Adventures In Running: A Storm Is Coming

I've been wanting to write some of my past running stories. In particular, events or things that happened before I started the blog. I have fond memories of my first half marathon, Hood 2 Coast, some not-so-fond memories of my first marathon, and other running tales I could share.

To get the ball rolling, I wanted to explain what happened to me on my run today.

On Tuesday, I finally managed to run five miles with the Vibrams. Yay! It was a humid day, but cloudy. Not so much blazing hot sun beating down. But for some reason every gnat in Florida was out for an evening...stroll flight?....on my running route to the St. Pete Pier. I have a bug phobia, so that wasn't fun, but I was glad that my toes didn't hurt.

Today, I left work intending to run the same route. It was sunny and hot at first, but I noticed some dark clouds in the distance. They moved in and I had that glorious sensation of cooler air for about a mile before the rain began. It felt so good. I was loving it. I was catching up on one of my favorite podcasts (That Gets My Goat by the Dunesteef guys, Rish and Big). I had like five episodes lined up with just their banter, mostly about movies, which I have so much fun listening to.

But then those rain droplets starting pelting me. When the downpour hit, I was about halfway to the upside down pyramid at the end of the pier. It took about ten seconds, and I was soaked. Thank God, I had my iTouch in my back pocket, and the rain pelted me from the front. I reached the building, checked the iTouch and it hadn't gotten wet. Yet.



From inside the pier, I'm watching the rain. And I can tell it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

I went to the restroom to wipe myself off with a paper towel. Then I got a plastic glove (not plastic...what is it? I forget. It's in the picture below). I put the iTouch inside the glove with my headphones, and hoped that it would be okay in my pocket. I knew leaving the pier, the downpour would be coming at my back, and it's a back pocket.

And I knew it was two miles back to my car. Two miles with very little cover, if any. But I had to go for it. So I did. It could have been fun. It was kinda fun because I felt so great, which doesn't happen a lot this time of year. I usually feel like laying down on the sidewalk and dying of heat stroke. My Vibrams did awesome. Didn't feel a thing with my feet. Lots of deep water, too, that I had to slosh through.

However, thunder and lightning. Scary stuff when you're exposed and running and aren't super fast. I tried to run as fast as I could. Then I would find little spots here and there under cover to rest, catch my breath, and then move on. The lightning would strike, and the thunder was a few seconds behind. Which was good because that meant it was about a mile or two away. But at the last stretch, the lightning and thunder were almost together. Really freaked me out, and sped me up. I guess that's what people might feel like running for their lives. That might seem melodramatic, though, because I'm fine.


The glove! And my iTouch cover, which was sadly wet when I took it out. The iTouch seems okay so far.


I have two very brief vlogs to try and show how crazy the rain was.






And this is how I looked after my adventure in running:

This is me happy that I made it to my car without getting struck by lightning, but also realizing that there is flooding everywhere. I snapped this quick shot as I was approaching a deep puddle, managing to capture my conflicted state. And showing all the water droplets still on my face. I am SOAKED. Thank goodness I keep a towel in the car.

Next time, I will continue my Adventures in Running with the story of my first half marathon. Stay tuned.

Comments

  1. You look invigorated. And very, very clean. I'm glad you made it back to the car in one piece.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Char. I felt invigorated and clean!

    ReplyDelete

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