I ran in the 45 degree rain this morning, starting about 8:30 in the morning.  I had originally intended to run with a group from work this morning at 8 am downtown, but the thunder, lightning, and downpours canceled that.  However, by 8am at the house, things had cleared up enough to go running.

There was still a steady rain when I started, which continued until about halfway through the run.  I overdressed slightly (I wouldn’t wear a mock turtleneck or long sleeve in 45’F weather, normally) to make up for the fact that I’d be soaking wet for most of the run.

My target pace for my easy/long runs has been 9’13”, but in planning today’s run I expected about a 9’30” pace, considering I already had 39 miles in 5 days, and this 16 mile run would make 55.  I started out a little fast, but slowed down as I had a couple of hills to climb around the 3rd mile.  In the tenth mile, a medium sized dog on a leash lunged and snarled at me, causing me to dodge and land awkwardly on the left leg, making me feel my SI joint injury from last August.  That was enough pain to get me fired up to stay under 9 minute miles the rest of the way.

At mile 15, I realized that I could hit a 9 minute pace for the entire run if I just ran that mile below an 8-minute pace.  There was plenty left in the tank to hit that time, and it felt good to be able to finish strong on my longest run in a while.