Running in the Rain: Why I Love It

“But the dark roman wine in our bloodstreams 

Makes the cold just a word, just a sound” 

When it rains in Sweden, it really rains.   None of the steady British drizzle I’ve grown up so accustomed to, no; when it rains here in Scandinavia, it pours.   Such was the case last week when, after several weeks of beautiful early spring sunshine, the heavens opened.  Somewhat unfortunately, this turn in the weather happened to coincide with a mid week 6 mile run that I had planned. 

Some people would have swapped their rest day and stayed indoors with a cup of tea to enjoy the therapeutic sound of rain slashing against the windows.  I, however, am not somebody who can be flexible like that.   If I stop for a torrential downpour today, by tomorrow I’ll be bailing because of a momentary gust of wind or because my favourite sport socks need washing.   I know myself well and I know that I have to be firm because give me an inch and I’ll take a mile and run with it (or, indeed, not run in this case). 

What this meant, on that sodden Wednesday last week, was that I was running for an hour, whether I liked it or not.  I reluctantly laced up my trainers and pulled on my rain coat, for the first time since January when it was worn as protection against the -14ºC air temperature.  Off I went. It didn’t take long for me to remember something though and that something was that I really like running in the rain.  Here’s why: 

Temperature Control 

I find maintaining a good temperature whilst running to be quite challenging. If the air temperature is too cold (anything below 3ºC, roughly) then I find it numbing, making my limbs stiff and it difficult to push hard enough at any speed for any length of time. I then seem to have a bracket of a few degrees above that where I’m quite comfortable, but as soon as it reaches 10ºC, I find myself getting very warm indeed. As you can imagine, summer exercise is a tricky concept for me. The rain, however, solves the problem of my internal climate, acting as a nice refresher when usually I’d be starting to feel a little clammy. When I take feeling like I’m about to overheat out of the equation, I suddenly feel a lot fitter all round. 

Fun Factor 

Galloping around a forest in the rain is, I find at least, a very freeing experience. I suddenly feel five years old again, yet more liberated as this time around I can tread in puddles without anybody telling me off. You already look like a fool, with makeup streaming down your face and a ponytail you could wring out, you may as well go the whole hog and get a little muddy too. It’s fun, trust me. Go wild. Be free. 

General Smugness 

There’s something about running in adverse weather conditions that makes me feel quite smug in the best of ways. Unless you’ve just put in a particularly hefty amount of miles (and even then, in general, I find that non-runners switch off a little as soon as you start reeling off figures to them) nobody is ever very impressed by the fact that you simply “went for a run”. However, add in rain, snow, any temperature below zero or a time before 8am (9am on the weekend) and suddenly you get a little more attention paid to your efforts. Of course, I don’t run to impress other people - limping around post run, blisters aching and face turned an unfortunate shade of red, I barely impress myself - but I don’t think anybody can deny that it’s a nice bonus. I certainly feel like a crazy person when I’m dragging my tired legs around the park when I could be in bed and it’s always reassuring when somebody else acknowledges that. 

The Post-Run Shower

Showering after working out is one of the purest pleasures in life, I think. Peeling off rain-sodden running clothes to step under a flow of steamy water takes things to the next level. It’s funny, really, that the rain water makes shower water so much more pleasing but by jove it does. Wrapping yourself in clean pyjamas afterwards is almost as close to heaven as you can get, alone in bed on a Wednesday evening. I think I wrote an essay after my rainy run last week. It was almost fun.

As I neared the end of last Wednesday's run though, I have to admit that my enthusiasm was wavering.  A Snow Patrol song started playing on my iPod Shuffle.  I hadn’t really been listening to the music up until then but it caught my attention again and I heard the lyrics at the start of this post, “the cold just a word, just a sound”.  It was just one of those moments.  I ran the last mile with a new lease of life, the lyrics resonating deeply. 

Because it’s true.  The cold - or the rain, or any other obstacle you may encounter - is nothing, except something for us to overcome.  Overcome them now and, you never know, you may even enjoy it.

A Quick Hello and a Dose of Motivation

Before we get started and before I start raving about running (and repeating, hopefully) I feel that I should let you all in on a little secret. 

My name is Elise and I’m a beginner. 

Yes, that’s right, you heard it here first; I’ve only been running for four months. I have dabbled with the sport previously, sporadically lacing up my trainers over the past few years and dragging my legs along for a twenty minute jog every few months, but that’s as far as it got. I’ve always had high hopes for me and running though, a whimsical notion that it’s something I could really commit to, but I’ve just never had the patience to test our relationship until now. 

I heard a few things that spurred me on, mostly in the form of cliched catchphrases, the first of which was “you don’t get better at running by not running”. It’s simple, patronisingly obvious, yet something that we all too often forget nonetheless. I have always known, on some level, that I could run a long distance someday - a half marathon, a full marathon, hell maybe even an ultra. It clicked a few months ago that I was the only one who knew this though, and nobody else would take my blind faith in myself and call it an achievement. As we all know though, actions speak louder than words (and thoughts too) so I got active. 

The second, equally cheesy, motivational line was delivered via a picture on my Tumblr dashboard. “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”. Again, so very true, because as my father likes to tell me on an almost daily basis, “if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.” 

So, that was that. I had to start running, so I did. I stopped making excuses and started making time to run instead. At first, it was painful, mentally as much as physically. It took every ounce of willpower I had to push myself through even fifteen minutes without stopping, and I felt stupid and slow every single minute. I wondered if there was any point to running a single mile, if it was worth getting out of bed for, getting sweaty for. I kept on repeating my mantra though: you don’t get better at running without running. 

That was in January. On March 24th I ran my first race, the Gothenburg 10k. Before that day, my longest runs had been two 50 minute goes and one hour long attempt the week before. My only real hopes were to finish without walking, but secretly I was aiming for 10 minute miles, which would mean a finish time of just 01:02:00. I set off blindly, without even a digital watch to check my progress as I went round. My finish time was 59:02, 9:30 min/mile. I was ecstatic. 

In four months I’ve gone from barely being able run a mile to putting in an easy 7 on my long run Sundays, which I’ll be pushing up to 8 miles this week. I have another 10k in May, during which I really hope I’m able to push my time down to a 9 min/mile pace in order to maybe be able to get a sub 2 hour half marathon in October. I’m aware that this is perhaps a little ambitious but, to quote Captain Sensible, “if you don’t have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?” 

My advice for anybody starting out on their running adventure is to find and pay for a race early on. 5k, 10k, a half marathon - it doesn’t matter. I actually signed up for my half marathon in October first and used the 10k as a useful motivation for training. Next, tell everybody you know about your upcoming event. If the motivation not to lose your entry fee doesn’t spur you on, then hopefully the prying questions or doubts of your friends and family will. Furthermore, at the end of most events you receive a medal and/or t shirt. If your running self isn’t motivated, at least your inner collector will be. 

Whilst my running career may still be in its very early days, it’s safe to say I’ve caught the bug. I’m writing this blog to share my enthusiasm and experiences along the way. Welcome onboard and I'll see you at the finish line.