Two Weeks Out In the Rain...

Good morning, everyone.

I'm poking my head up above the beautiful mess for a moment to share some perspectives I found this morning. As a result, I present to you a list of pros and cons of today's long run, versus the predicted conditions of my race in two weeks:

--Today it was raining. There were moments of pleasant drizzle, but they were interspersed between heavy showers and cats & dogs.  It is not expected to be raining in two weeks.

--At about two miles in I gave myself permission to say what I was really thinking: "This is the worst run EVER." In hindsight I'm not sure I would say it's my worst run EVER, but I really don't get along with the rain when I'm running, so it's up there. So running a bajillionty hours in two weeks will not be my worst run EVER.

--It rained through the night, so the gutters were pretty well filled by this morning. So I was doing a little traffic-dodging, as well as sloshing through some substantial puddles. There will be traffic control at my race in two weeks, so I will (likely) not have to run in sloshy gutters.

--I pulled my hood up over my hat, which helped delay some of the soaking, but it turns out also made for a lot of head noise from the swishing of my windbreaker. Toward the end when things actually did let up a little, I pulled my hood down and found the outside to be much more peaceful than I had been experiencing it, simply because the swishing was out of my ear. My race in two weeks will most likely be the opposite of peaceful, but there will be no swishing in my ear.

--Today was rainy and miserable, but there was no lightning to compromise safety, so I got out and did it. If I can go out on purpose and do what I know is going to be a miserable run, I will have no trouble running in nicer conditions for a bajillionty hours in two weeks.

--Today there were certain, um, biological truths and realities that really are no big deal in the grand scheme of things, but add an extra layer of planning and thinking, and a teensy shot of ibuprofen. These realities will not be true of me in two weeks. My race, and all of life, will be rainbows and unicorns in two weeks.

--Back in that moment where I admitted what I was really thinking about this run, I double-checked my minimum and maximum goal times, and I'd already met the minimum. So by the time I turned around and made it home I hadn't hit the max, but had far exceeded the min. I got what I needed and I'm ready to run a bajillionty hours in two weeks.

In conclusion, I don't recommend running in the rain when it's below 80 degrees. That's not to say you should never do it, but you need to be aware of the possibility that its only gift to you might be the stark contrast with all that is good in your life and the wish to hollow out a large tree and hunker down like the rabbits and squirrels.

Which of course is its own special gift, but it's not the sort of thing you wish on people, is what I'm saying...