I lay in bed this morning looking at the sunshine through the skylight, trying to cajole myself into getting up for my five mile run. When i eventually managed it, this is what greeted me outside the front door.
Gah! Where did the sun go?? Not to worry, I quite like running in the rain, and anyway, I was more excited about trying out my new heart rate monitor than worrying about the weather. I’m not much of a one for fancy gadgets, but now and then something simple can add a huge amount to my enthusiasm. My trusty pedometer has been one suh buy – at £17 it wasn’t cheap, but it’s reliable and makes me walk far more than I would without it. I’m hoping the heart rate monitor will have a similar effect. It’s a cheap model and doesn’t do anything fancy, but it does beep at me if I go too fast (or sit down for a rest). I’m hoping it will make my running more consistent, stopping me from working too hard and overdoing it (unlikely), or taking thigs a bit too easy (yep, much more like me). Anyway, after a mile or so of this morning’s run I was soaked, cold and quite grumpy. My lovely view was obscured by greyness, and freezing rain was driving into my face.
(I got told off by the heart rate monitor for stopping to take photos. I ignored it). After two miles I hit a lovely mile-long downhill stretch. I walked up this last week and it took about 20 minutes – this week I was down in less than ten.
As I got to the bottom, the rain set in with even more force, but at that point I turned towards home and the wind was behind me, so at least my face didn’t feel like an ice cube any more. Normally I enjoy running in the rain but today I think the injustice of it after the earlier sunshine just made me cross. I’m sure there’s a lesson in there somewhere about getting up while it’s still sunny… Finally the sun came out a little, and I was rewarded for all my grumpy swearing (and hard work) with a rainbow.
Of course, now I’m home and showered, there’s not a cloud in the sky. But I’m staying inside for the rest of the day, just in case.
a cheerful living adventure 
Ooh I think you could have run to the end of that rainbow and looked for the pot of gold! Maybe it’s still there, just in front of those trees…!
Tee hee, I was far too tired and grumpy to go chasing rainbows by that stage!