What do you wear in the rain?

Hi! I'm very very new to running, just starting out on C25K.

Since the British summer is being its usual self I keep getting very wet. I've been going out in a North Face cagoule but it's a bit bulky, since i live in Yorkshire I am sure I'll get lots of wear out of any wet weather gear so I am wondering what folk recommend for running in the rain? I'm not too bothered about my legs/feet as I am not out for long (30-40 mins), but it would be nice to come back without being soaked to my undies! TIA.

Comments

  • I don't wear anything different from just my usual running kit unless it's wet AND cold, in which case I'll wear a thin rain jacket just to keep from getting too cold. I quite like running in the rain really, it's nicer than running in the boiling sun...

  • Montane Minimus if it's really raining, particularly once it gets cooler (wet and warm is okay. Wet and cold is miserable.

  • As little as poss. If its warm just shorts.
  • Tight tops work best for me if it's cold and wet.
  • MuttleyMuttley ✭✭✭

    Lower half of body - shorts as usual. Upper half - gilet in all conditions other than really really foul and cold, in which case I have a waterproof jacket from Decathlon which is kind of okay but gets clammy inside. And hat. Must have a hat.

    If it's worse than really really foul and cold I just stay indoors until it gets better.

    I was out yesterday for a 10-miler along the Cornish coast in gale-force headwind and horizontal rain, and the gilet and a buff did me fine. Had it been winter I would have had the jacket and a fleecy hat.

    As long as you're moving you should be warm enough but if you're up in the Yorkshire moors maybe consider a small backpack with a fleece inside in case you have to stop or get injured.

  • Wet & warm - just shorts and vest
    Wet and cold - as above + Montane minimus
    Wet cold and windy - rethink timing or as above but merino underlayer in place of vest

  • You're all made of much sterner stuff than me! (obviously).

    Will stick to my cagoule then, it keeps the worst of the rain out, perhaps will just look for a smaller size in the sales.

    Thanks!

  • The great thing about the Montane Minimus is that it packs down to almost nothing and weighs very little, so it's easy to carry with you in a small backpack or even a waist pouch.

  • Almost always just T-shirt and shorts. Skin is waterproof, don't know why people get so worried about it - it's not as if you have to sit around in wet gear for the rest of the day. In winter I us a windproof gilet - the real problem is the combination of wet and cold so keeping the worst of the wind off can help. 

  • exiled claret: getting wet is fine when it's warm - I got soaked at the Croydon 30 ultra in July and was fine. But wet and cold at the Greater Manchester Marathon was heading towards hypothermia territory.

  • I ran the MK mara on the same day as your Manchester mara. Wore just shorts and white running vest plus white baseball cap. I froze.



    I sometimes where a light weight water proof running top in winter.
  • I agree - that's why I said the problem was the combination of wet and cold. Whilst it has been quite wet for much of the summer it hasn't been very cold. I know the conditions for Manchester were pretty horrendous, but that kind of situation is exactly when I would use the gilet to keep the wind off - it was also in April, and the OP specifically spoke about the British summer.

    Man, if I'd been wearing a waterproof jacket over the last 2 or 3 months I'd have finished every run absolutely drenched no matter how hard it rained or not - it'd be a case of "boil in the bag" runner. It's really pushing it to find a jacket which is both waterproof and breathable enough to cope with walking in UK climates, let along the extra perspiration generated when running. That's why I try to embrace the wet when it is warm, and focus on staying warm (usually by keeping the wind off) when it is cold, rather than trying to keep the wet off.

  • Coming home this afternoon from work (@14:30) in the damned rain,it was just a t-shirt & shortsimage

    (was reasonably decent weather when I left the house @ 04:45)

     


    Fell-races are different, as there can be regulations on kit-carrying

    http://fellrunner.org.uk/pdf/committee/11_fra_safety_requirements.pdf  (see 'Rule 9')

    I always take mine to races, just in case weather conditions dictate a possible enforcement)

  • Debra what's the sizing like on Minimus?
  • goji, I'd say they're sized pretty much as they state. I've got a size 10, and that's what size I am for most things - and it's got enough room for my shoulders (I'm amazed how many so-called activewear shirts and jackets are designed by people who think active people don't have any muscle on their shoulders).

