Die Hard!

I ran in the rain this morning. Not in a drizzle or a sprinkle, but in the rain. I left my house at 6:00 a.m., put water out, and went to Mark's house. It was pouring, flooding, and lightning and thundering. Of course, all I wanted to do was turn my car around, drive home, and get back into my cozy bed. Trust me -- I would have done this if I had not already committed to running with Mark. Mark is a die hard runner; he ran a marathon on is 50th birthday, and has qualified for and run in the Boston Marathon (translation: he can kick my butt and he's way faster than me). However, I can usually talk him into running with me on his long runs when he needs to run "slow" (translation: my normal pace).

He was supposed to run 20 miles this morning, starting at 5:45 a.m. I was to meet him at his house at 6:15 a.m. to do the last 15 miles with him. When I arrived, he had not started running due to the thunder and lightning. We decided to get in as many miles as we could. We set out with the intention of running to the Amarillo High School track. However, we quickly switched to plan B (driving to the AHS track) when we realized that almost all of the intersections were flooded, and the risk of injury was just too great. When it was all said and done, we got in 10.5 miles. Not too bad, considering that it poured rain almost the entire time, and the track was beginning to flood.

I am disappointed not to get in the entire 15 miles, but I am more proud because I got out there and ran as much as I could in less-than-perfect conditions. I feel die-hard knowing that I went out and ran even though I could have stayed in bed. Maybe I did not get in all my miles this morning, but I learned that I can push myself even when the conditions are not the best.

Here's me doing my best to smile and taking off my soaking-wet socks after my morning run: