Blame it on the Rain!!!

by Stacy Hogle


Luckily for me this week was a step down week and we are scheduled for a 10 mile run. I would have never thought 9 weeks ago when we started that running 10 miles would be almost considered easy! I was trying to plan ahead and run early Saturday since we had a busy weekend plus the weather was supposed to get ugly later in the morning. The Weather Channel said we were supposed to start getting rain around 9am Saturday morning. That would have worked great for me since I had a baby shower at 11am in Tahlequah Saturday and a wedding on the West side of Tulsa that night. Notice I said “would have”. I parked at the Muskogee Country Club at 7am ready to go. I desperately needed a change in scenery, and planned on running the bypass and around a neighborhood or two to pass the 10 miles instead of Hatbox this week. After about a half a mile into the run I noticed a small sprinkle. I am a very optimistic person, my glass is usually half full, and I believed in the accuracy of the http://www.weather.com/. I figured it would sprinkle a bit then clear up until the later morning rain that was predicted. I figured wrong. With every step the small sprinkles increased exponentially into a thick mist which then turned into a monsoon. Ok…so it wasn’t a monsoon but I was feeling very sorry for myself since I was 2 miles from the car and if I turned back now I would still have to fight the next 2 miles of rain which would equal 4 miles of rainy hell. I knew no matter what my decision was, it wasn’t going to be pretty. I continued my road to the 2.5 mile mark, at least I would get in half of the run by the time I made it back to my car. I told myself that I would go home and finish the last 5 miles on the tready (deep down I just wanted to crawl back into bed so I knew the treadmill wasn’t ever going to happen.). I tried wearing my Oakley’s as a windshield but realized I looked like an idiot, not to mention I couldn’t see a thing. But I kept trucking! All I could think was “Damn it Ike!”

Low and behold I made it back to my car and the rain stopped! I weighed my options: finish the last 5 or go home in case it starts to rain again? Knowing I would not forgive myself for quitting I hit the pavement and headed back out to finish the run. Oklahoma weather is a funny thing…it does the exact opposite of what you would think. I just knew that if I quit at 5 miles it would not rain another drop, hence going back out, but no…about a half a mile into it, it started sprinkling again which turned again into a heavy mist then just a turned into another rain storm. I used my shirt to wipe my eyes and realized not only was I the crazy girl running in the rain, I was the crazy girl running in the rain with yesterdays mascara and eyeliner streaming down her face! At 7.25 miles my shorts and shirt started to feel really heavy and I could feel the water squishing around in my shoes. I was so close but so far!!! I finished the run and once again the rain had stopped and pretty much didn’t see another drop of rain until later in the day. I made it home, wrung out my shirt and shorts, got in the shower and headed to the baby shower. One thing I realized was that persistence really does pay off. I would have been so disappointed in myself if I had quit, but I pushed through the rain and felt great all day. It was worth every puddle and car I had to dodge so they wouldn’t spray me with water when they passed me.

This Saturday won’t be very easy, 15 miles eep! I am very nervous, my stomach is getting queasy as I type, but determined to finish. I bought some gels today to help power me through. I am going to test one out on the 7 mile run tomorrow night. The guy at GNC said they were nasty so that is not very encouraging… One thing that is keeping me going is know that in 9 days Justin and I will be in Colorado to see Maria and David!! I am so excited!!! Woo HOO! We are scheduled for a 16 mile run on Saturday…I hope the altitude does not kill me!