daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
The sun reappeared at full strength today after a few days of rain. I took advantage of the great weather to go for a run after work, and then later I even went for a short bicycle ride. I love the longer days… and I love the beautiful clouds in the skies. 😊
I hope you had a great day! またね～
Today I went for a 12-kilometer run at the nearby hike and bike trail. The weather has been stormy but there was a bit of a break in the clouds so I decided to head out for some exercise. I didn’t plan on running too far but I felt so good that I kept on going even though the clouds were threatening to unleash a downpour. Sure enough, at around the halfway point (where I turned around to head home), the heavens opened up and it started pouring.
The rain actually felt amazing! My body felt so strong and alive and I kind of felt invincible as I splashed through the puddles on the flooded path. I’ve never run in such a heavy downpour before, where I was completely drenched, and I could see it being very unpleasant if it were cold, but today was in the 70s so it was perfect.
My only concern was that my phone would get damaged, but when I pulled it out of my waist-belt at home, it was completely dry. My iPhone 12 Mini has a water-resistance rating of IP68, which means it can withstand being underwater at “maximum depth of 6 meters up to 30 minutes” so I shouldn’t have anything to worry about even if my waist-belt gets wet.
One observation I had is that if I wasn’t wearing my hat, the run wouldn’t have been as fun. The brim of my hat kept my glasses pretty dry and my vision clear. Without the hat, I would have been constantly wiping squinting and wiping the water from my face.
I never run without the waist-belt and sports cap these days. The belt holds my phone and ID, and I can quickly get my phone out to take photos, then put it back and be on my way. Of course the hat is great to keep the sun out of my eyes, but now I know that it’s useful for keeping the rain out as well. I really recommend getting a belt and a hat for running!
BTW, if you are on Strava, let’s connect so that we can cheer each other on!
I hope you had a nice day. またね～！
Pretty clouds make for a fun run, but of course I have to stop every few minutes to take photos. 😅 These are cirrus uncinus clouds, btw!
After work, I put on my running shoes and headed out for a jog in the neighborhood. It was fun to run by my old elementary school and see that not much has changed. However, the trees in the park next to the school looked a lot taller, and the man-made hills which used to look tall when I was a kid seemed tiny. It was a weird feeling to be at a very nostalgic place during this pandemic time. I guess it’s just a mix of emotions.
It was comforting to see the small things that haven’t changed, like the spiky things (in the photo above) that still fall from the trees to keep skateboarders on their toes.
During this pandemic, I stay away from routes where there are a lot of people, specifically the hike & bike paths that are too narrow to keep a safe distance from other people. So that means I stick to my neighborhood streets where I can run in the road or easily cross to the other side to stay socially distant. However, there are some parts where I have to run on a narrow pathway or sidewalk, which is why I always carry a disposable mask.
I will just put the mask around my wrist, and it’s so light that it doesn’t interfere at all with the running experience. But when I am running on one of these narrow sections and I see another pedestrian or cyclist, I’ll put the mask on. It literally takes just three or four seconds, so why not? Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly?) I haven’t seen any other runners using masks, but maybe now that they’ve seen my put on my mask, it will normalize it to them (or maybe they will feel a little ashamed), and they will start doing the same. Hey, we have to look out for one another!
In other running news, I saw this really great sidewalk art version of It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Very cool!
I hope you had a great day!
