Objective: easy / one notch above "rest day" 40F, gusting breezes, showers 4:15 AM is a bad time to revise running plans, but that is when The Cat Who Must Be Obeyed woke me up to let him go out. (The litter box is beneath his dignity, but the bedroom carpet is not.) Being awakened just 30 minutes before the alarm is so frustrating. Although my running has been fairly good quality this week, I've been feeling more and more "run down" later in the day. Last night I could barely function after dinner. The residual congestion from my cold is still hanging on too; I don't think I ever recovered enough. Enough for...? Well, maybe I'm splitting hairs here, but I think I have been well enough to run, but not well enough to get by on less than 8 hours night after night.
Anyway, I opted to sleep a bit more, and skip my speed workout. I just hated to do that, but I think it's the right way to avoid Doing Something Stupid. It's hard to make these choices about when to push and when to pull back.
A word about running in the rain. I love getting the kudos in my comments, but it's not really that big of a deal with the right gear. If anyone is interested, there are 3 essential pieces to my rainy-run wardrobe:
1) Tights. The legs can get wet without feeling heavy-laden or cold.
2) Cycling jacket. Cycling jackets are heavier and more waterproof, they have vents, and they have super long sleeves that can be pulled over the hands. People who get extremely hot while running will have a hard time with cycling jackets, but I can wear one in temps below 50F.
3) Baseball style cap to keep rain out of eyes. As long as I'm feeling a little cranky anyway, I have soapbox moment to get off my chest. This has nothing to do with running, just a rant that's on my mind. I heard last evening about an acquaintance with a young child who is getting a divorce. This is the second one I've heard about this week, and the fourth one in the past three months! I know people make mistakes, misjudge character, etc. and I will not sit in my glass house picking stones to throw. But what is eating me is this: out of these 4 people, I know that 3 of them viewed "having a baby" as a kind of experience on a bucket list. Go to college, get married, visit Paris, have a baby, get promoted at work... "Have a baby" is not something to put on a list -- it's one tiny component of something that none of these women ever seemed to even consider putting on their list: "Dedicate years of my time, energy and resources to raising a child." I knew them intimately enough to see how they viewed the choice, but not intimately enough to feel I could point out the mistake. Now I have to watch the aftermath and see the children get hurt. OK, end of rant. Well, I'm just a ray of sunshine today, aren't I? Thanks for listening, and have a good day. :)
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