Running in the Rain

This entire training process has been a real learning experience. I've come to the realization today that pretty much every week I'm doing something for the first time...I ran 2 minutes straight for the first time, then 5, then 10, then my first mile. I ran 2 and 3 miles for the first time. And today was a new first...Today I ran for the first time in the rain.

My alarm went off at an early 6:30 am this Saturday morning but I didn't roll out of bed until 20 minutes later. I could hear the rain pounding on the roof and as I lay there listening for thunder and watching for lightening through the window, they never came. Just the rain, hard and steady. Of course I debated going back to sleep but without thunder or lightening I knew I had no excuse to get out there and start my 4-miler.

From then until I headed out the door, it was a blur. I don't think I actually woke up until I closed the front door and stepped into the street and started to jog. Within about 2 minutes, I was drenched but oddly, I liked it. It was cool and refreshing. I had a cap on so I didn't have to worry about my eyes or face. The wind wasn't blowing...it was just a cool, quiet rain. I had the entire neighborhood to myself, as no walkers or joggers would be stupid enough to voluntarily run in the rain when they could be sleeping. There weren't even any cars out so I took the liberty of running in the street to get a feel for what race day would be like (minus the bajillion people).

Miles one and two were great. Mile three I felt a pain come back in my right thigh and hip area that has been bugging me for a while on my long runs. By mile 3.75 I had to call it quits as the nagging pain turned into a burning, scorching, seering pain that made me feel like the joint where my hip and pelvis meet was going to come apart inside my body.

On one hand I was really bummed that I missed my goal by a quarter of a mile but on the other hand I was really excited because if it hadn't have been for the little injury, I felt like I could have gone forever. My breathing felt great and the rest of my body felt like it could have run all 4 miles. Dang that stupid leg pain!!

On another bright side, a lot of rain always brings a really cool rainbow. And, no, there wasn't a pot of gold at our house despite it being at the end of the rainbow...