"I just have to tell you..."

"I just have to tell you that you're absolutely crazy."

These were the first words I heard at work this morning. They came from a co-worker who saw me running last night as she was driving home. When I started running, the temperature was just under 40F and it was raining. No, it was pouring. And, it was windy.

I was planning 8 miles with 4 at marathon pace and I just had no interest in running on the treadmill. So, I put on my best rain gear and headed out to run. To be honest, it was pretty miserable. There were puddles everywhere and my feet were soaked within minutes of starting. I did two warm-up miles at about 9:20 pace and then picked up the pace. The course I'd chosen meant that the first and last of my four MP miles would contain some significant climbs, so my times would likely be slower. The weather didn't help my speed either. My 4 miles were as follows:

8:12
7:50
7:52
8:19

The two middle miles were rolling, but more down than up.

I was surprised at how hard this run felt, but I'm not really concerned by my (lack of) speed. Between lifting hard on Monday and the weather and the hills, it just wasn't a day for fast times.

One thing that I often think about when I run in miserable weather is competition. I think of my potential competitors for a race and I wonder what decisions they made that day in bad weather. I like to think of myself as making the right decision and being outside, getting stronger, while my competition is slacking off, and losing ground to me. That's the story I tell myself, anyway, to get my butt out the door on nasty days like yesterday.

Today, I'll do an easy 6 mile run home after work. We had some snow last night and it's going to snow off and on today, plus be windy. However, the run home will certainly be more pleasant than yesterday's run.