December 4, 2011

Poor planning led to me running for two hours, twenty four minutes, and six seconds in varying levels of rain in 40 degree weather this morning.  Had I run yesterday, like I normally would, the rain would have remained, but the temperatures would have been twenty degrees warmer.  Regardless, I had 13.1 miles planned and I intended to complete them.  During the first few miles, I kept questioning my sanity and whether I had the resolve to follow through with this plan.  I kept running; it kept raining; the temperature fell.  As I completed the big loop of the two I'd planned, I started to question whether continuing would put me at risk for a cold or pneumonia or institutionalization.  I decided to keep running, it wasn't so bad.  With my feet sloshing around my shoes, water dripping from my hat, and my fingers turning into popsicles inside my gloves, I made the final turn on my route.  I also glanced at my watch:  believe it or not, despite being tired and running in rain and ridiculously cold temperatures, I was going to best my half marathon personal record by about twenty minutes!  I'm not sure how I did it, but the cold, rain, and cold rain was worth the sense of accomplishment this morning!