Day 2,980 —Strategies for Running in the Rain— with a PICTURE from the LIGHTHOUSE 100

Summer rain is one of my favorite types of running conditions. I felt good bolting out into the morning. My sandals didn’t fit well, so I heard them making a lot of noise as my foot hit the ground. 

I am not complaining though. I am going slow. I can afford to make some mistakes on my stride. 

One of the advantages I had at the Lighthouse was running in the rain. I had dealt with one of the most difficult runs in the rain ever when I ran the Berryman 50 back in April. The rain in that course made the rain I was dealing at the Lighthouse more of an annoyance because I couldn’t see very well, but I wasn’t thinking about my wet feet or being uncomfortable. I wasn’t even thinking about how difficult the terrain had become when we started going downhill and other runners were dealing with how slippery the road had become. 

I didn’t even seriously think about changing socks. I might get them dry for a matter of minutes if I changed socks, but I would have to look at my feet, and my feet would get wet again, and I would most likely be more miserable by comparison.  

I admit that running in the rain is not the most pleasant experience in the world at first. Especially when you do it for hours and hours and add cold wind on top of rain; however, like most things you get better at it the more you do it. Today the rain was refreshing and fun. It might seem smart to take the day off when it is raining or snowing, but if you go out in it anyway, you end up preparing yourself mentally for the unexpected come race day. 

Happy Friday! Trying to figure out if I want to do the Dark 2 Dawn next weekend. It looks fun, but I did just finish the Lighthouse, so I don’t know. I don’t love the “timed race” as opposed to the distance race. This one is a 9-hour race on trails. I am trying to do the math on how many miles I will likely do, but I don’t know. I would like to think I could do 50, but probably not on a tough trail, but I think it would be fun regardless of how I perform.  

I am considering doing the Shawnee Hills 100 at the end of August. It is a little soon, but I don’t think I will be able to plan a race for October or November this year, so August and December might be better months to do races for me. I don’t know how many 100s I should plan on doing a year, but I think I can do 2 this year, and then I will go from there. I do really love the 100-mile distance right now. I am considering doing more, but it will have to be the right race. There is one that does 150 and 200 next Spring, I might end up signing up for it, but right now I am still just thinking. One season at a time, and I need to plan for Fall first. And my next goal is a trail 100-mile run.