Today's run

It had been raining all day so when it appeared to be letting up, I dashed outside to make my way around my neighborhood in my usual 1.5 mile route. Did I take a second to look up the temperature first? No, of course not. So as I stepped outside and got a whiff of wet horse manure (thank you, country living), I was taken aback slightly by the chill that pierced my running jacket. I'm calling it a running jacket like it's a special jacket I bought from Nike with the soul purpose of keeping me warm while I'm training for an upcoming marathon, when in reality it's a dark grey hoodie I got in the little boys section at Target on clearance because, frankly, I can't afford anything with the swoosh on it. So I'm only wearing my running pants, a tight-fitting tshirt with Lazy Smurf on it, and my hoodie. Fine, I'll admit it...I dress like a little kid.
It hadn't stopped raining as much as I thought it had but I was already dressed to run so run I did. Ok, I'm lying. I started off walking, like I always do. I walk past my super religious neighbor's house..the same neighbor who was concealed behind a car's open hood and glared at me as politely as possible when he came into view because I was singing the unedited version of "Forget You" by Cee Lo Green along with my iPod.
I round the corner and pass the house of the neighbor I've never seen after six years of living here but know he exists because his lawn is always perfectly manicured. His old black lab with the aged white face was outside hobbling around and wagging his tail at me as I passed. I wanted to stop and pet him but his owner was nowhere to be seen and I try to refrain from petting dogs I don't know unless their owner is there to swap insurance cards in case they turn Cujo on me.
I walked up the hill and crossed the main road through town, you know, the road that sees about six cars a day. This is where my run starts. I'm on the only sidewalk in town and I can see a straight shot about 1/2 mile down the road. The entire sidewalk is underwater but I still wanted to run. I had to do some jumping maneuvers that reminded me of playing "only jump on the black tiles on the checkered floor" as a kid to avoid a few huge puddles, and run in the soggy grass then back onto the sidewalk when the grass turned into what looked like a rice paddy. The whole time I'm running, I'm splashing water everywhere and I'm laughing like an idiot at how wet I'm getting and imagining what the passersby are thinking while they drive by in their warm dry cars.
By the time I get to the end of my first half mile, my hands are too cold to operate my iPod and my feet and calves are soaked. My pants have stretched from the weight of the water and are now a size too long for me and my hair and face is wet from the rain I was pretending wasn't there. I was mentally congratulating myself on being a hardcore bad ass for running in the rain when I slipped and twisted my ankle. Well, I can't let me think I'm not tough, right? So I ran/limped until the cold finished off whatever feeling was left in my right ankle and I was magically better.
I crossed the main road again and headed down another street toward my house (it's a big loop) and this time, I get to run into the wind, which is awesome cuz my face is wet and I'm freezing. Now, whenever I feel like being a big baby and giving up, I trick myself into finishing by pretending I'm being filmed for a movie. Gimme a min now..I know this sounds ridiculous but it works! Being in drama throughout all of my schooling and performing half a million plays and musicals onstage in front of large audiences has taught me to psych myself out. When I feel like quitting, I tell myself "here's the scene where I have to run down this street and pretend like I've been a runner my whole life and I'm in really good shape and I'm not allowed to cry or breath hard". And I do it!!
So I'm cold, soaked, dressed like a little boy, limping, and pretending I'm a movie star when I get to my next turn, the last half mile of my run. I turn the corner and before I can even pass the first house, I spot something on the road. It's a little earthworm who mistook today's rain as a sign of Spring and came out to enjoy the sun when he got lost and ended up on the cold wet road that's a few degrees away from freezing. Or just "it's a worm" for short. Well, I couldn't just leave him there! So I stopped and tried to pick him up with my frozen hands that felt more like clubs. It took me a little while but eventually I picked him up and cupped him in my hands and huffed warm breath on him. I named him Herbert then set him down in some exposed soil and covered him up with a little worm blankie I crocheted out of dead grass and leaves and went on my merry way. A few steps away, I came across another confused worm! So I did the same thing with Helga (worm #2). Warmed her up and put her to bed under some dead foliage. And then found another worm..and another.. I ended up saving a total of six frosty earthworms including Peter, Reginald, Matilda, and Humphrey.
I didn't get to run as well as I would have liked but I had a lot working against me today. And if I can save six grateful earthworms while on a crappy run, then I can live with that!