This past weekend was a busy one and I was really hoping to get in at least a 7k run to see how my body (ankle) would handle the distance before Valley Harvest Marathon 10k next weekend.

Saturday was busy as I facilitated a workshop, drove home and gathered the girls from my neighbour. She had spoiled them with the farmer’s market, a trip to her work (a vinyard) to pick a few grapes and lunch at her house (thank you Grr-ma). My husband was sleeping as he worked the night shift but got up when we arrived home so we could all go do a birthday party for my running buddy’s daughter,  Braegha. She was 4!

Sunday morning was the only opportunity I’d have to run outside since my husband was working 1 PM – 1 AM (a new term…aka consistency in our lives!!!). He knew I wanted to run but I wasn’t getting up early to do it. It was a sleep-in kind of morning with cuddles from the littles and then the mega struggle bus to actually get up and out of bed.

My first thought was to look outside so I’d know how to dress and to my surprise it was RAINING! Well shit crossed my mind first. Then… “am I really going to run in this”. We made breakfast and all of a sudden I found myself getting my running clothing on and searching for my green Garmin that was losing battery power fast.

Out I went into the rain…frig! What am I doing, I think I’m nuts! Hat on, long sleeved jacket on, gloves on, long running pants on, DRY sneakers and socks. Pound, pound, pound, my body just felt uncomfortable. My ankle wasn’t sure about running but didn’t give up on me.

With my green Garmin tucked under my jacket I just ran. I knew where the 1k mark would hit but didn’t even bother to lift up the sleeve of my jacket to peak at my pace. Just keep running, just keep running…oh wait now, you need to walk…so I walked. I actually HATED running at this point and seriously thought…”WHY AM I DOING THIS”…over and over for the first three kilometres. I even thought about quitting and turning to go home but for some reason I thought dodging massive puddles on the ground would be fun.

I glided across the main road when it was car free and then along the sidewalk making sure the rain wasn’t hitting my face under my hat. I was hoping for 7k and figured out where I would turn around only to come to that point and keep running past it. Under the overpass and along this horrible footpath that has been created out of desperation since there are no sidewalks to utilize. I kept going until I hit the local Paramedic base where my husband works out of. My green Garmin hit 4.25 km and I crossed the street again in between cars passing by to run on the other side of the road back towards my house.

By now I was feeling wonderful and running with a smile on my face. The number of massive puddles on the pathway were increasing. Puddle…soaked my left shoe just like that, then my right. Puddle after puddle and spray from cars passing me by on the road, I was wet. My socks were soaked and I don’t love running in wet socks.

As I approached our subdivision after some run/walk segments, I knew that I could probably get in 8k if I ran up and down my street a few times. Yes, I was one of those runners who ran back and forth until my green Garmin hit 8k…ahhhhhhhh, what a great run! Inside I stretched as my girls played some games and then joined me later when I did my PT exercises for my ankle.

What a great run…in the RAIN! I guess sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and go run in the rain. So glad I went.

How was your weekend?

Anyone run in the rain this past weekend?

Do you like to run in the rain?