Goose Poop and Puddle Jumping

This has been a busy week with Meet the Teacher night (longest school day ever), as well some other things.  Since Sunday, I didn't get another chance to run until Thursday.  It was still 90 degrees when I left work, so I ran 3 miles on the treadmill.  Nothing too exciting about that.

But today was pretty eventful!  I knew going in that I had to run 5 miles today (farthest I've done so far).  What I love about fall is that since it's cool all day long, you don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn to run because it's cool.  So I enjoyed sleeping in some :)  Well, I looked out the window and it's raining - a little harder than a drizzle.  I opened my porch door to see the temp and it was pretty cool.  I had decided at that point I would go to the gym and run due to the rain. I was disappointed because I had been looking forward to running outside today.

I hopped in the car and started driving to the gym.  The road I drive down to get there is a popular road that many running groups train on in the mornings.  Well, despite the rain, I passed multiple people and groups running.  I thought to myself, "If they can run in the rain, so can I.  It's not raining THAT hard."  So, I pulled a u-turn and drove myself over to the outside trail I run (thankfully it was pretty close to my gym, so it wasn't a big deal to turn around!).  I also realized that the trail is mostly covered with trees, so that would block some of the rain.

I'm glad I made that choice!

I LOVE the sound of rain on the trees.  It's so calming. The rain accompanied me for the first 2 miles of my run, and then it ended and it was just foggy.  I felt pretty good today, in terms of my energy, as I was running.   Towards the end of miles 4 I was starting to drag, so I took a couple extra minutes to walk, and that helped give me the boost I needed.  The last half mile I got an adrenaline kick and that got me through the end!  Hooray!

I run a trail around a lake, and there is a creek/river that flows into it.  First off, there are always a lot of geese and ducks that hang out at the lake.  Today there was more goose poop than normal.  Not sure the reason of that, so I was strategically planning my steps so I didn't land in some!  Success.

Also, the river sometimes floods when there is a lot of rain, or the sand/dirt along the trail gets washed onto the trail.  So I did some puddle jumping (both in and around) the puddles.  Let's just say the shoes are a little muddy!

It was an enjoyable run, and I'm glad I made the decision to run outside in the rain.  It made it more fun, and I know I would have been miserable if I had tried to do 5 miles on the treadmill.  I also run faster when I am outside and accomplish more.  I also have come upon the theory that when I get tired and want to stop, that the more I run, the farther I go... and the faster I get my distance accomplished :)

So it's a good day :)