A Wet One

Woke up this morning and looked outside and thought…hmm. 5:30 and it still pitch black out. That seems a little odd, but you know, I'm still getting reacquainted with the early morning runs, so maybe this is normal for mid-August around here. Got up and got ready for the run, and remembered that I left my shoes outside after yesterday's run. Luckily they were under a big table umbrella, so they didn't get all dewey or anything. As I headed back inside, I felt a drop of rain on my face. Great. I hate running in the rain. But maybe, just maybe it will hold off until I'm finished. No such luck. By the time I was ready to head out the door, that drop of rain had progressed into a full-bore storm with thunder and lightning and everything. I'll admit the thought crossed my mind to bag the whole thing, but Tuesday's are usually my swing day for the week. If I have a good run on Tuesday, things usually go good for the rest of the week. If I screw it up, it usually spells doom for that week.

With that stuck in my head, I headed out the door to jump on the train which drops me off exactly 17 miles from work. When I arrived at my drop point, the rain had turned into a downpour but what could I do? After about 10 minutes of slogging through the puddles, I put the garmin away in my plastic baggie with the rest of my valuables (train pass, gym ID, work ID, money), because I just don't trust the Garmin definition of water proof. Once the initial shock of being rained on wore off, the run was kind of fun. After a while, I just stopped trying to avoid puddles and just ran right through them. It's not like I could get any wetter. Also, the neighborhood that I have to run the first half of this run through is not very good. With the rain coming down in buckets, it pretty much emptied the streets and sidewalks, so I was left alone the entire run. That very rarely happens on this route. Usually the comments are good natured enough, but it still makes me feel uneasy.

Finally after about 13 miles, the rain sudsided and things started to brighten up. At that point, I was on the lakefront path nd with a slight breeze at my back,I was able to enjoy things for a bit. I finally pulled the Garmin out of the valuable repository (my baggie), and saw that I was averaging a 6:34 pace for the run. Now with no rain and wind atmy back, I could tell that the pace had quickened, and I just let it go. If Mike can run back to back tough workouts I can follow up a hard effort with a moderately paced longish run. By the time I made it to the gym I was at a 6:28 pace, and feeling pretty good. Well feeling good from a running standpoint. I'll admit that the rain did cause one problem. Chafing. Yikes.