Water water everywhere!

I just got back from my first run in the rain in a very long time. 

When I was living in California, I went on a couple of runs in the drizzle, usually caught in it while I was already in the middle of a workout. But I hadn’t really set out to run in the rain, intentionally, in many years, maybe since my teenager or young adult years. 

Probably, I wouldn’t have done it today, either, if the friend I’m visiting here in Alaska and with whom I’m spending these couple days at Byers Lake hadn’t pushed me to do it. He knew that the training plan from my coach would have been for an easy 45-min run for me today and that I was hoping to get it done today in order to let my recovering injuries rest before the longish run planned for this weekend. But I had sort of given up on the idea because of the weather. Apparently, he hadn’t. Shortly after 2pm, as the rain seemed to abate for a moment, he asked if I wanted to go for a run-walk. I imagined we’d go for an easy little hike, given the rainy weather and very muddy trails. But he really meant to run. 

So we went for a run. 

And it felt so liberating! 

There was water everywhere: in the puddles across the path; in the mud on the trail; rain coming down, running down my cheeks; sweat under my running shirt & rain-jacket; my runny nose. But once my foot got into the first puddle, the switch was flipped and I didn’t care anymore. Wet shoes, wet feet, muddy shins, wet face, damp torso, wet thighs. It felt so liberating, so refreshing, so empowering — the realization that, so often, we truly are our own biggest obstacle. And, as such, sometimes all we need to do is step aside and let ourselves just go and do it.

I guess I’ve opened for myself — or my friend has opened for me — another door: the renewed possibility of going running despite rainy weather!