Awesome 12 miles done with my new friend Lindsey in the pouring rain! 1:54:57, 9:33 pace.

Lindsey, who is from Connecticut, emailed me earlier this week to ask about running routes in Seattle since she was heading here for a work conference. Since I LOVE making new running friends, I invited her on my long run and she agreed!

I planned to meet her at her hotel downtown at 7:30 a.m., so I was up at 6:15 and on a bus at 7. Meanwhile, it was raining like hell the entire time, so I figured Lindsey might back out, and I would just meet her to say hi and then go it alone.

This is what she texted me as I made my way downtown:

“I’m ready, girl. Rain jacket on. Running in the rain just makes us more badass, right?”

I LOVE RUNNING BUDDIES!

Of course, Lindsey turned out to be adorable and super-awesome. We talked and talked and had ourselves an awesome run around Lake Union, plus an out-and-back to get us to 12.

Oh, and she ran a 4:20 marathon last weekend. No big deal. And she runs sub-1:40 half-marathons. Yeah.

Nevermind that I stepped in a huge, four-inch-deep puddle before we even started running (no blisters, holla!) or that we got soaked with rain and sweat — I think we both had a blast.

I swear that I’ve made more friends through running than anything else. My policy is that I don’t run with strangers, because if you’re a runner, you’re already my friend*!

*Unless you’re also a murderer. (But Miss Lindsey is actually the opposite — she’s a public defender.)

I almost definitely would have stayed in bed this morning if it weren’t for Lindsey, so big thanks to her for braving the rain with me!