Running and Rain...

Yesterday was an odd day.
It started out rainy.
Stormy.
By mid-morning it was cloudy but dry.
I met my friend (my running partner) for coffee...
We had cancelled our run that morning because of the storm.
It was almost sunny out.
"Let's run later!"  We said.
"YES!"   We agreed
We enjoyed a mostly sunny day.
But...
When the appointed time arrived, the skies darkened.
We got out of our cars and looked at each other.
"It's now or never." we declared.
And we stretched as the sky opened up
with a downpour that exceeded my shower that morning.
And much colder.
We took off running.
It was very difficult.
The wind pushed us from the side.
Then from the front.
The rain drenched us completely.
I entertained the thought of suggesting we turn back.
But I didn't want to quit.
I certainly didn't want to be the one to suggest it.
I secretly hoped she'd suggest it.
She didn't.
As I heated up, the rain felt good on my face,
not so good in my eyes.
Mixing with sweat, it burned.
I struggled to breathe, sucking in drops of sweat-laced rain with each breath.
Perhaps we were running faster than usual.
We certainly wanted this run to end.
And it finally did.
And we felt proud.
Hardcore.
Cold.
Wet.
Miserable.
But we did it...we did the hard thing.
The good thing.
Turns out, she had wanted to quit too.
Neither of us wanted to be the weak one.
And it made us both stronger.

Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.