Saturday, December 17, 2005

Cold rain v. Sunny Beach

Oh my lord.

The first hour was great. Nice and cool (43F), a little breezy but nice, and I felt strong and energetic. I got to the park a couple of minutes late, and missed the start of the club's 21 miler. But I caught up with many of them, and I enjoyed running and chatting with people as I tried to catch my normal training partners.

I heard stories of races past, including Austin's Capital 10,000, which draws 10,000 runners for just a 10K. And Susan told me about her 50 miler last week, and mentioned that not only did she run 50 miles on Saturday, but ran 20 miles on Sunday too, in preparation for her 3rd 100 miler early next year. She also had some good input on my foot pain.

But I mentioned the "R" word, and many people were disappointed that I did. I really should know better, because I can indeed control the weather with my mind. And it started raining just as I was about to go over the Kemah Bridge. It was that cold stinging rain, accompanied by a very strong crosswind on the bridge. I was totally soaked and the wind penetrated straight through to my bone marrow.

I wanted to do at least 18, although I had considered doing the full 21, just as long as the group was going farther. But the course loops back around by the park at mile 15, and I thought that was enough. I'm going to be in Florida next weekend, and the idea I had to kill this run at mile 15, and then run a nice long run on the beach in sunny Florida is about the greatest idea I've ever had.

I'm going to go down to the Seabrook trails tomorrow, probably around midday, for 4-6 miles. If anyone wants to join me for a slow and easy recovery run, drop me a line, and we'll set it up.

Rock on. Keith.

3 comments:

Steve Bezner said...

BRRRR! I had to go kick up the heat just reading your post! Gutzy run in the rain. I skipped it! I'm doing a long run tommorow.

RunSteve.Com

By the way, today I was at the mall and tried on a pair of Nike Free 5.0 barefoot shoes. It's too close to marathon time, but I think I'm going to give them a shot!

jen said...

I can't believe you made it up that bridge in that weather. You guys should get tshirts that say "I survived Kemah Bridge" or somethinglikethat.

:)

Sarah said...

I love Jen's idea for Kemah Bridge shirts. :) A few years ago I did a 5-miler race that went over it, but I couldn't find it this fall. I think it was in October the year I did it. Hmm.

The Peachtree Road Race 10K in Atlanta on July 4th draws 50,000 runners. Talk about big!