You don’t!!!!

 

Yesterday’s conditions… No biggie 💁🏽 #tracklife #rain #ucla pic.twitter.com/qeLi1AlSaX

— Sirena Alise (@Sirena_Alise) April 10, 2016

Haha just kidding…   There will be times when you can’t control the weather conditions you are competing in. Wait.. you can never control the weather conditions you are competing in only how you compete in the conditions that you are in and whether or not you choose to compete in those conditions. Wouldn’t it be great if we could control the weather!! haha  In the case that it’s a rainy day schedule here are a few tips for competing in the rain.  

Layer up!

You know how your coach is always harping on you to have sweats on whether its 101 degrees outside or below 0.. Well you better believe that having sweats on applies to rain, sleet or snow as well. Find you some nice water-resistant sweats, not a wind breaker (unless it wicks water away). Now put your water-resistant gear over your normal sweats. You’ll be nice and toasty. Depending on what you buy you may be able to get away with just wearing your water-resistant gear but in the event that there isn’t that nice cozy cotton on the inside of the jacket or pants be sure you layer up with your normal work out warm up gear. You can make the investment for an expensive pair that you’ll probably have your whole life, and use maybe 3 times if you live in Cali, or you can go thrift store shopping or Target/Walmart. They usually have some good stuff in there.

Warm up thoroughly

It’s ok to do that extra warm up lap if you’re not feeling warm. The most easiest thing you can do to prevent injury is warming up thoroughly. Especially in cold conditions… and warm conditions. In fact all conditions. You should be in the habit of warming up thoroughly all the time and if you aren’t then you need to get on it!

Attempt to stay dry as possible

I know right. Stay dry in wet weather. How is that possible.. It’s not.. but you can stay as dry wet as possible. As in, not so wet that you could probably wring your clothes out and fill a bucket up with water, but just an uncomfortable wet were your outer layers are a little soaked but your dry underneath.. haha You catch my drift? if not just drop a comment below for clarification..

DO NOT take your warm ups off until the very last-minute

This !!! The officials always want your sweats off right away! Then want to hold you before your start fffooorrrreeeevvveerrrrr. Wait until the very last-minute. Sometimes I am little quick because I don’t want to mentally deal with the stress of taking off my warm ups before I compete. I’m working on it.

Clear your head in the blocks and ignored the puddles of water your hands and knees are sitting in

Know that there will be puddles in your lane. Who cares. If you have a photographer snapping you hopefully you get out the blocks boss and create water waves like when girls flick their hair out of water…Just with your hands. I think that’d be pretty dope. The track and field version of water flowing in the air. Other than the typical splashes that we make that come up from our feet.

Spike Up !

If you are a hurdler this is essential! Spike up for drills that require you to paw the ground, or attack the ground aggressively. The ground is slippery so the normal drills you do in flats are not going to be the same. Worse case scenario you attempt to drop that lead leg down quick and slip and fall on your face. Everyone notices… asks if your ok and then laughs.. Hopefully no one was recording.. Consult with your coach about which drills you will do. Sprinters, jumpers, throws spike up for your normal accelerations and any drill that requires quick aggressive movements.  

  They don’t call it an all weather track for nothing 💪🏾😏 Happy with my campaign this weekend.. Ready for next 🙌🏾 #tracklife #ucla #rain #hurdlegang 🎥 @ambivurt   A video posted by Sirena Alise (@sirenaalise) on Apr 9, 2016 at 8:52pm PDT

 

Yes. Running in the rain can suck.. but it can also be exhilarating once you’ve accepted that it is what it is and you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to perform at the most optimal level no matter the scenario. It’s your job as a track and field athlete to compete at the highest level no matter the conditions. It’s only water 🙂

Got some tips to add? Drop them in the comment section!!

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