This past week I have had the pleasure of running in the rain not once, but twice. I can thank my coworkers for that and in my defense I agreed to run before it started raining. I’ll be honest, I’m usually a pretty fair weather runner. Now while I can say I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of getting out there I’m glad I did. I learned a couple things about rain running. Lessons learned and ready for the next rainy day to hit the road.
First lesson: Dry fit clothing > cotton pretty much any day of the week no matter the conditions. This difference is even bigger when it’s wet outside. With cotton you start getting weighed down with water pretty fast and it can start getting cold.
Second lesson: Rain is less interesting than the actual temp. I went on two runs out in the rain this week and the first time it was more rainy and less cold. Second time it was less rainy, but colder. Personally, I prefer more rain and less cold. This is probably a point of personal preference, but at least I can give you my opinion. I’d rather run in rainy warm weather than dry cold weather.
Third Lesson: Rain running is going to be messy. Don’t kid yourself about it. I specifically did the run both days in normal running shoes this week because I knew my Vibram’s would get soaked and I didn’t feel like getting them muddied up right after I washed them.