The Joy of Running in the Rain

I read a lot of running blogs and occasionally come across a post where someone is raving about how much fun they had running in the rain and splashing through puddles. I always thought they were a little crazy--aren't all runners a little crazy? I gave them props for running through it, but thought "that'll never be me."I also thought I'd never be a runner, and we all know how that turned out. :) (I should never say never.)

Today I had an epiphany that changed everything. The thing about running is that you have to learn everything the hard way. (I guess this is true of most things in life.) We read and hear all sorts of things from runners more experienced than us, but we never truly believe it until we experience it ourselves.

I met Kelly and Jessica at the Cady Way pool, we swam 500 yards, then rushed over to Baldwin Park to meet a running group. A storm brewed in the horizon, but we thought we'd finished before it materialized. We started our run/walk around the lake, and immediately felt the humidity begin to drench us. We almost begged for rain to cool us off. As we trekked along the 2.5 mile loop, our silent wish was granted near the halfway point. It started as a light sprinkle, but it quickly turned into a downpour.

It was still warm out, so the rain felt really good--it was refreshing, not chilling. We couldn't stop our run because we still had to make it back to the car, so I figured I might as well make the best of it. At first, I dreaded when it was time to walk; I figured that the faster I ran the sooner I'd be back at my car and out of the wet clothes.

As I came to terms with my predicament, all those blog posts of people splashing through puddles while running in the rain filled my head, and I almost got giddy. I started to spin around with my hands above my head and just enjoying the moment. Then I realized that my shoes were soaked anyway, so I might as well see what the fuss is all about with the puddle splashing. I splashed through a few and found that I was having fun, so I started seeking them out and splashing through everyone I came across. I was practically skipping! I got the girls to join me in my quest and it made the time fly. I was almost disappointed when the rain stopped, and the puddles became scarce.

So I guess I am a convert, and I now like running in the rain. I think I didn't like the idea of running in the rain because I always associated rain with being cold and wet. However, on a hot summer day, you might as well be cool and wet from the rain than hot and wet from the heat/humidity.