Suck it up princess!

As I stepped outside this afternoon I was greeted by grey skies and torrential rain.  As I continued walking the rain turned to freezing rain, then ice pellets, as the drains began to overflow and the sidewalks became coated with an icy film.  Luckily, it was not windy and I had an umbrella, my hair remained dry but my orthotics were surfing in my sneakers.  A car drove by not long before I reached my destination, creating a wave of brown gutter water that spilled over the sidewalk and onto my lower extremities.  Just when I thought it could not get any worse, a second car drove by to repeat the whole experience.   This was not my run.  This was the walk to get to the point where I could start my run.  So, I arrived, soaking wet, to meet up with my running partner for a lovely afternoon run, praying that she would want to cancel.  No dice.  The run itself was not too bad, I was already wet, sure, my feet became colder, my orthotics floated a little more freely and the moisture finally penetrated both my underwear and my bra.  But, as seems to be my mantra of late, I did it.  I was not able to run the full 5k, I think we were closer to 3.5 or 4k when we started walking, but, the slushy ice on the sidewalks created enough resistance that I certainly felt the workout in my calves.  Thank goodness for running with a partner, otherwise, I would never have considered venturing out.  As we returned from our run it stopped raining, just in time for us to be thoroughly soaked.  

I came home and immediately stripped in our front hallway, ran an Epsom salt bath and laid in the warm water as I came to the realization that I was proud of myself today. 

Before I even left work to meet her I was two Advil deep in an effort to stop the pain pulsing from my bum.  I lost count halfway through the day, so have no idea how many trips I made to the bathroom, but know that it is two so far since coming home.  Had I not been running with someone else I doubt I would have gone, both because of my butt and because of the weather.  My friend definitely motivated me, but, I did not cancel when I had the choice  Instead, I self-medicated and armed myself with a panty-liner to try to avoid any unseemly accidents.  I think it is safe to say that running is teaching me a lot.  It is teaching me to suck it up princess (or Princess Poopy Pants as my husband likes to call me) and man up.  My initiation into the world of running is now complete; it appears as though I am no longer a fairweather runner.