Rain Running And Couch Snuggling

by Kir

Scene: It’s Saturday morning, the scent of coffee drifts through the house, the down comforter’s snuggled up around my ears and the rain is tapping steadily against the window. It’s 7am-ish and I’m very tempted to roll over and stay here all day. But I know that last week’s long Sat run disaster needed to be avenged if I had any chance of enjoying my upcoming half marathon in a few weeks.

Love This…Even a Sat Run is an Accomplishment

Flashback to last Saturday: My two run buddies met me at my house for our long run. Strike 1 – as much as I love running w/ company, running in 3′s is unlucky for me. I don’t know if anyone else has this problem, but it’s too hard for me to keep my pace. You have to dodge in and out b/c three is bulky and it just makes things a bit tricky. No biggie if it’s a quick run, but if I have to run longer than an hour I easily fall apart!

The other factors that stacked up against me? Strike 2,  I forgot to eat breakfast – yup, not kidding, no excuses, just plain dumb. Strike 3, I didn’t drink water prior to starting out on the run so I was going through my little water bottle pretty quick. And it was hot. Not necessarily a strike if I’d gotten my ducks in a row in the other areas. The trifecta of poor planning resulted in stopping short a 1/2 mile of my goal and hobbling home. You know it’s bad when your run buddies have finished their run and are starting the car to come get you as you walk it in to your driveway!!! Bless them, they didn’t judge and still gave me a congrats hug for finishing.

Run now, rest later!

Live and learn…but no way, no how was this going to be me yesterday. So even though it was raining, I knew I needed to get it right this time around even if it meant braving that yucky, cold rain. So I got up, immediately drank some water, had my trusty coffee – this time chased with a piece of almond butter/banana toast an hour before my running start time. Armed with a Gu and some shot blocks and my trusty Hello Kitty Lipgloss, I was prepared and ready to go.

Water, Gu, Losanges, Miss Kitty Lipgloss, check, check, check!

And thank goodness because as bad as last Saturday’s run was, yesterday was actually fun! Okay, maybe not the last mile, but relatively, I was soooo happy not to be miserable! I felt good, strong and like I could have run a little further if I’d had to. Isn’t that always the goal?

The next time you want to bail on a rain run, here are some things I found mentally helpful while splashing through the puddles…

• When you finish it feels so satisfying b/c you know you got your butt out the door & met your goal when you really wanted to curl up on the couch
• No crowds! It weeds out the fair weather runners and cyclists so you get more room and less dodging (except for those pesky cross country kids who always run in packs and never yield even if they’re on the wrong side of the road. But that’s a rant for a different day!)
• The runner “hi”. You’re part of a tribe of people who committed to running in the crappy weather. You smile, wave and roll your eyes together
• Your core temperature stays pretty regular. No worry of over-heating, that’s fo sho…
• The mist on your face and humidity in the air is like a mini spa treatment – okay, maybe I’m pushing it

How did I celebrate the completion of this run? By doing absolutely nothing for the rest of the day. M had a big run too so we snuggled up on the couch, watched two movies and the Mecum Auto Auction (classic cars selling for $100k+ is surprisingly engrossing). Some yummy beer w/our special chili lime popcorn recipe (borrowed from my friend Mer) and voila, the perfect recovery!

Don’t worry, this pic is from before Christmas. Was too tired to take a new shot yesterday. Just pretend the tree’s not there!

Moral of the story: When in doubt…go for the run. You very rarely regret it!!!

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