When I woke up this morning I groaned ... the weatherman was right!  He had said we would have heavy rain all day and heavy rain is what we had!

My training plan today said a 1 hour 45 minute easy run so that was 1 hour 45 minutes of getting wet!  I did contemplate exchanging today's long run for tomorrow's short run but then decided not to be a wimp and just DO IT! After all it might be raining tomorrow too!

If it is raining on Marathon Day I can't just opt out because I don't want to get wet so I have decided I will do my long runs on the prescribed days whatever the weather!

After eating my body weight in crisps and Maltesars last night, washed down with copious amounts of wine followed by several Gin and Tonics my body was feeling ever so slightly sluggish this morning! 

They do say "You are what you eat" and one day I will start being kinder to my body and eat like an athlete and maybe, just maybe I will become one!! 

I am generally very good during the week and try to eat healthily but once the weekend comes and alcohol passes my lips all my good intentions go out the window!  Life is too short!

I tried to counterbalance the rubbish I had put in to my body last night by having porridge and a banana for my breakfast and then I went for a run! 

I donned my waterproof running jacket and baseball cap with the hope that the peak would keep the rain off my face and out my eyes.

I hadn't planned a route in my head but just ran where my legs wanted to take me! (Sometimes this is disastrous!).  Initially I was running along the path along a busy main road but with all the splashes from the cars and lorries drenching me I took the first road off to run along some quiet country lanes.  Once away from the noisy traffic I started to actual enjoy my run.  

It was still teaming it down but the rain had enhanced all the lovely fresh smells from the grass, leaves, flowers and trees and as I inhaled deeply I felt lucky to be out running despite the weather! Even the birds seemed happy and were chirping loudly to each other, along with the cows mooing and the sheep baaing (unless they were all complaining about the weather!). Everything just seemed more intense, maybe because there were no other noise as the drum of traffic was deadened by the rain and there was nobody else around.  I felt like I had the entire countryside to myself!  Fantastic.

In several places I actually felt like I was river running as the roads were beginning to flood in places. At first I tried to tip toe through to try and limit the damage THEN the big kid in me took over and I actually enjoyed splashing through the puddles!  I was already wet, so a bit more water in my trainers wasn't going to make that much difference!

At about the 8 mile mark I had no option but to rejoin the main road where once again I ended up getting soaked as a great wall of water was sent over me (on several occasions!) by the traffic ploughing through deep puddles at silly speeds!  I just kept on smiling, I was not going to be beaten!

I followed the main road back into Kendal and realised I was going to be about 15 minutes short of my goal time.  By this time I was absolutely soaked and had come to realise my running jacket is no longer waterproof and I was beginning to feel cold.  However, I dug deep and kept on running ... right past the turn off that would take me home (truly insane!).  On a positive note my baseball cap did indeed kept the water off my face but I probably looked pretty daft running in it when there was no sign of any sun!

Eventually I made it back absolutely soaked to the bone but feeling stimulated, energised and very proud of myself for getting out there and doing it - I felt like a proper runner even if I don't eat like one!



Its a good job I'm not made of sugar though! 



Once home I was greeted by my husband who said "OMG you smell like the dog when he's been out in the rain!" Charming, I'm sure I wasn't THAT bad!



I peeled off my soaking wet clothes (with great difficulty) and jumped straight into a steaming hot shower! ARRRRR BLISS!

I managed to run 10.80 miles in 1:45:10 (10 seconds over my goal - how's that for accuracy!) at an average pace of 9:41minute miles. You can view my run here.

I really don't know where Garmin get the weather conditions from but today it is so wrong! The real weather I endured was: 

This weekend's theme must be water as last night I went swimming! Yesterday was supposed to be a rest day but I decided I needed to do something to relax me for the weekend.  I discovered the other day that at 6pm on a Friday the local leisure centre has a one hour session where the entire pool is laned so I decided to go and give it a whirl.

It was so much better than the normal sessions where there are only 2 over-crowded lanes and the rest of the pool is full of teenagers acting stupid!  There was 6 lanes and for some of the time I actually had an entire lane to myself!  At its busiest I only had to share my lane with 3 other people!  I think I might make this a regular swim session.

I tried to remember all the tips I have been given recently and really focused on my technique rather than just swimming.  The problem is I don't seem able to do 2 things at once! If I am concentrating on breathing my arms go to pot,  if I am concentrating on legs my breathing goes to pot, if I am concentrating on my arms my legs go to pot! 

I need to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

I managed to swim 62 lengths or 1550 metres or 0.96 miles at an average pace of 3.23 minutes per 100 metres.

I'm quite chuffed with that!  

Here's hoping I get a swimming place on Monday with the Tri Club!