Muddy Trails to You

So on Tuesday, two days after the half, I did, for me, the unthinkable - went for a 3 hour run through the trails in Chuckanut. Feeling that I'm not overly prepared for the trail season (also trying to keep the road running up for the World's, a tough juggling act) I thought I'd kick start the fitness and do a long one. Of course, it just happened to turn out to be the muddiest, wettest, slipperiest, and in the last hour, the coldest time I've ever been there. I would NOT want to be running that race in a few weeks if the weather was like that. Every hill had a river running down so running up or down was difficult in it's own regard. The last hour my hands were freezing and my jacket was doing nothing but conducting the cold from my core.
The highlight was I went down a few trails I'd never been before which was a little unsettling when the weather was so bad. A little eerie getting to a viewpoint and having about thirty feet of visibility and then only fog as a view.
My legs felt crappy the first hour and I was thinking this wasn't such a hot idea so soon after a half but that was during the initial :45 climb straight up. After that things mellowed out a bit. That's been the story of the year so far: my legs do not like hills. I'm sure more runs in the trails will rectify that.