Thursday, April 12, 2007

Running--always an adventure

Wow, Phil lives to see another week--and Haley gets the boot. I am so relieved. I really thought she would survive, but it looks like her strategy finally backfired. Her singing and personality seem too vapid, so the sexy look didn't really mesh. Pretty soon now it's going to start getting really interesting--it will be truly difficult to make choices.

So yesterday, I was debating whether or not to run. My quad felt much better, but I was wary of taking chances with it. But when I got off work, it was so nice outside! Sunny, 60 degrees, breezy. Nicest weather we've had in over a week. I decided to try going out for a short run, playing it by ear. I wore compression shorts underneath my running shorts and chose a flat out and back route. And the quad felt good! I could feel it, but it didn't hurt. I decided to keep going at a very easy pace and stop immediately if it started to nag again.

As I was running down College Avenue, I noticed it was starting to cloud up a bit, but thought nothing of it. I knew we were supposed to be getting some rain later on. I kept on, turning down Old Martinsville Road, which runs parallel to North Walnut. It is a curvy, wooded road that goes through Cascades Park, with the Jordan River gurgling along at your feet. It's one of my favorite routes--it's also one that I can't do often in the winter because there's no sidewalk and few lights, so it's off-limits for me after dark. Feeling pretty good, I ran out as far as where Old Martinsville Road connects again with North Walnut/Old State Road 37. As I was running, I was starting to sense that it was getting dark behind me and that the sun was going away.

I turned around to confront a wall of dark clouds. Oh, shit. There was nothing for it but to head back and try to pick up the pace a little (luckily my quad was fine). It began to rain a little, and the wind picked up. I heard long rolls of thunder, but still felt like I might beat the storm home. It rained harder. By now I only had about a mile and a half to go. Then I heard this infernal rattling sound. What the hell is that? There was a white wall sweeping towards me and I realized I was about to run through my first hail storm.

Luckily the hail was pea-sized, so it did nothing more than sting a little where it hit the skin. I kept my head down and kept running. Then the deluge began, and with it, the lightning and high winds. There were a lot of trees nearby; dead limbs began to rain down around me. Okay, this is getting bad. Luckily, Cascades Park has picnic shelters, so I sprinted across and ducked into one. I waited about 10 minutes until the storm had mostly spent itself. I headed back when it was still raining, but this slackened off into a drizzle within a half mile. By the time I got back to College, it had stopped raining and I could see blue skies again. By the time I got home, the sun was back out. I just had to laugh.

And through it all, my quad was fine. I iced it some more last night (ice massage--sounds like a method of torture or something). I've got a few more ice massage cups in the freezer, and I think I will probably keep icing it through the week, but I feel like I'm out of the woods. Today I can barely feel it at all. I'll keep running flat routes this week, and luckily the race this weekend is also on a flat course. This had me a little nervous on Tuesday night! But it appears I am fortunate enough to have avoided an actual injury. Whew!

4 comments:

Nitmos said...

What, the hail didn't count as icing your quad? We had the same storm. I stayed in. Good luck on this weekend's race.

Mike said...

Ditto nitmos....

the weather here has really got me down. Mentally, i was prepared to run through cold, icy days in Jan,Feb & march. But April...??

i'd kill to see a 60 degree day again.

Good luck this weekend

Mir said...

Sigh...it was snowing this morning. :(

Al Durham said...

You have to love it when you leave your house and it is a clear sky, then a couple miles latter.. dark clouds - thunder etc... The only thing you can do is run home! Instant speed work.