Day 44 - A Lesson in Endurance

Today's scheduled run: 7 miles

Today's completed run: 7 miles
Pace: 8:44 (avg.)

If you live anywhere near Baltimore or DC, you know how disgusting our weather was today. If you don't, let me tell you: it was really, really disgusting. Rainy, windy and cold. Everything on campus is closed this week on account of winter break, so I had no gym to go to.

I set out around 10:45 in a jacket I thought was rainproof. By 11:15, I realized it was not. It was raining steadily, and I was running along the water, so the wind was pretty fierce. A fog had settled in the harbor, and between it and the rain smacking my face, I was having a hard time seeing. So much so that I almost ran smack into another runner coming toward me. That would have been interesting.

Getting through the first half of the run was pretty terrible. In addition to the yucktastic weather, I had a recurring stitch in my side. Around mile 5, though, I realized I was as wet as I was going to get (i.e. soaked), and that I might as well (wo)man up and kick it into a higher gear. So I pressed on, chanting to myself that I was "almost there, almost there." And finally I was there. The finish was a beautiful thing.

After drying off and finishing the rest of my packing, I headed back out into the rain, where I once more got soaked walking to the train station. From there, I took the Marc (Maryland's commuter rail) into DC. I spent a bit of time reading in Union Station while waiting for a friend. When she arrived, we set off to her apartment to enjoy a fabulous dinner and even more fabulous conversation.

She and her husband were kind enough to drive me back to Union Station, which is where I am now. I'm on a new adventure - an overnight bus trip, via Megabus, to Charlotte. I've made this bus trip before but never over night. I'm hopeful that today's mileage will make me sleepy enough to sleep. We shall see what kind of trouble I can get into! :-)

As an aside, my feet are still wet from the earlier walk to the train station. Let this be a lesson to us all that TOMS are very absorbent and do not dry easily. And also that they smell when wet. Sorry, fellow passengers.

Next time I write, I'll be in NC, enjoying some mountains and southern accents and missing the hustle and bustle of city life. I'll also be missing the sidewalks.