It Wasn't a Tornado

Photo courtesy of NSSL

Yesterday, hungry and exhausted after a long day of homeschooling, considering going out to dinner, we instead decided to head out to the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner.  The weather forecast was calling for severe thunder storms, but I figured that, one, the storm would not hit (it wouldn't have been the first time the forecast was wrong) or, two, that we could stay ahead of the weather, go to the store, and come back before the storm hit.

At the store it seemed like my plan was working.  It was looking like the storm was either not going to come or that we would be done shopping and back home before it struck.  Then, all of a sudden, as we were almost done at the checkout register, we saw the sky turn completely black on one side of the parking lot, while the sky was still blue in the other side, it started to rain heavily, and the wind started to blow very hard. And just as quickly as it had started, the storm stopped, the sky cleared, and the wind died down.  It was quite eerie.

We quickly loaded the groceries into the car and drove home while listening to the news reports on the car radio about a tornado warning right where we were.  We really didn't see anything strange until we were about a block from our house and found a tree that was partially blocking the road.  The neighbors were out moving the tree from the road, so I decided to turn in the other direction, and that's when we came across this tree.

Obviously, I wasn't going to get through that way, so I had to turn around and go the other way, where the neighbors were clearing the road.

Here are a few of the trees that were destroyed in our street.

And then, we have our beautiful linden tree, may it rest in peace.

 Here's another view showing how it was damaged beyond repair.

We couldn't save the tree, so we had it cut down.

This is all that's left of our tree.

We also lost some shingles off the roof, and limbs from some of the other trees in the yard.  Thankfully, that was all the damage we had.  One good thing that happened was that a toy the children had thrown on the roof and that had been stuck there for quite some time, was blown off the roof all in one piece.

Well, apparently, we had a few small tornadoes hit our area last night, and the weather service is calling for more severe weather tonight and tomorrow.

Forty Days & Forty Nights of Rain



Source: www.wunderground.com


Well, actually it's been more like forty-two days of rain. How do I know?  Well, since I haven't been able to go outside and work in my garden, I have used my time to check the rainfall we've gotten since March.  I even crosschecked our statistics against the most notoriously, rainy city in the United States: Seattle, WA; and what I found out wasn't pretty.  We actually have gotten more rainfall between March and today than Seattle, WA has gotten during the same time period.

As a gardener, I can appreciate the importance of getting enough rain to help the plants in the garden grow; however, as a gardener I also would like a few nice, non-rainy days in which to work the soil and do some planting.  The last frost date in our area is officially here; but where-o-where is the last drenching-rainfall date?

This past weekend, I spent a day shopping for my vegetable and herb plants in anticipation of the last frost date.  I brought home a nice little collection of baby plants that were excited to arrive at their new home, but they've been spending their time still in their little pots, waiting to put down roots.

Aren't they cute?

They want to be in the garden

Last week, on a rare, non-rainy day, I was able to check things out in the garden and found some growing activity.

Lettuce

Radishes

Carrots

I even found that some of the herbs from last year had made it through the winter.

Tarragon

Oregano

Chives

Additionally, the onions I planted last month seem to be doing well, and I'm sure that after all the rain we've gotten, the potatoes are probably doing well too, but I won't know for sure until I can get out there to check.

Onions

Hopefully the rain will stop soon.  On the bright side, I planted some grass seeds in a few bare muddy spots in our yard, and with all the rain we've gotten, the grass seedlings will be growing rather nicely, I'm sure.

Completing My First 26.2 Miles

I did it, I actually did it, I finished a full marathon, all 26.2 miles of it. And after getting over forgetting about the pain, and after getting a great massage, and after a few margaritas, I can say (with confidence) that it was a great experience, a humbling experience, an experience that I will never forget—instead of the pain part, I obviously forgot that part.  I say this because, although, it hasn't yet been a week since the marathon, I'm already making plans for my next marathon.  I blame it on the endorphins, and on that massage.

So how did it go?  Well, the weather leading up to the marathon had been pretty awful: constant rain with no chance of dry weather. Being a nervous wreck during the ten days leading up to the marathon, I spent a lot of my time checking the weather on every imaginable weather web page I could find, looking for updates every thirty minutes, trying a different web page, hoping for a better forecast, but the forecast was always the same: scattered thunderstorms. Therefore, instead of hoping for fair weather, I started to pray for not-so-bad weather.  A steady, light rain would be fine or even just rain without thunder and lightning. Yes, as long as there was no thunder or lighting, I would be happy.

Convinced that I would not let the weather get the best of me, I packed for every possible weather scenario.  In addition to the regular running attire I had planned to wear, I packed a disposable rain poncho; a trash bag; a jacket which I planned to discard during the race; and a lightweight, water-resistant, running jacket that folded into its own little pouch, and which fit nicely into my running belt.

