Rainy runs

When you haven't done something in so long and you are finally reunited, every sensation and every moment is so much more intense. Separation makes you notice things you took for granted or didn't even notice before. Separation gives you an appreciation for the formerly unappreciated.

Running in the rain is something I adore. I've always adored it-- the bigger the puddles, the more torrential the downpour, the lighting. All of it I love. There is something so freeing and so raw about getting outside and letting Mother Nature have her way a bit. Not fighting it, but just going with it. The feeling during a rainy run when you ask yourself why you even wore a rain running jacket because it doesn't ever really work. Or when you finally stop avoiding the puddles and instead just run right through them soaking your socks and shoes that were already 90% soaked anyway. Or the feeling of rain pouring down the front of your hat and your face being a weird mix of rain and salty sweat. And then when you get home only to realize you are dripping like you just got out of the shower and start to immediately undress in your hallway, ringing out your running clothes before they are even acceptable to wash. Those were the parts of rain runs I remember. And they were so damn satisfying.

So, when I woke up today knowing I was going to set out on my 2nd outdoor run, I couldn't have been happier that it was raining. Bring. It. On. I set out without a watch or expectation. I just ran one of my favorite old running routes. It's a completely unspectacular route, nothing particularly special about it other than it weaves through my neighborhood in a very particular fashion up 1 way streets so I avoid the brick sidewalks, runs directly through South Boston and all its eclectic nature, and was often the scene of demanding weeknight 10+ milers in the dead, dark of winter in Boston. This was the route I ran when I wasn't running for glamour. I was running because running didn't need to be entertaining or have beautiful sights. The most unspectacular can be spectacular on foot.

I headed out pain-free and, unlike my first run a few days ago where I couldn't stop smiling, this run felt more natural. Focused or stoic likely would have been the words a stranger would have described me had they been asked. Internally screaming with joy, but outwardly just focusing on enjoying and noticing every single detail. And that is what I tried to do this 2nd run outside-- notice everything I had forgotten about. Notice things I never bothered noticing when I was healthy. Have a reunion with the rain and my run. Here are the top things I noticed:

1- Running the wrong way up a one-way street that is often never driven is one of the simplest, yet most powerful moves you can make. You literally feel like a force of nature and so powerfully connected with the road.

2- Running jackets are tricky. You often never get them quite right- you either have too many layers or not enough. It doesn't really protect you from anything, but maybe wind.

3- The feeling of rain dripping from the tip of your running hat is just one of my favorite feelings

4- Saying 'thank you" to your body is something I never did when I ran. I said thank you about 10x in the course of 30 minutes...thanking it for getting me here. Thanking it for letting me get back here. Thanking me for reuniting me.

5- There is a quite rhythm of your breathing when you run (especially me, who can't breath through her nose). It's not necessarily panting or wheezing. it's sounds like a calming noise machine or something. This is why I hate running with music, you tone out your own music.

6- There is a moment in a cold or rainy run when your nose ever so slightly starts to drip in a non-sick way...but in a way that signals something is going on with your breathing. I never bothered to notice it before.

7- There is a always a moment when you stop avoiding puddles and it is always about the moment where you realize your feet are already soaked so it doesn't matter. And then you ask yourself why you wasted so much energy running and jumping over them the first few miles.

8- Catching a glimpse of yourself running in a store window is one of the most powerful images I never bothered to look at before.

9- The sensation when heat builds up under your running jacket and you finally either open the zipper or lower the zipper is like letting hot air out of a balloon. It's such a rush of climate change.

10- There is a special appreciation for fellow runners out there on a rainy day. A relationship that never has to be formalized, but that is understood.

What a day. What a reunion and it just continues.