Running in the Rain

“I like rain, actually.”
—Bill Rodgers, running legend and former Boston & New York City Marathon winner

I’m nearing the end of my training for the upcoming White Rock Marathon. On one of my training runs last week I encountered some serious rain and water issues. It had been raining for two hours before my morning run so the streets were already saturated. And when I started the rain was still going strong.

So throughout the eight miles, I encountered (or shall I say “immersed my feet in”) puddle after puddle after puddle. Once I finished and dried off, I realized there were three Think Huge lessons I learned while running in the rain:

(1) You are going to step in puddles—Okay, you may call it something else but since we’re using a rainy running metaphor we’ll call it “puddles.” And sometimes, you just step in them. There were times I was literally ankle deep in water for multiple steps: my shoes and socks were drenched. I could have stopped but chose to persevere instead. Life is like that—you will have times when you’re going to get pretty wet in life. You have a choice to make: quit or persevere.

(2) Sometimes you won’t see the puddles—I wear glasses and can’t see much without them. When I’m running in the rain I don’t tend to wear them because the lenses get too wet to do any good. So on that morning I was running without glasses in the dark—which meant I didn’t see many of the puddles I stepped in. Once again, life is like that as well—you won’t always see problems coming your way. In fact, there are times when you’ll be completely blindsided. You can whine about it and have a sorry attitude. Or you can decide to directly meet the challenge with a positive attitude. Your attitude (even in the midst of puddles) makes all the difference in the world.

(3) You have to determine when to push through and when to redirect—At one point in the run I didn’t just encounter ankle deep water: I came to a low-point where the water started getting up to my lower calves. I looked ahead and saw more rushing water—and that’s when I turned around! As noted above, life is like that—while perseverance is key to success (and a think huge principle), perseverance doesn’t mean stubbornness. While you never give up (notice I didn’t stop running), there are times when you will need to redirect or go another way.

Life is not always a walk in the park—sometimes it’s a run in the rain.

Think Huge!

Comments

[Southcheesehead]

#3 reminds me of something Joyce Meyer has said that I'll never forget: "If the horse is dead...dismount!"

[Mark Arnold]

@Southcheesehead....I like the quote from Joyce Meyer...you make a great point! We must be able to determine when we need to change the path we are on (before it is too late).