Stranded at the gym

Good morning, friends!

How did you spend your Saturday morning?

I, quite literally, got stranded at the gym.
For 2.5 hours.
Then Hubby and I spent another hour and a half at a restaurant a block away. Our soaking wet shoes left puddles on the floor...

Why?
Flash flooding.

Image source

I've lived through hurricanes, wildfires, blizzards, and earthquakes. Yet I've never seen anything like this: 10 12 13 inches of rain in Pensacola. The Weather Channel is reporting that this is the wettest June day since 1887 and the 10th 2nd wettest day on record. Ever.

Our flooded drive home.

Honestly, I had no intention of getting caught in a flood. (No workout is that important!) This storm caught everyone by surprise. We knew there were thunderstorms in the forecast, but those are no big deal for northwest Florida. I checked the weather report before we left this morning, but the first flood warning I saw was when the Emergency Broadcast System interrupted the French Open 20 minutes into my treadmill run.

Knowing we'd be stuck at the gym for awhile, I ran slower and longer than planned. I killed another 20 minutes on the rowing machine. Then rain started pelting the gym windows so hard it was a near whiteout. (It reminded me less of a rain storm than a blizzard I witnessed in the eastern Sierra Nevadas a few years ago...) I moved over to the free weights and caught up on some upper body work.

Still, the rain was coming down. And it was getting late. With little other choice, Hubby and I decided to grab a bite to eat at a place around the corner. We splashed ankle-deep through puddles where a parking lot used to be.

We waited for a good, long break in the precipitation to make the 10-mile drive back home. We were the lucky ones. We made it safely, but passed dozens of stalled cars and flood-closed roads on the way back. A hospital's first floor flooded, as did the local jail, and a homeless shelter. In fact, flooded residents who evacuated to one Red Cross shelter soon had to be moved to another location - as even the Red Cross shelter was flooded!

(For more photos...)

Had I known, I would have slept in!

What's the worst weather you've ever seen?
Have you ever been stranded by a storm? (I was once stuck in New England - my flight couldn't leave because of a blizzard, but at least I was at my parents' home when that happened!)

Washed out

Last night, even after a late date-night with Hubby that involved 3 glasses of wine, I set my alarm for 6am. The coffee maker was programmed to brew bright and early, too.

When the alarm went off, I did not want to get out of bed. But I did, because I have one last long run on the calendar before my 2012 half marathon #3. Today my training schedule called for 12 miles.

I rolled out of bed and poured myself a cup of coffee.

I thought I heard the pitter-patter of rain, so I opened the blinds and saw:

Rain dripping from the eaves...

...but I was determined to go out for a run!

So I started getting ready to head out the door.

And then I heard a rumble.
And another...
And it wasn't my tummy.

Thunderstorms are one of the few things that will keep me indoors.

If it clears up, I'll try again this afternoon. Otherwise it looks like I'm long-running tomorrow.

Are there any weather conditions that will make you change your training schedule?

A tale of two San Diegos

This is either a tale of two cities, or a story about one city with two personalities. (Keep in mind that the following photos were taken within a 60-minute period of time this morning...)

I woke up to the sound of rain on the hotel windows.

By the time I walked downstairs for a cup of coffee, the day looked like this:

View of sunny skies over downtown San Diego

"Great! The storm is over!" I thought to myself... I pulled on my workout clothes, grabbed my camera, and headed out for a nice long walk.

Within minutes, the sky turned dark, the heavens opened up, and I was being pelted by stinging hail!

Hiding from the hail (round 2) in a bus shelter

I am proud to say that, while I considered retreating to the hotel gym, I decided to tough it out. I hid next to a tree hoping that the 30 mph winds wouldn't topple the tree onto me. (What a horrible travel story that would be!) And the sun reappeared a few minutes later.

Beginning of the MLK park in San Diego

I walked a good 4 miles, stopping to take the occasional photo and dodging the occasional sprinkle of rain and gust of wind.

Marina in downtown San Diego

With about half a mile left to go back to my hotel, thick clouds rolled in and the wind picked up again. I started to run, but wasn't quite fast enough. Wind-driven hail pelted me sideways.

My realization of the day: hail hurts!

And... of course... as soon as I was safely back at my hotel, the sun came out again.

I gave the crazy weather a couple of hours to sort itself out, and headed out for an evening run with Hubby "hash-run" style... We ran through my old neighborhood, stopped for a glass of wine mid-run (hashing has taught me that I can, surprisingly, have a beverage then keep running), and sprinted back to the hotel.

As we were running back, we caught a brilliant sunset over the bay. Those clouds are really pretty when they're not spitting hail!

I'm here (mostly) for work... but today's wine-fueled run felt like a vacation.

Streak week 4!

Goodbye week four of the Runner's World holiday running streak! Week 1 was novel, week 2 made me feel hardcore, week 3 was tiring, week 4 was a roller coaster.

