Today was certainly a fun run. I'd been wanting to run in the rain for awhile. I did briefly on Saturday before it started pouring, but it wasn't raining much at the time. Today, it was coming down in buckets as I headed out the door.
I wanted to go to the Finish Line group run, but figured there was a good chance no one would show up. I didn't want to drive all the way to Emmaus to run by myself. Instead, I just ran the neighborhood loop for my easy five miles.
It was tough deciding what to wear. My water resistant jacket is just too heavy. It was pretty cold though, so I knew I'd freeze with just a shirt. I opted for the jacket. I figured that could keep my shirt dry too and help keep my nipples from chafing. I used some band aids over them as well.
I started off in the other neighborhood and cruised along. I love running in the rain. It just helps build character. I think my Garmin was screwed up because I didn't run hard and I definitely didn't run the first mile in under 8 minutes. Plus, when it hit one mile on my watch, I was at the 5K one mile marker on the course and I hadn't run that route. I was probably off about .1 miles or so.
The second mile went pretty good too. I kept running easy. The only thing that bothered me was the occasional breeze. That made it quite chilly. My head got wet because the hood annoys me when I run. I was impressed when I realized that one of the decent little hills on the route had no impact at all. I hardly even noticed it.
As I approached the halfway point, I actually saw a girl running up ahead. She was about 2 blocks in front. I was hoping to catch her and tell her that it was good to see someone else as crazy as me. I didn't gain any ground though. I ran up the steepest hill at this point and it seemed easy too.
I was amazed that I could keep running such a good pace with such easy over a rolling hill course. I must be getting stronger. Even the long hill which I struggled on just a month or two ago was nothing on this day. It wasn't taking much effort to climb. The mountain running of last week might've really strengthened me.
By the time I hit the last mile, it was getting a little uncomfortable. My soaked jacket was sticking to me and I could feel chafing beginning. It was good to be nearly done. I'm not sure how much longer I could've run in those conditions. Quite a few cars drove by me, but I noticed that I really shocked one guy with my devotion to be out there in those conditions.
As I was finishing up, I didn't want to wait for all the traffic to clear on Newburg Road. So, I decided to run along the road until I could cross. That was interesting because the shoulder was like a river running down along the road. My feet got drenched. Luckily, I was basically done with the run. It was fun, but a relief too. I'm glad to see my poor Monday run didn't carry over.
Tomorrow, is a 3 mile progression run with the last 10 minutes moderate. I was thinking of going to Trexler, but since it is so short, perhaps I'll just head to Jacobsburg. Maybe I'll go to Trexler on Thursday. It should still be raining tomorrow, so that could be interesting.
5.05 miles - 42.16 (822: pace)
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