Come hail, rain or shine

I didn't expect the weather I got on my run today at all!
I left the house in 26 degree heat with an overcast sky. It was quite muggy but not unbearable... in fact, I actually thought the temperature was perfect. I chose to run a tough route (my first attempt at such a route which will become 'Mondays run') and I wore a vest and shorts and my new Kinsei 4 trainers straight out of the box. They felt really comfortable so I was looking forward to trying them out (although not looking forward to the hills).

I left the house and to be honest I felt a little bit tired. After about a mile the hills started. I managed the first one pretty well, and at the top of this (close to 2 miles) I heard a loud crack of thunder. Before I even had a chance to look up the heavens opened and a monsoon style downpour began. It was so heavy I was drenched from head to foot within seconds. The rain was dripping off my eyelashes and already my feet were squelching as I crossed the road to see hoards of people running for cover. Another hill started and as I began running up it I couldn't believe the rivers of water I was having to dodge. The hill (Elison Bank it is called) was so steep and my eyes were performing like dysfunctional window wipers... I literally could not see where I was going for the rain. I heard a couple of lads behind me swearing about how bad it was, and then the hail started. It was so painful when it hit me and I resorted to walking the last half of the hill.

The middle part of the run went by uneventfully, apart from watching the steam that rose from the roads as the rain stopped and the heat of the day evaporated the recent downpour. It actually looked like I was in a hot foreign country, as I can honestly say I have never seen that happen in England before.

The last hill was done on a run/walk basis as I was just totally knackered. I look forward to improving over time with this. The ascent was 413 feet and the downhill was 405 feet over 6 miles. So, good practice for the future!