Rain? What rain? Sure, the sky was dark and ominous, but only small droplets were falling as we started our waddle. After running with early starters Rosie, Michael, and Lena for about 3/4 mile, I turned back to look for people who might show up for the 7:30 run. I was already dreading having to run by myself after seeing nobody at the parking lot, but fortunately someone emerged from her car and I finally got to meet Sonja, a new addition to our small group. The clouds continued to hold so it was turning out to be not a bad day for a run after all. As we made our turnaround at Nieto Street, I could almost hear Chicken Little whisper in my ear “The sky is falling”, which got louder as we went along. The heavens opened up ever so slightly so that we were now waddling on the street, at the same time dodging puddles. We didn’t see any other runners out there. Come to think of it, not even ducks were out, which we were doing a fair job impersonating, or induckinating. The rain started to fall more steadily but not quite a downpour. It was just enough to soak us a little bit. We eventually finished the run without slipping on the wet pavement even though our shoes and socks were heavy with moisture. I could only thank Sonja for showing up because it made running in the rain more bearable.
In other rain related news, I had to break out my old, hardly used but ever trusty Goretex suit just for this special rainy day occasion. I’ve had my Goretex suit since December, 1980, which was a Christmas present from my Uncle when I first moved to the U.S., and because of our fair weather here in California, it’s very rare that I get to wear it. It’s so old that it’s older than some of the people I run with and so old that the company – Sub 4, doesn’t even exist anymore. I’m surprised that the suit hasn’t fallen apart yet.
I had to run half blind because I couldn’t wear my eyeglasses which don’t have wipers, and my old contact lenses are too cloudy to wear anymore. I figured it was safer to run without eyeglasses than to drive with cloudy contact lenses in weather like this.
Today, we got to play in the rain and it was quite satisfying to be able to accomplish something you love to do regardless of the inclement conditions. Today, we got to waddle like ducks J.
1 comment:
hi Noel, Glad you got to run with the group today. I opted to stay near my home and run on The Strand. Know what you mean about glasses fogging up; you sound like you had a good time anyway.
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