Splendor in the Rain

Cold and wet start

It was cold, raining, windy, miserable conditions....what a great run. We had 22 runners and we went a total of 17.4 miles, kept a great pace 15:10, and finished under 4:30. 

Because of the rain, they reversed the course and everything was reset to go South.  This is mainly due to the fact that when it gets wet, it gets too muddy heading north and just too dangerous to go up San Vicente.  Since most folks were only doing 15, going south all the way to Dockweiller would only be a 14 mile loop, so we decided to head north to the ramp, turn back, which gave us essentially 4 miles, and so all we had to do was go 7 south past the flagpoles, and come back.

As we started off, it was very wet and windy, which made it pretty tough going, plus there was a lot of deep puddles and running water across the path.  So it didn't take long to get totally soaked including our shoes and socks.  At times the headwind was so strong that the rain really hurt against our faces...much more difficult than going uphill.  These conditions pretty much continued for the first 6 -7 miles, and it wasn't until we got all the way out to the marina that things started to get better.

My phone cam fogged up with the sun out

What is always amazing during these rainy day runs is how great it gets when it stops raining, and this was no exception.  We kept the group together and headed all the way down past the canal and the bridge. And even if we were about a half mile short of the full 18 when we got back, I felt we more than accomplished what we set out to do, and given the rain/wind factor...we probably burned enough energy to have finished 20 miles..

I was concerned when I was heading out in the morning, knowing it was raining, and I knew it was going to be a tough run, and it was worse than I imagined, but the best part was finishing with the group and knowing how ready the group is....way cool.

Bridge break before heading back

thanks everyone, we did good,

Walt