Warm or Rainproof?

So, this morning my day starts with a million little things on my to-do-list. I look through the list checking how realistic it is, and decide to cut off a couple of items, one major one being attending ICC@40 that I was so looking forward to attending. I console myself that there will most likely be a live stream and I catch up with the recording later.

I get up, suit up and just before I leave the house, I look out the window and realize that it has been raining though the night.  I check whether it’s still raining, but I am higher up on 4^th floor that I cannot tell whether it’s still raining.  I stand at my window for about 30 minutes looking out as I watch the world pass by. I look at pedestrians walking by-do they look like they are walking in the rain? Some are strolling texting/talking on their phones and I think to myself that it clearly isn’t raining. Just as I am about to move away from the window, I see a pedestrian with an umbrella over his head. That means it’s raining, right? My dilemma is which layer to use: warm or rainproof, depending on the weather outside. I decide to check if cars passing have their wipers on… some do, and others don’t. No clear way of knowing what the status is.

A few minutes later, I realize I have been at the window for almost an hour, a period of which I would have finished my run had I just left when I was heading out lol. I decide the rain passed with the night and it’s going to be dry for a while. I layer warm, put on a warm jumper and hit the road. I have been doing short runs because I am finding my way back after several injuries. I plan to do a six km run and I know I will be back in under an hour. I have been on road for three minutes when the skies open to a heavy downpour! Unmistakable rain. What??? I make a split-second decision wondering whether to go back and layer up rainproof or carry on. I realize that if I go back, I will reach the house drenched anyway, so there’s no point of returning.  Besides, this early in the morning it never rains for long so it will probably stop in a few minutes.

I decide to carry on and complete the run. The rain gets heavier, and I am completely drenched but I soldier on to complete my circuit. As I run, I cross streams of water that look like new rivers all over the place. My sneakers are drenched through as there is no place to go that does not have a stream of water. The further I go, the worse it gets and the more determined I get to complete the run as planned. Finally, I make it back home with more strength from the run but soaked through. As I get to the house, I am glad I continued the run because I might not have gone back out had I returned to layer rainproof. Running in the rain is fun, it has been a long time since I did that, and I had forgotten how much fun it can be.

Ran 6.07 kms. Year to date: 1,368.16 kms. 44 days to go.