Running in the RAin: talk me through it! (Read 885 times)

Hey Thunder~ Looking at the same situation here in NC this morning. Except it is changing to SNOW this afternoon! ( hooray, that is a big deal in the South where it snows only every few years at best) so DH and I are going to Bag the run till snow time, and run for the first time in snow..... Can't wait! Have run in a downpour before, not by choice, but had a baseball cap on, usual running gear,sock liners under my lightweight socks, and I have a NIKE climacool full zip slicker.... Not the best run for obvious reasons, but ran pretty good from what I recall. Some people put plastic baggies over their socks and into their shoes before rain runs... the worst thing I would think would be wet feet.... Good Luck, and I am back to my morning coffee waiting for the Snow! Cheffy

Baseball cap and an ugly bright pink anorak if it is winter. In the summer, I just go as if it were a cloudy day. I do have several pair of running shoes, so there's time for the wet pair to dry properly. I once developed a 2 in. blister on my arch due to running a race in shoes that hadn't completely dried from a rainy run. Lesson learned.

I am usually running BACK in the rain. I not so good at remembering to check the weather before I head out. Light rain is not bad, but the last time I got drenched, I was a mile from home and a thunderstorm blew in. I was soaked, so it felt like I was running with an extra 20 pounds. Oh yeah, lightning scares me. It was after that run that my old Forerunner 101 quit working. Soooo if it's just misty, I'll still go, but not in heavy rain.

Yes it is wet. All you can do is dress to stay warm not dry because that won't happen. Wear layers of wicking type running clothes and remember that you lose more heat when you're wet so compensate by adding more layers than normal. A baseball hat will keep the water out of your eyes. Make sure to leave everything (and I mean everything) made of cotton at home. Cotton and rain do not mix. I've run in rain at temps into the 30's and it wasn't much fun but warm rain is a blast. Tom

I guess I'm basically an arrogant snobby Nobby (get it?) SOB. One time I was asked by our local running magazine, RunMinnesota, why I run; where I get a kick out of it. I happened to be in Japan for business at the time (thanks to e-mail!); I was still quite jet-lagged (a bad thing about me and jet-lag in Japan is that I understand what's going on on TV so in the middle of the night--like 2 or 3AM--and I turn on TV at hotel and they are showing some cheezy program and I just end up watching it!) so I just got out of bed and went for a run. It was like 4:30AM (the time Rocky got up and went for his morning run! But I did it without "drinking" raw eggs!). Along with my hour's run through down-town Tokyo, I saw a handful of young people actually getting out of a bar or whatever, quite drunk and wasted (you see a lot of them in Japan). Well, actually I should say, I saw a several groups of handful of young people! Passing those "wasted" young people, I felt some sense of, well, well-being. Those people (well, I'm sure not all of them) have NO idea what it feels like to go for an hour's run and actually FEEL GOOD. I may have sounded somewhat criticising toward people who jump to run (or try out) a marathon; but I do in a way understand why they feel that way. If I remember it correctly, it's like 2% of the US population who have completed a marathon. It's still quite a huge number of people but, around your neighborhood, only 2 people out of 100 have completed a marathon. And those who engage in a regular running activity? I don't know the statistics; but I'd say...well, I won't pretend I know! ;o) The point is; we are still quite "selected" people who can afford to rejoyce our good health and well-being; that we don't have to worry about dropping down to our knees after a block of "trotting". It is an exhillarating feeling to get out and work out some sweat and actually feel good about it! I sort of feel the same way when running in the rain. I almost think it's our RIGHT to be able to get our, rain or shine or snow, and enjoy this experience. Some people who might even never get outside; only getting into his/her car in the garage to their work office and, the only distance they actually walk on their feet outside is from the car to the front door of the office; and they would look at you running in the rain and think, "What a nut case!" And I would think, "What a poor soul...!" One time last spring, this young lady I'm coaching and I went for a 1:30 cross country run through a bush track (nature preserve). There were still patches of ice on the ground but mostly mud and paddles with melted snow (icey cold!). We were running through mud, slipping sliding away, laughing all the way... Like someone else already said, most of it is attitude. I've read somewhere that, one time, a few runners (original Arthur Lydiard's bunch) were running in Brisbane in the down-pour rain. There's this old lady at the bus stop and one of them went to her and asked, "Excuse me, ma'm... Is this the right road to Sydney?" (as a joke!) The lady said, "You're on the right road to a looney bin!" They left her there, laughing her head off! The guys said, they knew they were perfectly fine and they would have done it all over again. I like this little story...something I would do and have fun with it! ;o) On the practical note; down-pour raining, thunderstorm, fridged cold weather (we are having -28 windchill right now here in MN!)... Find a short loop, preferably residential area, and plan to go around and around several laps. I have this 3/4 mile loop around the neighborhood, luckily I never had to use it other than some repeats. On the cold Sunday morning, we use this 30-minute loop. If the weather turns absolutely unbearable, we can always call it a day!

Wear technical fabrics that will allow water to move away from your skin. You'll still be wet, but at least you won't be carry an extra bucket in your clothing like you would with cotton or wool. Wear a baseball hat to keep it out of your face. Other than that, just enjoy the run. I like to run in the rain (except freezing rain, when it is 32-33 degrees out and the rain forms into ice as soon as it touches something...that isn't as fun.)

And don't forget the newspapers to stuff in your shoes when you get back from your run. It's never fun to have to put on cold wet shoes when you go running the day after going out iin the rain.

If you live in a place where it rains often have at least 2 pairs of shoes to rotate.