Running in the rain

In preparation for this Sunday's St Albans Half Marathon, I had my long run last weekend and I'm now enjoying just a short run most days before breakfast.  These short runs are about 3 or 4 miles; a nice easy pace perhaps with a 50 yard sprint at some point for the fun of it.  I'm feeling fairly loose and supple when I run at the moment which I'm sure is helped by frequent running, rather than distance.  I haven't been stretching much lately and my weight is around 10st 5lbs (feels about right but I might drop a bit further after the Half Marathon).

When I went running on Wednesday, there were just a few spots of rain in the air and it seemed quite pleasant; certainly refreshing.  While I was running along a near by trail, I could feel the long wet grass brushing against my legs and it seemed nice.  Gradually the rain got heavier and was in full flow when I got home.  It was fantastic!  I was wet, who cares?

This now is opening up a whole new running possibility in my mind.  Sometimes in the past I have planned to go for a run early in the next morning, only to find it is wet and I end up not going, yielding to the temptation of that extra cup of tea in bed.  Now I'm starting to see it differently.

There seems to be a certain beauty that's there which I haven't realised before.  I've enjoyed running through mist  before, which seems to have its own magical quality when the sun is trying to shine through.  So maybe there's something I've got to try out just to see what one of my more usual 6 or 7 mile hilly runs are like in the rain.  Then there's the different kinds of rain to consider and I bet they're all great in different ways - from the gentle drizzle through to the monsoon-like downpour.

I just can't wait!