My last long run before Towpath on October 13 is tomorrow. I am planning to run 20 miles. I ran 18 last weekend. The only time I can do my long run tomorrow is between the hours of 7:00 AM and 12:00 noon. The problem is that the weather forecast for tomorrow looks terrible. There is a 70% chance of scattered thunderstorms tomorrow during that time. We have had a similar weather pattern today. Basically what it is doing is that it will be clear for a while, then torrential, sideways rain, thunder and lightening for a while, then clear again. I have a red line rule that I will not run when there is lightening in the area (house next door to us got struck by lightening when I was a kid and burned to the ground before my eyes. I don't mess with the stuff).
I will be very surprised if I am able to do the entire 20 without having to take cover at some point. My options are: try to reschedule the 20 (I don't really think I have enough time before the race to do this); cancel the 20 and rely on the 18 from last weekend to carry me through at Towpath; suck it up and run what I can, seeking shelter when necessary and heading back out when it clears back up; or do something shorter.
Obviously if I wake up tomorrow and the weather is clear, the 20 is a go. I am just trying to come up with a plan B if the weather is as lousy as it is forecast to be. What do you think?
70°
T-Storms
<dl><dt>FEELS LIKE: 70°</dt><dt>HUMIDITY:87%</dt><dt>PRECIP:70%</dt><dt>WIND:NNW at 4 mph</dt></dl>
<dl><dt>FEELS LIKE:70°</dt><dt>HUMIDITY:87%</dt><dt>PRECIP:60%</dt><dt>WIND:NNW at 5 mph</dt></dl>
71°
Scattered T-Storms
<dl><dt>FEELS LIKE:71°</dt><dt>HUMIDITY:84%</dt><dt>PRECIP:60%</dt><dt>WIND:NNW at 5 mph</dt></dl>
72°
<dl><dt>FEELS LIKE:72°</dt><dt>HUMIDITY:81%</dt><dt>PRECIP:50%</dt><dt>WIND:NW at 6 mph</dt></dl>
74°
<dl><dt>FEELS LIKE:74°</dt><dt>HUMIDITY:76%</dt><dt>PRECIP:50%</dt><dt>WIND:NNW at 6 mph</dt></dl>
76°
<dl><dt>FEELS LIKE:79°</dt><dt>HUMIDITY:71%</dt><dt>PRECIP:50%</dt><dt>WIND:NNW at 6 mph</dt></dl>
Upcoming:
July 27 - San Francisco marathon
I did a similar workout last year during the hurricane that was coming in. I did loops close to the house so that whenever I hear thunder I could seek shelter. I was fortunate to only get thunder during 1 mile and after 5 minutes of waiting, it stopped. I got wet (a lot) and it was windy, but it was one of the best runs I did then.
My suggestion is to do some loops from a shelter point and see how far you get. Unless you can reschedule for next week, I would go for it.
Damaris
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uʍop ǝpᴉsdn sǝʇᴉɹʍ ʇI
I am OCD to a fault when it comes to plans. If it was me, I would start at 4:00 and beat the weather. I have the same problem with heat and my kids' activities. Is that a Pfitz plan? Good luck to you.
No, it is a "made up, modified, this has historically worked for me" plan. I tend to start out marathon training cycles with a well-defined training plan and then change them up as I go along. I guess I must be with you on the OCD, because I actually was just looking at weather.com and thinking about the fact that at 3:00 AM, there is only a 15% chance of precipitation. But I am hesitant to run in full darkness - lots of critters out and about around here and they tend to be more active at night. I had a car stop me at 5:00 AM one time to warn me to turn around because there was a pack of coyotes on the sidewalk ahead of me. Probably nothing too dangerous, but it made me a bit skittish. Plus, it is pouring rain right now with thunder and lightening.
Wickedly Average
Watch the sky. Then decide. Dress for the run., If you only get in 10 before the storms, then you only get 10. You have an 18 miler under your belt so despite not having a 20 miler, you do have substantial mileage under your belt.
Myself, if the window of opportunity was only an hour or an hour and a half between storms, I'd up the pace and get a good workout of it regardless.
Tom (formerly known as PhotogTom)
5K - 25:16, 10K - 55:31, 15K - 1:20:55, HM - 1:54:54
Antipodean
I have a great park near me, which has a pancake flat 1.5 mile bike path around it and in the centre of the park is a pool with a gym. I once started outside and when the torrential rain began I went inside and paid to use their treadmill. It's enough of a novelty for me that I didn't mind running for over an hour on it.
Julie
"It's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."
~ Sir Edmund Hillary
Update - the bad weather wasn't as bad as forecast, and didn't come through at quite when forecast. So I didn't get interrupted, but I did get delayed starting out, which meant that my 20 turned into 16 because I ran out of time. But the 16 felt good and I only got slightly rained on.
I have done 2 long runs over the last 6 weeks in storms. My last marathon featured rain and snow at the end. My first half this year had ran and a 25 mph wind. Training in storms helps a lot on those days.
Yeah, I don't have a problem with running in weather. Unless it is dangerous. That was my concern here - there really was a lot of lightning associated with this storm. And the rain was torrential. I feel like I did the right thing today, because I got rained on, but avoided the really serious stuff.