I’m No Stranger to the Rain

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Yep, I’m a closet country music fan. 😉 But really, that title pretty much sums up yesterday.

My morning started with a run, my second 1.75-miler. I might have actually enjoyed it, too, if not for the weather. It was lightly sprinkling around 8am, but the forecast was calling for thunderstorms later in the day, and as much as I wished I could have put it off, I didn’t want to run in thunderstorms, so I headed out. The winds were coming from the east, but I decided to run east-west because I wanted to mix it up. (I get sick of running my north-south route all the time, because I’ve been doing it [via walking] since November!)  It was kind of tough with the wind, which was about 10mph (doesn’t sound like much, but it is when you’re running into it!), plus the rain, which began to pick up in intensity pretty much as soon as I started. (Just my luck.) Honestly, though, my biggest issue was my stupid runny nose. It seems that if the temps are even a little bit chilly, my nose is constantly running during my walks and/or runs. I always have to remember to bring tissues (several) with me on my runs/walks. I spend so much time blowing my nose, and that’s not an easy thing to do when you’re running! Ugh. Does this happen to anyone else or am I just a freak?

Once I turned around at .88 miles, things got a bit easier, since I was going with the wind. The rain kept coming, though, and then, with about 1/3 a mile to go, I saw a flash of lightning. Oh, crap! Even though I was tired by that time, I tapped into my reserves of energy (ha!) and really busted my tail to get home. About 20 seconds after the lightning, the rain started really coming down. I was just soaked, but I still had a ways to go! I just kept putting one foot in front of the other as fast as I could, and eventually, I made it home. Usually I stop as soon as my watch hits my designated mileage (somewhere in my driveway most of the time), but this time I just kept running full tilt, down the driveway, up the steps, and straight to my door. Man I was tired! But, on the bright side, it was my fastest pace yet. 😉 Here are my splits:

(Yes, I realize I only have two splits, which isn’t very exciting, but I can’t deny that I enjoy showing these off now that I’m actually a runner, ha ha! Not that my numbers are spectacular, but it makes me feel accomplished when I look at them. :-p )

As unpleasant as the rain was, it actually rained harder later in the morning, so I was glad I got it done when I did. I will admit I enjoy the early runs, simply because it makes me feel so good to go into my normal day with a workout already under my belt. Since Mondays are my weigh-in days, I weighed myself when I got back from my run (after taking about 10 minutes to catch my breath!). I did manage to not only lose the 2 pounds I gained last week on my first week of maintenance, but also another pound beyond that! I was down to 122.4, which still makes me kind of go, “WTH?!” when I look at it in my eTools. I never, ever thought I’d even be in the 120s back when I first started losing weight, much less be on the lower end of them! I don’t know that such a low weight will last, but it’s nice to be solidly below my goal weight of 125. 🙂

Back to the rain…later in the day, poor DS#1 had an intense sports evening. First was a baseball game at 5:30. It was drizzling when we got there, but pretty soon, it was just pouring. And, much to my surprise, they do not call baseball games for rain!! {insert angry hockey mom face here} Dude, it was just cruel to make those poor boys play in that cold, hard rain. 🙁 But they did.

As catcher, DS#1 really had his work cut out for him, trying to catch that slippery ball, and constantly having to pick it up out of the dirt after a wild pitch and then trying make the split-second decision as to whether or not could tag out any base runner trying to steal. There are a lot of wild pitches and a lot of base-stealing at this level, I’m finding. One thing’s for sure…DS#1 is getting his work-out at every baseball game. Last night he managed to tag out another runner at home (he tagged out two at the last scrimmage). It was another collision and when he fell, he hit his head on the gravel. “And, Mom,” he informed me later, “when that gravel is wet, it is just like landing on cement!” LOL, not sure where he gets his ability to exaggerate. 😉 (He’s the one in blue on the ground in the picture at right.)

He took it like a champ, though, and continued to play right up until I took him off the field with about 10 minutes left in the game and put him in the car for his next event—a hockey game! We made it to the rink with 5 minutes to spare (luckily I had him dressed except for his skates and helmet). I dropped him off (in the pouring rain) at the door with his bag and stick while I parked the car.  He then played an hour of hockey, and he played it with guts and enthusiasm, bless his heart. I can’t deny I felt bad about working him so hard last night, but he never complained and he gave 110% at both games. He is quite a trooper, my son is. And when it was all over, he slept like a rock, lol!

I don’t remember being so enthusiastic about sports as a kid. But then again, I was never enthusiastic about anything related to exercise when I was a kid. :p My parents made me ride and show horses, which I honestly was not very good at. I enjoyed riding (and still would if I had the money for it these days!), but I hated showing. Lots of politics and drama, and since I was never a “natural” rider, I never did well.

My husband, on the other hand, was in as many sports as possible, it seems. Baseball, football (captain of the team!) and whatever else his grandparents put him in, he did it all and loved it all. (Oh, and he was in band.) So for him, all this sports insanity is just as natural as breathing. I do hope, though, that my two boys don’t get burnt out on all these activities.

Well, honestly, I’d be okay if they got burnt out on baseball. 😉



4 thoughts on “I’m No Stranger to the Rain

    1. steph Post author

      Boy, this is a tough one to reply to. 😉 But maybe you just need to come visit me and we can go to a game together. Then you can try to convince me in person. :p And it’ll be one more ballpark to cross off your list!

      Reply

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