Of course, in keeping with the weekend - it started to pour on the drive into the city. And then the bridge I normally take into downtown was closed...for cleaning. Then, after detouring to get to Eau Claire took me past what I can only describe as being a murder scene...a zillion cops, some unmarked vans, guys in hazmat suits. I was pretty sure this was going to be my #3 for the weekend in terms of set up for a run.
Oh and my stomach was doing bad things. Fun.
Michelle showed up shortly after me and we watched the rain until Tina arrived.
She also started talking about a 20k run for today (eep - I wasn't sure I was up for that far but I needed the run). Once Tina was there, we took a moment to get her a signal on her watch..and then we were off into the great wet yonder. I was quick to mention what a great thing it turned out to be that the race I was supposed to run today had been postponed. I can't imagine running a color run in a monsoon!
The clouds were apparently ignoring my rain jacket.
So - as you can tell, I was feeling a little pessimistic. But the pessimism melted away as we started running toward Edmonton trail. And I was struggling to keep up, even at our easy pace. I think 24hours of dehydration from crying was not helping my running.
But soon, I settled into both the pace and the conversation and told my stomach to calm down.
These guys were out for a walk in the rain (thankfully going the opposite path that we were)
My attempt at a oblivious group shot #fail
Not long after this, I was overheating in my rain jacket so I tied it around my waist and proceeded to get thoroughly soaked. It was wet but not cold. Given that I run so hot anyway - the rain felt good against my skin and I was quite happy to have something to regulate my temperature. The crew was setting up for the Enerflex MS Run so we took advantage of their tent for a reprieve from the rain and then headed back into the monsoon to pick our way toward Edworthy and our turn back point.About 1k from the Park, Michelle was in need of a loo so she took off ahead and we plodded ever on to get there on our own time. I had to laugh in the washroom when I moved my hydration belt and found it completely dry beneath...usually it is the other way around. After a short break at the loo, we were soon all ready to cross the bridge and head back to the warm dry market.
The pathway on the south side of the river was much calmer than the north had been. The rain was lighter under the trees and I always find it so pretty back there, though I hardly ever run it. The glaciers that were across the path when I ran it three weeks ago with V, had long melted and it was smooth sailing. I had a momentary freakout when a freight train came through, but it was a short one and had passed by the time we reached the crossing.
I was really excited when Tina pointed out the entrance tot he Douglas Fir Trail. I'd been trying to figure out where it was for a while (though admittedly not looking hard) but now I will know if I ever get a hankering to try it out.
When we got to Crowchild, we started to see more and more traffic on the path...the MS Run was now underway and what a crowd was to come...the walkers swarmed the full width of the path with their umbrellas and dogs and strollers. All of the dogs made me so sad about Allergyhound. It took a fair bit of concentration to get past them all (and to make way for the racing runners on their return journey), so our pace dropped through there, but once we were past 10th street - the crowd was gone and we had the widened path to ourselves for the most part.
It was the homestretch and we had some fun with it.
and, of course, when you are soaked...what better way to end a run than with a little puddle jumping...
All in all a really fun way to take my mind off of all of the crap that transpired in my life this weekend...running with friends really is cheaper (and better) than therapy.
After I got home, I was so cold that I had to make some sort of comfort food...so I whipped up a batch of my homemade tomato sauce.
It was absolutely perfect over grilled eggplant slices and pan fried tofu. Mmmm...just thinking about it makes me want to make more....