So, Saturday morning, I wake up looking forward to a nice long run. Its about 5:45, so I figure I’ll try to wake up a bit (well, my digestive system at least). Good time to swap the music on the mp3 player. I’m getting a little bored with Avenged Sevenfold anyway.
Ok, things are going well after a quick deposit at the porcelain bank, everything is shaking out for a good run. So I suit up, do my obligatory stretches, grab some water, my mp3 player and head out the door.
It kinda hazy but not too hot. Looks the sun is burning its way through the haze. Feels like its gonna be a good run. I feel a little tired from the Boilermaker, a busy week at work, and three lunch time 6 milers Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
As I hit the 3 mile point, I’m trying to decide if I wanna do my regular 10 miler or stretch out into a new variant I’m calling half mary trainer v2. Hmm, being a little tired, better stick to 10 today and leave the longer run for tomorrow.
Hmm. The sun drifts behind some clouds. Ah, the slight drop in temperature is refreshing, especially since I’m in the major climbing section of the run. Chug chug chug, feel a little faster than normal; that’s a good thing.
A nice downhill section and some water and its a quick turn into mile six. Hmm, wait a tick, somethings up. The suns not behind a cloud, its gone. Ever so slowly, darkness begins to creap its way in. I take a quick spin around, there’s no black thunderheads on the horizon. Maybe I’m just paranoid.
I keep right on pace. Hmm, the breeze is starting to pick up. Ahhh. Kinda nice, except that the cord from my headphones down to the player is now whipping the backs of arms a bit. Annoying.
The current song ends, before the next track fires up, I thought I heard a little rumble of thunder. Nah, just me being paranoid again. The opening chords to Kiss’ God of Thunder rumble into my ‘phones, just as the first flash of lightning lights up the sky. Gulp…
Its still getting darker and darker. More flashing, more rumbling, a couple of drips. Crap, I really don’t mind running the rain, but I really don’t wanna drown my poor mp3 player or destroy a good pair of shoes. Geez, I thought I checked the weather radar before I left. Then the breeze dropped out and lightning thunder and rain stopped. That means it was either a wanna-be storm or just the calm before the storm…
It was the latter. Hoping that turning the music off before the major rain hit might save the player, I quickly fumbled to shut ‘er down (which I guess I’ve never done with it clipped on to my short before; its surprisingly challenging to hold down the play button for 4 seconds while you’re running). The characteristic big, fat rain drops of the start of a storm begin to splatter on the ground. Man, that’s cold; but not all together unpleasant. I kinda like it actually.
But, the splats soon pick up in frequency. The sweet pitter pat of the rain hitting the street, quickly turns into a roar. But, even that gets drowned out the pelts landing my headphones and hat brim. Wow, don’t think I’ve ever been caught in a storm this intense. Hmm, maybe I’ll try to find some shelter for a bit and see if thinks let up; nah, I’m pretty sure that the mp3 player and the soaked headphones are trashed at this point, so I might as well keep right on going.
My trusty Nike running hat is doing a surprisingly good job keeping the rain out of my eyes. My recently acquired Under-Armor Heat Gear shirt is holding up pretty well; it took on quite a bit of water, but still managed not be irritating (thought for sure it would be bye bye nips). My shoes on the other hand were soaking up water big time. Not all that surprising as most of the road was already about an inch underwater. I found myself venturing closer to traffic to miss the rivers at the road’s edge where the water was 5 inches deep and rising.
The lightning and thunder seem to have stopped, but the rain is still coming done at a semi-biblical rate. I’m getting a little worried about my safety. I can see the cars just fine, but I’m not sure if they’re seeing me. Probably Ok, since folks are still slowing down near me, like they’re worried about splashing me. I’m also worried a little about some aggressive drive hydroplaning right off the road in my general vacinity.
As made the last 90 degree turn to final 1.5 mile stretch, the sky began to lighten a bit. The rain slowed down a bit. I took the opportunity to kinda squeegee some of the water out of my shirt and let my skin breathe. Hmm, on this part of the run, I normally fall back to the sidewalk. But from previous experience, I know that the walk floods out in even minimal showers. So, I thought I’d give the street a shot. Hmm, it was good for a block or two, then it was flooded out too. A couple of 6 inch deep puddles later, I’m through the worst of it.
The extra water weight in the shirt, shorts, and shoes is putting a whooping on my legs. As I start the last quarter mile, it kinda feels like my legs are turning to Jello. Phew, done, I sigh as I click stop on my watch. As walk back into the apartment complex, I realize that with all the water falling on me, I drank hardly anyway of the water I brought with me; so, I chugged down the balance of my 20 ouncer.
About midway down the driveway, I hear a car slowing up behind me and a power window rolling down. Hmm, its a green Chrysler Cirrus. Yep, its Sandy. “You’re in trouble; did you know how worried I was?” Not sure if was in the deepest trouble yet. The mp3 player was a birthday gift from her and her parents.
After I got back inside, I pulled of the mp3 player. It looked a little wet, but not soaked. There didn’t seem to be any water dripping out of it. I dried it off a bit and thought it best to leave it off for a few hours. The next day, I pulled the headphones off the mp3 player and tried them on my computer. Wow, they still work fine!
Now, the moment of truth. I hold down the play button on the mp3 player. 2 seconds later the screen flickers and shows the normal bootup process. That’s a good sign. Another 2 seconds later the music starts up; as a tribute to the run, I savor the rest of God of Thunder as I giggle. Quite happy that everything still works fine, I pull up the Amazon.com page for the player and add my own glowing review about just how tough that little player is.
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