What is a shower run?
As you might guess from the sound of it, it’s going for a run in the rain.
You might think that judging by the title, I do this all the time, but truth be told, it was my first experience, so I stood before my keyboard to write about it. Don't say, "Oh no, not more running stuff." Make sure to read until the end.
I had been feeling restless because a planned ride was canceled, and since I'm the type who loves to be active, I couldn't sit still any longer and bolted outside on that rainy Thursday.
Usually, I run in Altra shoes, but I have a resistance to running in wet shoes, so I spent my days never even considering running in the rain.
However, it hit me that day. I have Bedrock Sandals!
Once I started running, I felt a pleasure different from my usual runs after a while.
While part of it was surely the raw impulse of "I'm running in the rain!", when I calmly checked my watch, my pace was slower than usual.
When running alone, don't you find that even if you try to keep a slow pace, you end up speeding up? That's exactly me, and by the time I finish, I'm huffing and puffing. That feeling is nice in its own way, but if I try to run a longer distance than usual, my legs end up hurting at the end.
I personally surmise that because I was running in sandals, I was able to run at a comfortable, appropriate pace without overdoing it, but without being too slow.
After finishing my usual holiday route and stopping my watch, the fact that I started running again because I wanted to go just a little further isn't uploaded to Strava yet, so this is just between us.
My top that day was the Patagonia Nine Trails Singlet. It's what people commonly call a tank top or a running singlet. (By the way, I am 168cm tall and weigh 61kg, and I’m wearing size S.)
I had resistance to this at first too. To someone who doesn't run, it just looks like a person wearing a "running" shirt to go running. But once you try it on, I guarantee you'll be hooked. Just like the Nine Trails Shirt, it doesn't cling to your body even when soaked with sweat or rain, and it dries quickly. But the benefit of having no sleeves isn't just that there's no resistance when swinging your arms—it's what a sense of liberation it provides!
I realized that this singlet played a huge role in why I wanted to bolt outside on that rainy day, and personally, I wish for women to experience this liberation, too, and brighten up the world!
Outdoor activities are dependent on the weather, and the period you can run in a combination of rain, sandals, and a singlet is right now.
I'm planning to run a bit further on the next rainy Thursday, so if the timing works for you, please let me know. Let's go for a run together!