Why Do We Like Crappy Weather?

(Latest weather forecasts for Saturday morning in Boston predict temperatures in the mid-30's and a 30% chance of light rain.)

Question: Why do we like crappy weather?

Short answer: We don't; we only pretend we do.

Whenever people start talking about running in the rain (or sleet, or snow, or...) I like to think about my friend Eamonn, who grew up in Ireland and had years of experience racing in miserable weather. Eamonn said that in the U.S., any time he lined up to race in the rain, people standing near him who knew his heritage would say, "Eammon, this is your kind of weather...you must be happy!" Actually, he hated running in the rain. And it annoyed him that people always assumed that a lifelong exposure to unpleasant weather made it less unpleasant.

When people start waxing poetic about how great it is to be wet, muddy, and chilled to the bone, I wonder whether they're just whistling past the graveyard.

Hey, I admit I'm as bad as anyone else. I swear that I love running in a pelting cold rain, and I do love it -- when its over and I get to stop. I have an ulterior motive for my deceit, however. I don't like to hear other people complain about bad weather, so I pretend it's really good weather to shame them into piping down. The truth is, cold is cold and wet is wet. As those facts sink in like melting sleet into the bottom of your shoes, you realize that the opportunities for enjoyment are limited.

No, what we really love is our own toughness. We love being bad-ass runners who would run through a snowstorm or hurricane if there was a race scheduled for that day. On the other hand, some of us (no names) are mortally afraid of catching a common cold, so how tough are we really?

Anyway, bad weather is a challenge like any other, and when we meet the challenge, we feel good about ourselves. Nothing wrong with that. But the next time you hear me or anyone else get all misty-eyed about how great it is to be slogging away in the mire, you have my permission to tell us to go to hell.

Oh wait... we're already there!