Tuesday morning it rained so hard, I wondered if there would be a flash flood down the main street of town, which is kind of where I was when the deluge started. If I had been home, I would have stayed inside, but I had to get to my car. In the five feet from the strip mall walkway to my car door, water hit me by the bucket full. Inside, the car windows began to fog the moment I entered. Outside, it was a blizzard of rain. I wondered about my plans for a long run in an hour.
An hour later, blue was taking over the sky, but the ground was a land of lakes strewn with debris from the wild winds. The temperature was hovering around 60F, which is cold in the damp and warm in the sun. With cloud cover coming and going, I opted for keeping the core warm with running pants and a light-weight long sleeve shirt, but still running with bare feet.
With Kiwi in her usual pre-run, vertically inclined hysteria, I took off from home, thus starting on chip seal. The moisture meant that grit tended to stick to my feet more, making the first 1/8 mile unpleasant. The wet asphalt in the shade (our street has many large trees) has less definition, so it was harder to judge where the loose chunks were. I just ran a bit more slowly, looking forward to less challenging pavement on the other roads.
It seemed like the storm had left all the dogs’ nerves on edge. Kiwi was tense. Every fence with a dog behind it was barely containing the inmates. But Kiwi settled down after 1/4 mile and heeled like a good guard dog.
When the sun was out, the ground was so shiny in places as to be blinding. Fortunately, it was not like this everywhere. Thus, I was able to see enough to be careful of the flotsam and jetsam. No ducks to dodge, though. They seemed happy in the real ponds, until I snuck up on them as the course wound round Wilson Springs. (seen here last winter)
Some of the puddles had so much mud in them that I avoided them, since I couldn’t see what I might be stepping on. Other puddles were useful for a brief rinsing or to just sooth the stimulated soles. Smoother patches of wet asphalt proved a tad slippery. Although such spots can be fun on a dry run, more traction was desirable both to avoid falling and not unnecessarily torque the joints trying to maintain balance.
After a while, the moisture began steaming away. So tropical for semi-arid Idaho! Now, part of my course was on a cement sidewalk, which proved to have as much stuff swept onto it as the pavement. A goat-head burr tried to hitch hike on the outer side of one foot. It felt like a tiny prick with a sliver of glass, so I stopped to glance. I had to stop and flick off two more burrs over the course of the run. I have never had to deal with more than one burr on any previous runs, and not for very many runs, either!
I didn’t know there would be an early shift leaving the high school when I was running by there. The students were taking turns driving through a 20 foot wide pond in the street, creating a forceful spray across MY sidewalk. As I approached, I waved to get the attention of the next driver and yelled (although they probably couldn’t hear me) “Are you going to do that to me!?” They kindly refrained.
Rounding through another neighborhood, we were suddenly lunged at by a large, loose dog from just 10 feet away, apparently basking in the post-storm calm in it’s front yard. Kiwi lunged back and growl/barked, but without noticeably breaking her heel, so I wasn’t pulled or tripped. I gave out a bloody-murder yell of “NO!” that should have brought people running, but I never saw anyone. That seemed to be enough for this dog, bull-dog looking though it was, and we kept on our way.
Up the hill of the main highway, someone shrieked out the window at me. I have no idea what they said, but I’m sure they were proud of themselves…. A kinder driver paused to let me pass before he pulled out of a store parking lot.
Total mileage: 8.15 (+ or – 5% my husband says, due to slight inaccuracies of Google Earth) For 8 of it, I was completely barefoot. The Nampa Barefoot Lady strikes again!
