When It Rains, It Pours

***First off, I hope to have a full report of the 5K we ran yesterday...I'm awaiting for the 'official' results to be posted and pictures of me crossing the finish line too..once I have those, I'll post a recap of that.***

But this post is all about rain. :)

Friday night, while we were at our Monthly Girls Bunco Night GTG, Mandy made the comment that it was crazy that we had been running for 11 weeks, 3 times a week, so 33 days of running and it had never, not once, rained on us or did we have to reschedule a run because of rain.

Essentially a month of no rain while running....

Well, it rained a months worth of rain on Saturday morning. And that is no exaggeration...

I woke up around 5:30 to the sound of thunder and pouring rain...and it just kept on raining and raining and raining...

By the time Lisa and Mandy showed up at 7:15 a.m. to leave for the race, it hadn't let up and on the way there I had the windsheild wipers going full speed...it was still pretty dark out and I was having a hard time seeing while driving to the race site.

The Lightning was wicked...

Apon our arrival there, it started letting up a bit...enough for us to make a mad dash to the registration tent and check in for the 8 a.m. race...the parking lot was pretty much a river, as was everything else around us, the lightning was still pretty intense and we got soaked running to and from the car.

At check-in we were informed that the 5K actually started at 8:30. The 1 mile race was to start at 8, so we had over an hour until race time. We inquired about if the race was on, rain or shine and they said yes. We were a bit surprised, not so much because of the rain, but the lightning. We weren't sure they would allow us to run because of it, but they said if they needed to push the race back a bit until it cleared up, they would.

We retreated back to the car in what was now a full blown down pour and proceeded to wipe ourselves dry with our race t-shirts. We spend the next 45 mintutes sitting in my car, ran pouring down all around us while we watched people run to and from their cars to the registration tent and back.

We seriously considered not running...at least Lisa and I did...I don't mind the rain, but didn't feel like dying at my first race because I was struck by lightning. Mandy was adement that she was running no matter what. I wonder how many people got their shirts and ran...like out of there and back home...not in the race. :)

At about 8:15 we decided to brave the weather, head to the bathroom and prepare for the race. By the time people started lining up at the start line, the rain had slowed down to barely a drizzle and as soon as they blew the horn to start, there wasn't a drop in the sky.

It was the craziest thing. I think someone up there really wanted me to stay and run and not get struck by lightning. :)

About 25 feet from the finish line the path we were running on was COMPLETELY flooded..like ankle deep water and there was no where to run but right through it. :) That was probably the worst part of the whole thing; Having soaked feet. But at least it was at the very end of the race and not the very beginning..I'm not sure what that would have been like to run in wet shoes/socks for 40 minutes. :(

I managed to keep my nice, white shoes just that, nice and white, for the last 11 weeks...after yesterday they finally look worn, dirty, and broken in. :)

Like they have been worn by a true runner.