Yesterday I had another 20 miler on the calendar and it was supposed to be clear and cool. I woke up to rain mixed with snow, in the middle of which the NWS helpfully changed the forecast from 20% chance of precipitation to 60%.

The radar looked like I might get a window later, but I knew myself well enough to know that if I went to the farmers' market and then came home, I was not going to run. I thought maybe the MUP would be safer and more pleasant in that kind of weather. So, I packed up a cooler full of ice packs for the food, a jar of water for the flowers I planned to buy, and threw my running clothes and gear into a sack, and hoped that my motivation was already in the car somewhere, because I was not finding it.

I did my shopping, drove to the next town for another store and where I planned to run, changed in a cold restroom and headed out. I gave myself permission to turn around early if I just couldn't motivate or if it started raining hard enough that I couldn't stay warm. Didn't see another soul for about four miles. As the weather cleared slightly and I passed through the next town, there were a few people out, but at least half of them seemed to be getting ready for their fall marathons too, most likely Columbus in two weeks. But there were even a couple of women on Brompton folding bikes, enjoying the wet leaves and dodging walnuts.

I got it done, hardly got hailed on at all, and here's the kicker: running at the same effort level I usually do my long runs in the hills, I ran it 1:15/mile faster than even the not-so-hilly loop I did last week. So now I know how much free strength and endurance training I get just by running in my own "backyard."