Inspired by Facebook

I wasn't planning on running yesterday. I even planned to flake a day in advance, emailing Cindy, my Wednesday morning running partner, as the rain got heavier and the forecast called for lightning and thunderstorms, writing that I was going to bail.

I sat in my office all day, watching it come down, not really wanting to work, already checking out for Christmas vacation, pulling out an umbrella every couple of hours to take my dog out to pee, catching up on blogs and Facebook, scouting out some local races that I might want to do next year, and basically being a lazy sack. After a whole day of this I felt heavy, my head was cloudy and I had the kind of headache you get when you watch all three football games on Sunday, leaving the couch for more chips and beer and the occasional trip to the bathroom. I needed to get outside, and I decided to wait for a break, a window of blue sky, a pause in the incessant rain, the rain that had been falling nonstop for three days, flooding San Diego, closing roads, washing out whole hillsides, and forcing the train to shut down. There was no pause, and I sat at my computer as the light started to fade on one of the shortest days of the year, wasting the last part of my working day browsing Facebook, when this popped up from one of my friends...

I really should get out, I thought, get bundled up and go for a short walk, just to clear the clouds in my head. Then this...

It's like she added the parentheses just for me. Screw it, I was going out in the storm and I was going to run. I grabbed a hat, a long sleeve and some still wet and muddy trail shoes, and headed for Double Peak.

The run was difficult, but I felt better than I thought I would. As I pushed up the climb to Double Peak, a carload of boys drove by, staring at me and making faces like I had escaped from somewhere. When I got to the top, I put my hands on my knees, caught my breath, then took in the view, it was starting to clear and between the low-lying pregnant grey clouds and through the mist, I could see the ocean and the rain-soaked green hills. The wind was blowing hard and the rain was starting again, plus being at the highest point in North County during a thunderstorm probably wasn't the ideal situation, so I headed down. Taking one of my favorite trails down, half running, half sliding, coming home with my legs covered in mud and a bleeding ankle that I didn't notice until I was home, warm, eating a slice of homemade chocolate marble bread with chocolate ganache.