Turtles Can Run

Rain is good, I have always liked the rain.  A nice steady rain during the night makes for a peaceful night sleep, the steady pit-pat of the rain drops on the roof top has a very soporific effect on me.  Standing out in the rain on a really hot day to cool off is also I believe one of life’s little pleasures.  But I never thought I would be one of those nutters who would make a conscious decision to run in the rain for an extended period of time on a chilly day.

I remember a time not so long ago wondering out loud about a woman in my neighborhood who used to run outside in all kinds of weather (cold, rain, snow).  Her reasoning was beyond me.  Why not run on the treadmill?  At least it is warm and dry at the gym.

Well today I have officially  joined the running in the rain crowd.  I have gotten caught in the rain two miles away from home before and had to make way.  And I have occasionally gone out running when it was misting or drizzling a little.  But today for the first time when it started all out  raining half a mile into my run I did not turn around.  I told myself that it would probably stop in a couple of minutes, so I could just tough it out.  It was a little chilly, but not cold,  so I knew I wouldn’t get sick or anything.  I got three miles away from my car and it was still raining.  So I made a deal with myself, I told myself that if it was still raining when I looped back to my car at mile 6, I would call it a day.  Well of course at about 5 and a half miles it stopped raining,  and Bono was singing “It’s a beautiful day, don’t let it get away”.  So when I got to my car I took my wet vest off, and ran another 7 miles and it felt great.  After getting over the initial thoughts of “why am I doing this?” and “this is kind of crazy”.  I actually enjoyed the rain,  leaping over the puddles and running in the mushy crushed granite was kind of  fun.  The rain kept me cool for my whole run and I think it was the most invigorating 13 miles I have ever run.

Filed under: Running Blog