Running In The Rain

Not singing - because that would be just cruel to the people around me.  LOL

Today was the Plaza 10k.  I was signed up for the 2 mile fun run with my daughter.  My husband did the actual 10k.  Angie, her husband and two of her kids did the 2 mile.

It rained.  It rained.  And then it rained some more.  No thunderstorms though, and the rain didn't feel bad.  I actually found I enjoyed it.  I liked this even overall.  The 2 mile course was nice and I heard good things about the 10k.  Time was ok, not great, but not bad.  Unlike yesterday, my general strategy of starting towards the very back worked out fine. I didn't get in the way or get run over.  My only complaint had to do with my shoes.  I didn't wear my VFFs or FreeRuns but another pair of minimal like Nikes.  For the first mile my shin on my right side and achilles tendon on the left were sore.  That had all worked itself out by the end though.  Tendon was still a bit sore, but not throbbing like it had been.

At the end there was coffee from my favorite local coffee place.  I do love good coffee.Other stuff too - water, bread, granola bars and bananas.  I can't eat bread or granola bars but I did enjoy a banana and some water.

So that was 2 miles, but I had 7 planned for today.  I have a schedule that I am keeping as I train for my half in November.  7 was on the schedule and I was going to do 7.  I wish they had been all together, but I didn't think I had 9 for the day in me so I planned on 5 more.

Went out to Longview trail.  They have resurfaced it and at first I did NOT like what they had done but as the weather and traffic have packed the kitty litter down a bit it's gotten nicer. Only mushy in a couple of spots.  For this outing I wore my VFFs.  Planned to go 2.5 out and then turn around.  Got distracted and missed my marker so I went out 3 before turning around.  The thing about Longview is I can't just stop and say "I've done 3, that's enough".  I have to go back to the car.  It's good for those days when I know I will quit halfway through on the neighborhood route.

The weather was misty and with occasional light rain.  Gray and overcast - about 60F.  The forcast said it would get up to 70 but they seem to have been wrong.  Didn't even come close.

I saw lots and lots of birds.  Dodged lots and lots of goose poop.  Saw a few butterflies, an odd caterpillar,  and one spider who proved very motivational in getting me up a hill.  I'm terrified of spiders.  There is a tunnel on the trail and i refuse to use it when I am alone so I go up the hill and back down the other side.  That's tricky when the grass is wet.  The sides are kind of steep and it gets slippery on the down sides.  The up side I was taking slow until that spider got on me (return trip).  Nothing makes me move quite like a spider attacking me.

As I am in the last 1/4 mile (the longest because I can see the car.  It feels longer than the whole rest of the outing)  I saw two deer.  I kept waiting for them to move but they didn't.  Stayed there staring at me until I was about 15 feet away, then they took off.  It was like the couldn't quite believe a human was foolish enough to be out there in the cool, damp rain.  That was cool.  I don't think I've ever gotten that close to a deer in the wild before.

Tomorrow Angie and I are going to walk Longview instead of the 'hood.  It's nice to have a change of scene. Forcast is for it to be nice and sunny so maybe I won't surprise the deer so much this time.