My Very Unlikely Run

I woke up this morning with a runny nose and a cough… to cloudy skies, big blustery winds, and the threat of rain.  I was determined to get out for a run.. which is very unusual for me because I don’t like to run when it is windy, and certainly not when it is raining.  But, I have been fighting the sniffles and a scratchy throat all week. I thought that resting and not exerting myself would make them go away, so I have been careful for the past several days.  And it hasn’t done me a lick of good… I have developed a full blown cold anyway. And I am fidgetty... I need to move.

I drank my lemon water/Fermented L-Glutamine mixture and then enjoyed some coffee with my vitamins/supplements and a light breakfast… some fresh fruit, and an egg white/mushroom omelet, and then mapped out a new 6 km route.  A simple out and back, mostly along the waterfront.  It was a bit of downhill going out and so would be a bit uphill coming back. 

I was trying to think of all the things I could do to prevent the post-run cramps in my legs and feet that I have experinced the last couple of times I ran further than 5km, so I drank several glasses of water and decided I should take some along, for a change. I put a nuun tablet into my Simple Hydration bottle and filled it with water and screwed the lid on tight… and set it on the counter where it immediately started to leak.  Hmmm… was that another sign that I shouldn’t be running? 

Apparently the lid doesn’t screw on that tight anymore.  I drank about half of the mixture and set the bottle in a glass on the counter, and decided to finish the rest of it after my run.  Honestly, I don’t find nuun/water all that refreshing when I am running anyway and only drink it for the electrolytes it provides me.  I know that it does a good job of that; I just cannot say I love the taste.

And then it started to rain… pour actually.  Another setback.  But The Captain assured me it didn’t look like it was going to last too long, so I went ahead and got into my running gear.  And it did stop after about 15 minutes.  So I pulled on my trusty Mizuno running shoes and wiped my nose a few more times, filled my windbreaker pockets with Kleenex tissues, put the cell phone into my capris pocket, and off I went.  I really wondered if I was making a huge mistake in heading out at all, but for some reason I just felt driven to go.

I had already promised myself that I would run slow… yes, even slower than normal.  And that I would do run/walk intervals of 8 minutes/2 minutes.  I am determined to increase my distance and will do whatever it takes in the way of speed reduction, increased walking breaks, fuel/recovery supplementation, stretching, ETC. in order to make that happen.  I am developing patience.  And I already have determination in spades.

About 2 or 3 minutes into my run, the rain started again… very lightly at first. Thoughts of giving up and going home floated through my head, because I was sure my feet and socks would get wet and I would be miserable, but I kept running.  And then it started to pour, and I kept going.  And I realized after a couple more minutes that I didn’t mind the rain and that I was actually really enjoying myself. I wasn't cold.  I was wearing a light jacket and capris and knee high compression socks, so it was really only my head getting wet.  It reminded me of one of my favorite runs from several years ago which did happen to be in the rain, and I day-dreamed about that for a while.  I did my first walk interval of 2 minutes and by the time I was running again, the rain had stopped…  and my feet were only a bit damp on the top.  The wind came up again and dried my face and my hair and jacket, and I kept going.

I did one more walk interval before reaching my 3 km mark and then turning around.  On the way back I could clearly see the USS Nimitz (American aircraft carrier) anchored just outside the harbour that is the West Coast home to some of our Canadian Navy.  She is enormous and so many people were on the waterfront to get a look at her while she is here.

And I kept running… uphill now.  And I checked my watch and really fought the urge to break my promise to myself and speed up a bit. But I didn’t. I kept my slow and easy pace and realized how much I was enjoying it… and that I had not used any of the Kleenex tissues from my pocket as my nose had stopped dripping almost as soon as I had started running. 

And even when I realized that my final 2 minute walk interval would bring me back to my starting point, I resisted the temptation to run to the finish instead.   I walked an additional 4 minutes to cool down before calling it done and coming inside.  I had thoroughly enjoyed my run and was so glad that the crummy weather, and my sniffles and cough, and the leaky water bottle had not deterred me from going out.

I finished the nuun mixture that I had left in my bottle on the counter. I drank 2 more glasses of water. I stretched for a full 5 minutes, and then showered and had lunch. 

Now, I am relaxing in a tee shirt, my Tommie Copper shorts, and some knee high compression socks…  watching the PGA U.S. Open on tv, and drinking more water every hour.  And, after almost a full 4 hours since I finished that run, I have still not suffered a single cramp.  Hurray!  This is a victory for me.  I intend to keep drinking water the rest of the day into the evening,  and before I go to bed tonight I will have a last glassful with some Natural Calm mixed into it.

Do you ever almost talk yourself out of running when the conditions are not quite great?