Group Run Through the Storm!

There are times when you know you have a good training partner because you are both running hard and push each other during a workout.  Then there are times like today when you realize you have a GREAT training partner.  A downpour begins and thunder is booming all around and you know neither of you is going to stop until the workout is complete.

Things started off like a normal group run.  All the regulars were there.  By that, I mean Jeff, Peter and Kelley.  Our big group of four.  It was so hot as we started out that I decided to run shirtless.  My club shirt was dirty and I wasn't feeling the singlet that I had with me.

Sums it up perfectly!

Kelley said she was sore from yesterday and going to take it easy.  That was good to hear because I didn't feel like going too hard either.  Of course I also didn't actually believe she'd take it easy.  To my surprise, she did that for awhile anyway.  She joked that she is going to call me Coach Brian because I've been teaching her a lot about running.  I think really the best thing I can teach her is how to hold back.  She comes from a lacrosse background and is all about hard work.  The trick with this sport is to work to the edge without going over it.  Injury is so common due to overdoing it in running.

The run started off at a nice pace over 9 minutes per mile.  I decided that we would start across from the clubhouse to keep cool.  It turned out that that didn't matter.  As we hit the Fireman's Bridge, a storm started brewing.  It got dark and very windy.  It was actually quite cool and refreshing.  The climb up the steep hill was still tough as always, but at a slower pace than usual, Kelley and I were actually able to chat.

After the Fish Hatchery, we started back toward the clubhouse.  It was already raining a bit at this point.  Peter had been behind us a bit most of the run, but suddenly he took off.  We figured that he just didn't like the storm.  We had lost Jeff a little while ago.

Kelley and I soldiered on as it got worse and worse.  The wooded section near the clubhouse wasn't too bad because the trees blocked the rain.  When we got back to the clubhouse, it still wasn't terrible.  The worst was yet to come.  We were at around 3.5 miles at that point.

Once we left the clubhouse to complete the loop, things got much worse.  It really started to pour and Kelley and I got soaked.  My shoes were soggy and my shorts completely drenched.  Being shirtless was actually kind of refreshing though.  The worst part was that the lightning and thunder were drawing closer.

Raindrops shortly after the run.

Kelley made a remark suggesting that maybe we should turn around.  I said we were almost to the Robin Hood Bridge anyway and would have just as far to go back.  I was wrong, we actually weren't as far out as I thought.  I didn't really matter.  I think we both knew that neither of us was going to quit unless we were rocked by some nearby thunder and lightning.

I love running in the rain and to be able to share that with someone nearly as nuts as me was great.  Kelley told me once that when the weather was awful at a lacrosse tournament, she played her butt off when no one else would and got herself a scholarship.  I knew she wouldn't quit on me in these conditions.  I said at one point, "Now we find out who really wants to run...or who is just really crazy."

I wish I had a picture of us running in these conditions.  Maybe it could've won a Runner's World photo contest or something.  Just another reason why I need a GoPro camera.  I did get some post run rain photos, but it just wasn't the same.

Finishing up was fun because there were a lot of puddles forming to run around or splash right through.  Shortly after we were done, Jeff came through in his car.  He finished up a little earlier.  He told us there was some crazy guy that just started running.  By now, it was a downpour and a lot of thunder and lightning.  We saw him running on the other road and then when he was finishing up.  It turned out it was Peter.  Perhaps he is even crazier than Kelley and I.  He told us he sprinted ahead to drop his phone off in the car and then continued to run.

The LVRR Clubhouse in the rain.

After the run, we huddled under an overhang chatted and waited for the rain to stop.  It took awhile, but things finally settled down.  These times after runs are a lot of fun because it gives me a chance to talk to the people that I didn't run with.

Because of the rain, the pace maybe was a little faster than I would've liked.  We just naturally picked it up to finish quicker.  It was so cool though that the pace didn't seem faster.  It didn't appear to be too much work.

I'm considering taking off tomorrow before the nighttime long group run on Saturday evening.  Most likely I'll head out and do something.  I may end up running an easy 3 miles at Jacobsburg.  I am not sure one rest day will help much.  Next week, I plan to take multiple days off in hopes that my sore shin will recover.

5 miles - 43:14 (8:39 pace)