Running in the rain
Or that one time the heavens pissed on me and my family
After finishing the annual 5k near my parent’s house this past weekend, I couldn’t help but think back to the first time I ran it last year. The day before the event was spent catching up with my parents as we complained about our jobs, watched some TV, and pet Angus, one of my parent’s pesky — but lovable — cats.
Before going to sleep, I saw rain was in the forecast the next day. While I was a little worried, I thought, “oh it probably won’t be so bad.”
I was wrong.
We awoke the next day to rains that weren’t letting up. It was only my second time ever doing an actual 5k event, so I was a little worried. But I hadn’t come all this way to give up from some rain. I mean, it’s just falling water, it can’t be that bad, right?
When we eventually got there, we saw a surprising amount of runners who must have felt the same, all huddled under a tent that was woefully too small. I did my best to take shelter under it as well, staying somewhat dry. But that dryness quickly ended for me when I accidentally stepped in a big puddle on the way to the starting line, ending up with a completely soaked shoe before we’d even begun.
For a second I was annoyed, but the next moment I couldn’t help but chuckle, deciding to instead curse the universe and its crappy idea of a joke before getting on with it. A little discouraged and cold, I did my best to hype myself up for the run by telling myself that the rain should calm down by the time we started.
I was wrong again.
Instead, the rain got much worse, soaking my clothes almost instantly as I made my way across the starting line. Meanwhile, Jenn walked in the rain with my parents as she took a video, her little umbrella doing next to nothing all while her jeans became a bajillion times heavier.
As I kept running, I learned how important positive self talk can be, talking to myself and saying things like “you’ve got this” and “you’re doing awesome!” And, while it felt silly, I think it was probably one of the few things keeping me from stopping to a slow even stepping off the course completely. That and the sight of other runners, a reminder that while this was my journey to run on my own, that didn’t mean I was alone.
Looking along the shore as I ran, I admired and respected the ferocious beauty of the lake while focusing on moving one foot in front of the other. I listened to the rain and felt it pelt my body. I did this until I eventually saw something even more beautiful: the finish line!
At the sight of it, I dashed forward, speeding through the finish line before stopping off to catch my breath. As I grabbed my complimentary snacks and water, I felt proud of myself for pushing through when it would have been just as easy to say this is too hard. And that day I learned something new about myself:
I’m stronger than I think.
(P.S. this year we did it and the weather was beautiful! Here’s a 2022 photo of me last year and one of us post-race this year for comparison. Notice how much dryer I was!)
