Rain and More Rain

My 14-mile run went well on Sunday morning.  The day was cool and crisp, with a brief morning shower disappearing completely, replaced by blue sky and cool temperatures.  Leaves have started to fall in Highlands in some places, especially maple leaves, and the fragrance is lovely - that muskiness of fallen leaves, and a tang of smoke in the air as some folks are lighting fires in their fireplaces already.

But today my plan calls for a hard run - a total of eight miles, including three mile-repeats - and the weather is not as cooperative.  It has been raining heavily since midnight, letting up only briefly - the kind of rain that would drench a runner completely in a minute, and would transform running shoes into heavy, sodden, squishing objects with which to slosh through the deep puddles:

Eventually today this rain is scheduled to taper off, and only when it does will I venture outdoors.  I have run in heavy rain before - often enough that I am convinced that I am not a wimp when it comes to training - but I have discovered that, unlike a refreshing light drizzle, these conditions are counterproductive to a hard workout.  Today it should all be about hitting 8:30 miles, three of them, at a consistent pace and on (relatively) dry pavement.

And so I wait.