I almost didn't get out today. I had a route all planned, I took my dogs down there last night so I'd know just where to go and where to park, etc. I set my alarms for early (for me) on a weekend. I woke up and it was just.... gah. I was tired. It took me at least two hours to fall asleep last night, so I had had a lot less sleep than what I had originally anticipated when I set the alarms. So I decided to sleep for a bit longer.
I woke up around 10:30 and listened. Was that rain? A lot of rain? Double gah. As I've said before, I'm okay with running in the rain. I have wet weather gear. I just got a new rain jacket for running. But I just wasn't in the mood this morning. My shoes have a lot of mesh and my feet got soaked last time. It was fine since I wear wool socks when I run, but I just washed my socks last night. I don't want them to be all muddy and dirty already.
Last time I ran in the rain I got dumped on. Then two hours later it was nice and sunny and NOT RAINING. Maybe that would happen this time? I thought about lazing around for a bit to see if it cleared up, or maybe waiting until later in the day, but I had a sneaking suspicion that if I didn't just go then I wouldn't go at all today. I needed to get some errands done, which would necessitate not only a shower but a real meal. I don't like to run on a full stomach and I'm not fond of showering multiple times in a day. It just seems wasteful. So I made the decision and I went.
I had decided to try out the Springwater Corridor for longer weekend runs. It is a 40 mile loop trail in Cilleyland and supposed to be very scenic, very flat, away from major roads. I was getting on the trail at Sellwood Riverfront Park (which also has an off-leash area, which is where I took my pups last night after work). At least with the rain I wouldn't have to worry about parking. And at least this time it wasn't pouring, just a light shower.
By the time I got to the park, it was barely sprinkling (and there was plenty of parking). By the time I'd gotten five minutes down the trail, it wasn't raining at all. And I, wearing my rain jacket, was already overheated. I dithered for about five minutes as to whether I should go back to the car and ditch the jacket (also to pick up my iPod arm band; I had planned to carry my iPod in my jacket pocket which has a headphone jack opening in the inside lining just for this purpose). Then I'd gone to far to bother with turning around. I had to fiddle around for several minutes to take the damn jacket off and tie it around my waist so it wouldn't drive me completely insane. Once I got started up again, I'd lost my pace and it took a bit to get it back. Overall, that was okay because I'd been running too fast when I'd started out by at least a minute.
Once I finally got situated and back on track, so to speak, I had a great run. I headed towards downtown Cilleyland on the trail. There were railroad tracks/a wetlands preserve on my right and the Willamette River to my left the whole way. It was really nice. It took me a while to figure out what the weird orangeish gooey splotches were all over the trail: slug guts. Bleah. They looked like snot.
I did 30 minutes out and back on the trail. I was about two minutes slower coming back then I was going out, which worked out perfectly. I figure I would have gone 5 miles if I hadn't had to fiddle with my jacket.
So, week 3 is in the bag. I'm still here. I'm still running. Hope you all are too!
Cheers,
the CilleyGirl
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