    Surrey Runner: yes, I gathered you had similar weather for MK!

    exiled claret: Maybe you're a much faster runner than me, or more cold-tolerant. I had my waterproof in my backpack for M'cr. By the time I realised I needed it, my hands (despite gloves) were too cold to get it out. There were people wearing single-use plastic macs who I passed in the last few miles (I finished in 3.47) and they were not getting too warm while running. I read a blog by a sub-3 hour runner who commented that his hands were too cold to be able to grab the drink bottles while running. A windproof gilet might have helped a bit but I know my windproof jacket wouldn't have been enough to keep me warm... Next time I'm running in those conditions (5 C before windchill, gale force winds, rain, hail), I'm wearing my Minimus.

  • A wet t-shirt.

    In windy weather below 10'C I wear a windproof hi-viz hilly. Below 5'C wooly hat and fleece gloves. They stay warm when wet.

    Always shorts but don't go out if below -3'C

    Trying to stay dry is a bit pointless really. If it's really bad, you're going to be out for hours and think you may have to stop then a thin warm top and full waterproofs in a back-pack is a must.

     

     

  • Thanks Debra, confusingly the places where I can get it online give the sizing in x- small, small, medium etc. Not sure if 10 is small or medium in this case...
  • dress for the temperatures, not the rain i think, human beings are waterproof, people often seem to forget that, as long as you are warm who cares how wet you get?

    i find it really refreshing in the summer/warmer months.

  • goji, I've found several sites indicating S = 10. Just make sure they're not offering the men's version if they're not giving the number-size equivalent...

    Any fool can be cold, wet and miserable. It's hard to stay warm if you're wet though at 5 C. And it amazes me how many people will set off on a long (20+) mile run in cool/cold weather without carrying anything they could wear to stave off hypothermia if they twist an ankle and have to sit around for an hour or more waiting for someone to come get them.

     

  • touie2touie2 ✭✭✭
    I bought a waterproof after getting really cold on the downs one February, it was sunny when I started the run but I had a wind proof with me just in case, the weather changed half way through, wind, rain even hail! I've never been so cold!!!







    I have an Omm kameleika waterproof smock now which is great and also packs very small, haven't needed it over the summer though!!!
  • Sounds like I'm a similar pace to you Debra - 3:46 in my last marathon.

    I really feel the cold in my hands - so long as I keep them warm the rest of me is usually okay. Standard winter gear is shorts, thermal long-sleeve top, gilet and gloves (ski mitts if very cold).

    OP was talking about summer though, for which I am convinced waterproofs are not only unnecessary, but probably a hindrance.

  • exiled claret: well, since the OP was already taking about wearing a (bulky) waterproof, I thought I'd recommend a lighter one!image

    I agree with you that, when it's warm enough, wearing a waterproof just means getting hot and (however breathable the jacket) wet from the inside out, sooner or later, so a lightweight windproof jacket (e.g. Montane Marathon Jacket) or a gilet, as you say, is sufficient. But I've found that in colder conditions the Minimus can make all the difference between being fine and being really miserable. And I was also thinking about running out on the moors etc. because temperatures on top of exposed hills can be quite cool (e.g. I've been in the Lake District on clear days when it was 20+ in the valleys and 0 C (including windchill) on the tops).

    touie2: sympathies; that sort of cold is no fun. After GMM, once my stepmother had helped me put on three top layers and a pair of trousers, it still took 40 mins for me to warm up enough to be able to walk to the car, and another 20 mins (with the heater on full blast) to stop shivering. None of us had expected those conditions at the end of April (even in Manchester, she adds, before someone else does).

  • OP said just starting out so will try and state the obvious. You are soaking wet when going swimming. You are soaking wet and too hot in a sauna. Being wet is not an issue ever, unless it lasts for days.



    Part of it is mental. Do not be afraid of being wet although society programmes us to worry about it.



    Part of it is association of cold and wet as that is how we experience it.



    Do not fear the wet. Run hard, jump in puddles and enjoy it. Go short and fast and love it.



    M..eface
  • +1 Me..face!

    Love the rain. It's just a cooler version of the shower you will have when you get back.

    You are bang on about society programming us - the roads around the school just up from me are absolutely ridiculous with cars the moment there is the slightest drop of rain!!!!

  • Notice it's just the women complaining about getting wet?

  • A cap.

    Not feeling the rain on my head or face makes me feel like it's not raining (much).

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