Imagine putting your running clothes and shoes on, stepping in the shower (with all your clothes and shoes still on), turning it on and running in place. That’s exactly what my run was like yesterday.

It was 6 p.m., I was stressed beyond belief and I still had to drive four hours to north Florida. But I wasn’t going to sacrifice my run. I needed it. I wanted it. Often our workout is the first thing to go when we’re pressed for time, but somehow, miles seem to melt away anxiety and give more strength. So with a hundred things to do and not enough time, I went for that run anyway. Let me be late for something else.

The sky was grey and the clouds were taunting. I was about 2 miles into the run when it started pouring. “Pouring” may be an understatement. I swear these were the biggest rain drops I’ve ever seen. I haven’t been this wet since I dumped 26 buckets of water over my head. My shoes and socks were filled with water. There were ankle deep puddles I kept trying to jump over until I realized how ridiculous that was since my feet were already soaked.

The truth? I loved it. The water washed over me in attempt to cleanse away the stress and all the things that build up in our minds and hearts that aren’t needed. It washed away worry and doubt. It washed away all the things that don’t really matter.

Read: 7 Tips for Racing in the Rain

After a shower and long after the sun had set, I got in my car to drive to Amelia Island where I’ll be spending the weekend. To pass the time, I listened to several Runner’s Connect podcasts, which I love. {As a side note, I’m excited to meet host Tina Muir next month to run the Maine Half Marathon and spend the weekend together!} There were powerful words and messages in each of them. Like the rain washed away all the things I was worrying about earlier in the evening, these words washed inspiration across my mind and heart.

Running Will Always Be Here

My friend Janae from Hungry Runner Girl was interviewed about all aspects of running, including her upcoming race in which she is gunning for a sub-3-hour marathon. There was something Janae said about balancing life and the stresses it can bring (family, injury, etc.) with running and training that really stuck with me. I was personally moved since I’ve scaled my mileage and intensity back this year and am physically nowhere near as fast or as powerful as I was last year when I was training seriously. I thought her words were a powerful message we can and should all remember. (You can hear the full podcast here: Consistency as a Runner & Why a Community is so Valuable to Your Performance)

“Running will always be there for you when you’re ready. It’s not something to be forced … It shouldn’t come before family … It will always be there for you when you’re ready to come back. Just remember to think long term rather than ‘if I don’t keep up with it it’s all going to go away.’ But it won’t. Even if you’re scaling back on intensity or mileage, it will be there for you when you’re ready to come back. We all go through hard things and sometimes running helps it and sometimes we just need to sleep in and get our mental game back … go easy on yourself. It will be there for you when you’re ready.”

Strength Comes from Within

I absolutely loved this interview with Coach Dennis Barker who coaches Team USA Minnesota. The athletes he has worked with have won 23 national championships and qualified for 29 national teams. As an endurance coach myself, I especially enjoyed it because I loved so much of Coach Barker’s approach and philosophy. The one aspect that really stood out to me was when host Tina Muir asked coach Barker how he keeps his marathon athletes mentally motivated when doing long workouts on the treadmill in the winter. I think his words are important for all of us as runners to think about. Only WE can decide how much we want something, and as much as we may look to other people or outside forces for inspiration, it starts with us and we have to have it inside us. (You can hear the full podcast here: Inside the Mind of Coach to Olympians Dennis Barker)

“I don’t see it as a big function of mine to motivate them. I feel like if you aspire to be a professional athlete, you have to have that inside you, to be driven yourself. Because I really can’t put that in there. I actually don’t like it if somebody doesn’t have that as much … The worst feeling for a coach is to feel like you’re putting in more than the athlete because they will never reach their full potential. The athletes who are driven and have a long range plan, they’re not thinking about how bad they feel and how sweaty they are. They’re thinking about their next race and visualizing that.”

The Bad Days Make the Good Days Great

In the last podcast I listened to on my drive, elite runner and coach Sarah Crouch discussed the often neglected topic of running and fertility. It was an interesting podcast. However, it is something she said at the end of the conversation that really moved me when host Tina Muir asked her about getting through challenging and difficult races as runners. Hear the full podcast here: Runners and Fertility: What You Need to Know)

“During [my sister’s] first year of cross country, she had a dream season where she won almost every race that she ran. Then, this track season she struggled a lot through the early parts of the season. But last night, she came out on top. She won the 10K and 5K at her championship meet. She told me, you know that as strangely as it is, I actually prefer this season to the cross country season because you don’t appreciate the good races until you have the bad races to compare them to. Enjoy the bad ones because those are the ones that build character. You don’t build character through the easy races, the PRs, the ones you win with your hands in the air. You build character when you struggle home with your head down but decide to get it done anyways. So enjoy the bad as well as the good.”

So, a rainy run and a long drive served up a lot of running inspiration. I hope some of it washes over you. Happy running.

What running podcasts do you enjoy listening to? What are your best tips for running or racing in the rain.