28km, caught by the storm

Out for a new post-PF record, I'm planning to run 32 or 33km today. The weather forecast is not looking good but I still have 4h ahead of me, more than I need.

The day is hot. Although I'm running topless and drinking regularly, I feel the dehydration striking and the sun burning my skin. My heartbeat rises to 160bpm, I can't manage to lower it down, even with a steady pace and deep breathing. As a result, my legs tire quickly. But the trail is wonderful and I'm discovering new areas, as I come closer to the Muggelsee lake. But that's for another run!

The first complaints of the storm echoe far away. Damn it, still 10km to run and I need to stop to buy some water! When I hit the trail again, it starts to rain. I speed up, my legs complaining at every step. I cover another rainy 5km, when I realise that I'm not gonna make it. I'm heading straight towards thick black clouds. The storm took a shortcut and caught me!

I barely have time to take refuge under a garage shelter. It's cold, rain still reaches me from everywhere, bolts of lighting are striking around me and I have both feet in the water... Time to pray! To make things worse, I'm trapped in a very middle-class area: nice houses and old grumpy residents, not a chance any one of them would let me in if I knock on the door!

After 30 min of shivering though, a peaceful guy walking with an umbrella just passes by in front of me, no more worried than he would be on a sunny afternoon. Without an ounce of hesitation I run behind him and catch him on his porch. I don't know what I tell him but I don't think words are necessary. I'm soaked to the bones. Very kindly, he waits with me on his door step. His dad (or grandpa) is more like I expected and doesn't want me into the house. It's a well known fact that soaked and exhausted runners asking for shelter are dangerous serial killers!

Anyway, his (grand) soon eventually offers to drive me home. My run is done anyway, so I gladly accept, happy to see there are still some nice and helpful people in this world. Total: 28km for today, a bit less than I expected but I was lucky. I could have waited 2h for the storm to stop, like my little adventure under the bridge last year :)