In case you haven't noticed, it's been raining in Southern California. Like, a lot of rain. As in, I can't remember the last time it rained for five consecutive days. I don't think it's rained as hard as it has around here in at least a decade.
That, combined with Mrs. LB's vacay, has thrown a wrench in my running this week. As in, I have run zero miles. Sad. The sun's out this morning though - queue Hallelujah music - so I'm going to squeeze in a five-miler.
I was able to run on Sunday, though. I had 18 miles on tap and there was no way I was going to miss that. It was a Loper run but only seven members of our pace group showed up. Actually, three regulars showed up and we had four others run with us. Of those, only four were going to do the whole 18 miles.
I can't blame those who didn't make it. The rain was coming down hard as soon as I woke up. I was getting dressed to the pitter-patter of rain, drove in a downpour and met up with the rest of the group in the rain. I thought to myself "You can just go back home, have some coffee and stay warm" but of course I was only joking... sorta...
Anyway, all I wanted to do was to stay as dry as possible. Kinda hard to do when it's coming down as hard as it was, but mostly I wanted to not step in puddles. Of course, it took all of one-tenth of a mile to splash myself. I stepped in a puddle and kicked up water to hit the other shoe. Good times.
We started off slowly and took a strange course. Since it was a bit of the blind leading the blind, we mapped out a route that we thought would get us to 18 miles. Part of the path we took - which was unavoidable - took us up a busy street, so we had to deal with that. And of course the rain had not let up at all.
We got to about 12.5 miles and turned around, figuring it would take us about 5.5 miles to get back if we went the short way back. My legs had felt great and despite my early puddle-splashing problems I had managed to stay relatively dry. The skies had opened up and were relentless but even that wasn't a problem. Once I'm out in the rain, it's not a big deal so long as I can avoid the puddles, and I'd done that.
The only problem I'd had was time. I wasn't worried about time necessarily but I did have to get back home in order to shower and get dressed for church with the in-laws. Luckily, one of the other runners in our quartet was up for a bit of a fast finish. We knocked out the last four miles in about 37 minutes. It was a great way to end the run and gave me some confidence that my legs are going to handle this marathon better than the other ones. Will that equate into a PR? Who knows, but I'm mostly concerned right now about getting in these long runs. I have 20 miles on Jan. 2 and then 20-22 on Jan. 16.
Hopefully the weather will cooperate more then. Still, having run 18 miles in the rain gives me confidence that no matter what the weather is like I'll be able to finish them as well. As long as I don't succumb to the allure of coffee next time.
Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Weather Watch
Blog buddy Morgan of Caution: Redhead Running recently left a comment about how I might check the weather forecast for Surf City about 20 million times, as she did the same before her first marathon.
That's a bit of a stretch.
I'd say the figure is closer to 30 million.
I am in a bit of a helpless situation, however. The Web site I use to get weather forecasts, the one I trust the most anyway, is The Weather Channel's site. But it only goes 10 days out, so as of late Wednesday this was the forecast:
But the Surf City site has a link to another weather Web site, from AccuWeather.com. And that goes a full 15 days out.
That forecast is as follows:
I'm not exactly liking this forecast.
(Okay, I know you readers in cold- and wet-weather locales are shaking your heads right now, saying '64 degrees and he's complaining?' but stay with me)
What's mostly troubling me is the forecast for Monday, Feb. 8 by AccuWeather of course, since TWC doesn't show that. It says "rain." No "cloudy with spotty showers." No "periods of rain," as it calls for on Feb. 5. Just "rain." Plain and simple "rain."
See, my awkward thinking is this (and I'm not exactly hoping for this but this is what I think): AccuWeather is not accurate or reliable (to me, it might spot on, who really knows?) so it will not rain on Feb. 8 but instead will rain on Feb. 7.
It seriously cannot rain on Feb. 7. It can rain buckets on Feb. 6 and 8. It can rain the proverbial cats and dogs on the 5th. But it cannot rain on the 7th.
No. Rain. At. All.
