Running in the rain

According to the report in the local newspaper, we received a record-type rain today. In fact, schools operated on a delay because of the icy conditions in the morning and the general sloppiness brought on because of the precipitation.

There’s nothing I could have done about it, so I went out and ran.

Actually, went I started out around 11 a.m. it was lightly misting. It was so light that I really didn’t notice it was raining at all. That’s good because if it was raining hard at the time of my departure, the run would have been a chore. Worse yet, there was a time that any drops of precipitation would have caused me to hide indoors until it cleared lest my skin boil away.

Basically, I was soft.

No more, though. These days I have a certain amount of time to do things so when I have to get out the door at 11 a.m. in order to squeeze in the miles, that means 11 a.m. rain or shine. So out I went to splash my way through yet another 15-miler.

Actually, the weather wasn’t so bad for the first 12 miles or so. Sure, it rained steadily, but not enough to keep dog walkers indoors or other folks out meandering around from shooting me looks as if to say, “You’re crazy for running around outdoors in this weather.”

My reply is always the same.

“Maybe so, but it beats the alternative which is sitting indoors.”

Damn right.

Anyway, as I climbed one of the last hills on the way home through the neighborhood I actually saw the deluge begin. From my point on lower ground I thought: “Man, that’s some hard, hard rain. It looks like I’m going to run right into the teeth of it.”

Two seconds later it was as if a fire hydrant had been opened from the sky and marked my path from the top of the hill.

By the time the second run came around, the rain was gone and the lingering humidity actually made it feel fairly warm. Despite the nasty weather with rain and sleet, I still got in a 20-mile day.

Stats:
1st run – 15 miles in 1:40:32
2nd run – 5 miles in 35:07
Miles for the week: 92
Miles in last seven days: 113