Day 63 - Nine Weeks

My 12k race is three days away. I pulled out my road racing shoes from years ago, since they are still in good shape. I never throw anything away, which really bugs my wife but I do have racing shoes. (I also have track spikes, trail running shoes, cross-country spikes, basketball shoes, boots for horseback riding, and other well-hidden shoes I never wear but could in the future.) I use Asics DS Trainers for road racing because they are very light yet still have more support and cushion than a racing flat. One of the things I discover is that in the last few years, running shoes in general have come farther than I thought. The regular running shoes I bought a few weeks ago are almost as light as my six-year-old "ultra-light" DS Trainers. The difference is maybe an ounce or two at most. But I still want to wear the DST's Sunday so I figure I better get one good run in and make sure they still are comfortable.

Once again I am wedging my run into a busy schedule. I have to pick up my daughter at 5:30, so I go early, park at her school, and head out running, thinking a change of scenery will be nice. That area has a few more hills like what I expect Sunday, and she'll be ready to go when I get back. It is not raining, but the wind is gusty and the sky is overcast with really ominous dark spots, so I put on my hat and long sleeves.

Good thing. I get two miles out and a thunderstorm sweeps in from out of nowhere. Naturally I am alone on a bike trail in the middle of a huge open field, 3/4 of a mile from anything when the thunder rolls in. Fortunately, all the lightning seems to be above the clouds with no sign of coming to ground, but I am definitely nervous and in a hurry to get closer in to taller structures! In a matter of just a minute or two I am right underneath the storm, with deafening thunder all around me almost simultaneous with the lightning. Then the hail starts. Quickly it grows to the size of marbles - about the largest hail I have seen in California. First, I am very glad I have a hat. Second, OW! That stuff hurts!

I'm now running with my elbows over my ears and my hands in fists because stinging ice balls from the sky hurt the most on fingertips and earlobes. And I'm trying hard not to slip on the suddenly very icy pavement. Fortunately it only lasts about three minutes, and the thunder and lightning soon roll away into the distance as well. The hail melts off the road as fast as it came in. The storm center passes and leaves me merely running through cold, driving rain for another twenty minutes. The shoes are OK, but DS Trainers are not nearly as light when they are full of water. I suppose this is partly why most runners just take a day off now and then.

I get back to the school having covered about 6-3/4 miles at about an 8:15 pace. On the positive side, I do get to embarrass my 12-year-old daughter who is waiting out front with her friends as I come jogging into the school parking lot, soaked and bedraggled, calling her name. She tries to pretend not to know who I am.

Nine weeks of running down, three days to my first race!

Stats for the week:
Miles this week: 43
Total miles so far: 350.7
Average miles/day this week: 6.1
Average miles/day so far: 5.6
Longest run: 13.7 miles / 2 hours 0 minutes
Time spent running this week: 6 hours and 4 minutes
Total time running: 50 hours and 56 minutes
Average time running/day: 48 minutes