Please.
Am I worried about running in rain? Not really. My cherished Cedar River Run was in the rain. So too was a 10-miler the Saturday after Thanksgiving (six days after the Cedar River Run). I've logged those runs in the rain and did just fine. It wasn't fun, particularly the former, but I did it. Some parts, yeah, it's fun. It's fun to get out in the rain sometimes knowing that the people who drive by you are probably calling you stupid or crazy or insane or something, knowing that deep down inside they're just jealous (probably not, but that's what I tell myself).
But that element of look-what-I-can-do is not part of the marathon. Well, there is an element of that I guess but not the same thing. I mean, I want/need to focus on finishing the marathon, on putting all the information, knowledge and experience I've gained in the last seven months to use, of tackling this enormous challenge that is in front of me, of conquering the beast. And I don't need rain to throw another obstacle in my way.
Also, I don't want the rain to chase Mrs. LB and the girls away. We're going to get a room near the start line so I'm not going to go by myself or anything, but it will be a bummer if they're cooped up in the motel room for four to five hours while I run.
I'm going to be checking the weather... let me see, I've already checked it about 5 million times and TWC's forecast only goes until Feb. 5 or so, so... I'll be checking the weather another 25 million times from now until race day, and I may blog about it again, so this post is definitely to be continued.
That's a bit of a stretch.
I'd say the figure is closer to 30 million.
I am in a bit of a helpless situation, however. The Web site I use to get weather forecasts, the one I trust the most anyway, is The Weather Channel's site. But it only goes 10 days out, so as of late Wednesday this was the forecast:
But the Surf City site has a link to another weather Web site, from AccuWeather.com. And that goes a full 15 days out.That forecast is as follows:
I'm not exactly liking this forecast.(Okay, I know you readers in cold- and wet-weather locales are shaking your heads right now, saying '64 degrees and he's complaining?' but stay with me)
What's mostly troubling me is the forecast for Monday, Feb. 8 by AccuWeather of course, since TWC doesn't show that. It says "rain." No "cloudy with spotty showers." No "periods of rain," as it calls for on Feb. 5. Just "rain." Plain and simple "rain."
See, my awkward thinking is this (and I'm not exactly hoping for this but this is what I think): AccuWeather is not accurate or reliable (to me, it might spot on, who really knows?) so it will not rain on Feb. 8 but instead will rain on Feb. 7.
It seriously cannot rain on Feb. 7. It can rain buckets on Feb. 6 and 8. It can rain the proverbial cats and dogs on the 5th. But it cannot rain on the 7th.
No. Rain. At. All.
Please.
Am I worried about running in rain? Not really. My cherished Cedar River Run was in the rain. So too was a 10-miler the Saturday after Thanksgiving (six days after the Cedar River Run). I've logged those runs in the rain and did just fine. It wasn't fun, particularly the former, but I did it. Some parts, yeah, it's fun. It's fun to get out in the rain sometimes knowing that the people who drive by you are probably calling you stupid or crazy or insane or something, knowing that deep down inside they're just jealous (probably not, but that's what I tell myself).
But that element of look-what-I-can-do is not part of the marathon. Well, there is an element of that I guess but not the same thing. I mean, I want/need to focus on finishing the marathon, on putting all the information, knowledge and experience I've gained in the last seven months to use, of tackling this enormous challenge that is in front of me, of conquering the beast. And I don't need rain to throw another obstacle in my way.
Also, I don't want the rain to chase Mrs. LB and the girls away. We're going to get a room near the start line so I'm not going to go by myself or anything, but it will be a bummer if they're cooped up in the motel room for four to five hours while I run.
I'm going to be checking the weather... let me see, I've already checked it about 5 million times and TWC's forecast only goes until Feb. 5 or so, so... I'll be checking the weather another 25 million times from now until race day, and I may blog about it again, so this post is definitely to be continued.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Rain? Not Today
I worried for nothing.
