Twenty in the Rain

VTR and I got it together, judged the weather maps sort of correctly, and made the bold call to go running on a day of unsettled weather. We did the course that I did with David -- my town to the Hatch Shell in about 3 hours with frequent stretch stops and one potty break at a Dunkin Donuts across from BC.

VTR called me at about 555 AM and we looked at weather maps together and figured we'd get in some miles and see what happened. We made bascically the right call. The first 8.5 miles were dry the next 11.5+ were slightly less dry. The thunder and lightening mostly held off though at about mile 18.5 a huge bolt of lightening across the Charles helped us to pick it up and get rolling and bring it home strong.

I felt pretty good until about mile 15. The misery continued until about 18 and then it sort of receded and I battled through. I did better this time overall though than I did with David and felt OK, though let's face, there was much suffering in the last quarter. A big quad cramp right above my knee brought me up real short, but we fought through and VTR totally helped me with some smack talk.

A woman passed us in Wellesley and we were like, oh, she's just doing a 5er, though she had on a fuel belt and was moving briskly. We saw her again in front of the Harvard Boat House and she was heading in the direction we'd just come -- she was doing some sort of a loop and was looking fresh as a daisy. I applauded her and we cheered and she smiled at us and powered on. It gave us both an adrenaline boost that was sadly too short lived.

I had no real issues on the Newton hills this time and actually sort of enjoyed them. I really think that my issue on this run comes from the long down hill that starts at BC and goes to the river -- my legs just don't like the down. All in all it was a good run, I know more about myself than I did before, and we were hard core, because the weather was hard core. It was pouring out for more than the last half and my feet were soaked from about 10 on (no blisters though!) and we were drenched. In addition to the woman on the mega loop, I'd say we passed about 10-12 other runners all day, and you could judge training distance based on wetness. We and some other guys were soaked, and we'd been out a long time. It was hilarious. When I say it was raining it was really raining, and when it was pouring, I mean pouring like out of a huge bucket. It was downright impressive.

No, I'm not much of a mantra guy, they tend to make me a bit nutty, sometimes, though I do like "easy, smooth, light, fast." VTR had the best saying, and I'm fairly sure that my second wind came back when he said it: "We were made to do this. We were made to do this." Loved it and I could relate to it. Simple, to the point, and really starts to hit at the heart of what this is all about: being human.

We had a blast, we had a great talk, we had a great run. I felt good Sunday and Monday, only minor soreness (stretching breaks were huge helps). I'm definitely heading out Tuesday -- the short runs are so key on so many levels and they've been missing from my life this month and I've been the worse for it. I'm stoked for Vermont City, I'm in, I'm enthusiastic and rearing to go!

Welcome Back, Me

So, it's been like 11 days since my last run. That's awful. I've got too many races coming up to be a slacker. I got in a nice weekend of skiing last weekend, but it's not great for running training. I'm taking the kids back skiing this weekend to lock down the lessons they took last week. So, this is it for skiing this year -- three times in 8 days. I'll get in a longer run Sunday and it's time to get down to brass tacks.

I was a beast before my run, and even today's lousy run (hey, it was 11 days off) was still good. It was pouring rain and windy, but it wasn't the weather that made it bad, it was the runner. Back on it.

Run in the Rain

I got out last night in a cold, intermittant rain, for a 30-minute run. It wasn't a heavy, steady soaking rain, so I guess it was just enough to thin the running and cycling hordes and foster a sense of camaraderie among the runners who still got out, like we were tough guys. That's how I felt, anyway, and I acknowledged each of my comrades with a slight fist-pump. This being New York, this call for help went largely unanswered.

Run 48

Nothing remarkable to report. It was a typical 5k run around the resevoir. I did slow to a walk for a few minutes. I had reached my wit's end, trying to leap over or skirt around the innumerable puddles on the track. It rained off and on again all day.

After a bit of that I threw caution (and dry feet) to the side and just ran through the damn puddles. Harumph. Finished in 32.20.

There's a reindeer run the first weekend of December, in Schroon Lake, 20 mins from PH. I'll post the details once I find them.

Strollering In The Rain

The kids and I laid out their stuff last night -- blanket, jacket, animal buddy, slippers. My stuff was organized and hanging in the cellar stairwell. C2 and I were up around 5:30, helping Mrs. A with C3. I awoke C1 and she climbed right out of bed. I put the stroller together once the kids were up, grabbed them each a mini bagel and hit the road at 6:35. We ran for 40:26 over 4.78 miles and came back quicker than we went out, though I walked a bit near the end because I was gassed. It was a dreary day and I might not have gone had I not promised both kids that I'd take them. It rained on us quite hard in the last mile and I passed a woman runner and we smiled at each other and commented on the lousy weather. The kids were good, by and large, but I did have to stop twice in the last mile to separate them. They are good for about 34 minutes in the stroller and after that it becomes a bit nutty. It was a great run and I'm ecstatic that they both want to go with me. This is a good thing.

Rain Run

If you ever have a chance to run in the rain (pretty likely this summer), do it. I went out for a long run under threatening skies on Sunday, and ran right into a huge front. The radar painted the picture clearly, but I went for it anyway. I needed to get out.

And I got soaked. Within about 15 minutes of my start, the skies opened and stayed open for about 60 of the next 75 minutes. My legs felt good, breathing was in check, and I wanted to run, so the rain was more liberating than limiting. The fact that I was getting after it when I normally would have bailed made whole run more enjoyable. The deluge also brought a little bit of play into the run -- I felt like a little kid getting soaked in a storm.

So, don't let the weather keep you inside. It's fun.

Details -- One hour, 30 minutes. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 11 miles.