 

The morning of the race, our Team in Training (TNT) group assembled in the hotel lobby so we could take a group photo and walk over to the start line together.  Once the photographs were taken, and everyone was ready to go, we began to walk over to the start line. 

And, unfortunately, my weather readiness was not disappointed.  The moment we arrived at the start line, the temperature went down by about ten degrees and it began to rain, but, no problem, I had my poncho and jacket. The start line was jam-packed; it was hard to move into position.  Supposedly, they had set-up starting corrals, but I never really saw them.  I just saw a bunch of porta potties and spectators blocking the way and not letting the runners get through to the start line.  I’m not really sure how we did it, but somehow we pushed our way to the start line, and ended up in position one minute before the gun went off. (You'll have to excuse the blurriness of some of these pictures.  It's hard to take pictures while running)

 

And we were off—theoretically.  At this point, my heart was probably moving faster than my legs, since it took about ten minutes for us to actually cross the official start line, after which I started to run slowly jog, and strangely enough passed quite a lot of people.  In a way it was a bit of a morale boost, but, in a way, dodging walkers and discarded clothing items as if on an obstacle course got old pretty quickly.  After finally making it through that obstacle course, we started to run on a bridge, but I actually hadn’t registered the fact that we were on a bridge, and began to feel lightheaded  (no doubt because I hadn’t had any sleep the night before), and I started to worry that I might pass out, until I overhead someone talking to her friend saying, “Can you feel that?  The bridge is shaking!”  It sure was a relief to realize that I wasn’t going to pass out any time soon.  

 

Soon, I took off the poncho, even though it was still raining.  It just was too hard to run with that poncho on, and, anyways, it really wasn't doing much to keep me dry at this point. Next, I took off my throw-away jacket, and was considering actually throwing it by the side of the road, but could not let go of the jacket.  Some invisible force kept that jacket permanently attached to my hand.  I was going to drop it off at the next water stop, no, the next one, no, the next one.  I kept this up until I just told myself that I would hold on to the jacket until I got to about mile six where Hubby was going to be.  Mile three passed, mile four, mile five.  Then I heard two familiar voices shout out, “Nicole!”  I looked over and saw my friends Holly and Susy. I was screaming. I was jumping up and down. Then I looked farther down and saw Hubby standing there taking pictures.  To say that, that moment was the highlight of the race, would be an understatement.

 

Unless you count being serenaded by Elvis.

Or seeing Big Foot holding a sign which read, “Run, Human, Run.”

Or this guy, huh?

 

And then, just as I was starting to question my ability to finish the marathon, I see this guy:

It was around that time when my legs cramped up, and I stopped.  I think I hit the wall, well that’s what I thought it was.  I mean, my legs cramped up and wouldn’t move, doesn’t that sound like the wall?  My legs hurt really, really badly.  I gave birth to a baby without pain killers, and still didn’t remember that kind of pain.  It was so bad, I started to use my Lamaze breathing techniques, which freaked out some of the runners because everyone (yes, I actually do mean everyone) that was passing me at this point stopped for a moment to ask me if I was okay.  

Finally, one of the TNT coaches showed up around this point and asked me how I was doing.  I told him that I was just fine, but that my legs hurt really, really badly and that I thought I had just hit the wall because my legs wouldn't move and isn't this what hitting the wall meant? He just told me that I was crazy for thinking I could run a marathon needed to drink more water, and eat a few more energy gels.  Fortunately, they were handing out energy gels at this point of the race, and I started to stock up on them.  By the end of the race, I’m sure that I had consumed at least eight packages of energy gels, twice the number that I had packed for the race.

Pretty soon, I started to feel better, so the coach abandoned me ran back to check on the other team members.  Waddling along bowlegged, taking my time like it was a simple Sunday stroll, I mentally clawed my way to the finish line, when all of a sudden I looked behind me and saw Kim, another TNT member.  We greeted each other, she continued on, and not too long after that, I got my second wind and started to run. It was a miracle!  My legs started to work again.  Before I knew it, I was at mile 25.5 and Susy and Holly were standing there cheering me on again and giving me another boost, which helped me get to the finish line.

I earned this medal, and I also earned the sticker: the 26.2 sticker.  Now my 13.1 sticker doesn't have to hang out on my minivan all by its lonesome self.

The runner girl accomplishes her goal, runs her first marathon, crosses the finish line, sets a personal record of 5:25:11, THE END...

Coming soon, to a race nearby, an amnesiac runner girl decides to conquer what she had always thought she wanted to do: run her first marathon race.

