Running in the Rain

It's raining. I have a six-mile run on my training plan for today and it's raining. Not only is it raining, the trail where I love to do my long runs is bound to be muddy and gross. But I will run it.

There's no guarantee that race day will be sunny and dry, so that is reason enough to get my fanny out there and run. But even more than that, I have learned to stay my course regardless of whether the sun shines or the rain pours down. When I ran the Philadelphia Marathon in 2005, I trained in the cold, the wet, the sunny, even the dark if I had to in order to get my training runs in. As a result, when race day brought sun and unseasonably warm weather for a November morning, I was more than prepared and ran a strong 5:25, stopping only once to pee.

My weight loss journey is much like training for a marathon. No matter what, I will stay the course. Having a positive attitude and strong faith through will only make it easier to make healthy choices on the days when I wake up on the right side of the bed and will keep me committed on the days when I don't.

I just have to keep going, keep running, keep moving forward... rain or shine.

Yoga Pants are for YOGA.

I haven't been an athlete all my life. Truth is, before 2005, I had never run a race longer than a 5K. Of course, by the end of 2005 I had run a marathon, and my life (and I) were changed forever. I have been an avid runner since then, but still am a sort of scrappy, slow learner when it comes to the etiquette and habits that seem to come as second nature to lifelong athletes.

Take apparel, for instance.

Last November, I was the only one of my running group, Moms in Motion, to register in time for the half-marathon. Even if the other ladies had run in time, it wouldn't have helped my apparel confusion. I parked my van and noticed the temperature had still not risen about 20 degrees, though the sun was shining brightly. I had underdressed, thinking back to the last time I'd run that course (the year of the marathon), when the temperature had risen to over 50 degrees by the end of the race and I'd been sweaty and hot, regretting I hadn't worn disposable clothing, like the lifelong runners that had raced that day. On this day, I was regretting I hadn't a single pair of gloves or hat in my glove compartment. How could I have a glove compartment stuffed with everything but gloves?

I knew it was going to be a long, cold run and if I didn't figure something out, I was going to end up with a nasty case of frostbite. I scrounged around the back of my mom-mobile and found a pair of those teeny gloves that stretch to three times their size, and a pink ski cap with a Super S on the front. I felt like a Superwoman for not using the cold as an excuse to turn back around and head for my nice warm bed, so it was an appropriate choice. Yet and still, I was so cold, I was still shaking with chill a half hour after my hot, post-run shower.

You'd think I'd learn about preparedness and the importance of appropriate running gear. Unfortunately not.

I just have to say I'm sorry, very, very sorry, to all the people at the Aquatic & Fitness Center in Jenkintown, PA who had to see me running in yoga pants today. They are probably a little too large and, well, yoga pants just don't have the fitted waistband that's needed when you have a butt like mine, pulling them down, begging for more fabric to surround it. By the time I was done my last 30 second interval today (10 miles per hour, I might add), my still flabby tummy was flapping in the breeze over the edge of my yoga (not running) pants.

I did get to TJ Maxx today to get a couple new pairs of running pants. I'd never want to burn that image on anyone else's retinas again. I look good and all, but six-pack abs I do not yet have. So, nice tight running pants for me from now on.

We'll save the yoga pants for yoga.