A Rainy Return to the Creek Turnpike Trail

I awoke to thunder and lightning in the 3:00 hour this morning and was immediately disappointed, realizing that my planned first day back on the Creek Turnpike trail in weeks would likely be postponed. But apparently, the storm only needed a couple of hours (or less) to drift away, because by the time my alarm woke me up at 5:00, the rain, lightning, and thunder had passed...temporarily.

I started at the 91st Street entrance between Garnett and Mingo and headed west. The first hill at Mingo felt fine, but it is probably the mildest of the three I would hit on my out-and-back that would take me almost to Harvard. Between Mingo and Memorial, as I was approaching the second hill, I began to notice a few sprinkles. No big deal. The hill was fine, and I was able to cross Memorial without having to stop.

Just past Memorial, the rain started picking up, so I moved my MP3 player to my waistband in hopes that my shirt would protect it from water damage. As I crossed Sheridan, I noticed in the headlights of the passing cars that the drops I had been feeling had now turned to a full rain. I was also seeing lightning moving in and was glad to be close to the protection of the running track "underpass" just west of Sheridan.

The rain picked up from the time I entered the tunnel of trees on the eastern half of the stretch between Sheridan and Yale to the time I could see the sky again. It felt great, but I was seeing more lightning to the east. Watching my Garmin closely, I turned around exactly at the four-mile mark.

The return was pretty uneventful. I was wet, but the rain had cooled things off a little, so I had no complaints. It finally stopped at about the same place it had started raining on me--between Memorial and Mingo.

Incidentally, I was able to make it all the way back without having to stop at the major intersections. A full 8 miles without any stops. Doesn't happen too often on that route.

9-9-09
Distance: 8.01
Time: 1.10.06
Avg. Mile Pace: 8:45