A little bit of everything

This image is from this morning. I forgot to grab the one from last night

First, let me quote a journal entry I made in a different blog back on September 7, 2007, a little over a month into my first serious attempt at running.

Last night, while sitting in a park pavilion and listening to a police officer talk about running safety, it started to rain. And rain. And rain some more. Those of us sitting in the pavilion waiting to start our run looked out at the rain with some trepidation.

But we ran anyway. We ran for 30 minutes in the pouring rain. Okay, I admit, it only rained for about 15 of those 30 minutes. But 15 minutes in the pouring rain is enough, thank you.

And you know what? In spite of the fact that my shirt gained about 2 pounds of water, my shoes were making squishing noises, and I was getting water in my eyes, I had fun. Running in a downpour makes you feel strong. It makes you feel confident. It makes you proud that you're committed to running no matter what.

Yesterday afternoon I watched the radar and stared at the sky probably 30 times in the course of 15 minutes. Could I run to the gym and home or would I get caught in the pouring rain? Would I show up to Pilates soaked to the bone? Would the thunder and lightening hold off?

I planned to run 5 miles on Wednesday evening but it was raining something fierce when I got home from work and I couldn't face the treadmill. I took the evening off and spent time with my husband instead. But that meant that in order to get 15 miles in this week I would have to run more than my 1.25 miles to and from the gym on Thursday.

So, last night, could I get in a run without getting soaked? It took some waffling, but then I remembered: Who cares if I get soaked??

Long story short, I ran to the gym. I took my cellphone just in case it started to seriously thunderstorm and I didn't feel safe running home.

Sure, my water bottle popped out of my hydration belt as I was crossing an intersection (and, yes, I managed to retrieve it and not piss off any drivers...at least not too much) and yes, it did start to rain. But it was warm and the rain wasn't too driving and overall it felt good. I even hit the major traffic-light-controlled intersection with the light in my favor!

Once I got to the gym, I had about 25 minutes left to kill before Pilates started. So, I hopped on the treadmill. The treadmill that I now covet. The $7,000 treadmill. Oooh, it was nice. And, let me just say, this is the second time I've run outside and then hopped on the treadmill. Anyone who, like me, thinks that running on the treadmill is harder than running outside? Just warm-up outside and you'll find that the treadmill is a piece of cake! Seriously, I took this run easy at first but for the last .75 miles I just kept upping the speed. In the end, I did 2 miles.


I love the display on this thing!

Then it was off to Pilates. Thankfully I stuffed a bandanna in my hydration pack so I had something to wipe the sweat off my face, arms, and legs with. I hope the person who uses that yoga mat after me appreciates it.

After Pilates, it was time to run home. In the hour and a half I'd been in the gym the rain had moved on and the sun was shining. As usual, the run home was a little slower than the run to the gym but overall I managed an average 9:45 pace for the 2.5 miles I did outside.



So, in the end, I did 4.5 miles last night, albeit kind of broken up. That puts me at 7.5 miles for the week. Guess I'll be doing another 7.5 on Saturday morning to put me at 15. I think it's supposed to rain again on Saturday. Hopefully this time I remember to just get out there instead of waffling.

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Stats

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 621 ft Location: Forest Park, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 05/07/09 Up/Downhill: [+26/-26] Time: 05:21 PM Difficulty: 1.8 / 5.0   Weather: Overcast   75 F temp; 30% humidity   75 F heat index; winds W 15 G 21 Performance Distance: 2.51 miles Time: 0:24:34 Speed: 6.1 mph Pace: 9' 47 /mi Calories: 268 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 36 -0' 11 6.2 +0.1 +4 ft 2 10' 08 +0' 21 5.9 -0.2 -3 ft end 8' 57 -0' 50 6.7 +0.6 0 ft Versus average of 9' 47 min/mile

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