The pool I use is still closed for repairs, which meant my only workout today, was a fifty minute run.  I didn’t want to do this run on the treadmill, but the weather was atrocious all day. It was raining outside, and the forecast was for it to continue into tonight. I still chose to go outside for the run.

Whenever it is raining outside, and I plan to run in it, I nearly always put on a triathlon kit. This is especially the case, when it is also too warm, to make running in a rain jacket feel comfortable.  It was like that today, so I put on my two-piece Wattie Ink kit, and headed off to the local park.

Why run in a triathlon kit?  Well it certainly feels different to run at the park in a triathlon kit.  It would be easy to feel a little self conscious. The thing is, when it is raining, there are very few people out there to even notice.  I ran almost six miles today, and I never saw another person.  Sure there were people in cars, but it’s easy to ignore them.

I run in a triathlon kit in the rain, for two reasons.  The first is that the kit is designed to get wet, and when it does, it doesn’t become heavy and baggy.  My run shirts get soaked with water and cling to my body, in a way that is uncomfortable to me.  The triathlon kit is naturally compressive and fits tight on my body.  It doesn’t feel any different whether it is wet or dry.

The second reason for wearing the triathlon kit in the rain, is that I find that I don’t get any chafing at all.  I have had cases of chafing in my regular running gear, but never in my triathlon kit.

There is one other thing that seems to happen when I run in a triathlon kit.  I just feel ‘faster’ when wearing it and I normally have a great run.  I am sure it is a placebo effect, but it happened again today.  My run was one of the best runs that I have had in many weeks.  I ran fast, but never felt like I was pushing the pace at all.  Maybe, I should run in a triathlon kit in the dry too.