Another Rainy Friday Evening

I was debating whether or not I should run tonight. Well, not so much debating as just not knowing. I hadn’t made any plans to run, but I hadn’t decided that it was a rest day either, so it was just kind of up in the air. Around 6pm I decided that since I didn’t have any food in the house, that I should go to the store and since I was going out to go to the store, I might as well run. So I did just that.

I left the house and ran up to the nearby trails. I decided that I would do a 3 mile run and then nip into the store, pick up a few things and walk home (the store I was going to is essentially across the street from the trails).

The sky looked a bit angry before I left the house, and it wasn’t looking any happier when I got to the trails. As I ran, I could hear thunder rolling, but it didn’t sound too close. I kept going and noticed a lot of downed trees from the storms that occurred last weekend and the weekend before. I hoped this was not any sort of sign of what was to come tonight.

About 2 miles into my run I started to feel a few drops. That’s alright. I don’t mind running in a little rain at all. I don’t even mind running in a moderate amount of rain… but then it happened… 2.5ish miles in, it started to POUR. I could see some flashes of lightning and I could hear some thunder, but it still didn’t sound very close, so I wasn’t too concerned. I was almost done my run. I just needed to finish up in the trails and head across to the store.

As I made my way out of the trails and crossed the street, the rain drops were hitting hard. They started to feel almost like they were solid. Luckily, I was where I needed to be, so I stood under the overhang of the store for a few minutes just to let some of the water drip off of me so that I didn’t make their floor TOO wet as soon as I set foot inside. It’s amazing how quickly you can get drenched in that kind of rain.

I did my shopping, the rain died down, I walked home, and then it started again. But this time, I’m in my house. I am now warm and dry and I am about to make some pasta and pour myself a glass of shiraz-malbec.

ENDURrun Day 5 (no stage): Rest Day

After last night’s “mountain stage” it is time for the mandatory rest day. I decided to skip going out for breakfast with the other ENDURrunners this morning so that I could stay in bed a little longer and also because I had a massage therapy appointment this morning at 10am and didn’t want to have to rush around this morning.

I made myself a smoothie with banana, blueberries, orange juice, and vanilla Greek yogurt before heading out to my appointment. On my way back from massage, I stopped at Tim Horton’s to grab a coffee (I was feeling lazy and didn’t want to make my own when I got home) and then made myself a late breakfast of a slight variation on eggs benedict and some roasted sweet potatoes with green peppers and onions that I had left over from the dinner I made a couple of nights ago.

This afternoon, Paul picked me up so that we could go for a swim at the race director’s house before meeting up with some others at the Huether for a late lunch and some beer floats. I tried to like the beer float, I really did.. but I couldn’t finish it. Is it an acquired taste?

Now.. some photos from the afternoon/early evening: