Rain, Humidity and a Skunk

What is it about Wednesdays and rain lately? Two weeks in a row!

4:30 came early Wed morning and I looked out and saw the rain coming down. I checked the weather and didn’t see any info about thunderstorms in the area and the temp was 71°. So, I got in my car and drove to the gym. Again, like last week, I was hoping no one shows up so I could go home and go back to bed.

As I was hoping for, no one showed up. Then the decisions started rolling through my head - “Do I go home? Do I go in to the gym and workout? Do I just get over it and run in the rain?” After a few seconds of hesitation, I thought “Screw it!” and got out to run in the rain. After all was said and done, I was glad I did. I ended up running 4.7 miles at a pretty quick pace. The rain actually stopped about halfway though my run. But by the time I got back to the gym, it was pouring! And I could have cared less! It really was so nice to get out and run in the rain - on a warm morning.

Thursday I woke up ready to get out and run. I got to the gym and was asked, “Did you run yesterday?” Yes. “Did anyone else show up?” Nope. “You ran in the rain by yourself!? Wow.” Yeah, that felt pretty good! I ended up running 5 miles that morning. The humidity was around 100% and it felt like it the entire time. I was as wet when I returned to the gym as I was the day before in the rain! But it was nice to flush out the up tempo run from Wednesday and prep for the long run tomorrow.

Now, on to the skunk. As I was running on Wed, I was about 3 miles in when I heard a noise to my left. I looked down and saw two eyes, a nose, a little black body with a distinctive white stripe on it’s back. The run/world seemed to pause as I locked eyes with the skunk. The only thought that entered my head was “RUN!” The words that escaped my mouth was “Oh, (beep)!” My speed increased dramatically for a few moments as I did everything I could to get away from my little stinky friend. The funny thing was, I believe if he could have talked, the words to escape his mouth would have been exactly the same as mine!

The issue I had next was that I can’t smell, so I didn’t know if I had been “blessed” with the scent of skunk or not. I didn’t stick around long enough to see if it sprayed and I didn’t hear anything, so I was hoping I was safe, but I just didn’t know. When I got back to the gym I broke down and asked the desk worker if I smelled like a skunk because I have no sense of smell. He gave me a strange look and told me no and now I’m pretty sure that I can never look him in the eyes again! I was still unsure, so when I got home I went right upstairs and woke Sarah up to ask her. She laughed and said I was fine (except for my natural “post run” smell).

What a morning. And to think I would have missed out on such a great story to blog about if I had wimped out and not run in the rain!

Tomorrow is a 16 miler. I could never have imagined going that far a few months ago, but I look forward to the challenge! More to come on that very soon.