Rain Out.

So wouldn't you know that my 2 days off of work prepping for my 14-hour days this weekend were drenched in rain. My plan was to get up and get 6 miles in on Thursday morning since I had a shopping trip planned to get some much needed spring and Easter essentials that day. It was pouring down rain when I got up at 6am. Grrr, I went back to bed. Luckily after the shopping trip the rain had cleared off and and I got my 6 miles in after all once I got the girls home, fed, and one sent off to dance class.

Run: 6 miles, 53 mins 20 secs, 8:50 min/mile pace, 62 degrees and lots of sunshine.

Friday was my scheduled long run...12 miles this week. Again the morning was rainy so I did some errands out of town and got back at about 1pm. It was partly cloudy skies with the sun shining bright during the cloud breaks so I headed out. I was having a great run, taking it easy but my legs were feeling good so my pace was surprising me. At my half-way turn around I saw some daunting blackness in the distance that seemed to be getting ever closer. I was glad to be running in the opposite direction from that now, and kept doing an over the shoulder check of the sky every quarter mile or so. Then my route turned south and the storm front was pretty close. I could feel the cooler air, hear the thunder, and see the lightening strikes. Fortunately I was about a mile from my parents house at that point so I detoured and headed there for shelter. I'm not a fan of running in the rain. Wet, soggy, squishy shoes are not fun to me. Plus, since I wear my iPhone on my arm for my Nike+ app and music I do not like taking chances of it dying due to water damage. I made it to my parents house with just getting sprinkled on and decided to wait it out. We checked the radar and the huge system didn't look like it would be going anywhere anytime soon. Bummer! I surrendered to the storm and had my Dad give me a ride back home. I was a little over 3 miles short for my long run having gotten in 8.9 miles before taking cover.

Run: 8.9 miles, 1 hour 22 mins, 9:12 min/mile pace, 66 degrees then stormy.

I did try out something new on my run today... a running skirt. This was one of the 'spring essentials' that I got on my shopping trip yesterday ; ) I didn't know how I would like this different piece of running wear, but since they seemed to be all the rage at the marathon last fall I wanted to give one a try. I am sold! I loved it. My main concern with it was that it would be flying up and annoying me during the entire run. Not so! I didn't have any issues with it blowing up during wind gusts or anything. I like that it has spandex shorts underneath, but hides the tightness of those under a cute skirt. Bottom line is this item is chafe-free and I love it. I like the Nike shorts too, but they tend to ride up and sometimes they can rub. The skirt combines the look of the shorts, but without the downfalls. I will definitely snatch more of these up when I catch them on sale!