Running in the Rain

With the start of week 6 I had officially glided onto the center stage of the 2nd taper week on Hal Higdon's intermediate schedule, like I was auditioning for the Ice Capades. This was a rather notable week of training, because this was the last of the low mileage runs, the last of the less than halves, if you will. Sure, there's other taper weeks peppered throughout the coming schedule, but as of Sunday, I've seen my final single digit LSD—until the week prior to that rascally old marathon—and now I'm greeted accordingly by an across the board mid-week bump in distance. This is when the intermediate nature of the path I've chosen becomes ostensibly challenging, and who am I to argue otherwise? As for now...so far, so good.

Wednesday was exactly what I was waiting for: predictions of rain had meteorologists agreeing that the temperature would make a steep, almost instantaneous, drop, and I had been looking forward to running in a light summer rain ever since, well, summer started. So when I woke up in the morning to see a backdrop of clear skies and the same old mid-90's train traveling along the elevated heatwave track, I was more than mildly disappointed. So I waited for the weathermen to get it together, or the weather systems to bend to their collective will; one of the two was bound to happen eventually. In the interim, I was left pondering precipitation of past days on Philosopher's Way. 

Is there really ever a bad time to stroll down

Philosopher's Road (哲学の道)? 

and so...

By 1pm the skies were growing dark, and the shift in temperature was as palpable as the sparks out of Emperor Palpatine's fingers. The schedule called for a 5 miler, so I had plotted out a 1 mile course through the neighborhood; one in which I kept asking myself, dubious of Google Map's claims, "Is this really a mile?", because it seemed like nothing, at least at first. Without being certain of how much of a storm I was facing, I wanted to keep the option of ditching out early if need be, hence the 1 mile x 5 loop that I crafted. It also came with the added benefit of being a relatively flat course.

I started out by pushing passed a patch of pavement underneath a cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms cumulonimbus posse loitering above every corner; with each passing mile, the rain became increasingly intense. By the halfway point I was wading through the reality of a torrential downpour, wich left me drenched straight through to my core. Despite being soggier than shredded wheat left sitting in a cereal bowl for too long, I was flourishing in the rather cool chill that the air had affected. The final half of the 5 mile run was a fun without the sun wet romp through the streets. I usually don't find rain all that agreeable, but something about going without it for so long just left me wanting it all that much more. Don't get me wrong, I don't crave inclement weather, but with this passing storm that ultimately ushered in an overall cooler breeze, I've satisfied some faint urge for running in the rain. There's a nostalgic quality to running in the summer storm. Besides, as vexing as hopping puddles can become, it beats being drenched in sweat & slugging through the heat like a sucker. My shoes may not be happy with what I put them through, but it was a refreshing change of pace from the monotony of those hot & humid endless days of summer. Besides, weather is a key factor on race day, if I went into a marathon without any rain running experience at all, I might not be properly prepared, should it arise, for dealing with the life aquatic.