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Posts tagged ‘running in the rain’

Nov 28

Forecast calling for a very wet California International Marathon

So the weather for this weekend looks awesome for staying inside and lighting a nice fire.

But I’ll be out running 26.2 miles from Folsom to Sacramento instead. On Sunday, the forecast for Sacramento even calls for a “potential for flooding rains.”

Earlier today, the forecast called for 70% chance of rain. Now it’s higher.

Yikes.

I’ve only run parts of half marathons in the rain and cold. This looks like it will be a full deluge for the five hours or so it will take me to finish this thing.

Maybe if it’s pouring down rain I’ll run faster? One can only hope.

But this means I’ll pull out the contacts, which I rarely wear. But it’s better than having my glasses covered with rain drops everywhere. I’ll wear a visor (because a hat will just get wet anyway, so I might as well just wear the visor).

I’m still trying to figure out what shirt to wear, if only because I think it will also be cold. So I want to be warm. But if I get soaking wet and then it clears up, I also want to dry out quick. I also don’t want to lug around a soaking wet long-sleeve shirt forever.

I’m planning on taking a garbage bag to the start. I’ll also take Aquaphor to make sure I don’t chafe. I can’t imagine what chafing would feel like after that long in the rain.

So while I’m not looking forward to running in pouring rain, at least I have a plan.

That said, I’m still crossing my fingers to hope the storms pass and dump all four inches of the rain we’re expecting (apparently it would be a record for rainfall) before Sunday.

It started raining today, so I think we have some hope.

There was a bit of a clearing today during the lunch hour before an afternoon appointment I had to go to. So I headed to a sweet shop in the small town I live in. I picked up some homemade rocky road (nothing like killing a diet during taper week, oops).

Our town put up the Christmas tree in our town square area this week. But the photo is more to show the clouds than the tree. It’s a pretty impressive cloud showing.

I’m not going to let rain ruin my marathon. But I’d love to have a little less wet, a little more sun come Sunday.

Oct 8

What lies beneath

I love the cold. The seasons of fall and winter are my favorite times of the year. The leaves start to change. People start to decorate for the holidays. And my runs get better, if only because it’s no longer scorching hot. I love wearing longer-sleeved shirts and venturing out in the crisp morning.

With a cold snap also typically comes rain.

We got a little in the area this week. It came during a recovery week and I was spending more time on the treadmill anyway. But I know soon I’ll have to run outside in damp, wet and cold conditions. And that always worries me a little.

I don’t mind running the rain. I’ve done it before. I’ve learned that sometimes it’s better to wear my contacts out instead of my glasses (fog, water drops and basic annoyance are the reasons) and make sure I bring a towel if for the car ride home if I’m in Mountain House or racing.

I mind the hidden mud. I’ll explain.

The picture at the top of this post is from the college campus I work on. It’s a puddle. It just looks like a puddle. But it’s also a mud puddle. It doesn’t look like a mud puddle. Not at all.

During the first rains of the year this sort of thing happens a lot. I’ll be out running and suddenly come across a puddle that just looks like a puddle. Every now and then, there’s actually mud underneath.

The mud can take an ankle out. It can cause a runner (or anyone for that matter) to slip and maybe even break an arm. This happened to me during a 10-mile run earlier this year.

I was running through a puddle and slid pretty good on the street. I didn’t hurt myself too bad. I had some scratches. One of my fingers was a little beat up as well. But, for the most part, I was OK. It caused me to think twice about running outside for some time. I switched up my training to the treadmill during the wet season.

That’s not really an option as I prepare for the marathon I’m hoping to run on Dec. 4. I need to run outside.

So the headlamp will come out at nights and I’ll likely slow down, despite feeling good on my cool morning runs, just to prevent slipping and sliding across nasty mud puddles.