I really did not sleep well last night in anticipation of today's run. It wasn't a positive anticipation though as I knew there would be challenges. But I did well to meet them head-on and got a massive dose of good luck.
Last night when I checked the weather, it was supposed to rain in the morning, through 9 a.m. But when I checked the weather this morning, it was only supposed to rain until 6:30. But when I stepped out my front door at 5:50, it was not raining. And it did not rain at all during my run!
I still wore my rain gear - gloves, hat, jacket, wicking shirt - but I didn't need it to keep me dry.
The night before, I'd realized I had no Gu (HATE when that happens) so I improvised. I took a Clif bar with me and ate half of it around the 4-mile mark, and the other half close to nine miles.
I tried to run about the same pace as I do on Sundays, so I didn't set any new course records. It took me just over an hour to hit the six-mile mark.
Towards the end of my run, I decided to take run through a neighborhood near my daughter's school. My attempt at six miles out, six miles back didn't quite work so I had to make up some miles somewhere. This was my attempt and it was not my greatest idea. The neighborhood is a "working class neighborhood" which is a nice way of saying it's a sh__hole. Ghetto. Junk cars and dirt lawns everywhere, chain-link fences hanging by threads surrounding many of the houses and, of course, dogs. So many dogs everywhere. Most of them were behind some sort of fence, and since I had my iPod on I couldn't hear them too much, but my eyes were constantly scanning the houses in front and behind me.
I made it about three-fourths of the way through this trashy area, nearing the 10.5-mile mark, when I saw two German shepherds up ahead. They were probably 50 yards in front of me, and they were both just kind of hanging out. They saw me. I saw them. We made eye contact. The hairs on my thighs stood up. I decided it would be best to turn around, so I slowly did. I looked back and they'd stopped looking at me. I went back to the street I'd been on, and made a left to get out of this trashy area.
And wouldn't you know, some other dogs were hanging out in front of their houses as well. One of them ran at me, barking. This dog was a smaller dog. Unlike the German shepherds, I could have taken this one on with my right foot, but the dog wanted only to incite me. So the dog kept its distance.
Finally, I was near my house and maybe it was the time (it was almost 8 a.m.) but there were more dogs saluting me on the way out than on the way back. But I got my 12 miles in, actually 12.1, in about 2 hours, 10 minutes.
Even though it didn't rain on me, I was drenched. I guess the warmth of the jacket made me sweat more than normal because my shirts were soaked, and my shorts were too.
The Clif bar worked well, and so did the iPod. I made a Rainy 12-Miler playlist which I may post later this week (too lazy to do it right now, sorry) but some songs worked well (Led Zeppelin's Fool in the Rain) and some didn't (Prince's Purple Rain).
All in all, a great way to start off a Sunday.
I really did not sleep well last night in anticipation of today's run. It wasn't a positive anticipation though as I knew there would be challenges. But I did well to meet them head-on and got a massive dose of good luck.
Last night when I checked the weather, it was supposed to rain in the morning, through 9 a.m. But when I checked the weather this morning, it was only supposed to rain until 6:30. But when I stepped out my front door at 5:50, it was not raining. And it did not rain at all during my run!
I still wore my rain gear - gloves, hat, jacket, wicking shirt - but I didn't need it to keep me dry.
The night before, I'd realized I had no Gu (HATE when that happens) so I improvised. I took a Clif bar with me and ate half of it around the 4-mile mark, and the other half close to nine miles.
I tried to run about the same pace as I do on Sundays, so I didn't set any new course records. It took me just over an hour to hit the six-mile mark.
Towards the end of my run, I decided to take run through a neighborhood near my daughter's school. My attempt at six miles out, six miles back didn't quite work so I had to make up some miles somewhere. This was my attempt and it was not my greatest idea. The neighborhood is a "working class neighborhood" which is a nice way of saying it's a sh__hole. Ghetto. Junk cars and dirt lawns everywhere, chain-link fences hanging by threads surrounding many of the houses and, of course, dogs. So many dogs everywhere. Most of them were behind some sort of fence, and since I had my iPod on I couldn't hear them too much, but my eyes were constantly scanning the houses in front and behind me.
