My recovery vacation is coming to a close. *sigh*

I had one last mountain to get to. Day Creek. It’s close. It’s challenging. It has views. It has options.

Woke up at 5:30. AM. To rain. Just so much rain. Just relentless, cold, heavy rain.

I didn’t want to go out into the rain.

I definitely didn’t want to go run 10 miles in the rain.

But I did.

Pulled into the Day Creek Horsetrail lot.

Just so much relentless rain.

GJB pulled in.

“I kept waiting on your text suggesting we just go get breakfast.”

Oh! Yes. Let’s do that! Let’s go do that instead!

“Nope. We’re here now. Let’s go.”

And so we went. In the cold, relentless rain.

And the problem is that I don’t have a houdini. This is the one piece of running gear that GJB tells me. Repeatedly. That I need.

Instead, I have a thick, heavy rain jacket. Not at all conducive to fall trail running.

Because it’s too hot. But it doesn’t fold up easily. So I can’t just put it away in my pack until I need it. Or tie it around my waist.

But it was fine. I managed to get it strapped to the back of my pack. As we took off up the Doty climb.

And the rain was starting to let up.

And the winds were starting to pick up.

And you could see the clouds blowing across the trail.

And it was beautiful. And eerie. And uncomfortable.

Because so many rocks. And so much wet. And so much climbing.

And then we made it up to the Parkway. So much wind. So many clouds. So little visibility.

We spent three miles listening intently for cars. That would definitely not see us in time. So we could dive out of the way before they reached us.

Paused at a few overlooks. To look at. Clouds. Just solid clouds. And rain. Again. And so much wind.

Then we headed back down Blackhorse Gap.

To our cars.

Where I removed my brand new white Salomon trail shoes…

That are no longer brand new. Or white.

But here’s my favorite part of running in the rain.

Pulling off my cold, wet, muddy socks. And my cold, wet, muddy shirt.

Pulling on a dry sweatshirt.

And getting in my car and cranking up the heat.

Getting home to a fresh pot of hot coffee. A hot shower. Cozy sweatpants. Books. Blankets. Football.

It is one of my absolute favorite things in the world.

So, even though I didn’t get a gorgeous sunrise. Or breathtaking views. It was the perfect way to finish out my vacation week.

Because I showed myself that I can stil be uncomfortable. In pursuit of something special.

Because that’s what my job is right now. Wildly uncomfortable. But hopefully leading to something special…