4.2 miles
mississippi river road path, north/south/north again
60 degrees/rain
A steady rain. Not torrential but constant and very wet. Today might be one of the first times I went out to run and it was already raining. Usually I try to get a quick run in before it starts but end up getting stuck in it. Today it started to rain before I could leave and I went anyway. And I didn’t mind. I think I might be done ever running inside on a track. I’ll run in heat, snow, rain, wind, below zero temperatures. Lot of conditions…except thunderstorms.
The theme for today’s run: water
List: types of water experienced
- soft, steady rain falling straight down
- rain collecting on the bill of my visor, always a single drop sitting in the corner of my peripheral vision
- a soaked shirt sticking to my stomach
- soggy shoes and socks
- huge puddles on the sidewalk on the way to the river, hard to run around, hard to leap over
- wet, slick leaves on the path, not slippery just saturated
- drops playing a constant downbeat on the trees grass dirt….I wondered as I ran: is rain always steady, in 4/4 time? Anyone ever heard triplets or a 16th note rest?
- running too close to the edge of the path and getting a face full of wet branch
- water dripping on my head, dripping through my visor, mixing with the sweat on my forehead
- spray from my very wet ponytail
- tiny drops of rain landing on my watch face
- cold wet legs shoulders fingers
- car wheels whooshing by
- the river, a contemplative blue
- only one quick break from the unrelenting rain: running under the Lake Street bridge
I enjoyed running in the rain. Mostly because it was cooler but also because it was different and unusual. I felt a kinship with the 2 or 3 other runners I encountered, we the weirdos willing to wade through the water-soaked path in order to run outside.