Chicago is next week and it may be rainy and wet!! Questions. I run in Hoka Cliftons. Should I drill holes? Does it help? Would I be better off in my pearl Izumi Iso transitions that seem to take on little water? Should I wear socks? any brands better? Any other tips? Thanks. This sux!!!
Body glide on your toes
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Wear sneakers that drain better, no socks(if you never ran with no sock don’t do it now though.).
And most importantly Stop being such a WUSS.
Lots of Body Glide on the feet. I’ve got some thin Nike Dry-Fit socks that are comfortable and don’t absorb much water.
A hat or visor to keep the rain out of your eyes.
I’ve never done it, but I’ve known guys who take along a dry pair of socks & some Vasoline in a fanny pack and stop long enough to change them out if they start to have blister problems.
Good luck.
Mark
Here in the West of Ireland it rains a lot. So the advice I’d give you is wear a light pair of socks that don’t absorb moisture (no cotton whatsoever!!) and just HTFU for the rest of it!!
Running in the rain is character building stuff 
I’m in for Chicago too and was trying not to check the forecast until about 5 days before the race. Anything sooner than that is too much of a gamble to get worked up about. After dealing with the ridiculous rain for the first few hours of IMLP this year I think that doing a marathon in the rain won’t be that bad. The only thing that I would really worry about if it is raining would be temperatures below 45 and raining, that could potentially suck. I guess the only two things that I will adjust for if it rains is to make sure that I am wearing wool toe socks and to make sure that I have warm and dry clothes while waiting at the start and waiting for me at the finish. Standing around in the cold before a race always increases my renal output, which leads to way too much urination and potential dehydration. Bundle up and stay dry while waiting at the start and then just toss everything at the last minute, once you’re moving the rain will probably feel good.
Full length compression socks worked well for me during a very rainy marathon. It seemed that where socks normally prevent blisters, on this day, those that had normal socks were worse off…
Body glide the crap out of your nipples.
“How do you prepare for a marathon in the rain”
By still doing your training runs outside even on days it is raining. Have you really never run in the rain before?
Chicago is next week and it may be rainy and wet!! Questions. I run in Hoka Cliftons. Should I drill holes? Does it help? Would I be better off in my pearl Izumi Iso transitions that seem to take on little water? Should I wear socks? any brands better? Any other tips? Thanks. This sux!!!
I shall kindly refer you to Velominati Rule #5.
Wear tight clothing. Loose stuff tends to weigh a ton after it’s soaked. Ideally no shirt at all, but it’ll probably be too cold in Chicago. Someone mentioned a hat which is a great suggestion. Go with the hat and no sunglasses. Sunglasses will just screw up your vision. Some kind of triathlon shoe would probably be best.
The closest I’ve come is a 20 mile trail run in a hard, driving rain. I wore a bike rain jacket and a hat, Smartwool socks, Race Ready shorts, lots of bodyglide. The run itself was fine…
It’s the socks to worry about, not the shoes. Wear thin ones.
Incidentally, I hope it’s rainy and wet. I love that weather. My marathon PR is in that weather!
Body Glide and Swiftwick socks
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“I hope it’s rainy and wet. I love that weather.”
Yeah, and forecast is for low 60s. That’s great running weather for sure.
PS to the OP, bandaids over the nips if you are a dude.
Chicago is next week and it may be rainy and wet!! Questions. I run in Hoka Cliftons. Should I drill holes? Does it help? Would I be better off in my pearl Izumi Iso transitions that seem to take on little water? Should I wear socks? any brands better? Any other tips? Thanks. This sux!!!
Is it going to look like this? CIM 2012. Very windy and rainy and puddley. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbZArjEmcf4
And another one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56j5buFQzeM
Noooooooooo. There goes BQ
“How do you prepare for a marathon in the rain”
By still doing your training runs outside even on days it is raining. Have you really never run in the rain before?
^This. Some of my best training runs (including long runs) have been in the rain. Need to be ready for anything on race day.
To the OP, I agree with the recommendations above about wearing lighter socks that won’t get bogged down with water. Some BodyGlide wouldn’t hurt either. Good luck!
Hi,
i think the worst is having rustling and heavy wet sleeves that can catch the wind so i wouldn’t wear a jacket - and same goes for anything that covers the legs - nobody wants to be flexing the elastic of heavy wet tights for a whole marathon
you could try some of these with just your summer shorts and shirt to keep it light and minimal :
rubbish bag vest - to keep dry before the start - make a vest out by cutting 3 holes in a rubbish bag - its completely wind/water proof - so nice and warm while standing around - and cheap so you can toss it any time
hat with visor - the runners ones have a longer brim than normal - when your eyes don’t have to squint you already feel like the weather is better. your headcan get a lot warmer if not used to it - so try it in training to see if you are more of a visor type runner
sunglasses - that accumulate raindrops make it seem worse than it is - definately don’t pick a dark grey lens - try brown or orange to feel warmer
sleeves - if its really cold get some summer weight biking sleeves (link) that you can throw away or tuck in the back of your shorts if it needed - these are light when wet, warm, adjustable on the go (can pull down to wrists for some air) - and have no aero penalty
mesh back biking vest - (link) - keeps you dry while letting you back sweat normally (did you notice that when you run in rain your back doesn’t get as wet?) - if it gets too hot then you can open the zip but its super light and doesn’t hold water - bike shops sell them
gloves - if its cold then really thin gloves can be enough to keep you feeling warm with bare arms and legs - gardening centers sell cotton ones for only a couple of bucks which makes them airy and disposable (link)
wool gear - a lot of endurance runners say that wool just feels way better in all conditions and is generally warmer than polyester when wet, but is pricey http://www.ashmei.com/shop/legwear/mens-running-tight/
tape - for your nipples just in case - on wet days you see a lot of runners with blood stains there - if your feeling rich you can use the see through elastic foot blister plasters - those are waterproof and stretch
running socks - these are thinner and open weave on top so wont hold much water at all, and polyester (coolmax and drifit are polyester) which seems so slide better so wont cut your feet up as much when they are soft from being wet. obviously low cut version
dont be tempted to oil your skin to waterproof it - it just blocks your sweat
heat balms like tiger balm and deep heat etc - dont really warm your skin just stimulate your nerves so you can end up cooling off too much instead - and some get activated when wet so can give a surprise
and if its going to be chilly don’t shave your legs - since that is when hair comes in handy
good luck ! just think of the rain as saving your body putting energy into sweating