What a difference a week makes! Last week we were in a deep freeze. A week later it rained for over two days. Now we are in a netherland of higher than normal temperatures, mostly cloudy skies and humidity. At least this is weather we are more accustomed to here in South Central Texas, though I am surely not the only one who hopes the cold and dry will return in time for next weekend's 3M Half Marathon in Austin.
It's a challenge, but I am continuing to keep my feet on the pavement even through the less than fair weather. A race looming on the horizon almost always gets a runner's attention. It's why I always try to have events lined up - I respond to deadlines. Without them I am apt to get casual about running and I really can't afford to be any more casual than I already am. That's why I ventured out a couple of days ago to log miles in the rain. Had it been really cold and rainy I likely would have retreated, but the air was around 50 degrees and the rain was more drizzle than drops. However, it had been raining at that point for a good 36 hours. Puddles were frequent and deep and for that reason I suited up in old shoes rather than the new Nikes. I figured 5 or 6 miles would be my limit and there would be little harm in running in the recently retired shoes which had carried me through last November's Rock'n'Roll Marathon.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I don't have cold weather running gear. It's not something we have to gird ourselves for in this part of the country. Likewise, I don't have wet weather gear either. It's not like we are in the Pacific Northwest. Here rain is only an occasional nuisance. Nevertheless, it's something I wanted to figure out, just in case.....you never know what you might get on any given race day and with the Texas Independence Relay now only 8 weeks away I want to have a tested plan for dealing with wet weather running. So I dug deep into my closet for an old windbreaker I had purchased 25 years ago when I moved to Mexico City. The need there was to stay dry during the inevitable showers of the rainy season. Amazingly, and despite the garment not being any reputable brand I could recall, this windbreaker worked fine for me in the modest rain of the other night.
Cotton sweat pants and two layers of technical shirts, a long sleeve over a short sleeve, kept me warm, especially the upper torso. However, the most important clothing I wore for that wet night run was a great pair of wicking socks. It's funny, I just read from an amazing ultra-runner's blog a comment about his brother, who had come to run some miles with him. He remarked on the cotton t-shirt his brother ran in, along with his cotton socks, describing this as vintage '80s running attire. Yes, I remember, and thank goodness I now know better. Some of this knowledge I picked up during my pre-runner days. Hiking and backpacking gear has also migrated towards engineered synthetics and wicking blends. These things really do work and I encourage anyone who is serious about running to outfit themselves in good gear. I currently have three favorite pairs of running socks, and I think they are all made for the "Sock Guy", a company which specializes in high quality socks for runners and other athletes. I came away from my recent rainy night run with my sweat pants soaked from the knees down (a city bus had driven by and splashed me) and with water logged shoes. But my feet were relatively dry and comfortable. The wicking works.
Two of my three favorite pairs of socks came from the Texas Independence Relay. They have also rewarded the runners of their events with very nice wicking t-shirts. This is a model which more race organizers need to follow. How often have we come away from events with cotton t-shirts, sometimes not even very well made? Kudos to Carroll Voss, who has always made a point of giving good quality shirts to his race participants. This was not always the case with the pre-Rock'n'Roll San Antonio Marathon. On the other hand, the Rock'n'Roll finisher shirts are first class (3M Half Marathon, pay attention!). In a moment I will climb down from my soap box, but not before noting that race directors could do wonders in educating runners by spending just a little more on the shirts. Please, please, no more cotton race rewards. Not all fibres are equal, nor are all socks equal. Do yourself a favor and buy a few pairs of socks from the Sock Guy. You won't regret it.
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