Run, Rain, Route

I am bored with running. I need a new challenge or something to motivate me. I woke up this morning and made a deal with myself; if it is raining when I get home (from dropping the kids off at school) I can skip my run. I got home, secretly wished for a downpour and checked the weather. Nothing really indicating a torrential downpour was looming so I headed out.

Once out, it was misting and I thought that wasn't too bad. It was almost refreshing BUT if it became a downpour, within the first mile, I could call it quits when I made my first loop by home. About 1/4 mile in, it downpoured for about a 1/4 mile distance then stopped. So of course my head was thinking, you are already wet. If it's downpouring near home, you can stop but if it's just a light rain, keep going. You are already wet.

The rain and thoughts of quitting early had me running a pretty quick pace (9:49 average for my first mile). When I got to the 1.5 mark and would have normally headed near home, I decided upon a route change. I had a general idea of where I was going and the approximate distance but these FL roads are fricken twisty, cul-de-sac laced, and far from any normal grid pattern. I went down a route that I thought would take me one major road over and bring me back to the road that runs by my house. I eventually did do that but in my head, the route was more straight forward. I had a slight moment of panic that I was going the wrong way. I knew I could always walk home if I got lost but wasn't sure how long that would take me. Luckily, I ended up exactly where I thought I would at about the 2.25 mile mark. 

I had hoped that new extra loop would bring greater distance because to round it out meant I had to take that extra block with the terrible fake sidewalk. They basically black topped over tree roots and it's on a severe slope for drainage. I am not only afraid of tripping but I can "feel" the burn when I run on that. It's like trail running (or what I would imagine trail running is like).

Around the 2.25 or 2.5 mile mark I was wishing for another downpour to cool me off. I think that's the worst part of running. I get so hot I feel like my head is going to explode. My legs get tired and sometimes I labor for good breathing but generally, the combusting head is what leads me to want to quit running.

I guess the next challenge will be to increase my mileage a little. I am running a 5K in about a month. I know I can do the distance because I have been doing it consistently for more than a month straight now. I have even gotten my time down to 33 minutes (sometimes a titch under, sometimes a titch over). I have a fear that on race day, there will be unnecessary bobbing and weaving that add to my distance that will kill me.

On top of that, I wonder what I will want to do after the race. That goal will have been met and frankly, I can't see myself running 3 days a week, every week for the rest of my life. Maybe my next goal would be a longer race or distance to challenge myself. The only problem with that is that it requires more time which I don't want to invest. Hmmm...