Running Through the Rain

Yesterday was my planned day to run. It was to be a relatively short run for me (6.8 total miles) lasting about an hour. I had already "rested" the previous day (rested for running, not other activities) and was ready for another road session. But it was raining. And raining. And raining.

I turned the TV on the 24-radar local radar channel and could see that, at least until I had to go on to work, there would be no letup in the rain. It was raining moderately at 10 AM, so I decided to wait until about 11 and then go from there. At 11 it was raining, although lightly. I knew the roads would be very wet and full of puddles, and that the rain could pick up and get stronger as it had been doing all day (and Thursday). But I knew what I had to do. Leaving my MP3 at home this time, I donned my usual running outfit, put on an old pair of running shoes that I didn't mind (too much) getting wet, and bolted out of the door into the elements.

It was a liberating experience to run through the rain, something that I had erected a mental barrier against doing. There was even a stretch of my run when it stop raining, but mostly I got soaked. My main concern was watching where my feet were landing as I wanted to avoid puddles and those treacherous, slippery oil slicks on the road. I think my carefulness, along with the fact that the water on the road altered its surface effect to slow me down, contributed to a slower time (but not significantly). The run went quite well although I missed my MP3.

I don't think, though, that I am ready to run through those torrential rainstorms we often get here when the road surface takes on so much water that it begins to resemble a stream, even with a current. Nor do I want to venture out into a thunderstorm. But at least I have surmounted the obstacle of rain in its usual form. And that's good, considering that we are expecting much of it here in Gainesville during the next few months.