It may be a tribute to those intense ultramarathon books I’m so fond of listening to, but I knew I had to run rain or shine today. And it was definitely going to be rain.
Or maybe getting my ass out the door and into the constant shower was more due to that one moment where I thought about waiting to do my run until tomorrow and then realizing that would mean I couldn’t have any wine tonight . . .
So out I went for a 75-minute tempo run as my training plan called for this week. Though I have no formal race to run, I decided to do a new half marathon plan from my RunRx program I did late last year. I’m on week five of twelve. I ended up going a couple of minutes over because I timed it out for eight miles and turns out I’ was about 3 minutes too slow to hit that mile goal in that time limit. But I ended up at a 9:45 pace for 8.2 miles, staying pretty consistent throughout the milage, that I’m happy with for this type of run.
But yes, it was raining. The whole time. It’s not the first time I’ve run in the rain but I haven’t made a habit of it. After all I had to do to psych myself up and get moving, I actually really enjoyed it. I ran in a windbreaker and new running tights and tied a folded bandana around my head with some vague thought that it would help keep water from running down my face from my hair or at the very least provide a burst of color for visibility on the roads to my otherwise all-black outfit (the bandana was a gift in the colors of the bisexual flag — pink, purple, blue).
The temperature was in the low 60s, so not cold even with the rain, and the majority of the run I felt so good in my body. Present. Strong. Happy to be outside and exploring a longer route to kick off my weekend. I saw a couple of other runners doing the same thing and we waved as we passed one another by.
I write this all down as a reminder (again and again) about how good it feels to do the thing. To move. To run. To be outside even when outside looks a little miserable at first. The run has set the tone for my whole day. It’s been a good one.
With Love,
Natalie