Thursday, May 14, 2009

What Is it with Rainy Wednesdays?

Last week, my rainy Wednesday run spurred this haiku, which Mike said made me sound like a Hollywood Indian. How! Me like'm bad poems. Me, Runs in Rain.

The forecast called for rain arriving by 6:45 or 7 p.m. I asked Martini if he'd like to go for a six-miler to beat the rain. We met at the entrance to the park at 6 p.m. The rain had already begun to sprinkle. It was a downpour by the second mile. So much for beating the rain.

We were going to take it easy as we both ran fairly hard the night before, he on trails and I, well, you know. Instead, we cruised along for the first half and declared that we'd take it easy on the back half. "Yes," I said, "we'll run a positive split."

The fourth mile is virtually all downhill, so we cruised down and then held back for the fifth mile, which was our slowest at 9:55 -- more like the "easy" I had envisioned. The final mile is back uphill, and I was starting to drag with a half-mile to go.

"Is something hurting?" Martini asked.

"No, just starting to lag," I said.

"Well, then pick it up," he responded.

We made it to level ground, and I began to charge ahead for the final third of a mile. I kicked toward the endpoint and finished exhausted and drenched. The average pace was not impressive (9:11 per mile), but it felt good to push it after a disappointing pace Tuesday night.

I went home and did three sets each of push-ups and sit-ups. I slept well last night.

Tonight? Intervals.

17 comments:

Carolina John said...

isn't martini always a bad influence? drinking martini's instead of running with one might be easier.

C said...

So does this mean your new name is Runs With Booze?

I like Martini. He has the potential to cause you severe pain with his goading. This is good.

the erratic epicurean said...

xenia....if only you knew what kind of terrible influence the martini is. martini = disaster in nearly all cases!

Jess said...

Careful: Too much martini can really hurt the next day!

Aileen said...

Good times with Midwestern weather, right? I had a rainy and humid run last night too. Nooooo fun at all.

Unknown said...

Three sets of each push-ups and sit-ups.. Impressive. Let me guess? One push-up for each set you did. Am I right on this one?

tfh said...

Looks like a rainy Thursday, too. Rain + track intervals = lots of squished worms. Have fun!

Mike said...

Were those real push-ups or Charles Barkley push-ups?

Jess said...

Your rain moved out way and I think it's going to get me tonight on my run. At least it's a short one.

BrianFlash said...

That's exactly how I like to encourage my running partners.

"Well then, pick it up"

Nice...

Ian said...

Xenia, I think Dances with Booze has a nicer ring to it.

Sun Runner said...

It has come to my attention that Bart Yasso is going to be at the Cleveland Marathon expo. Would you like me to get his autograph for you? :)

Unknown said...

Push-ups and sit-ups afterwords. Show off

Spike said...

so you actually got rain...lucky. and there is nothing like a running partner to let you know when you are slacking.

S said...

Oh geez. I thought my gym buddy was mean when she yelled at me for not finishing my 4 miles after 28 minutes. Sounds like a fun run though!

Nitmos said...

I think martini is just a figment of your imagination. Everyone knows that a drinkers only real friend is his bottle.

Funnyrunner said...

That's what I need. A running partner to yell at me to pick up the pace when I start to lag...