The Best Laid Plans

AM: 15 mins. core
63 mins.
8.5 miles
PM: 31 mins.
4 miles

I woke up this morning to the dismal sight of pouring rain. While this wasn't entirely different than what I've been dealing with since, oh, Friday, this was significant because 1. it was hovering around 32 degrees, and 2. a quick check of the weather showed that we were supposed to receive 4-6 inches of snow by nightfall. Naturally, my first thought was about how this was going to impact my running. Pretty much everyone on the team had a long run of sorts on tap for the morning, and Jess and I in particular had a fairly difficult workout incorporated into our 14-mile efforts. As the last two days have shown, I have no problem with running in the rain (turns out I don't melt after all), but freezing temps and rain is another story. Add to that the certainty that, sight unseen, McAlpine was undoubtedly flooded--the park has seen knee-high water after fewer hours of rain than we've experienced the past few days--and the prospects of this morning's long run seemed, well, unlikely.

After a few minutes back and forth on the phone with Jeffrey, we decided to scrap the idea of a long run and/or a workout for the day and instead opted for two easy doubles around campus. If worst came to worst I could use the t-mill in the campus fitness center, but after speaking with Jess we decided to take advantage of a break in the weather around 10am and put in a few miles on the roads. Remarkably, the rain ceased falling for most of our hour-long jaunt, but the blustery wind and ubiquitous standing puddles made for an effort not unlike a steeplechase. I suppose I can't complain, as the deluge really started coming down once we were back indoors and proceeded to worsen for the rest of the afternoon. Am I the only one who realizes that it's March? Isn't winter in the south supposed to be over by now?? Sigh.

On a positive note, I gotta give a shout out to my girl Aja for winning the 5k at Cowtown in my home state yesterday. Also, props to Blake and Mike for running solid races at US Indoors yesterday. The only collegian in the field, Mike boldly led the race early on before finishing 11th, while Blake hung on for a 6th place finish. Whether either of them will be able to fly home from a snow-covered Boston is an entirely different story, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.