Tropical Storm Tammy

It was a tough week for running. As we all know, junk food, soda and lack of sleep do not keep the body healthy. What I DIDN'T know is that those things (yes, even in moderation) lead to a really difficult run. Monday, I was pressed for time, did the fast food thing, did not do the water or gatorade thing, and suffered stomach pains and side stitches for my entire 45 minute run. I'm sure my facial expressions were not pleasant. The good news...I finished without a single walk break!!!! I think I'm finally getting the "mental motivation" part down. Lessons learned.

Due to a wonderful visit from Dawn, a Montana friend, I postponed my other maintenance run to Friday morning. It was a cool, cloudy and somewhat muggy morning, but the 3 miles rejuvenated me. If you've ever been to Arlington, you will know that there are plenty of military office buildings with security guards posted in these little "phone booth" type boxes. It's been kind of a game of mine to smile and say "good morning" to see if this one guard would ever say hi, smile, nod, blink... Well, Friday was the day. Maybe because the air was cooler, or the leaves were turning pretty colors, or maybe the inside of his little office box was newly decorated, the guy actually smiled and waved. Perseverance pays off!

Saturday, however, was a day. Tropical storm Tammy had been dumping inches on us since Friday afternoon, and was not planning to stop anytime soon. There's a little blurb in our training manual (which maybe I should have overlooked and gone back to bed), that reads:

"During your six months of training, it is likely that rain will fall...While your instinct may be to cancel your training, running in the rain will better prepare you for the possibility of a rainy marathon day."

Well, I fought my instinct and drove to my group run. Halfway there, I cancelled brunch with a friend, attempted to turn around and go back home. It was not sprinkling or even raining, it was more like the wind was blowing an entire lake onto the car. Every underpass had to be navigated carefully so the car wouldn't be swept away. But, turning around ended up not being a possibility because an accident (probably from a swept away car now floating to the Chesapeake), caused complete gridlock going in the direction of home. So, I went the rest of the way, and joined my dedicated pace group. We ran 7 miles in a complete downpour, trying not to slip on the mud and leaves, trying to ignore the ankle deep puddles, the rain burning our eyeballs, and trying to ignore the tour bus people with their noses pressed against the windows staring at us in disbelief. We tried to say, during the first couple miles, that "running in the rain is fun!" As the miles went by, however, we were saying, "thank god this is not a [26.2, 15, 10, 9, 8] miler. But, we finished, and if that experience can't create group camaraderie, what will?

Before I go, thank you to everyone who has donated, and to all of you who have sent blog messages and emails. You have no idea how motivating the messages are to me!