20 mile FAIL

I have done some dumb things under the guise of running.  There are those crazy nighttime trail runs, where I inevitably fall and hurt myself.  There was the run where I headed out during a drizzle and ended up getting pelted with golf-ball-sized hailstones.  Last year, there was the half marathon on Saturday followed by a 20 miler on Sunday.  And today's run ranks right up there in sheer dumbness.

I was awakened at 3 a.m. by a LOUD clap of thunder and the presence of a shaking doggie crawling under the covers.  There was a huge storm moving through, and the thunder and lightning scared Dingo, who jumped her babygate and came to find me.  I went back to sleep, thinking that the weather should pass by the 6 a.m. start of my 20 miler.  It did not.

But I was not about to be stopped by some lightning, thunder, and (lots of) rain drops.  I strapped on my shoes, threw on a poncho, and headed to Fleet Feet.  At the start of the run, I realized that this probably was not a good idea, but with every flash of lightning, I ran a little faster and tried to keep up with the tall guy (lightning hits taller objects, right?).  But the worst part was trying to cross streets where the water was knee deep, with a CURRENT and an UNDERTOW.  We locked arms on some of those crossings so nobody got swept away.

So, with nowhere to run that didn't involve whitewater, we bagged the run at just over 9 miles.  And I'm not sure I can get that run in early this week so I can begin tapering for the marathon.

Then, to top it off, after I negotiated high water crossings in my car, I came home to a broken a/c motor that is going to cost about 18 hours of overtime pay.  At least I will be working from home when the a/c guy comes tomorrow to install the motor and collect his pound of flesh, so I do not actually have to take vacation time.

I cannot wait until I can look back at this and laugh.