It’s 6:50 AM, 69 degrees, it’s raining… hard and I’m running up my street mentally typing up this blog.<\/p>\n
There’s something refreshing about running in the rain, but from the looks on the faces of the people who saw me, most folks don’t get it. Rather than try to explain it I simply suggest you give it a try! I try to rain-run as frequently as my shoes will allow during the warm months because:
\nA) It’s one way to stay cool.
\nB) It recharges my batteries like little else that I have discovered.
\nC) I get to play in the puddles.<\/p>\n
On the back half of my loop I was watching my feet splash in a small stream that had formed on the sidewalk when I heard a cheerful “Hi”. I looked up and discovered another jogger, soaked to the bone but smiling, heading in the opposite direction. I shot him a smile & a “Hey” because I recognized a kindred spirit soaking up the weather. I bet he turned to hit those same puddles I was splashing when he saw me.<\/p>\n
Water and running go hand-in-hand which is why I enjoy running the Ocean Grove Biathlon every year. The race was this past Saturday and I set a new personal record though I’m not sure how.\u00a0 It was near 90 degrees and sunny at 8:30 in the morning. I placed 59th out of roughly 140 runners. The water was only 68, but it felt good after pounding out two 7 minute miles. I ran out of juice on the swim portion of the race but struggled through & was still passing people as I stumbled up the beach to the finish line. I came in at 20:58 (approximated based on where I assumed the starting line was). My official time doesn’t exist because this isn’t one of those super organized races. We don’t even wear bibs! All I know is that I’ve never finished under 21 minutes before, that I had a blast & that I’ll run it every year until I’m old enough to medal.<\/p>\n
If I can maintain the 21 minute race I’ll have a shot when I hit the 60-69 age group!<\/p>\n