Rain
Rain pelts the ground, splashing our hot faces, rushing down the trail. Our feet keep their own rhythm. Thunder cracks nearby. I feel alive.
Our usual Tuesday night trail run started off as it always does. The fast folk pulled away before we had quite reached the trailhead.
It was hot and humid, and the skies looked threatening. We eagerly awaited the coming rain.
Two miles into our run, the heavens cracked wide open and let loose a serious downpour. Lightning. Loud cracks of thunder. After-rumbling. More lightning.
The rain came hard and fast, quickly soaking our overheated skin, turning trails into streams, bringing branches down around us.
The rain came hard and fast, quickly soaking our overheated skin, turning trails into streams, bringing branches down around us.
Suddenly, we were no longer slogging through the sticky humidity. The sounds, smells, the sensations of wet drops on our skin, the potential danger - all of my senses were on alert. I felt so attuned to my surroundings, my body, my running - all infused with purpose. Happiness.
What made me feel so alive? The chance of a wayward branch cracking my skull? The impossibly close crack of thunder that caused us to shriek aloud? The sound and sensation of splashing through ankle deep water?
Some of my best runs have been in the rain - not that drizzle we get on the East coast - hard rain, with thunder and lightning, like we got in Kansas when I was growing up.
Perhaps it's nostalgia.
I want to run in the rain again.
I love a good run in the rain. Once you're a little wet, nothing else matters. You feel more like a true athlete.
ReplyDeleteWhat a poetic post! Hard rain changes even the most well-known trail into a whole different experience.
ReplyDeleteOOooooh, I love a good hard run in a good hard rain. Makes me feel alive, just like you said.
ReplyDeleteKirstin, Meg, my 14 year old daughter, and I love to run in the rain. The harder the better. We will head out into it even if the run was not in the plans to begin with.
ReplyDeleteI have a love-hate relationship with running in the rain. The love part is obvious; the hate part imagines discomfort and annoyance, and resists. I'll keep the love part in mind next time the storm clouds gather before a workout.
ReplyDeleteGreat post... although I think the idea of running through the rain is often nicer than the reality!
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ReplyDeleteI was sitting in the office when I read your post... And I could feel the raindrops hitting my skin and the smells that come out!
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing that to me, here in an office in London :-)
I wonder if the sun will still shine, or I will be lucky and a summer rain will bless me on my run home tonight.
Keep writing, and keep running.
/Joakim www.mentalfeat.com (twitter "Mentalfeat")
Living in western Oregon, it seems I rarely run in anything BUT rain. And I love it. I prefer winter training and always get a small rush when I look out my window and see water coming down. I get hot easily and love being cooled off through the entire run. Since it's been quite hot here (finally), I have missed it. Thanks for taking me back for a bit with your post! ~Laura
ReplyDeleteI like rain and it looks like I will get some this weekend at the Burning River 100 mile Endurance Run!
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written. We don't get that kind of a storm often in Southern California, but when we do, I venture out to revisit that little boy that would run out and jump in the growing puddles during a Summer storm in Southeast Missouri. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome. I love running in the rain. It makes me feel like being a kid again.
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