Outside beckoned. I obliged.

This afternoon I had absolutely no INTENTION or MOTIVATION to run. None, whatsoever. It wasn't the rain--that doesn't usually stop me.

It was the crushing fatigue that had clouded my daily existence over that past week. That's what it was.

Here is a a brief summary of my week:

• Saturday's Georgia Jewel 35 Miler, which went excellently.

• Driving home on Sunday morning--I actually stopped at Dick's Creek Gap along the Appalachian Trail for a short hike to get the blood moving in my tired and sore legs. 

• A rehearsal for Monday's presentation on Sunday evening, and then a marathon (pun-intended) of a week:

• Monday-up at 4:30 am for an international phone interview, then class preparations, then wake up kid, then work, then meeting with parent, then XC practice, then duty in the dorms until 11:30pm.

• Tuesday-Friday: Up at 5am everyday--more meetings, more phone interviews, more writing, more XC practices and meets, a concert (the reason why Someone Like You by Adele was in my head for three hours during the GJ35 last weekend), parent meetings, and finally an injured and sick kid who needed to be transported and catered to..."Mommy, can you make me some tea and popcorn? And can you rub my feet? And can we cuddle?...."

Rabun County is the wettest county in Georgia. It's part of the world's only
temperate rain forest. Sometimes while out on the trails, I pretend I'm in the
Costa Rican jungle. A girl can dream...

Also *sigh*, I lost my wedding band on Thursday afternoon. It flew off my finger as I was flinging plastic bottles into the recycling container at our town garbage dump. It left me emotionally exhausted, stunned, and also a bit tickled that I hadn't even noticed how much thinner my fingers had gotten over the past few months. Who knew?

Gear: Patagonia Houdini Rain Jacket*, TNF Capris,
Feetures Socks, Nike Long Sleeved Tech Shirt,
Panache Sports Bra, Brooks Pure Grit Trail Shoes,

Fast forward to today. Woke up to a relentless, cold rain and wet everything thanks to the effects of Hurricane Joaquín on the Eastern Seaboard. (My Pearl Izumi Trail M2s have not even dried yet from last weeks race! That is how wet it is in Rabun County!)  I had slept for an entire 11 hours--9:30pm-8:30am, and hadn't even been able to finish my ritual Friday night glass of Malbec. (Yep, I'm snooty like that...) Anyways, sleeping for 11 hours straight is definitely not my norm so it meant only one thing. My body NEEDED it desperately.

I kept looking outside and sighing. There was NO way I was going to run. Too dark, too gloomy, too Hurricane-y and I'M TOO EXHAUSTED.

But then magically, after coming home from grocery shopping--tired and soggy, and mad at myself for forgetting to buy my weekly bottle of Malbec before the STUPID no-alcohol sales on SUNDAYS rule was in effect, I looked outside, and outside beckoned me to join the rain party. 

I knew what it was. I wanted to see what it would feel like to be out there TODAY when no one else was. My body wanted to move in the outdoors, unencumbered by thoughts of what-do-I-have-today-tomorrow-and-forever. It wanted to pound the pavement, since it had been four whole days since the last outside party.

My body knew intrinsically that, if it was going to deal with the fatigue, it was going to have to run first.

So I did. It wasn't easy. In fact, the first half mile was downright miserable, my legs were still tired from GJ35. But once the body warmed up, the rain and the cold breeze were no longer an issue and it was pretty smooth sailing in the turbulent sea of Joaquín inspired rain.

If I hadn't run, I would have missed inhaling the woodsmoke coming from a small country house about halfway through my run. I stopped and smelled, listening to the rain pelting on trees just about to go dormant for the winter, turned around and ran home. 



*If you have a butt or a tummy, buy the next size up in this jacket. You will not be disappointed.