Encouragement, or a running tale

I'm running through the footpath behind my house on a wet afternoon. It is one of those days where the rain falls without end, and as a result puddles of different sizes are scattered along the path. It is also my first 7K run alone and in the rain. And I'm enjoying it till I come across this huge puddle. It looks ominously deep, and I scratch myself on bushes trying without success to go around.

While I'm deliberating a female runner pulls up on the other side. And with barely a check in her movement she walks through the puddle, the water well above her ankles. We smile in empathy and she tells me it is as grim as it looks when I ask. I laugh and join her in the puddle, wishing her a good run as she goes past.