Damp

OK, I think I've finally dried out from last weekend.

Sunday my friend Maggie and I woke up extra early for the first annual Surf City USA 5k (or 12th annual Pacific Shoreline). It was raining just a little pretty steadily, but I didn't think it would last. This is California, after all!

We got to the parking area and now it was raining - flat out, raining. Not hard or blowing. We were damp before we even got on the shuttle to the start line. Once there, everyone was standing in doorways and under overhangs along Main Street, because the rain was blowing off the ocean and up the street. We ended up hiding out at Fred's (which was smelling amazing when we left) until the race was about to start, and by the time we got in the corrals and the race actually started, the back of my jacket was soaked.

So for 3.1 miles, I ran totally drenched. For most of the run I kept up with a military class, but after a while they passed me - I weighed probably 10 pounds more than I usually do! I could feel the water squishing around my toes, and my iPod earbuds wouldn't stay in my ears because they were full of water (amazingly, the thing still works). The rain was blowing sideways, so during the first half my left side was drenched and I couldn't see out of my left eye, and for the second half my right side got drenched and I couldn't see out of either eye. Honestly, I ran a good part of the way with my eyes closed; there was no way to wipe them because everything was wet.

Afterward we just left. I don't think either of us have ever been so miserable! My clock time was somewhere around 37 minutes, but I used the excuse that my clothes and shoes were extra heavy, and that was actually quite good.

The results & pro pictures were out Friday, and while my pictures are just too unflattering to share, my actual time was 31:34! That's a best for me. So now my excuse is that I could have gotten under 30 minutes, and a <10 minute mile if I hadn't been drenched...