Yes, I already signed up for my next race. I think that it's official, I have lost my mind.

Running in the Rain is Fun

I know this much about racing in the rain.  I know it is about balance.  It is about anticipation and patience…about the mind!— Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain) 

Running in the rain is lots of fun!  That’s what I told myself for days before my last long run.  The weather forecast was calling for heavy rain that day and I was not looking forward to running fourteen miles in heavy rain.  Those that know me well, know that I’m the biggest inclement weather wimp.  If it’s snowing, raining or below 60 degrees, I don’t like being outside. 

 

“Honey, can you drop me off by the door, please?” I whine, if there is any moisture in the air.  

So when I announced to everyone that I would be running fourteen miles in the rain, they were concerned that maybe I had hit my head and was suffering from amnesia.  Did I forget who I was? Running fourteen miles was crazy enough but running it in the rain was insanity. And by the way, did I forget that I might just melt in the rain?  Like I said, I’m the biggest weather wimp.  

The greatest pleasure in life, is doing the things people say we cannot do.—Walter Bagehot

Why would I even consider running fourteen miles in the rain?  First off, I tried to convince myself that it would be better than running fourteen miles on a treadmill.  Then there’s also the fact that I’m training for a marathon.  Yes, I’m insane, I know.  I also need to train in various conditions so I can be ready to deal with whatever conditions I might come across on race day, and since the race takes place in the beginning of May, it may be really hot or raining or snowing or bitterly cold or pleasant and sunny. I’m betting on pleasant and sunny.  Let’s hope I’m right.

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.—Benjamin Franklin

Back to the fourteen mile run in the rain.  I told myself it would be fun.  I told myself it would be fun.  I told myself it would be fun.  Then I started to think that maybe I should make it fun.  I did some research on the Internet and found out that running in the rain is common runner behavior. Yup, if you call yourself a runner, you run in the rain.  I call myself a runner, so I should run in the rain. I also found out that people from Seattle didn’t realize that there was any other kind of running.  That puts things in perspective.

I kept looking for practical tips for running in the rain, for example, should I wear a rain coat, galoshes, and carry an umbrella?   How does one run with an umbrella?  Do I still have to drink water in the rain?  How do you drink water in the rain?  I kept picturing Sponge Bob Square Pants drinking a glass of water underwater. But, everywhere I looked I found out that runners just run in their regular running attire, they don’t carry umbrellas, they don’t wear rain boots, they drink water, and they just get wet.  GASP!  I would get wet? 

This will be fun, this will be fun, this will be fun…How will I make running in the rain fun?

“I’m singing in the rain, just singing in the rain.  What a wonderful feeling, I’m happy again.”

I thought about that.  Singing in the rain would be fun, but it just wouldn’t be the same without an umbrella.  But, how about running with my camera?  I could try to take pictures while running in the rain.  Now, I truly was looking forward to running in the rain. 

This will be fun, this will be fun, this will be fun…Now I knew how I would make running in the rain fun.

The day of the run came and I was psyched.  I was actually looking forward to this.  I was going to run in the rain!  I wore a long sleeved running shirt made from a wicking material, a pair of compression running tights, a water repellent jacket with a breathable fabric, waterproof pants on top of the tights, Smart Wool socks, my old pair of running shoes, a cap with a brim to keep the water off my face, a running belt with water bottles and Gu gels, a reflective vest, and my camera in my hand.  Maybe I was a bit over dressed but it was the only way I could talk myself into going through with the run.

That morning I met my Team in Training group for our run.  We all warmed up and set out.  Then I went the wrong way, got lost in the rain, the end.

Actually, I didn’t technically get lost during the run.  What happened was that since it was raining I wasn’t able to keep checking the piece of paper that had my directions for the route.  I just followed the person that was ahead of me thinking that they were running the same route I was.  That was a mistake.  Not everyone on the Team was running the same route.  Some of us were running fourteen miles while others were running a shorter route.

What this meant was that, in order to get to fourteen miles, I had to backtrack to make up for the missed miles.  It also meant that I ended up running by myself.  That’s okay, I had my camera to keep me company and I actually finished my fourteen miles in the rain.  That definitely counts for something.

And I DID get wet!

At the end, I was soaked all the way through; even though, I was wearing a water resistant jacket and (supposedly) waterproof pants.  My shoes were not just wet, they were waterlogged.  I had read somewhere that stuffing newspapers in wet running shoes would help them dry out; therefore, I stuffed my shoes with newspapers when I got home.  Two days later the shoes were completely dry. Tip of the day: newspapers.

Running in the rain is fun.  By the way, I didn’t melt.  I found out that I was actually waterproof. Who would’ve thunk?