Hello! This weeks blog – Running in the Rain.
Has the wet weather dampened your spirits suddenly? A lot of people I know, and don’t know, let the rain get in the way of getting out there. So, not getting their exercise done and dusted.
The picture above is from yesterday. After a week of glorious sun-bathing sunshine to sudden chilly air and rain. Yet, I still went out and ran as it was my usual running day. What a pleasure it was too, not a single other person was out and there was very minimal traffic. What a massive change over last week’s sunny run!
Not Letting Rain Dictate Your Day
I used to let the weather dictate what I did and when, and I don’t anymore. This is because it was just holding me back from achieving my goals. I know that the times we are experiencing with Coronavirus and the lockdown mean that some people are struggling to maintain any kind of routine or normality. The fear of contracting or passing on the virus has prevented some people even venturing outside of their house and garden. If you are one of those then I highly recommend getting out and running in the rain, as most people just don’t want to get wet.
As a Sports Massage Therapist, I am always advocating healthy movement and as I have a passion for running. I often talk about it with clients and do get a lot of running clients in through my doors too.
Running in the Rain Injury
I had a runner in a little while ago with an adductor injury, aka groin. He wanted to work out what was going on. He had had a particularly wet and rainy race the previous week and was still sore, which was unusual for him. After all the testing I carried out, we found that it was simply a poorly trained muscle. Because the runner in question always trained on pavements and roads and the race was all-terrain during a wet and windy day and he slipped and slid several times on the muddy ground.
When his muscles were challenged in a way they weren’t used too, they tensed to protect themselves from further injury. This tension was causing the ongoing discomfort. I massaged all the adductors (there are many) as well as the quads and hamstrings to ensure there was no overcompensation occurring. Two sessions later and he was pain free once more. The client also implemented a new training regime outside of his running to injury-proof his muscles if he came across different terrain once again.
This is generally a good strategy for any sport and I often recommend it to my sports massage clients, especially if you’re interested in being as injury free as possible.
Cross Training to Prevent Injury
For runners, cross training your muscles using HIIT, weight training as well as circuit training are just a few ways you can build up strength and adaptability in your body. Partaking in another sport is also an excellent way to protect your body, as different sports have different muscle focuses and as such will lead to a stronger body.
Think of exercises that will have you moving side to side, to engage the adductors in that oft forgotten inner thigh, but also different exercises to target all the muscle fibres in each muscle group. For example, when training your quads, you could squat as well as lunge, to engage as much muscle as possible.
If you haven’t been an all-weather runner before now, but feel inspired to have a go.
Here are some considerations – Running in the Rain
- You will get very WET, just accept it
- Have newspapers and towels to hand by your door for your return
- Ensure your trainers have adequate grip
- Wear a lightweight waterproof jacket
- A fabric sports hairband is excellent for preventing both sweat and rain dripping into your eyes
- Avoid running through puddles unnecessarily
- But also run through a puddle if there is no safer option to avoid it
- Be aware of new territory as puddles could disguise a pothole or other trip hazard
- Run wide of gutter puddles… if it’s there, then someone WILL drive through it and splash you
- Don’t run over manhole covers, white lines or leaves, as they are slippery
- Once home, get your trainers off quickly, as they are very slippery on any tiles you might have in the house
- Stuff your shoes with newspapers and leave in a warm place
- Change the newspaper for dry paper every few hours until your shoes are thoroughly dry
- Stretch properly after your run
- Shower and get warm as quickly as possible as you will cool down very quickly
As ever, if you have any issues with niggles, aches, stiffness or pain, please do get in touch to see what I am able to advise what you can do to help yourself feel better before my sports massages are available to book again.
See you on the other side, Chloe.