5 mile run in Florida on A1A by the beach. In thunderstorm and torrential rain!! Had the time of my life.
When I started, the ominous dark clouds had already started moving in. After I completed the first mile, the temperatures started dropping rapidly and the wind started howling. The clouds were coming from the northwest and rapidly started enveloping the sky and then the ocean.
The beach was a beautiful sight. The palm trees were in unison bent in the same direction as if to let the wind know which way to go. The beach goers were scrambling back the other way and dragging on the sand their children and belongings alike.
Within minutes, a loud cloudburst announced the arrival of sharp rain and occasional thunders. The road cleared out very quickly. Now that I had the whole road to myself, I did what every self respecting 46 year old would do.
I ran in the middle of the road, stepped on every single puddle that had formed (and if I missed any, I went back and stepped on it) and stuck my tongue out to taste the rain. At one point, I got a huge shout out from some spring breakers stuck in a second floor bar. I doffed my cap to them and discovered how great the sharp rain felt on my shaved head. I never put the cap back!!
Finally, I pulled up near the hotel after five miles, in front of a bunch of amused hotel guests waiting for their ride to come in the rain. Carefully I wrung out the water from the socks and cap on the side and walked in barefoot, totally drenched, water drops marking the way I walked with my shoes in my hand, casually like nothing had happened 🙂
There is a Starbucks in the hotel. Right now, it has a coffee cup with my name written all over it… 🙂