It's raining snails and slugs!

Not really, but there sure are an inordinate number of snails and slugs - and I don't mean slow runners like me.

We have had rain every day for a week. I may be exaggerating, but not by much. As a result, the roadways and sidewalks are riddled with snails and slugs. Thank God there aren't worms, which is surprising to me. Snails and slugs are easier to jump over. Not that worms pose some serious roadblock, but they are bigger. Snakes would also get in my way, as would bears and deer, but I am getting off topic.

I woke up this morning and all I heard was pouring rain. I thought that it better clear up a bit before I run or I will be pissed off. I didn't want to wait to run in the afternoon. I like the morning workout.

It did clear up by about 10:30, so I thought I better take advantage of it. Of course, at about mile 1.25 (3 mile run today), it started to rain. Since I don't run fast, I knew I would end up soaked by the end.

But it stopped. It was almost a tease to see how I would react. Well, I took it in stride. At that point, the only thing to do was laugh. What, was I going to get upset because I was going to get soaked to the skin in the rain? There wasn't much I could do considering that I was 1.25 miles from home, so I kept running and laughing.

I had just heard Duran Duran's Hold Back the Rain on my Shuffle. Damn you Simon LeBon!

My first two miles were a bit lagging. I took a route that has an uphill - an actual uphill, not an incline - and it kinda kicked my ass. And I am tired. I think I am still trying to get into a groove. Running four days a week with Friday off and then a long run on Saturday and then Sunday off hasn't settled in yet. I need to settle. When does that happen?

But I did think that if I ran early in the day, I would have more time off before the long run.

Hey, whatever motivation works.

The upside to running in the rain is that it is a perfect excuse to take a bath afterward. And the weather we have been having has been a bit chilly, but still humid. And when it rains, it is cool and damp. Perfect bath weather. If you are reading this thinking, 'oh, finally some juice, she'll tell us about her bath,' think again, pervert. This is a family program!

But I did sit in the tub with my People double issue celebrating the life of Michael Jackson.

If you think it's odd that I sit naked in a tub reading about MJ, don't worry. He wouldn't have been interested in me because I am female and forty. And I wouldn't have been interested in him because, well, really, do you need me to fill in the blanks?

On another note, I talked to one of my neighbor's last night. A package of mine was inadvertently delivered to her house so she brought it over to me. It was very nice of her. Instead of just thanking her and saying 'good-bye,' I started to talk to her and I am glad I did. We went to high school together and were in the same year until she decided to graduate a year early by taking summer classes. So we are the same age, but she graduated a year ahead of me.

We talked about how she was doing, how I was doing. She mentioned that things haven't been going so well for her. I asked if she wanted to elaborate and she told me that her sister had cancer. Her sister - Becky - is a year younger than us. That is damn young to have cancer.

She told me that it should be okay. She has a 90% cure/survival rate. I told her that was good news and that I would keep her in my thoughts. I thought I would pry further by asking what type of cancer.

Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

I told her that I was training to run a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and isn't this a small world. I did ask if it was okay to mention Becky's name in my training blog and so on. She said fine.

Then she said that she didn't know I ran marathons. I had to correct her and say that I don't, as a general rule, but that I wanted to challenge myself. I told her I am not planning to win, but if she sees me running, yell some words of encouragement or get me a stretcher or something.

Then I told her about my upcoming fundraiser at Weber's Grille and asked her to come by. I hope to see her.

And I hope Becky does well. Becky, I ran for you today. While I was in the rain cursing Duran Duran, I did wonder how you are. I did think about the struggle you face every day.

And then running in the rain didn't seem so bad.

And the bath...cleansing, relaxing and rejuvenating.

Get well, Becky!