Today is a good day to not have a job and be a writer. It might not be the best day to run. The forecast for the rest of the day, and the week for that matter, looks like a lot of rain. I will run this week, however. If anything, it makes it cooler and maybe even refreshing to run in the rain. A few of my most memorable runs happened while it was raining.
I remember one about two years ago. I ran with my cousin Steve who runs occasionally. We started out dry. It didn’t start raining until about 3 or 4 miles in, and at that point we were already past the midway point of the loop, so we had no choice but to continue. At first, we would avoid the puddles, but once we were saturated head to toe, running through a puddle wasn’t a problem. The coolest thing about this run was that it was Steve’s longest run ever. Towards the end, he kept asking me, “How far, how far?” I didn’t give him a number, I told him we were almost done. When we got to 6, I told him he could stop. I knew he could go farther, too.
Another one I remember was at Crescent Lake, probably 3 or 4 years ago. At that point in my running, I wasn’t doing anything longer than 5 to 6 miles on a regular basis. I had one tech shirt, maybe two, one pair of shoes that I always ran in, no rotation, and I couldn’t run without music blasting. This makes me think about how different things are now. Anyway, the details of the run escape me now, but I remember running for a while, and then it starting to pour. I was alone on the path, I remember that. And I remember, as I continued to run in the rain, rather than heading home, the sense of freedom I felt. Can’t really explain it any better than that, but I went beyond 6 miles. I just had the feeling that I could run forever if I wanted to. I think that was one of the first experiences with running that made me realize it’s not just about the physical element. Running can take you places, physically and literally, that you would have never thought possible. But, running has led me to discoveries inside my own mind that are far more profound and valuable.
It’s stopped raining for now, and I think that means I should take the dog out. Maybe it’s some sort of close to the interval of writing that just took place as well.
runjournal 