17 Miles in the Rain

Honestly, not all 17 miles were in the rain. It actually went dry after the first two miles or so and lasted for a bit. But on the whole, Sunday's run was a washout. That's how I'm going to choose to remember it anyway. What was supposed to be a group run, ended up being a duo, as most everyone else canceled. But Ladd and I, as well as Marsha, Lisa, and Sharon, running in a trio at a different pace, toughed it out despite Mother Nature's best efforts.

Perhaps we were being paid back for the great weather we had Friday afternoon. I was glad we were able to take advantage of it and get out there. On the whole, the rain wasn't intolerable while we were moving. It was the couple of stops when things started getting cold. Cold in the core, when it starts to become uncomfortable. My fingers, however, were numb for most of the run. It began to sting pretty bad on the face during one stretch as we ran into the wind. My shoes were completely soaked but my feet managed to stay warm thanks to all the miles. The cold from hitting a puddle or some of the rain runoff was only noticeable for a few seconds.

Upon finishing is when I really began to get cold. I had the heater in the car cranked all the way home but could barely feel it. Even the shower couldn't warm me up quickly enough. My fingers felt like I had been outside in the winter. I was surprised I didn't have frostbite beginning.

But a very good run considering the conditions: 17 miles in 2:20:27, an 8:16 per mile pace. I'm very pleased to be doing that kind of mileage right now. If I can keep this up, I'm excited to see what happens in May.