Day 6: Raining Elephants

It rained most of the night and into the morning and the last thing I wanted to do was run in the rain. I have heard of the serious runners who are out every day with no regards to the weather.  They run in rain, snow, sleet, sun and clouds.  They are dedicated and determined no matter what.  I am not one of these people.  If it hadn’t stopped raining I was going to go to plan “B” for Billy Blanks and Tae Bo Cardio.

Finally  around 11 am the rain stopped. I decided to hit the pavement and get my run out of the way.  The sun peaked through the cloud cover and the temperature started rising as did the humidity.  By the time I had changed and headed out the door you could chew the air. Gently steam wafted up from the asphalt giving the air a hazy quality and making everything smell fresh.  To me it felt great but I know  I am weird and run much easier in warm humid air. 

I have two running apps on my phone, Run Keeper and Nike Plus.  I decided I was going to record this run for posterity through Run Keeper. At the end of my drive way I fired it up, Run Keeper found my GPS signal, I selected run and start.  I dropped the phone back into my pocket and was off.  Can you see where I am going with this? 

I ran harder than I had run previously.  When I ran past my half mile mark in 7 minutes I really turned up the speed.  I blew by mile marker in just over 12 minutes.  15 minutes in I turned around and ran harder, which was easier since I was now going downhill.  Legs were pumping, arms were flailing, my mind thought I was dying.  I was gulping air in determined to set a decent pace, at least for me, on Run Keeper and create a starting point to which I could gauge my progress. 

When I rounded the last corner onto the long straight road in front of my house I began sprinting as hard as I could and realized I couldn’t feel my legs.  Finally it was over, I had ran 30 minutes.  Sucking in air, covered in sweat and humidity, and in pain from a massive side stitch I pulled my phone from my pocket to check my stats on Run Keeper.  It said: 9 seconds 0 calories…I wanted to throw my phone.  I am assuming that I inadvertently turned it off while it was bouncing around in my pocket.  Lesson learned I know what I have to do now; I am going to have to get an arm band to keep from screwing up my time.

Meanwhile in California Kelly clocked in another 52 minutes of Speed walking.  Of all things to see she came across and elephant today and shared it.

By the way, that is not her standing in front of the elephant. 


Daily Recap:

Matt - 30 Min. Jog

Kelly - 52 Min. Speed Walk