Running in the Rain

This morning, I had every intention of getting up early, going for my first three mile run, and being ready for the day. You know what they say about the best-laid plans...

So I did not exactly have a very good night of sleep, which kept me snoozing my alarm this morning. Coupled with the raging thunderstorm outside, I thought it was best to put off running until lunch if not tomorrow. I knew that I should really get my run in today so as not to get off my schedule, so I kept one eye on the weather to see if the thunder and lightning would let up a bit. It did, and it looked like the rain was reduced to a drizzle, so I thought it was worth a shot. I ate a protein bar, drank some water, took some Advil, and gave my body an hour to feel "run-ready."

After Friday and Wednesday's runs were not successful in terms of being able to run the entire time, my goal for today was to run the entire 30 minutes, no matter how slow I needed to go in order to make it. When I stepped outside wearing my tee shirt and running tights (it's 55 degrees), my breath caught at the initial chill and feeling of getting wet. I knew I was only going to get wetter and that once I got past the walking warm up, I'd feel fine, which is exactly what happened. And it turns out that I love running in the rain! I'd always suspected this, but it was nice to get it confirmed.

Unfortunately, living on the coast means that it floods whenever it rains, no matter how much. And because I run on a main road, it's inevitable that I will have to run through puddles, no matter how much I try to avoid them - it's either that or get run over. So within a few minutes of running, my feet were soaked through. I didn't feel any noticeable heaviness in my sneakers, which was a good thing, but because I have only a half insert in, it was positioned just in the right spot to give me some nice blisters on my arches. But other than that, once the rain had soaked through my clothes, it was awesome to run in. I can't really describe why you would want to run soaking wet, with the rain sliding down your arms and dripping off the brim of your hat, splashing around your ankles in the deeper puddles. But it's great. It gave me a bit of a chuckle every time someone would drive past me, because I remembered being a driver in the rain, seeing a runner, and thinking, "Now that's just crazy." Now I'm one of those crazy runners, running in the rain! Even better, I managed to meet my goal of running the entire time. I started to feel a bit tired towards the middle and I was getting a cramp in my side, so I just focused on slowing down and relaxing. With that mindset, I was able to get to thirty minutes easily (I can't believe I said "easily" but I didn't use that word lightly) and felt great at the end of my run for the first time (in terms of how my body felt, aside from the blisters).

Fortunately, I'll be running three miles for the next few weeks, instead of ramping up again next week. I'm glad I'll get a chance to settle into it before my 5k, and maybe speed up a little. I'm also starting to see a real pattern with enjoying runs that happen later in the day, so I'll have to test out my theory on Wednesday morning, when I run first thing. If that run doesn't go as well as today's, I might switch to running at lunchtime every time I run!