Hardcore or Knucklehead?

5:30 AM - 38° [W/C 33°], wind: NW 10, light > medium rain

I really didn't need to run this morning.

Yes, I have a 10K on Sunday, but I've put all my miles in and I have some leftover from the Distance Run. I should be in "maintenance mode" but I like doing my 4 miles on weekdays, 6 on Saturday and 8 on Sunday [or vice versa, as the case may be.]

So, why was I going out to run, basically in a Nor-easter, when I could just as easily rolled over and gotten another hour of toasty warm sleep? An hour I really could have used, since I stayed up until nearly midnight waiting for Game 5 of the World Series to have the plug pulled?

Firstly, if all those people could sit in the same wind and rain for hours on end at Citizens Bank Park, I could go out and run around in it for 30-40 minutes.

Also, there's a certain joy I get when people at work ask, "Did you run today?" knowing full well, I pretty much run every day.

Finally, running is my medicine; sometimes it has to be taken with a little bit of water.

The rain wasn't as hard when I opened the door as when I woke up, I must have caught a break between soakings. I had made sure to put Ziplock bags on my feet to keep them a little bit dry; the dark, early morning Fall rain is cold and miserable, not like the warm, playful thunderstorms of Summer afternoons. Dry feet are warm feet and warm feet are happy feet.

I popped my iPod out of my ears and set it on the porch [no pockets in my sweatpants]. I checked the finger of my glove for my good luck seashell [check!] and tugged down the hat that Annabelle had knit for me 4 years ago. I zipped D'Wife's cycling jacket [I was sure she wouldn't mind] up to my chin and then back down a bit.

I trotted out to the street and started my watch.

Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it.

4 miles, just under 36 minutes. Pretty much soaked through.

I had vegetable soup for breakfast.