Singing in the Rain...

I'll stay with yesterday's musical theme.

As mentioned, the rain was back yesterday. Nothing like last week's deluge, but wet nonetheless. I headed out for a 12 mile tempo run (2 mile warm up, 8 miles at a comfortably uncomfortable pace, 2 mile warm down) in the late afternoon. As I was heading out, the skies were spitting a little - everything was wet, but the rain was sporadic and light. No problem. Instead of throwing in the towel because it was wet outside, I put on my long pants and a long sleeve underarmour shirt and headed out the door to brave the elements.

I set out to go around the Back Bay - a loop with a short spur to my normal Saturday starting point is 12 miles. As I left the car, the rain fell with a little more purpose, but it was warm (55 degrees) so I set out. Just my luck - the further I went, the harder the rain fell. I hit the six mile point soaked, but feeling good and strong. I was clipping along at a 8:50 pace (I really do need to run a 10K sometime soon) as I headed behind the Newport Dunes Resort. And then - there it was again. The locked gate!!! How the heck can you close a trail? Foul weather? Give me a break! My mind started working. I knew there was an exit from Newport Dunes somewhere that would allow me to continue around the bay. Long story short, within a few minutes I was wandering around a storage yard in puddles up to my ankles. Yech! It was getting dark. My 8:50 pace had fallen off to 9:15. Double yech! I couldn't find the elusive exit, so threw in the towel and headed back to my car. The worst part? Squishy feet for 6 miles! Triple yech!

But, I did it. 12 miles. In the rain. Middle 8 at a 9:22 pace, average heart rate of 85% of max. Now if I can just get that wet dog smell out of my car.....