Return of Muddy Paws

Well, although there were sun breaks this weekend, there was also the return of the rains. So, running with 4 muddy paws is back in action. Struth and I headed to Cougar this weekend for an easier run. We ran the first 2 hours on the crunchy tri-colored leaves lining the trails. I felt fairly comfortable without seeing what lurked under the leaves because I know the trails at Cougar very very well. I was cautious but still worked the downhills as that is one of my weaknesses in trail running. As I was headed back to the parking lot to pick up Francis for the last hour, it started to rain. And then it just kept raining and raining and raining. Francis, Struth and I ran an hour loop and finished up pretty muddy. Good thing I had just done laundry and had a stack of clean dog towels in the trunk. I used about 3. It will continual towel laundry and baths for Struth in the coming of the rainy months. The best thing about giving Struth a bath is not that he smells so good after, it's watching him tear around the house with the crazies rubbing his back all over the carpet. It's such a contrast to a moaning Struth in the bath tub that clearly looks so unhappy.
It was a fun run and besides the usual pleasure of trail running, I got Francis out of retirement and back on the trails. Also, I have taken my favorite hat that Hallie gave me out of the closet and it's back in action as well with the colder wetter weather. Thanks for the hat HPT!