September 30, 2009

Outlook cloudy with a chance of freakout

70 degrees @ 4:30pm - Means fall in SD! 4Cast = 77-88-86-78 - I guess we just get the one day, skip winter and spring and go back to summer.
I received this tweet from my friend Matt in San Diego as I was getting ready to go for a run. It was 55 degrees and raining up here in the Great Northwest.

I hadn't run in the rain in months. There weren't many days that it rained this summer, and the days that I ran were almost as rare. The radar showed that the rain wouldn't be letting up anytime soon, so there was no use putting it off any longer.

I dug out a hat and the long sleeve shirts that had been banished to the back of the closet for the last six months. It always makes me feel a little more dedicated when I run in the rain. I was listening to the latest Two Gomers Run a Marathon podcast. They are about 3 1/2 months out from their first marathon. One of them (Anthony I think) is starting to freak out.

He isn't starting as a couch potato like last year when they trained for the half marathon. A 10k isn't the big deal it once was, but he can't wrap his head around 26.2 miles at this point. A half marathon is nothing to sneeze at, but if you are running semi-regularly, you can make it through. At least that is my theory for a week and a half from now. The full marathon is definitely another animal though. Unless you are Cherie, you can't just show up without doing some specific training, and even she promises not to do that ever again.

A gauntlet has been gently tossed in my direction to run a marathon, with about half the typical training time. I don't know if I will accept the challenge yet, but I am going to start training as if I am. And I will be using that freakout factor to make sure I run, even as the weather turns nasty. I asked for something to shoot for...

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