Running through the rain?

Okay, maybe I’m just a huge dope… but I couldn’t figure out how to comment on the column ON that same page? So, I hope this is the right place for this.

My question is this… In the article on running or walking through the rain, it was concluded that you get wetter when you walk through the rain, so you should always run.

But, has anyone considered (and I’m sure they have, because I’m quite positive I’m not the smartest, or most observant, person here) the water that splashes up from the ground while you’re running? When you run, it seems like the water on the ground splashes up higher and soaks your legs more so than if you’re just walking. So, do the tests cover that area as well?

I’ve always heard that running through is supposed to keep you drier, but that the ground water actually makes you wetter… so which is correct?

“Just curious”

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Nope, you have it right. Welcome!

(Link to article: Which will keep you drier, running through the rain or walking? )

And it sounds like you’re not a dope at all. Ground splash was certainly a factor that Cecil didn’t consider. At a guess, though, I’d say that the quantity and depth of ground water during a rainstorm is so wildly variable as to make any calculation impossible.

So I reckon what we ought to do is figure out how much splash is required to offset the difference between walking and running . . .
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Well thank you! I appreciate your saying I’m not a dope, lol! I must admit you’ve got me on the “quantity and depth” which is something I really didn’t consider, except to recognize that enough rain would have had to fall in order for there to be a puddle in the first place. Thanks for the reply!

Hope Cecil decides to explore this possibility a little further.

I would think that groundwater considerations would, ahem, come out a wash.

There are even more considerations than the variations in depth, etc., I think most of us care more about getting certain body parts wet than others (I don’t care if my shoes get wet, I care if they get soaked. However, I really don’t want to sit on a wet, muddy butt all day) and how you run.

When running, your feet should hit the ground at about 90 rpm (same frequency as cycling). This does not change with speed, so when you run faster, your feet just hit further apart. Ideally, you minimize your vertical velocity and your feet hit no more forcefully as you run faster. You just push back more forcefully as you run faster, so if you wait until contact is made with the ground before pushing back, then you should splash no more at high running speed than at low. Since your feet are hitting the ground less often over any given distance, you should splash yourself less with speed, not more. Of course, extending the logic clearly is crap for comparing running to walking, since you do splash more running than walking. It’s also crap if you have poor running form. I bet that I’m-walking-not-running trot is the worst combination.

So if you run, run well and fast. And leap the puddles.

Wow! It certainly sounds to me that you’re no “Slow Mind”! Since I first ran across this site the day before yesterday, I have been glued to it the whole time! My husband laughs at me because I have had the same thing up on the computer for three days… and when I walk away, I’ll just minimize it so that I can come back to the exact same spot without waisting any time trying to find it again! haha!

But, I certainly wish my mind worked like yours, SlowMind… I’d consider myself a pretty smart gal… made straight A’s all through school (with the exception of 6th and 7th grades, my father died the summer before 6th, my brother died the summer before 7th) Oh yea, and I made a C in handwriting in 3rd grade… they just shouldn’t do that to a kid who makes straight A’s! Not for handwriting!! Mean teacher! hahaha!

Anywho… as way off topic as I have gotten, I’m sorry… there WAS a point. It was that, I wish my mind worked like yours. Of course, the best answer, all around, would be just to watch the weather (and hope you live in a town where the meteorologist knows what he’s doing… unlike mine!) and bring an umbrella! And if you have the umbrella, DON’T run! Because then your hair will be dry and your pants will be soaked!

The true answer is to live someplace like Colorado, where it never rains.

(BTW, I was not a straight A student, but I do have a Ph. D. in physics, and I run a lot. Too much, if you ask my wife.)

That’s impressive! I suppose it really doesn’t make a crap what kind of grades you make in school. Wanna know where my straight A’s (and one damned C) got me? I was a stripper for 7 years! LMAO!

Oh well, I’m working on it now. Not a PhD, but I’m taking a course in medical transcription… at least I (will) make decent money and will hopefully be able to work from home so I can be with my children… so if you know any medical doctors looking… lemme know! haha! Just kidding.

So what, if you don’t mind my asking, do you do? Now that you have a PhD in physics?

And I suppose, your solution would be better than the umbrella one… but if you’re stuck where you are, I think I gotchya beat, lol!

Have a good one!