nice weather but it takes a few days to get used to. I chatted with a few people before we started and a few of them had high expectations about their time and pace. They actually finished after me and must have been really disappointed since they expected to finish 45 min earlier. I think the course and the heat surprised a lot of people. I managed to get a bit lost at the end and finished 13.69 miles, a little bonus.

Taylor mountain is a great place, beautiful trails and very green. The trails were overgrown by nettles and blackberries and I even saw wild strawberries on the side of the trail. It was a lot of mud and a couple of creeks we had to run in. The perfect place for a trail race. What more can you ask for?

To sum it up: Muddy, hot, sweating buckets, more mud (I love mud), rocks, horses, lovely people, nice volunteers, lots of elevation, wasps and bees. Loved it, love trails, love mud and everything about overgrown trails. Washington is a gorgeous place. I did not like the fact that my legs killed me, I had to walk pretty much downhill but there will soon be a new trail race to run on strong and happy legs.

And this might just be the best running song for June: