The Creature from the Black Lagoon

Tempo run today.  The "Dreaded Eight Mile Tempo" or DEMT to be exact.  This is the nickname for this workout given by the followers of the F.I.R.S.T. training plan.  The DEMT is meant to be run at a pace that is slightly slower than your 10K pace.  For me, the goal tempo was about 8:30 min/mile.

Normally, you want to run a warm up mile before hitting your tempo pace, but today was an exception for me.  Even though the calendar says mid-May, we are having a little reoccurence of winter.  It was pouring rain and cold!  So I thought I might warm up faster by running faster.  I had chosen the dirt trail around part of Paradise Lake as my route today.  For the first couple of miles I managed to dodge the worst of the puddles, but by the time I hit mid-way it was a lost cause.  My shoes and socks were soaked, and I was spraying myself with mud with every step.

By the time I was done, I looked like the Creature from the Black Lagoon. 

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

We have had a solid three weeks of rain here in sunny, northern California.  The official stats for my town record us at 20 days of rain in March with 16.27 inches!  That's enough to discourage even the most resilient of souls. 

Don't get me wrong, I like the rain.  I even like running in the rain in the winter, as long as I am prepared for it:

• hat with a bill to keep the rain out of my eyes
• wool socks (I love my green smartwools)
• a decent outer layer up top

The problem with that many rain days is that it starts to wear on you over time.  I was doing pretty well--either braving the rain or squeezing runs in between rainstorms--until daylight saving time hit.  Since I am an early runner, I was enjoying the extra light in the mornings.  Then all of a sudden, daylight savings add this insult to injury.  It's darker and I really don't feel like getting out of bed an hour earlier. 

Saturday, I had just about had it.  A growing sense of cabin fever began to really get to me.  So, I geared up and went out for a medium-long run.  When I left it was cloudy but not raining.  The rain came about 3 miles into the run.  A sprinkle, then a downpour.  No problem for me, I'm dressed and ready.  The downpour lets up and to more of a sprinkle followed by another downpour.

I was running an out & back course and about a half mile before my turn-around point, the rain starts to turn to hail.  To misquote the country song:  "If you're going through hail, keep on moving!"  I enjoy the crunchy feel of hail under my feet.   I decide to make this run a half-marathon distance so I tack on a little more before making my turn. 

As I'm running in the rain, hail, wind, and fog I begin thinking that this run is perfect for preparing for the San Francisco Marathon.  It's always windy going across the Golden Gate Bridge.  It's usually foggy.  This is the exact type of training I need.  Add to it this route is a pretty fair facsimile of the course elevation profile, and I am having a great training run--building mental toughness.

Two more miles of rain and then it suddenly cleared up.  The clouds even turned from dark grey to light grey with some hints of yellow.  I finished the run after sunset, with my headlamp on, but felt pretty good.

The sun is out today, I guess Annie was right.

California Dreamin'

It was cold this morning. 36 degrees to be exact, with a hefty windchill.

Now this isn't cold to most of you. But we have had an unseasonably warm winter here in northern California. Most of my runs for the last month have been in the upper 30's to lower 40's. The problem with this kind of winter warm spell is that it turns you into a real wimp when it gets slightly colder.

Don't get me wrong, I kind of like it when the temps are more extreme (just for bragging rights). New Year's Day it was 26 and drizzly (is that a word?). A week ago Sunday, I ran most of my long run in the rain. Again, all these things build character.

My biggest concern: that I'll have two months of beautiful training weather and then on my race day (three and a half weeks away) it'll rain, snow, sleet, blow hurricane-force winds, etc.

129.4 miles down, 93.1 to go!