Etikettarkiv: rain

10 k in the rain

Went running again again at Järvafältet. One of my harder runs for a while actually, it was raining and I was not sure how to dress properly. I mean, I know what to do generally, if you are hiking you use an outer shell, a warm sweater and a moisture transport inner layer that keeps you dry but when you go running or do other high pulse activity the outer shell rather acts like a plastic bag, meaning that even if the rain does not soak you, your own sweat will in an hours time or so.

Gore-Tex or similar functional garments don’t have the capacity to transport enough water vapor, especially not when it is raining on them and so it seems that wool is the way to go. Keeps you warm even when it is wet. Functional t-shirts and fleece sweathers would also work, especially microfleece, they transport loads of moisture but keep you warm even if they are soaking wet.

And then there is the wind. Someting more tightly wowen in wool would probably be best as a middle layer. So a functional tee, a wool warm layer and a microfleece sweather, together would probably be a better combination than what I was wearing today.

I had just a runner’s jacket and trousers, a functional tee. Socks and underwear as usual in cotton.

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Above you can see the route I was running today.

More info on the run here.

Running in the dark

Now when the Swedish wonderful summer is drawing closer to the autumn I need to share a real runner tip with everyone that wants to keep running in the woods even if there is a slight drizzle of rain or the darkness is hitting earlier than before. In not too long the darkness will descend upon us earlier and earlier and it is actually already starting to get really dark in the night.

So a light on the forehad and a cap to keep the light rain out of your face would not be a bad idea?

Well here it is.

49:- SEK at Clas Ohlson store

This is a proper cap in nice material with their logo on the side and which got 5 LED lights built into the cap rim that will show you the road in the darkness. It is powered by 2xCR2032 (wristwatch style) batteries and will light for many hours on the roads and in the woods while keeping your face dry (from rain).

And for the price, buy two!

The light switch is in the cap, easy to reach and hitten under the fabric. Turn it on and off as you please while never missing a stride!

It does rain sideways

Barn in Rain
Faroe Islands. Nikon D70s, Nikkor AF-S 18-70/3.5-5.6G ED-IF, Adobe Lightroom.

The driving rain and the darkening sky, in the afternoon. The sun should still be up for several more hours but the weather is really bringing everything down on us now. On the Faroe Islands the ran does not fall from the sky above, it is driven by the wind side-ways and hits you from all directions at once. In some ways it is like being inside a car wash when it goes of. Freezing chilly north atlantic water dashing from the side. An umbrella is of course totally useless, you need layers and layers of good clothing and nice sweaters. And stay indoor in the worst.

The rain is like thick velvet curtains and a thousand needles at the same time. As soon as we step outside the car the door is grabbed by the wind and almost ripped from our hands.

Still the water is not angry or upset, we look at it for a few moments, not sure what to think. The next though that enters our head is that we have in 3 seconds gone from cozy in the car to soaking wet even with our trusty Gore-Tex clothes. The only thing keeping us warm now is the traditional wool sweater.

The temperature is not that bad actually, around 12C but the wind makes every raindrop feel like a needle of ice. Too many of those and not enough fireplace and you’d be done with.

We start hoping the car won’t break down before we get back to Torshavn and the nice hotel with the lovely lady in the reception. And the chef who wants us to try his seven course menu. The thought of this drives us back in to the car, wiping down the camera with a towel and laughing.

The car does start again.