I made it about three-fourths of the way through this trashy area, nearing the 10.5-mile mark, when I saw two German shepherds up ahead. They were probably 50 yards in front of me, and they were both just kind of hanging out. They saw me. I saw them. We made eye contact. The hairs on my thighs stood up. I decided it would be best to turn around, so I slowly did. I looked back and they'd stopped looking at me. I went back to the street I'd been on, and made a left to get out of this trashy area.
And wouldn't you know, some other dogs were hanging out in front of their houses as well. One of them ran at me, barking. This dog was a smaller dog. Unlike the German shepherds, I could have taken this one on with my right foot, but the dog wanted only to incite me. So the dog kept its distance.
Finally, I was near my house and maybe it was the time (it was almost 8 a.m.) but there were more dogs saluting me on the way out than on the way back. But I got my 12 miles in, actually 12.1, in about 2 hours, 10 minutes.
Even though it didn't rain on me, I was drenched. I guess the warmth of the jacket made me sweat more than normal because my shirts were soaked, and my shorts were too.
The Clif bar worked well, and so did the iPod. I made a Rainy 12-Miler playlist which I may post later this week (too lazy to do it right now, sorry) but some songs worked well (Led Zeppelin's Fool in the Rain) and some didn't (Prince's Purple Rain).
All in all, a great way to start off a Sunday.
Sunday Morning Rain
Okay, I'm nervous. I'll admit it. I barely slept last night, and that's the sign of nerves.
It's raining right now. It's early right now. And I'm about to get up and get dressed as soon as I hit Publish Post.
I have a scheduled 12-miler today, and while that distance isn't worrying me, the conditions are. I have to run it alone and in the rain.
But I got some great news. I just checked the weather report and it's supposed to rain until about 6:30 a.m. and then subside. Last night when I checked, the rain was supposed to clear up at about 9 a.m. which meant a steady drizzle during my run. Instead, I might only have to put up with the rain for about 30 minutes, or one-fourth of the time. I'll take that.
I had thought about running some outside and then going home and knocking out the final portion on the treadmill but I'll probably just run six miles out and then six miles back. There's a lonely road by my house that doesn't see a lot of traffic and I might run along that.
I made a playlist too last night and included a lot of rain-related songs, songs like Prince's Purple Rain, Metallica's Ride The Lightning, Creedence Clearwater Revival's Have You Ever Seen The Rain? and probably the most appropriate song, Led Zeppelin's Fool in the Rain.
Yeah, I'll be that fool in the rain. But at least I'm a well-conditioned and determined fool.
I won't be able to update my blog for a while after my run but I'll get back to you and let you know how it went. I'm sure I'll have a decent story to tell.
It's raining right now. It's early right now. And I'm about to get up and get dressed as soon as I hit Publish Post.
I have a scheduled 12-miler today, and while that distance isn't worrying me, the conditions are. I have to run it alone and in the rain.
But I got some great news. I just checked the weather report and it's supposed to rain until about 6:30 a.m. and then subside. Last night when I checked, the rain was supposed to clear up at about 9 a.m. which meant a steady drizzle during my run. Instead, I might only have to put up with the rain for about 30 minutes, or one-fourth of the time. I'll take that.
I had thought about running some outside and then going home and knocking out the final portion on the treadmill but I'll probably just run six miles out and then six miles back. There's a lonely road by my house that doesn't see a lot of traffic and I might run along that.
I made a playlist too last night and included a lot of rain-related songs, songs like Prince's Purple Rain, Metallica's Ride The Lightning, Creedence Clearwater Revival's Have You Ever Seen The Rain? and probably the most appropriate song, Led Zeppelin's Fool in the Rain.
Yeah, I'll be that fool in the rain. But at least I'm a well-conditioned and determined fool.
I won't be able to update my blog for a while after my run but I'll get back to you and let you know how it went. I'm sure I'll have a decent story to tell.
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