Here’s the scenario: You wake up and look outside. Cloudy, but dry. Forecast says a 30% chance of showers. You lace up, eat a power bar and open the door. It’s now raining. What do you do?
A. Suck it up and get out there anyway.
B. Give it ten minutes and see if it stops, or at least lets up a little.
C. Opt for the treadmill at the gym or a yoga DVD.
D. Clearly a run was not in the cards today. You put your PJ’s back on and crawl back into bed. It’s what fate wanted.
This is the decision I was faced with the other day. It’s been a rainy week around here, so planning my runs has been tricky. I’m not going to lie, all four of these options crossed my mind as I stood there with the door open, giving Mother Nature the stink eye. I’m not even too proud to admit that I’ve done option D before. It wasn’t one of my finer moments, but hey… no one’s perfect. (Unless you ask Mr. Dish, in which case his answer is required to be: “My fiance is perfect.”)
There was a time when I would have just left my delicate iPod at home and run like heck just to get the miles in, no matter the weather. A few years ago, when I ran with the same group of runners everyday, we ran in rain, snow, ice, fog, etc. The only thing that would keep us inside was lightning. But I’m a lot more flexible now (thanks to some injury-related wisdom I’ve gained) and much more open to cross-training. So, do I sweat it out indoors? Cross training is better than nothing, right?
This time, I went for option B. After a few minutes it was only drizzling, so I took a chance. I modified my route so that I was no more than a mile from home at all times. With severe weather in the forecast, the idea of running 3 miles home in a tornado warning didn’t really sound like a good idea.
I only got in four miles instead of six, as originally intended, but I didn’t get soaked. I felt good that I got in anything at all! (Option D was still tempting.) The next day, with clouds still overhead, I checked the radar and saw the coast was clear. Six miles was no problem.
But it got me thinking… am I too scared of the rain? What if it’s POURING on marathon day? I know I’m still going to race. Then again, I’ve gotten stuck in monsoon-like conditions on a training run before, and destroyed my iPod in the process. It stinks.
I guess as long as I’m getting the miles in and staying on track with my training, I’ll still continue to watch the forecast and try to avoid the rain if I can. Runner friends: What would you do in the above scenario?
Tags: Cross-training, Rain, running, Severe weather
