A wet run - but no complaining!

Today I did my long run. Usually it's something I do on the weekend, but I just couldn't bring myself to confront what the weather website referred to as "freezing drizzle". Truthfully the temperature was much warmer then many days I've ran through the winter, but I'm just plain done with winter. The weather today was warming up and I planned to take advantage of it.

My husband is fabulous, and came home a bit early so I had time. Plus, it's light late enough now to make evening runs a very real possibility. I got dressed (a bit overdressed really), put my garmin on, and hit the trails.

On the plan for today was 16 km (10mi). I started off with the easy paved section by my house. There's about one km of gradual uphill, but then it's the gradual down. I really enjoy it as my warm up section. Plus, it's along the river and at the end of the path I get a view of the mountains. A lovely reward. I did that little section, then up a big hill. Then on to the sections of path that are red shale, rather then asphalt...

Splish splash! Almost immediately, I stepped into what I thought was snow but was really very wet slush. Within seconds, my feet were soaked. I kept running, but started stepping a little more carefully. It really made no difference though. Every dozen steps or so, I'd hit a big puddle and soak myself again.

I carried on, did a section with sidewalk and then back to a section of Cochrane's pathways. SO wet and snowy and slushy. Even worse then the first area. My feet had just started to feel less water-logged and I soaked them again. I carried on for a bit until I reached a point where I could detour to a sidewalk.

I finished my run on the sidewalks, up and down a few hills, in the sunshine and warm weather. My jacket was tied around my waist; it was way to warm to actually wear it. Truthfully, I think I could have been running in shorts rather then the tights I had on.

This run was a struggle. It's been a few weeks since I've gotten my long run in and it was starting to worry me. Between sicknesses and my race, I'd missed a few. This run was a good reminder of what it feels like to run those distances. After a while I get into a rhythm, but even so, there are days where I have to push myself to keep going.

Despite the struggle though, this was my "welcome spring!" run. It felt great, and I'm happy to lose the gloves, toques and face masks.

The wetness wasn't great for my feet though. I have a couple little blisters that I don't usually get with that choice of sock. They aren't that bad, so I'm sure they'll clear up quickly - this time. What do you do to avoid blisters when your feet are wet during the run?