A wash out

Today's run: 6.8km, 56 mins 1 sec

Well this week has pretty much been a wash out for running. After running once on Tuesday, I haven't managed a run until today (Saturday). For the last few weeks we have had a lot of rain here, but this week it has been torrential. Now I don't mind running in a shower or two, but the rain we've been having is like God was emptying buckets of water right over the top of us! I suppose, to be honest, it wasn't raining yesterday afternoon after work, but Friday afternoon is always a drink with colleagues at the local club. And it's not even an alcoholic drink, but I do love venting after a week of work and getting together with friends.

Anyway, this morning I got up and it wasn't raining (there's a first time for everything!), so on went the running clothes. It was nice to get back to running, but doubly nice to be able to do it in the morning when i get up. I don't get up particularly early like many people to run, but I do love running in the morning much better than in the afternoon. So off I set.

The whole way I ran a nice comfortable pace. Well comfortable for me - I'm sure many people would have been walking as fast as I ran. In fact I ran at 8mins 14secs per km. (To convert for you imperial people, for a 3.1 mile run, that would be over 40 minutes!!!). My legs felt good, and I had no aches and pains or twinges or anything. I got two very small stitches, but a bit of deep breathing helped both of those ok.

It was quite an interesting run. It was on streets I hadn't run on before, so I had a great time looking at all the front yards I ran past. After all the rain we've had I also had to dodge quite a few big puddles. There was a point towards the end of my run where there was no footpath to run on, and the road was a highway, so no running on it! That meant for 100 or so metres I had to walk through long grass and sodden ground - I ended up with wet shoes after that! I also passed the storm water drain near my place a couple of times. Most of the time there's not a skerrick of water in there, but today the water was high and gushing along. In the last week or two there's been about 6 drownings in storm water drains as kids have been playing in them and get caught off guard as the water gushes down them.

I also passed a couple of dead animals, which wasn't very nice. One was a dead dog, by the side of the highway where I had to walk in the long wet grass. I think he was probably hit by a car, but he'd been there a few days at least, and after all the rain it was pretty gross to look at. Closer to home I passed a dead bird. It was a little pidgeon, and at first it didn't look dead. It was sitting on the side of the footpath, huddled up. But as I got closer, it never moved. I'm guessing it couldn't find shelter last night in the storm and the poor thing probably died of cold and exposure over night.

Anyway, the good news is I'm pleased to have done that distance today. I'm so impatient with myself I'm disappointed once again with how slow I am (even though logically I know that I'm going faster than people still sitting on their couches!).

After years of drought, everyone says we should be pleased that we have all this rain, but really, I'm over it. I mean - it's summer!