Running in the Rain

I find it ironic that for somebody who is an Aquarian and who loves the water (I drink and swim a lot), I do not like running the in the rain. I have a litany of reasons:

• my shoes will get wet and I will get those pesky blisters,
• my white shoes will get dirty (washing your shoes too often affects its cushioning)
• my Garmin may conk out if it rains hard
• I tolerate hot weather well but I tend to shiver in the cold (excess fat notwithstanding)
  

I suppose these also partly explained why I enrolled in a gym: to run on the treadmill in the controlled comfort of the indoors – rain or shine.

Nike Raining Clinic

Last Friday I was supposed to accompany a newbie runner-friend in the running clinic. It has been drizzling all afternoon till early evening, but I was still hopeful the rains would stop when we begin running. When my friend finally finished work and arrived at our meeting place, not only was the clinic half-way done, the rains also intensified. Although I had already purchased our requisite water bottles for the run, I asked my friend if she was still up to it. I was hoping she would beg out of it. I was hoping she would say, “Let’s just eat and chill”, but NO, she cheerily said Yes! Why, she even seemed thrilled with the prospect of running in the rain. I stupidly offered the option of doing the treadmill in the nearby gym, with me taking her in as a walk-in guest, but she declined it – perhaps wisely. Uh-oh, I said to myself, there was no gentlemanly and chivalrous way out of this. I was supposed to be the more experienced runner guiding a newbie friend; I was supposed to be more enthusiastic than her! And so run we did.

It was not bad as I thought. I had a cold start as expected, but eventually things warmed up as I slowly let go of my stupid adult worries of blisters, dirty shoes and sickness. I took my cue from my friend who treated this practice run the way a child views a romp in the rain – with child-like wonder and abandon. At a certain segment of the BHS loop we would run head-on against the cool night breeze. Shiver we did – not in the dread of cold - but in the thrill of cool raindrops touching our lashes and caressing our faces. We ran, chatted and laughed like kids. Our invigorating run was capped by a hearty meal at the finish.

Rainy Earth Run

It rained even harder the morning of the Earth Run. My warm bed strongly beckoned but memories of Friday’s cool, wet run prevailed. Not only was this my friend’s comeback race after so many months, I was also expecting friends from takbo.ph in this race – many of them gunning for new personal records or longer distances.

The rains heaved and hawed, but did not really abate until 30 minutes into the race. I opted to leave my worldly gadgets (Garmin and phone) inside my vehicle. I was physically and mentally prepared for the rain this time. It was just me summoning the fun-loving, wanderlust kid that I used to be – the kid who takes showers in the rain, ventures out of the house in the calm of the eye of the storm, rides makeshift rafts on flooded streets, builds water dams in drainage or irrigation canals, and catches guppies or goldfish spilling over from the neighbor’s ponds.

I ran the 5K with my friend. The first 500 meters felt like running in the Baguio morn. The rains were that cold. But it was fun and exhilarating. Looking around, I saw hundred of red or blue Earth Run singlets – all members of Runners Anonymous. We were addicts all. Because of the rains the runs started late and there was a mass start for 3, 5 and 16K runners. It was congested at the start, yes, but the spectacle of seeing those reds and blues spill through the streets of McKinley was worth it.

My friend and I enjoyed our 5K run. We paused at water stations and had a few walk breaks. After our last walk break in Lawton Avenue, we had a blast running the last 500m downhill back to McKinley. My friend loved the downhill and it showed. The last 200 meters I egged my friend to sprint further, the way we finished our rainy Friday run. Hearts pounding, lungs about to burst, and a cacophony of pleasant sensations.

With the right company, running in the rain can be fun.

The sun soon shone and the morning ended with rowdy breakfast at McDo with about 40 people of takbo.ph.