The Power of Rain

Wednesday: Despite not feeling 100%, I mustered enough strength to get to the park and I started well. The rain persisted but I was pleased to be timing myself and concentrating on my breathing technique, getting warmed up nicely. Then disaster struck - I hugely underestimated the depth of a very large area of water, and ended up knee to thigh deep in freezing water. I ran, well, swam, thru it, as fast as I could but my bottoms and trainers were soaked beyond belief. All running after that was comical, I was slipping, stumbling and forgot about breathing properly, which led to more chest pains (the cough and sore throat persist). I struggled to make it to 30 minutes, but most of that was walking, trying to stop my legs from seizing up in the cold. I tried to get some solid bursts of running towards the end of the session, but then I suddenly felt dizzy and faint, most probably due to dehydration. Luckily, I wasn't too far from the car, so I slowly made my way back, hoping not to collapse in the mud. By the evening, I had had two very hot showers to stop me getting hypothermic and the trainers were fixed firmly on the radiator, drying for tomorrow. So lessons learned today - a) drink a lot more water to keep hydration levels normal, b) avoid big puddles (so as not to go down the 'vicar of dibley route', as one person kindly described it (it's lucky I laugh at myself all the time!), c) stick to timing myself as it was making a huge difference to the efficiency of my running. This week really isn't going as smoothly as I hoped, but as I reflect on the run, I feel it is better to have gone out and breathed in that fresh (rain-soaked) air, than not at all. I suspect my right leg is weaker than my left, as it feels twinges a lot more, even when I have done little exercise. Also, I hope my left toe won't be an issue, it has behaved perfectly for days, but today my son stood on it while wearing boots, and it bled. Back to the park tomorrow, hoping the rain will back off, let it shine, I say :o)