Rich on Running: Motivate yourself to run in the rain

For some runners out there, and I am one of them, the sound of raindrops hitting the windowpane is discouraging. The wet skies of Thursday contrasted sharply with the familiar crispness of clear New England autumns that are so wonderful for running. Yet there are ways to push ourselves through the door and onto our familiar running routes when it rains.If you have a dog, you might want to try combining your daily run with their daily walk, as I did with my West Highland white terrier, Daisy, late yesterday morning. A red brick section of the Minuteman Bikepath in Cambridge provided a natural starting line for a run. “Ready, set, go,” I told Daisy, and for most of our run, she not only listened to me, she also seemed to have fun galloping up and down the gentle slopes of the bikepath.Should you run with your four-legged friend, please obey local leash laws and also make sure your pet doesn’t slip its leash. In rainy weather, keep an eye on the ground to check that you aren’t guiding your pet (or yourself) into a puddle or a muddy pathway.Don’t have a pet? Not a problem. Maybe you can find a running buddy. That way, both of you will get your run in, and you will have some companionship to get your mind off the fact that the temperatures dropped to the 40s and there might be snow on the way. During my run with Daisy, we saw two women running and apparently having a good conversation as they did so. Not only that, they seemed to be making pretty good time, too.Also, if you sign up for a local road race, running in inclement weather might seem less daunting because you need to put in the practice time anyway. One road race coming up just in time for Halloween is the third annual Devil’s Chase, a 6.66-mile jaunt through Salem on Saturday. The race starts at Salem Willows at 8 a.m. General cost is $35. You can register at active.com until 4 p.m. today. There will be prizes for devil costumes, as well as a “Thriller” themed zombie dance.It might seem like playing devil’s advocate to suggest running in the rain. Yet you can still get in your daily mileage and know that you can overcome wet weather as easily as you can dodge that puddle in your path.Rich Tenorio writes a weekly column on running for The Item. He can be reached at [email protected].