exceptionally dirty can be exceptionally beautiful

a water crossing to the ankle not even 5 miles into a run leaves one with sopping wet, squishy feet for the duration of an 18.6 mile "trail" run.
one so wet by the 12 mile mark that it is no longer noticable.
parts were hardly passable as a "trail", seeming more like "forest".
rocks so big and so close together, slippery or sharp.
soft, slippery mud
makes running nearly impossible at times.
slow going up hills as one looses momentum with each slide of the shoe.
two laughable faceplant falls.
a few bruises.
scratchy branches.
violent barbwire.
cold water.
humid oppressive air.
very plesant company
with lovely encouraging attitudes by all.
and
i had a blast!
and i finished running strong thanks to the necessity of having to hike, rather than run, at times due to the fact i was wearing road shoes on trail on a day when trail shoes were an absolute necessity thanks to the thunderstorm during the early predawn hours of the race.
i placed 3rd in my age group with a decent pace, but i was just in it to finish strong. and i did.
it was more taxing on my mind than on my body, the technical nature of the course was exhausting.

i will post pictures of my shoes and my feet later today.
my feet, fortunately enough look exactly like they did before the run. the shoes, not so much!