As an avid runner, I do lots of running in the rain, wind, sleet and frost. In Scotland this is doubly-so. I run no matter if I’m feeling tired, have a headache or am relaxed and ready. On nicer days I tend to see plenty of people on the trail, and on the more brutal days, almost no one. I love those days.

Running in the rain doesn’t bother me, and in fact most of the time it barely occurs to me before I go out. This is in part because I’m prepared with the necessary gear, but also because I’ve done it so much now that the discomfort is outweighed by the knowledge that once I start, and certainly once I finish, the intrinsic reward far will outweigh any pain. Any resistance I have is easily beaten before it can start.

This habit has been good for me physically and has led, in small increments over a long period of time, to me going from being someone who works out occasionally to someone who is now a fairly serious runner, a designation that also requires a multitude of other changes in order to sustain (i.e. a good diet, sleep, etc). A key factor in becoming a serious runner has been not letting external factors like the weather be a convenient excuse to avoid some discomfort and pain at the expense of practice.

The question now is where else in my life do I need to “run in the rain”?