When I got home from work yesterday it was 37C/99F for the third day in the row, but unlike the other two days there was no wind and the humidity level had risen – in other words it was miserably hot outside. A good illustration of just how hot it was: The 8 minute walk from the train station to my house left me my shirt drenched with sweat.
My wife was already crashed on the couch taking a nap, so I decided to do the same, sleeping for about 30 minutes in the relatively cool living room. Around 5:30 p.m. I suited up and drove to my hilly running route, 12K/7.5M away. It had cooled down slightly, it was 35C/95F, but there was still no wind and the humidity level felt worse then ever.
I took off at a nice easy pace, first running about 6-7 minutes on a relatively flat logging road, then turning up the hill. By the time I reached the top of the plateau on the hilltop I was drenched and dripping with sweat. At least the heat didn’t slow me down, I ended up with the same pace that I normally run. I continued on with my hour and a half loop, which included two more 5-6 minute hill climbs. By the time I looped back to my starting point (after 1.5 hours) I felt like I had already run two loops. The high humidity was really zapping my energy. I had already drank about 2/3 of my CamelBak, so stopped quickly at the car to refill – I had brought several extra bottles of water and some powerdered sports drink mix for this purpose.
I made my way around my loop for the second time. The major hill almost took my will to go on, but as I reached the top and started over a series of rolling hills I recovered enough to keep going. My entire out fit was drenched from sweat, tank top, shorts, even my socks! I kept drinking as I ran, I knew this was important on a day like this.
After the two hour point I hit a low, my energy was depleted, I was looking at my watch entirely too much, and generally wishing that my run was over with. I took a few extra long swigs of sports drink from my CamelBak and kept going, I knew it would get better if I kept going long enough.
The minutes ticked by and eventually fell back into a groove of sorts. The trails were empty, I guess I was the only one crazy enough to be out running in the heat and humidity. I had hoped that it would start cooling down, but the heat lingered, the wind avoided my path and I continued to sweat.
I made it up and over the last hill climb on my loop and decided to take a short walk break and eat a sports bar. As I took of my CamelBak I first realized that I had left my sports bars in the kitchen table at home. So I drained my CamelBak and started running again, 20 minutes left before I would reach the car.
I was pretty worn out by the time I had finally reached the car – I had eaten a pretty big lunch, but nothing directly before the run. The sports drink provided a lot of calories, but my body was craving real food. Upon reaching my car I grabbed a water bottle and walked it out for awhile, then did some stretching. My legs were a lot stiffer than normal – probably due to the heat. At least I finished my long run, I had wanted to run at least three hours, with the exception of one 4 minute walk break, I ran 3:14:28. Mission accomplished.
As I drove home I passed a bank, it was still 30C/86F at 9:30 p.m., and the first breeze was finally making its entrance…
You must be getting really godd at running long in the heat, or you would have collapsed yesterday.
Todays it's miserable and raining in Ireland. It's still quite hot (and obviously very humid) though, and I still feel like I've been hit by a sledge hammer. I guess you'll get the rain soon enough.
wow, you are getting really heat trained. I bet you are starving today! :)