I’ve been for a run.  3.16 miles, 28:47 in the pouring rain.  Slow and sopping wet but it was glorious!  Considering that this is the same route that took me to my best of 5k in 24:40 my time really was slow.

As I stepped out of the front door it was raining, that’d normally put me off starting until the rain settles down a bit but not tonight.  Tonight, unlike most other nights, I didn’t mind the rain, I embraced it.  I’ve not been running since September but my first mile was a surprisingly speedy, 8.47 minute mile, subsequent miles were slower but the rain became torrential and my clothes sopping wet – acceptable excuses for tonight!

I cruised through the first 3/4 of a mile as I usually do, after that my route takes me onto a downhill section by which time I gauge whether I’m in good form.  It was a long time before that that I settled into my rhythm tonight.  I got my breathing right almost instantly but my stride was choppy, it didn’t matter, I was out there to enjoy myself for once, not set a new PB.  Every time I go out for a run I aim for a PB, either time or distance, just like every time I go into uni I aim for a new PB mark, even though I know it’s nigh on impossible to beat my previous best 78% 1st which I achieved last semester in a free choice Business module I took purely out of interest.  It’s a part of me.  I go out there to test myself, push myself to the limits in whatever situation I find myself in.  But attempting to do your personal best every single time becomes tiring, tonight it was good to know I was running slowly but more importantly to know I was running.  The time and pace did not matter.

By the time I reached my first mile, in a modest (for me) 8.47, I nearly yelped with delight, for no other reason than that people were giving me really odd looks and I was out running, doing the thing that I loved.  I was saturated.  It looked warmer in the cars that passed me by than I would ever be out there on the road but I was happier than those that passed, they were in traffic, I had the pavement to myself.

Another thought.  It was nice to get away from analysing 1,300 pieces of data from my Atypical Language Acquisition module at university.  I study English and to be honest, it’s the best module that I do – if any second year undergraduate English Language students are reading this then go for Atypical, it’s hard work but interesting – but it was nice to focus on running again.  On the run I could analyse my split times, pace and breathing – a much more exciting data set!

I was in my Mizunos, I posted about their lack of waterproofing a while back and tonight was a stark reminder of how inept they are at keeping the rain out, especially when running through a downpour.  Probably not Mizunos fault in fairness.  My Wave Riders are becoming rather worn out.  They were lovely and light when I started my run, they were probably heavier than any other running shoes that I’ve worn when I took them off, they felt like wet sponges.  The rain was hitting the ground hard enough that it made it impossible to see where puddles were and where the pavement was simply covered in surface water but wasn’t deep.  In any case, my shoes, socks and feet became drenched and cold each time I splashed through a puddle.  Like I said before though, it was glorious.  I prefer running in overcast, cool conditions than in the wet, or for that matter, in sunny conditions, but tonight’s run was refreshing!

I arrived back home, dived in the shower and warmed up.  Job done.  Today, I ran.