From the Pages of the Runners Book of What Not to Do

4 06 2009

I can still smile!

Yesterday I was a total rookie. I made almost every mistake a runner can make, and I should known better. First a little background. We have had almost two weeks of rain, for us in Colorado that is rare. We have not seen the sun (sorry Seattle) for what seems like months. Yesterday around 3pm the sky cleared a bit and I jumped on it. Packed myself, and Mia (dog), in the pickup and drove to the mountains. In what, a 10-minute time span, the sky had once again clouded up and looked pretty dark. I started running thinking I could beat any rain that might fall. 25 minutes into the run it looked bad and turned around. Just then all h**l broke loose; lightening, thunder, rain AND yes, hail. Did I mention Mia is terrified of thunder?

I would like to share the wisdom I gained yesterday:

1)   When running at almost 10,000 feet dress correctly, not cotton sweatpants and always have a hat in case of hail. As a matter of fact, if it looks like rain, reconsider your options!
2)   Don’t go running blindly into a stand of trees without looking up, you could run into giant branch and cause brain damage (or a huge bump on the head.)
3)   Try not to be the tallest object on a ridge in a lightening storm.
4)   Don’t wish for someone to drive by to rescue you because chances are they will just keep on driving. Doesn’t matter if you are being pelted by razor sharp hail and lightening bolts are dancing around your feet. Just be happy that people are friendly, they did wave as they passed you!
5)   Don’t drive on slippery, muddy roads in a front wheel drive pick-up.

We did make it back to the truck – alive, but Mia is still not speaking to me!

Three days to Steamboat!