The Rookie Runner's rain motto should have been going through my head this morning. Unfortunately, I didn't think about it till my drive home -- and then I laughed. "I'm a duck. I'm a duck. I'm a duck. I'm a duck...."
This morning's tempo run left me drenched. While the sky was only spitting when we started, it was pouring by the time we made it very far. During the walk between the two tempo portions, we passed Jason, another member of the 5:30a.m. running group who merely said "You are stupid" as he passed by. I pointed out that he, too, was running in the rain -- of course, he WAS heading back toward the cars while Tiffany and I were still headed AWAY from the cars.
But there is something really fun about running in the rain -- even when forgetting the fun duck mantra. The childishness of splashing through puddles, of not caring about the sheets of water coming down. And since it was a tempo run, we got to run fast (well, fast for ME). The heavy breathing and warm face add yet another childlike quality to the morning. Days when you wear yourself out chasing after others in a game of tag.
If only tempo runs didn't feel more like work than tag! But then, perhaps that is what the rain is for -- a reminder that this "work" is supposed to be fun, a form of play. After all, what can be more fun than listening to your double-layered wicking socks squish within your rain-pail shoes, while the rain in your face makes all the lights kinda hazy?
Today I flap my wings and thrash my webbed feet through the puddles. And you'll hear me chant "I'm a duck. I'm a duck. I'm a duck. I'm a duck...." quack.
