SQUISHESTHESIA

Why does it always rain on me?

Is it because I lied when I was seventeen?

Why does it always rain on me?

Even when the sun is shining

I can’t avoid the lightning…

That’s from a catchy song by the group Travis, and somewhat fitting for me today.  It’s been raining in Calgary for a week I think; it’s been so long that I forget when it all started.

On the day that had the break from rain I was unable to run.  So today I decided to just go out and do it.  I’ve been pelted with snow and sleet during runs before and this wouldn’t be as bad.  I waffled between a neighbourhood or park run, and opted for the park.  The river was far enough away from the pathway that I couldn’t foresee any flooding.

Spring is my favorite season because I love to see the environment greening up.  This was really evident in the park today from all the rain we've been having.  Colours everywhere are accentuated on overcast days.  A Red-Winged Black Bird swooped down and flew in front of me.  Everything about it was so vivid.  All Along The Watchtower (Jimi's version) was playing on my mp3 player.  Things were good.

No less than 2 km into the run I came upon a huge, swirling mass of water covering a dip at an intersection in the pathway.  I detoured onto another route, jumping through some brush on my way there.  Things were much wetter than I had anticipated.  My right shoe got halfway soaked.  I continued along this pathway, crossed over a bridge and looked at the angry, muddy water gushing beneath it.  A week of steady rain was starting to flood parts of the park.  I should have realized this fact earlier.

Ahead I could see a steady torrent of water flowing over the pathway.  Great, I thought. I didn’t want to turn around, and I was pretty sure things would be fine further on.  Since I was already wet, and wearing my old pair of Asics, I splashed through the deep water and continued on my way towards a barricade.  There was no barricade on the other side where I came from.  I must have been going against normal traffic routes.  I passed a group of giggling, wet teenagers.  They were unaware of what was up ahead for them.  They would probably think I was nuts seeing as I had just come from the other direction looking like nothing had happened.  There were a couple of other runners in the park.  One fellow was on the road, another route I hadn’t thought of in time.  There were also a few people out for walks, some with human companions and some with canine ones.

I decided to make my way out of the park and take the second half of the run back through the neighbourhood.  I love getting freebies at races.  In the last race I was in, on New Year’s Eve, every participant received a hat and a jacket.  The jacket is a nice, lightweight shell and it fits better than my other running jacket.  But as I started running back toward my home in the neighbourhood, I realized that the shell was not waterproof.  I started feeling pretty clammy.  At least the hat was keeping the rain out of my eyes.  As well on the plus side, the annoying stitch in my diaphragm was finally gone.

During the final km of my run I was soaked to the bone.  The whole situation was ridiculously annoying.  How many mistakes could I possibly make these days?  If I wrote a proper training log it would read like a comedy of errors.  What can I say except live and learn.  I often learn things the hard way it seems.  I guess I’m a hands-on person -- I bumble on .