Rain Run Refresh

Today is the 2nd annual National Running Day. So in hopes of recruiting a few friends to run, I posted on Facebook that I would be running at Mountain Park Park at 8 p.m. and hoped to see them there. Little did I know that thunderstorms would be brewing... I was also completely exhausted from getting too little sleep the past few nights. I came home from work in a brain fog and took a 30 minute nap. When the alarm clock sounded I was tempted to turn it off and sleep until morning. But... since I had posted on Facebook that I would be at the park at 8 p.m., I didn't want to let anyone down.

I got up, got dressed, ate a handful of nuts, drank some juice and headed to the park. Thunder and lightning were in full force. My leg was still sore from my fall on Monday. It had rained earlier (during my nap), but wasn't raining when I arrived. I was scheduled to run 6 miles at an 11:30 minutes/mile pace. During the first mile, I struggled to go that slow. But the second mile was hard to go that fast. The third mile was easier and by the fourth I was in a groove and sailed along. There were only a few people at the park (and none were friends of mine). In mile 5 it started to rain lightly. I noticed that the temperature seemed a little cooler too. I picked up the pace a little. I was elated running in the cool rain and picked up my pace even more in the last mile, finishing strong. 6 miles in 1 hour, 7 minutes, 46 seconds (11:18 average pace). I was so happy!

I LOVE running in the rain! Years ago I used rain as an excuse to not run. Then about a year or two ago, after the drought ended and it rained more days than not, I realized that I needed to get out and run rain or shine. And then I discovered that I actually ENJOY running in the rain. It cools my body and refreshes my soul. And now, each time I run in the rain, an amazing memory pops into my brain of the time that I ran a 20 mile training run during the flood of the century for where I live (September 2009). If I can run 20 miles in flooding rains, I can do anything.

Hope you enjoyed your run today!