Racing through the blossoms

"This is the best smelling race I have ever been in."
When running a 15k race through the pouring rain, that is probably the last thing you expect your running mate to say. However, it happened to me early this morning, and I actually found myself agreeing. We were running along a tree-lined road, and the blossoms, pink, white, and purple, were dripping with rain, and exuding a lavender-lilac-cherry scent that not even the best potpourri or candle could compete with.

Now why would anyone voluntarily get up at 6am to spend almost an hour and a half pounding through the rain in clothes and shoes that are heavy with water? To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how that happened either. A few months ago, after a very successful 5k (for me) and half marathon (for husband-dear), I decided it was high time to actually work towards a bigger race instead of just running bigger and bigger loops around the neighborhood. So we picked a 15K Cherry Blossom Run in early April, positively convinced the weather would be much better than our last run where we had icicles hanging off our hats.
Well, we were wrong. It started dawning on us this morning when we found ourselves getting up to lightning and thunder reverberating through the house, and rain beating on the windows. Now it was six in the morning, so we were hopeful the weather would improve. By the way, this getting up early thing is starting to get out hand. Anyway, coming from an incredibly rainy part of the world, I wasn't about to let some foul weather ruin my plans, and my husband believes that fair-weather athletes aren't real athletes, so we packed ourselves, a change dry clothes, and a cooler full of ice and water into my car. We happily hydroplaned down the highway, all the while noting that the weather wasn't exactly letting up. When we got to the location, the rain only intensified, and we dismally noticed that far fewer people than expected were showing up. But you know, you're there, you've got your bib pinned to your shirt, so you just slap on a cap, put on your waterproof jacket and go.
So that is how we found ourselves sloshing through the rain at 8 this morning.
The rain never really let up, but it did not take away from the beauty of the area we were running through. We ran up and down gently rolling hills, and along beautifully tree-lined streets. The rain had left everything green and blossoms were thick on the trees. At one point we actually ran beneath a canopy of fuschia flowers, which felt like something out of a fairytale.
Now I don't mean to get too romantic here. After all, at the end of the day you are still running a good nine miles, which it does still hurt, and the rain still has you soaked to the bone at the end of the run. But, admittedly, racing through the blossoms is a beautiful experience.

p.s. For those of you who wanted to know; I ran a 1:23:30 which earned me third place in my age category. Another award for my dresser!