It has been raining since Saturday night and it still doesn’t want to stop. My long runs are on Sundays and yesterday my schedule said I had to put in 9 miles. Yikes, I’m up to 9 miles! Anyways, the rain was steady and not too light, what to do? I ended up skipping my run, thinking “I’ll do it tomorrow”.
This morning the rain was still going. Not too heavy, just steady and, well, really wet. Ok, so I am not a hard core runner “yet” (not sure I’ll ever be) that sees the rain and says “whatever, I’m going out”. Also you need the right gear to run under certain weather conditions, as I learned last December when trying to keep up with my runs with snow in Utah. It was COLD and I did not have the appropriate clothes to cover up. So goes for rain but I do have one jacket that is water proof…. The alternatives? The gym was out for running, there is no way I can manage 9 miles on the “tapis roulant”, as the treadmill is called here in Italy. I’d die of boredom! So I guess outside was going to be the only way.
So with long running pants (bought after my experience with the winter snow), rain jacket and cap to keep water out of my eyes, we headed outside. Yes, DH says he wants to come along even if he isn’t following the HM program I am, just like that. Says if he doesn’t feel like running the whole time he’ll just head back before. I plot the course we need to take as my Nike+ sensor died on me during my run a week ago and we take off. Rain wasn’t too bad but pretty soon we’re skipping around puddles and often cannot miss them so the shoes get soaked. It is a long run so the pace is easy, we have to go the distance regardless of time. Despite the rain, it is wonderful to be outside and see the fall colors of the trees along the river and run through downtown Florence. I keep smiling, DH mimics throwing me into the river if I don’t quit it.
So an hour and 45 minutes later we are back home, having run slightly over the 9 miles. We are soaked through, my jacket had become a sauna and I am as wet inside as on the outside. My calves hurt which normally don’t – maybe my stride was different because of the rain? – but I am glad we went out to run in the rain. I know having done it once doesn’t make me a hard core runner yet… but let’s see what the weather forecast says for the rest of the week :).