Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Rainy Neighborhood Dusk Run

It rained all day long.  The only time it wasn't raining was when I first woke up.  I had to eat first.  I waited and waited all day for a break in the rain.  It looked like it would come in the evening.  It never did.

Finally, at 7:30 PM, I headed out.  It was getting dark and too late to travel.  Therefore, I was running around my neighborhoods.  I grabbed a jacket, hat and shorts.

I had to hop over some puddles.  It was raining quite heavily at the start.  It was an annoying and a little cold.  The legs felt kind of good.

My plan was to run 5 miles.  To start, I opted to go on the Blue Eagle 5k route and see how it goes.  I went from there.

While the start sucked a lot and it was rainy, things got better over half a mile in.  I started to get warmed up.  I thought about even running farther at this point. 

I cruised along.  It seemed kind of fast, but the first mile was only 8:49.  The legs seemed a little dead.  The rain picked up again shortly.  It began to get dark, so I put my headlamp on.

Mile 2 was an 8:30.  It was so wet out that every time I heard water going into a storm drain it sounded like a car going by.  It was good to get to the 2 mile marking on the course.  I was past 2 miles at that point.

I continued to cruise along.  At times, it was windy and wet.  Other times, the rain got lighter.  Having a hat on to keep the rain out of my eyes was a big help.  Shortly before mile 3, I decided to add on the short loop.

By now, I was getting comfortable.  I was quite wet, but at least it wasn't really getting worse.  Mile 3 was an 8:08.  This loop went by quickly.  After that, I added a little more.

I guess I got faster because of the rain slowing down.  Mile 4 was a 7:42.  This addition ended up being almost perfect.  I ran through a giant puddle by the school.  I hit the 5k finish line at 4.97 miles.  I finished up with a 7:41 final mile.

I would've liked to have run a little more, but actually my legs didn't have much more in them.  It was good to get out and battle the elements a little.  I'll take it.

Tomorrow, I'm not really sure what to do.  I want to get back into double digit miles.  I'd like to run fast.  We will see what I have.  I just hope the rain is finally done.

 5 miles - 40:49 (8:10 pace)

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