Rainbows & Road Rash
I’ve just seen the time, so this’ll be short. I went for a run this evening along the beach to the lighthouse. At the weekend, I bought a hydration belt thing, as I just couldn’t get on with the Camelbak-type thing - it requires too much suck to make drinking on the run a real option. So I was also giving this it’s first outing.
I thought that it’d stopped raining when I set off. It’s funny how looks can be deceiving, isn’t it? For the first half mile, it was fairly pouring down, and the pavement was awash. Lovely. Wet feet. In fact, it was because of this that I decided to run along the sand rather than the promenade - I figure that I wouldn’t be getting any wetter!
Once the rain stopped, it was great running weather, complete with the most amazing rainbows over the sea. I mean really stunning and lurid in colour - like you’d given a child a box of fluorescent pens and told them to go wild. Just a real pity that I hadn’t taken my camera with me!
Talking of children - the Road Rash part of this post’s title. Daughter’s joined the club - she was riding her bike with some friends around our triangle of back lanes, and took a corner a little too fast. Lots of noise, but no real harm done - all part of growing up. We had the conversation about how much fun cycling is, and sometimes it goes wrong . . . but the fun far outweighs the “OUCH!”, and now she knows what not to do. She’ll be back on that bike just as soon as it stops raining.
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 06/27/2007
- Total Time: 00:38:38.00
- Distance: 5 miles
- Average Pace: 7:43.32/mile
Road rash is never fun but it’s part of learning to ride. My other half never messed around on bikes as a kid so is going through that sometimes painful learning process now.
How are you liking the hydration belt? I’ve heard nothing but complaints about Camelbaks for the very reasons you cited. I was going to buy one for my hike thru Haleakala in March & my gear-head friends told me I’d be better off with Nalgene or metal bottles. I ended up clunking along with multiple bottles on carabiners attached to my pack. Its was okay, but clunky is the key term here. For a longer hike, it just wouldn’t do.
The rainbows sound amazing. I was on the lookout for them on our rainy Seattle day yesterday. Alas, none presented themselves to me.
Oh, and on road rash. I’ve got over 4 decades on this planet, and I look at the road rash scars of childhood covering my knees, and remember each incident fondly. At the time they weren’t any fun, but as we age they become trophies of childhood.
Adrian - yep, kids have it easy, as they don’t have so far to fall!
Gardenmentor - as per my email - the hydration belt’s still not ideal, as it tends to bounce up and down on my butt a bit. Like, if you took a pint of milk to drink, after a couple of miles it would be butter! But the drinking is a lot easier than with a Camelbak.
Having said that, I’d still opt for the Camelbak on long slow runs, or hikes, as its superiour 2 litre capacity and space for luggage makes it ideal for situations where you’re not in the anaerobic zone.
Oh, and my own ‘trophies’ includes a mole on my chin which grew when the injuries from riding into the back of a parked car aged 8 had healed. How fondly I look back on that day . . .