Running and raining

THIS is precisely why I detest taking a rest day.

I want to run six days a week. So I take a rest day on a Wednesday or a Thursday or a Sunday, and then what do I do if it freaking rains on a running day?

Well, I did what I did today -- I ran.

I had my alarm set for 5 a.m., planning to run either 12 or 15 miles, depending on how I felt when I woke up. I got up at 3 to go to the bathroom, and it was thundering. I kept my alarm on, knowing how these mid-summer showers work.

Five a.m., I got dressed, opened the door and...RAIN. And thunder and lightning. So I pulled my clothes off and went back to bed, setting my alarm for 6:30.

At 6:30, it had stopped so I went to run, cutting it to just 10 miles because of time. It rained off and on the entire time I was running. It would stop and I'd start to dry out only to have it start again.

But I wasn't going to stop running. No way in hell.

Good things about running in the rain: Cooler, sensational -- and by that, I mean, your skin tingles with every rain drop -- and did I say, cooler, and I love running through puddles of water.

Bad things about running in the rain: I had to ditch the iPod in the mailbox. I wasn't wearing my SmartWool socks, so I was sloshing inside my shoes. Everything was wet: my hands, my face, my legs, my stomach, everything. And raindrops on my eyelashes bothers the hell out of me.

But I did it. I ran in the rain. And I'll do again tomorrow if I have to.