Singing in the Rain

Yesterday I decided that I was going to try running on the footpath today.  All day of my very slow first day back at work I looked out the window at the wind and the rain.  Was I daunted?  No, I spent the day thinking that it was a great day to go outside.  So I skipped out of the office early at 4.30 and walked the few metres to the Terrace gym next door.  

This was just a tester to see how my ankle would cope with a run outdoors and I was a
bit unsure of my fitness levels (having not run much since injuring my ankle in November).  I told myself I would run to Freyberg and back, which wouldn't take me much more than 20 minutes.  The second I set out I was drenched.  Only one or two other runners were braving the elements, all wearing the same mad grin and exchanging the same smile of acknowledgement.  Around Te Papa I found myself at times having to run with my eyes closed as the rain blew horizontal needles into my face and threatened to rip out a contact lens.  However all too soon I was at Freyberg and turning around.  

If the outwards leg had been slightly wind assisted the return was war.  I'd been waiting for this 
all day and I was more than ready for the weather to bring it on. It was a bit of a battle to get 
back around to Frank Kitts, but from then on it was 
fairly sheltered and when I got back to Jervois Quay I had to be quite stern with myself 
not to keep going. I did, however, allow myself to run all the way back to the gym, even up 
the small incline of Woodward Street and the steps on the other side of the underpass. 
Unfortunately as I jaywalked (or jayran) the pedestrian lights adjacent to Midland Park I stepped in a 
huge puddle, which sent a tidalwave of water slashing over the legs of the people waiting 
on the footpath.  Oops.  

I know this was only a tiny run today, but it was mad fun.  I was also extremely happy with
how good it felt.  I had told myself to run slow, but I couldn't keep the speed down.  I set
myself a fairly fast pace and, because I was trying to keep my feet light to spare my ankle,
I was running with excellent form. Cardiovascularly this was also a very positive run.  If
missing consecutive days of cardio, combined with a bit of spin and the occasional Attack
class does this to my fitness levels then I'm going to have to seriously reconsider my training
programme!  

I will be honest and say that my ankle was a bit sore afterwards, but I iced it when I got home and it's feeling a lot better now.  I will have to see how it feels in the morning.  I'm not planning to run again until after my physio appointment on Thursday.