Cool Healing Rain

It's been raining for nearly 24 hours straight. That is unusual for us. It doesn't look like it will let up anytime soon. I've been a drowned rat all day. Went out for 15 miles this morning and it felt great! Best run I've had in a long time. I like running in the rain when the temperatures are warm. It was about 60 degrees and that was perfect. I was asking for rain because I know Cleveland can be rainy, and I want to get used to it, but 40 degrees and raining is another story.

The garden I going crazy, every day we've had piles of raspberries and black raspberries to pick.

After taking it easy for a few weeks around Badwater, I think my body has finally figured out that it's okay to run. I did 15 Monday, 20 Tuesday on hills at Horsetooth, and another 15 today. My right hip and left hamstring were starting to bother me last night. I was starting to have doubts about all of my training.

I had a couple of interesting experiences the past two days. Tuesday morning I was running hills at Horsetooth with Emma, and we were headed up the big hill behind the A, and I just happened to hear a hissing sound. I looked down and jumped about two feet in the air. There was a HUGE snake, about a foot away from my ankle, in the gravel, just of the shoulder, under the guard rail. Emma was right behind me.

We both freaked out for a second while the snake decided what it wanted to do, and it slithered away. Then we were both practically climbing over the guard rail to get a good look at the snake. It was a bull snake, no rattle, stripes on the tail. I thought the head looked triangular when I saw it with it's mouth open. It was semi-coiled- or whatever bull snakes do- sort of cobra-like, standing up. But it's mouth was open and then it took off. It was about 4 feet long and very thick. By the time I could dig for my camera, it was gone.

Then today I was in Safeway shopping for long run supplies, namely, peanut butter and jelly, and vitamin water zero, and suddenly big chunks of the roof started caving in, in the bread section. A big piece of the ceiling fell down on the floor about 10 feet away from me. There were orange buckets out all over the store, apparently there was hail damage to the roof a few weeks ago and then when we got this heavy rainstorm, it was the last straw.

The rain feels so good though. I wish we had weather like this more often in the summer. It feels so clean. This morning when I woke up I felt a pop in my right hip, and then on my run today the hip flexor and hamstring issue that I've been dealing with seemed to be gone. I think I was just out of alignment. I'm planning a long run either Friday or Saturday, depending on how my body feels tomorrow, and getting everything done this week. I would like it if it rained the whole time.

The hot flashes have continued. They're annoying, but they pass quickly. It sucks when it happens when you're in a meeting or talking to someone in close range and they see the beads of sweat forming on your forehead and upper lip. Or dripping down your chest and elbows. I'm hoping this means I'm really done, I have officially, finally hit menopause, no more surprises on race morning, I can sell the unused box of tampons off on e-Bay, and so on...but they say you're not officially there until it's been a full year since the last surprise. I still have a few months to go before that year passes. Please, don't hit me at NorthCoast...