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Running in the Rain

The good news: I own two pairs of waterproof socks.
The bad news: I was not wearing either of them this morning.

This morning I ran my first half marathon of 2012 (and the farthest I've run so far this year): The Magellan Development Group Chicago Spring Half Marathon. My full review of the race is up at newcity.com


The Park at Lakeshore East (basecamp)
It started off as an ideal day: 60 degrees, overcast, 30 percent chance of rain. Most of the runners either didn't bring jackets or checked them before the race got started (I was in the second group). And both of these seemed like good ideas at the time. But it started to rain early on and that rain quickly turned into a serious downpour. With the wind thrown in to the mix it made for a less than enjoyable run.

But, as I noted in my review, that kind of weather sometimes makes you feel like you're really accomplishing more than just a half marathon - you're accomplishing a half marathon in the rain. And even though that might actually seem like a bad idea to many people (people who are probably right), sometimes a run can actually be enhanced by bad weather. Especially because it really helps you appreciate the good weather.

I won't say whether I felt like this morning's run was necessarily enhanced by the downpour... I'm just saying that sometimes it's nice to throw in another obstacle.

Also I got to enjoy this view at 6:30 this morning before the race:
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Comments

  1. UnknownMay 13, 2012 at 3:19 PM

    At least you got to run your race! I was at the Quarryman Challenge, which got canceled (20 minutes after it was supposed to start). Major bummer. I've done races in the rain before (including a half last fall where it poured during most of it). It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but you're right, it definitely makes you appreciate the nice-weather races a lot more. It also rained during the RnR Half last year, but it wasn't very hard and therefore very refreshing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The JudgeMay 13, 2012 at 4:37 PM

    Wow. That's crazy that they cancelled it! Is it because it was a trail run and they were worried about safety? The rain would have just made it more hardcore!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownMay 13, 2012 at 7:43 PM

      No, it was on the streets. The police made them cancel it because of lightning. It would have been even better to have done it in the rain since the race shirts had "Challenge Yourself" on the front.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousMay 14, 2012 at 7:02 AM

    Those last two miles with the wind and pouring rain were a bit$%! My face hurt!

    I agree with you about the obstacles. It makes you a stronger runner and builds the confidence that you can accomplish a run in ANY condition!

    Where are your waterproof socks from??

    ReplyDelete
  4. The JudgeMay 15, 2012 at 10:32 AM

    They're Dry-Max socks and they've worked really well every time I have run with them in the rain.

    And yeah, coming back north it started to feel almost like hail because the wind was blowing the rain so hard.

    ReplyDelete

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