Running in the Rain (Photo Credit: flickr.com/donjuanna )
Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.
– John Ruskin(1819 – 1900)
An unwanted consequence of running in the rain tonight was the wet shoes I ended up with when I got home. As part of the San Francisco Marathon Training Program, all trainees are to run on their own on Tuesday and Thursdays. With just one pair of running shoes with me, I had to get creative to have dry running shoes by the next evening, in time for my Tuesday run.
So I went back to my roots, to my “Think Like An Indian” Heritage. The tenets of “Think Like An Indian” dictate that
- the Fix to any problem should be FREE.
- if the Fix to the problem cannot be FREE, it should be as CHEAP as possible.
- the Fix should work reasonably well for a reasonable amount of time
- until such time that you find other FREE or CHEAP alternatives and solutions
So for the fix to this particular problem – as handed down to me by my Indian ancestors – all you really need is newspaper !
In 10 easy steps, you can have nice dry shoes by the next morning.
If you live in the City, then you can grab a few newspaper sheets from any one of the many FREE newspaper vending boxes that are placed all around the city. If you live in the suburbs then don’t despair, just steal your neighbors newspaper !
Step by Step Instructions on How to Dry Your Wet Running Shoes
1. Bring home some FREE newspaper sheets.
2. Empty the excess water in the running shoes by turning each foot upside down in a sink or water drain. Then lay the wet shoes on the floor.
3. Remove the insoles, and keep them aside.
4. If insoles are really wet, then wrap each insold tight with one or two newspaper sheets each.
5. Separately take the newspaper sheets one by one, and crumple them into newspaper balls (as shown below) and keep them near the shoes.
6. Once you have made enough crumpled newspaper balls, take the left foot shoe, and start stuffing the newspaper balls into the shoe one at a time.
7. Stuff the newspaper balls until you reach the top of the shoe. Don’t stuff them too hard, because if you do, your shoe’s “natural form” might get distorted.
8. After you are done stuffing the left shoe, repeat the same process (step 5 through step 7) for the right shoe.
9. After you have stuffed both shoes, leave them both aside, preferably in a bright well-lit place near a window.
10. The next morning, after you get up, simply remove the newspaper balls from both the shoes. The balls should be wet, and your shoes should be nice and dry !
If there is still some wetness because the shoes was extremely soaking wet, then repeat step 5 through step 9 once more. Only this time, you can take the newspaper balls out in just a fews hours (instead of the overnight treatment) and your shoes should be dry in time for your run later in the day !
June 17th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Or you could avoid the hassle altogether and get a shoe dryer…. A company called DryGuy makes them. They’re like a hair dryer for your shoes, only less heat and less blowing (as not to ruin your shoes). But definately less hassle and faster than the newspaper method.
June 19th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
true. then again, it depends on how frequently you need to dry your shoes. at nearly a 100 $, the DryGuy I think makes more sense for sports persons and people who get their shoes and boots wet more often, and for Bill Gates (in rainy Seattle
June 4th, 2011 at 2:59 am
Hey Thanks!
Going to try the Desi Fix today!
June 20th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
or…you can place your shoes at the back of the ref. check from time to time (sometimes, it gets too hot). the heat from the ref will dry your shoes in no time
August 8th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Thank you for the tip always nice to learn new things~have a nice day
August 24th, 2011 at 8:18 pm
Works great although I do recommend changing the news paper at least once every two hours or so.