Thursday, September 29, 2011

Rainy Day Santa Cruz Run

About a month ago, Ed and I decided it would be fun to head over to Santa Cruz for a run. I needed to complete a 12 miler, so it seemed natural to do the 12 mile route I used to run all the time when I lived over the hill. 

We left the warm sunshine of San Jose (which had been a bit oppressive of late) and headed over the hill. 

When we arrived, we were greeted with this:

Now, as I sat in the car, looking at the drizzle going on outside, I wondered why we had decided that running here was better than San Jose. It looked cold outside, and I hadn't brought a jacket. To be honest, I slightly considered begging Ed to just drive us home, but knew that was incredibly silly. I used to love rainy runs!


So, off we went. I was cold for the first half mile, but once I got warmed up, I knew that the weather was perfect. It was a beautiful run, with crashing waves, 



bluff trails, and even a brief stop to check out a huge slab of rock off the bluffs that were full of sea lions. The miles flew by and before we knew it, we were back to the start, 12.58 miles later. 


It was one of my fastest paced long runs in years and it felt great. 


So, I know that next time I see rainy skies, my inclination shouldn't be to go back to bed, it should be to get outside and run.