Wk6b/D3 - The Drowned Rat 13K Run :)

13K @1:33:03

Pace 7:09/km

Historical Note: One year ago today, I walked/ran 4K in 30 minutes.

There are no stock images on Google of a soaked woman running with two soaked dogs so this one will have to suffice! :)

I was scheduled to run 11.5K today, and in spite of the weather reports, I was pretty determined to complete this run outside rather than at the fitness club on a treadmill. Ben checked the farmzone website and warned me that the radar indicated a heavy rain system was moving in our direction ... I had better get moving ... !!

Sure enough, Murphy's Law ruled the day. Although it had stopped rained for several hours in the morning, it started to drizzle again as we drove to the park. By the time we started our warm-up walk/Angus-religious-poop-time, it started to rain. :( About 3K into our run, I considered shortening it because of the weather; however, the truth was, I had committed to this run already in my head so by the time I reached an ideal "turn-around point," I still wasn't keen on shortening my scheduled run. I was already wet and the rain was "Vancouver-ish" light and warm so I figured I could handle it. :)

See how much I still pride myself on my "rain-tolerance" and my former "Vancouver-ite status" after all these years?!?! I moved back to Ontario in 2001, but my heart still remains there ... :) :)

And with pride, I now say, "handle it" we did! We ran in the rain for over an hour and a half, rain which didn't let up for one minute the entire time we were outside! :( Although it was windy, I was protected most of the time from the wind in the park except in certain areas. I covered up my Garmin with my jacket sleeve to protect it from the rain, and didn't bother checking it for mileage until near the end. I just concentrated on my run and tried to keep my pace consistent. I also focused on keeping my shoulders relaxed and my hands unclenched.

I let out a little "woo hoo!" as soon as we reached the turnaround point at the far end of the park, and then was rewarded by a strong, chilling wind blowing into me as we changed directions to head back. :( It was very tough running for awhile, but fortunately, the same trees protected us from the wind again on the return. However, when we did feel the wind, it was a lot tougher in the second half of the run than in the first. :(

While running back to my starting point, I thought more about this 11.5K. One of several reasons I "re-started" my Week #6 Road Work this past week was skipping the scheduled 11.5K in lieu of my Run for Retina 10K. I just got it in my head that I had to run "it" before starting "jumping" to 13K. My training program requires me to run 13K every Saturday for the next eight weeks so a "transitional 11.5K" was my motivating factor for being out in the damn rain in the first place!! :) :) Well, my mind must be a very odd, delirious place when I am running while wet because I started to think that perhaps running 13K would be better (?!@?*?!). Although it *sucked* being out in the rain and wind, we were out there already so why not add another 1.5K to really make it worth it? But more importantly, if I could run 13K today, I could convince myself that I was officially back at the level of running I was at on December 2nd, 2010. I could finally feel that I was moving forward with my running level/ability rather than "catching up." Make sense? Well, it did to me at the time! Poor drenched Wallace and water dog Angus were dragged along for an additional 1.5K, into the toughest headwind of all during this run, just so I could make this claim today. :) :)

And there you have it. I ran 13K in lousy weather conditions, stopping only to let Wallace defecate, Angus pee, and to pick up fallen water bottles 4X ... grrrrr. Those water bottles were *popping* out of my new water belt at the slightest provocation. :( I think what I may need to try next is using my old water bottle belt as the dog leash attachment belt (since it is already stretched to bits), and then wear my new water belt at the same time for me. It will look ridiculous, but if it saves me the time needed to stop and scoop water bottles, I don't think I care too much about appearances!

On a side note, I just created a new addition to my blog in the right column. I am going to track my 13Ks for the next two months. I am not scheduled to run anything longer than 13K until I officially start my half marathon training in June; therefore, I will track my pace improvement (positive thinking!) in these runs until then.

By the way, as I type this post, it has not been raining at all ... Murphy's Law! What'd I tell ya? :)

Rest day tomorrow - Week #7 Road Work on Monday.