10 miles in the rain

Day 85 - March 26, 2009

With the Charlottesville 10 Miler just 10 days away, I wanted to run the course once to get reacquainted. I lined up a couple of friends to run with me and it was poised to be a great day. Unfortunately, I guess I should have extended an invitation to Mother Nature.

The rain chased one of my running partners away, and I'm pretty sure the other would have canceled if I had left for Charlottesville five minutes later (the wife told me he called as soon as I backed out of the driveway).

We met at the track, stretched for a few seconds and then started out. The rains kept coming, but never very hard. It really just kept the puddles full and enough water in the eyes to miserable. My running partner wears glasses and he hates days like today because he has to choose between not being able to see through the water drops on his lenses or not being able to see without his glasses on.

We pressed on, through the muddied road around the stadium where they are doing construction, back through grounds and past the fraternities and sororities, and then down Preston to the Downtown Mall. Here's where it gets interesting. Teh brick replacement on the mall is going to force the runners to weave through and around construction gates. I can see that being quite crowded for runners in the middle of the pack.

The second five miles were just as I remembered and I didn't notice anything that might affect the course next Saturday. Traffic was the only trouble, but hey, it was 5:30. That shouldn't be an issue during the race.

So, while not a perfect day for running, it was still good to get out and see the course. I'll take it easier the next few days to rest up and start to taper a bit. I'm feeling pretty good about my preparation. I just need to avoid getting sick or injured over the next week or so.

Today's run - 10 miles (YTD 356)
Today's time - 1:15:56 (YTD 45:50:42)