Many of you already know that I’ve been training for the Twin Cities Marathon over the past several months, and I’ve about reached the end of my preparatory, longer runs. This past weekend I was scheduled to run my last 18-miler (20 miles is this coming weekend!), but hurricane Hanna had other plans.

I had arranged to meet up with 4 other women from my running group at 6 am saturday morning, to knock those 18 miles out of the way before breakfast. I usually run at 7 am, but my running partner was out of town that weekend, and the only group of folks I knew that were also running 18 were even earlier risers than I usually am. That said, I thought this might be a good thing as the heaviest rains from the storm weren’t scheduled to hit until 10 am.

Though the idea of running 18 miles makes me physically ill, these longer runs are some of the most important training you can do in preparation for a marathon, and because of this amazing Cambodian organization that I’m raising money for (please help!), I am determined to finish Oct 5ths 26.2 strong.

Even so, I woke up at 5 am Saturday and looked outside, praying for a proverbial “rain-out”. Alas, it was just a light drizzle and incredible dense heat that met me. I took my dog for a brief walk, gathered up layers of dry clothes to put on afterwards, loaded up my gu and gatorade, and headed up to Bethesda.

Everyone in our group showed up despite the forboding sky. We headed out onto the dark, Capital Crescent trail around 6:20 am, with just a little drizzle and incredible thick air. As we neared Georgetown, most of us kept yelling aloud, “Where is this rain? It’s SO hot!” Soon enough, the sky opened up and a light rain began to cover the path and our wicking shirts. The dampness felt great on our boiling skin, and as we headed back up the long, 6+ mile incline back to Bethesda, our clothes and shoes soaked up the water and we lost track of what was sweat and what was rain.

Continue reading ‘Running in the rain: why 18 miles in hurricane Hanna was worth it’