it's April???

Well, here it is the 2nd of April and typical to Seattle we had snow yesterday!!! And then a lot of rain today. Eek. My running buddies of recent days decided to stay inside where it was warmer and drier- but not I! I headed outside for a gentle six mile run amidst a complete downpour. Stretching in the rain waiting for my Garmin to sync up to the satellites I wondered if it was a good idea. It turned out to be a GREAT idea. Just over two miles in, I turned and was facing the rush hour traffic that was just sitting waiting for lights to change and I started laughing. Out loud. Very loudly. I couldn’t contain my giggles! Does this happen to anyone else ever? Random rain laughter? I hope it does, it’s one of the best feelings you could get during a run!

Anyway, I've been having pretty good runs lately. Or at least good company while running. Minor, Jacque, Chris and I have been together pretty regularly. A week or so ago I took them on a very wet and muddy four mile run and I thought they would kill me. Jacque is such a good sport that we dropped off the guys at work and she continued for a couple more miles with me. I feel like my friendships with Minor and Jacque are a bit different then they would be if we didn't get a chance to run together. Sometimes we all run in silence, each hurting and lost in our own thoughts. Other days we seem energized and are talking over eachother, joking and jumping in front of eachother. It's amazing how easy it is to talk though. The words just come out and they seem a lot more honest and heartfelt.

For someone who loves to run alone with her own thoughts, this is definitely a change of pace. But very welcomed.

On the other hand, I hurt. I hope it's just shin splints. That's a weird thing to hope for- shin splints, but it's better than the alternative. Stress fractures. I've dealt with both more than once. Tibial stress fractures is something that gives me nightmares and strikes fear into my core at the slightest uncomfortable twinge. I then start to worry- probably over nothing. But, in 2006 I was finally 'diagnosed' with a tibial stress on a Thursday. I was flying to CA the next day to run my first marathon. Except I didn't. I was crushed. It's a really hard to remember that week. But, I definitely use myself as an example for my buddies who are training too hard.