Foul Weather Training, Holiday Racing and Much Needed Rain

I'm sure if I looked back at last year's notes I would see that there was plenty of foul weather training then as well but it sure seems as though there has been a lot more this year. I haven't been able to run along my usual irrigation canal routes because they are so thick with mud it's almost impossible to clean shoes between runs. I've done most of my training on the roads and even that has been somewhat retsricted because of dogs that are sketchy at best. As a matter of fact I finally had a dog encounter that was to up close and personal during one of those runs and it was in an area with four rotweilers that have never bothered me. Here is a picture of the aftermath of the encounter. Fortunately just a scratch and not a bite.

Despite the bad weather and dogs I have managed to keep my training pretty much where it usual is mileage wise. The whole goal is to stay in shape enough to be able to continue participating in races. When it rained to bad and there was no chance of getting outside for a run I was fortunate enough to have the indoor horse arena to run in. It is approximately 16 laps to the mile but I just run for time so don't bother counting laps except once in a while to get a sense of how far I am running. You can see in the one picture that I had to wear mud boots just to get from the house to the arena before putting on running shoes.

Here are some additional pictures showing how wet it has been (and we need every drop) on some of the days that I have been able to get outside on the roads.

And here is a good picture of the canal that I usually run on.

In addition to the rain the fog has been around a lot and creates its own challenges for working out. 

While the weather has sometimes made for some cold and wet running I have been fortunate when it comes to racing. I have only run in one race when it was cold and rainy and the weather was perfect for the event because for the second year in a row it was a poorly run event. The weather was just the exclamation point. That race was the Turlock Turkey Trot. Amazingly it was the 40th annual. I say amazingly because I was told that the same guy has been race director for over twenty years; you would think he could get it right in that amount of time. Probably won't put that one on my schedule next year. Last year I thought might be an anomaly so I gave it another shot this year. Two for two says no anomaly and there are too many other races to run. And that's not blaming him for the rain.

I ran another repeat race from last year on Thanksgiving Day, the Modesto Turkey Trot. It was followed by a first time race for me, the Hot Cocoa 5k in Patterson, I have been wanting to run a race in Patterson. Then I ran another repeat race, The Spirit of Giving 5k in Modesto, a well run, well attended, fun event.

My final race of 2014 was actually two races in the same day. Bob Anderson the founder of Runner's World magazine started what he calls; "Double Racing: Running with a Halftime". I chose to run the 8k that consisted of a 5k followed by a break, followed by a 3k. The whole event was fun and created quite a remarkable festival atmosphere. The 15 k is the "headline" event so they gave 5 year age group awards in it. The 8k gave 10 year age group awards and I finished 4th in the 60-69. Had they given 65-69 I would have won my division. No big deal it was a fun event that I will definitely do more of in 2015.

Besides the fog and the much needed rain the weather has brought us some incredible sunrises and sunsets. I feel truly Blessed to be able to see them and enjoy them.

And this is one of the trees in our backyard the day we had probably our worst weather with rain and strong wind. I was glad that I had just cut down some large broken limbs or Mother Nature would probably have taken care of it for me.

A lot of natural beauty the past month or so from what would be considered less than ideal conditions from many people.