My Neighbors Must Think I'm Crazy

As you probably know, I'm not a fan of mornings!  Maybe if this was waiting for me, I'd like mornings more.

I should say that the toast would have to be whole wheat to really be a "Kimmie approved" breakfast, and I hope that syrup is a "light" version.  Ok, I'm getting off track here!  Back to my neighbors & why they surely think I'm crazy.

 I did not run this morning, but I should have.  Here's the problem, though.  We'll have to work backward to see the issue.  I had a meeting in Broward County at 9:30am; that means I need to leave here by 8am.  Today's run was 8 miles.  At a generous 8 minute per mile pace (which I planned to not do because today was an ass-kickin' tempo run which means to push it, and an 8 minute pace for only 8 miles is not pushing it in my book), that's 64 minutes in just run time.  Factor in stretching afterward and a shower (which my colleagues would probably insist upon given that today's meeting was not virtual), I'm now needing to set aside more than an hour and half.  For those of you keeping track of time, we're now at 6:30am.  But wait, there's more!  (Did you read that in your best, most cheesy, infomercial pitchman voice?  If not, you should have!)  A girl's got to eat before a run, and my tummy likes a full hour to digest.  I could squeak by with maybe 45 minutes of digestion time, but that brings the day's start time to an ungodly 5:45am.  Uhhhhhh, no!  In my house, the saying is "fire, flood, or blood."  If the situation does not involved one or more of those items, do not wake me up!

So, needless to say, I did not run this morning...but I should have!  According to the hourly forecast on my Weather Channel app, the rain chances this afternoon were approximately 30%, and as the day wore on, those percentages would increase up to about 70% around 5 and 6pm.  I could either run during my afternoon break (1:30-3pm) or after I was done at 5pm.  Hmmmmmm...what do you think I chose to do?

Yes, like most semi statistically-inclined people, I chose this afternoon!  Hey, I'm no dummy!

It rained on the way home from my meeting, but when I saw the Local on the 8s, it looked like the rain had pushed away and there was just enough of a clear window to squeeze in my run.  If I couldn't get all 8 miles in before the rain started again, I could likely get most of that done.

Do you know what a 30% chance of rain means?  In my world, apparently, it means I will get rained on with 100% certainty!

Of course, the rain didn't start immediately.  It waited until I was 2 miles into the run, and it wasn't terrible.  So what's a runner girl to do?  Duh - keep going!  Every now & then, the rain would pick up, and the wind seemed to blow in that just perfect way to blow the rain right into my face, but I'm only about 3 and a half miles in; I can't stop this early!  What did I do?  Keep going!  Then I get to 4 miles, and it's still raining.  Well, I'm halfway done.  Why stop now?  Keep going!  Yes, this kept up, and I kept seeing various neighbors driving by.  I'd give them my usual friendly, bubbly, naturally-caffeinated wave, but I know they were thinking, "She's crazy!"  When the rain got stronger around mile 6, what did I do?  Kept going!  When the rain really picked up at about 7.25 miles, what did I do?  Kept going!  I must've seen more neighbors than usual on this run (probably because I stayed in the 'hood and didn't venture outside the pearly green gates), and I'm sure all of them are convinced that I've lost my mind.

I got all of my miles in today, my pace was pretty good, I came back soaked, confused the hell out of my neighbors who may or may not be currently planning an intervention of sorts, and have a fabulous husband who knew to not come looking for me, but to instead leave a beach towel by the front door so I could dry off when I finally did return.  Dave's a keeper for sure!