How not to run in the mud! - No Heels Just Sneakers

I guess we are spoiled runners here in Northern California. The weather is usually perfect for running:

not too hot
not too cold
dry most of the time (we do have a drought problem…)
no snow
little wind

Seriously, the weather forecast people call it a “storm” when we have rain forecast of about 0.5 inches of rain. And no, I am not making it up. Rainfall is measured in 2 decimals. Like last month where we had a day of rain which measured 0.02 inches. And no, I am still not making it up.

So, usually our running trails look like this: dry as a bone

Yesterday it rained! YEAH!

And yes, it is a reason to celebrate. We have a massive drought problem and we need rain and WANT rain!

However, what this fearless runner forgot: when it rains, the trails become muddy. Oops!

So, this morning with the blue sky back where it belongs I headed out to “my” trail.

Here I went with my running buddy in tow, deep in conversation, when after a few yards (or meters) we noticed our shoes becoming heavy.

Looking down, we each had about 5 pounds of mud sticking to each shoe.

We somehow managed to move 3 miles before we called it quits. This run turned into resistance training after all. Here is what I learned.

After rainfall:

Check if the trail is muddy
If muddy, check if mud sticks on shoes.
If mud sticks on shoes: Do not run! (you will take days to clean up your shoes afterwards…)
Go and run on the streets!

Happy running!