As the training for the Tiarathon continues, I am determined to run at least one 10K race each month leading up to the big event. For December I hooked up with my Tiarathon roomie and neighbor to the west, Kari. I have been fortunate enough to hook up with her in real life a couple of times already but this was our first time to run together. Since we both routinely share our run times during our training, it was easy to see that we were well matched to consider trying to run together for our planned half marathon. When Kari told me about the 33rd Annual Holiday Run and Walk for Health in Antioch that was taking place today, I knew this would not only be a great 10K to train in but also to run with Kari. She makes me blush when she says that I can out run her. In all seriousness, her endurance and pace is just as admirable considering when we both can squeeze in our personal running into everything else we juggle and manage in our lives.

I met Kari and her family this cold, damp, foggy morning in Antioch all bundled up and ready to run…hopefully before the next big storm rolled in. First off was cheering on her kids as they ran the mile race with the rest of the kids. I couldn’t think of a better way to get the blood pumping than cheering on her guys as they raced through the finish line. Both clocked in impressive times…faster times than ours. One of the boys even placed first in his age group. Never mind that he was the only one in his age group. That little guy ran a mile and he ran fast!…Actually BOTH boys placed first because they both did run like the wind.

Then it was our turn. They said there would be mud…they just didn’t say how thick and how deep that mud would be. Of course all of us running through the mud as the rain began didn’t make it any better. There was mud…enough mud that it should have been called the Great Mud Run. Kari and I both had thick, heavy layers of mud stuck to our running shoes and believe me, we felt the weight of that mud after the first mile and on through the next 5.2 miles. But we pressed on. Together, we decided rather than run and run until we couldn’t run and only then take a walk break; we would run for ten minutes and walk for about a minute and so on and so on. We also decided to forsake our iPods for this race, heeding Kristen’s advice. I have to confess that I felt naked without my iPod running mix but I did enjoy the conversation, laughs and heavy breathing while running with Kari.

I have to say, that as enjoyable as it was with the company that I kept, this was a hard run. The drizzly, cold rain and the mud made conditions so that I knew my body was working harder than usual. It was definitely working harder than the 10K that I ran just two weeks ago. Kari felt the same way. But we pressed on, encouraging one another throughout and sticking (mostly) to our plan of running then walking then running. Truth be told, at one point there was walking pure and simple. There was also a much needed potty break around mile 4. Perhaps that is TMI but you have to consider our quick break along with the wind, rain and mud when you see our race times. I crossed the finish line at the unofficial time of 1 hour 21 minutes 31 seconds with Kari only steps behind me. We stuck together. We finished. And, after a cocoa break while cooling down, we joked how we both felt good enough that yes, we could run that muddy course all over again…if we had to.

We are one race closer to joining our running Shredheads at the Tiarathon in March and since there is no mud in the Happiest Place on Earth, we are pretty confident that we are ready.