It started with a down pour and an innocent suggestion (by an adult who shall remain anonymous) that maybe it would be fun to go skim boarding in the rain on the 14th fairway (of a local golf course also to remain anonymous). Next thing I knew my wife was having a heated discussion with my sons about the dangers of lighting during a Florida summer thunderstorm. The anonymous adult very naively chimed in with "I haven't heard any thunder yet, just let the boys go have some fun," only to realize in that instant that there is a fine line between naivete and stupidity. That line had just been crossed... and the sons had just disappeared between the houses headed for the golf course with skim boards in hand. Moments later the sky comes unglued with spectacular flashes of lightning and earth rattling peels of thunder. The anonymous yet now wiser adult volunteers to hop in the truck and retrieve the errant sons before they become yet another summer statistic (and before Mr. Anonymous is forced to spend the next several nights on the couch!). Sons safely retrieved. Everyone wiser. Story concludes happily.
So I'm running tonight at Dunedin causeway. It's a spectacular night as the sun was setting over the Gulf, breeze was blowing, humidity actually below the 80% range and I'm marveling at the beauty of the sky and a distant thunder storm way out over the Gulf and South of Honeymoon Island. I felt good tonight so I just ran without much attention to my watch (or the weather racing in from the South). The humidity is so low I didn't even stop for water. The bridges both felt very easy tonight and as I got to the turn around I noticed something in the cloud line above. It was that same spectacular lighting display followed by peels of thunder and this really weird since of dejavu. As I began my run back I could feel my pace quickening and the thought occurred to me, didn't I just hear a lecture recently on "the dangers of lightning during a Florida summer thunderstorm." Needless to say I ran negative splits on the way back and saw almost blinding flashes of lightning in the way too near distance. I made it to the car unharmed and decided not to share the story with my sons... nor to disagree with my wife the next time she tells our sons not to go play in the rain...while it's lightning! Time: 8:30 pm Total Time: 48:02 (8:02/mile avg) Temp: 84 degrees (dropping down to 74 degrees as storm approached) Humidity: Went from 84% down to below 50% Wind speed: went from 8 kts to over 20 kts in 40 minutes
| 