Source: sandiegodigitalphotos.com via shelly on Pinterest

Here's how the week rolled out:

22. Sunday - 4 quick miles before racing off to the airport to catch my flight to San Diego... (roller coaster ticket in-hand)
23. Monday -  Going UP! 6.5 nighttime miles in Balboa Park, under the holiday lights, with some of my favorite running buddies. (Does running get any better than that?)
24. Tuesday -  Going DOWN! a mile that taught me to never mix tequila and a treadmill... 
25. Wednesday -  Going UP! a couple of morning miles through downtown San Diego that made my day.
26. Thursday -  Both up and down! An unforgettable 7.5 mile run, most of which was through pouring rain. (Does running get any wetter than that? My shoes still aren't dry!)
27. Friday - just 1 lonely little mile before work to keep the streak alive
28. Saturday - 3 miles at Mission Bay before (again) racing off to get on an airplane...

(And... the roller coaster ride is over.)

All total, I logged 25 miles for the week.

28 days down, 8 left to go!
(Or maybe 337 left...? I might keep this up for 2012.)

Have you started planning your running goals for 2012?

Personal rain cloud

Tonight's run was one for the history books. Or the movies.
After work, I ran the 1.5 miles from my hotel to a rental car place, only to discover that I left my driver's license back in my hotel room! Doh!

I was supposed to meet friends 20 minutes later for a 5 mile run. I had two options: 1 - suck it up, skip my social run, and make the 3-mile round trip for my rental... OR...
2 - Phone a friend and sweet-talk her into picking my lame ass up off a street corner.

You can guess which option I chose.
(Thank you K!)

So I made it to the run on time.
And we started.
Then the rain started.
I felt one drop.
Then three.
The rain got harder.
And harder.

By the last mile, it was almost a joke.
Like the Bishop's golf game scene in Caddyshack.

"I don't think they heavy stuff is going to come down for quite awhile."

Just when you thought it couldn't rain any harder.
It rained harder.

Our shoes squished.
Our eyes stung.
(None of us even knew rain was in the forecast!)

On the way back to my hotel, I left a puddle in K's car.
(Which I wouldn't have felt as badly about if it was my rental car! Sorry K!)

And here's the history-books part: When K drove me back to my hotel (less than 5 miles away as the crow flies)... the streets around my hotel were bone dry. Not a drop of rain. Not. One. Drop.

It's like I'm dragging around my own personal rain cloud!

Source: google.com via Melanie on Pinterest

But this rain cloud wasn't SO bad...
At least it's a run we'll never forget!

When was your last run in the rain?
And am I the only person who forgets really important things like bringing a DL to the rental car place? (I'll bet the clerk thinks I'm a scam-artist!)

Wet weather

Wringing the water out
of my rain-soaked shirt

I spent most of the last decade running in San Diego where, according to NOAA records, it only rains about 40 days/year and there's a good stretch of 3-4 months with no measurable precipitation at all.

Needless to say, I didn't add many rainy day runs to my life list when I lived there.

Florida, not surprisingly, has changed that situation right quick.

Today, with an 8-miler on the calendar, Hubby and I drove home from a blissful, sunny, 24-hour mini-vacation in Panama City Beach and drove right into a rainstorm. (Maybe I should have run before we checked out of the hotel? But the storm was heading toward us... Earlier departure = more dry driving time, and I hate driving in the rain.)

We got home, unpacked the car, and I surfed the weather radar for an hour. When I finally saw my opportunity -- no rain outside at that moment, and a clear spot on the weather map -- I laced up my running shoes and headed out.

Lesson learned: I was not cut out to be a meteorologist.

Within 2 blocks of home, the sky opened up. (So much for that clearing on the weather radar!)

I considered turning around and picking the run up again later, but really, the rain didn't hurt. And I don't melt. Plus, I have a streak to maintain, so I had to get in at least a mile.

Once I got used to the squishing, I realized that running in the rain is kind of fun. The roads were nearly empty. All the off-leash dogs were inside staying dry. The world was quiet. And I got to splash in puddles like a little kid.

I sloshed past a house where a woman was sitting on the porch, in a bathrobe, smoking a cigarette. I thought to myself:

I'll bet she thinks I'm crazy.
And I know I think she is.
To each their own...

I also wondered:

If I hadn't started out on this odd little holiday run-every-day streak, would I have braved the rain?

The answer is... I probably would have rescheduled. (San Diego turned me into a bit of a weather wuss.) So I'm glad I had an incentive to get out and run today, despite the rain. It was much more relaxing than I thought it would be.

Do you brave the elements, or do you head for the gym at the first sign of bad weather?

Long weekend recap

4 days. 4 photos. 4 R-words.
(I tried to come up with 4 four-letter F-words, but Hubby told me some might be inappropriate. I don't see how "food" is an inappropriate word, but I'll switch to Rs anyway.)

Thursday:
Repast

Thanksgiving feast... 'nuff said.

Friday:
Run

Even with a 20 mph headwind, 5 Black Friday miles at the beach
sure beat battling through the mall parking lot!
(Please ignore my jaywalking in this photo.)

Saturday:
Resort (and Reunion)

Hubby and I drove to Panama City Beach, FL
to catch up with friends I haven't seen in five years.
(Yes. I cheated and used 2 R-words.)

Sunday:

Rain

It's raining. It's pouring!

But I'm going to run anyway... 

I have a streak to maintain!

How was your weekend?