Beat the Heat

ORN 7/17/05: 12 miles, 4/2, 2:50

After the confusion yesterday I had to get in my long run today. Obviously, the group I would normally run with did their run yesterday so I was on my own. And it was HOT.

I started later than I had planned - after 11 AM - so the run was in the heat of the day. [temps high 80's/low 90's] That in and of itself doesn't matter that much. You've got to learn to run whatever the temps and getting in a long training run in the heat is great practice.

First things first, I loaded a hand-held bottle with straight Gatorade. There are several places along the path to buy Gatorade so I knew I could replace what I was drinking. I used 1/2 the bottle full-strength then filled it with water. After I finished that I bought a bottle of Gatorade and used that full-strength until it was 1/2 finished and then filled the bottle with water.

That works out to two full bottles of Gatorade and one full bottle of water [right?] or 60 ounces. My math skills aren't great but it comes down to about 20 ounces of liquid per hour, or a little less than 8 ounces every 20 minutes. For me, with my sweat rate that's about right. [I don't sweat nearly as much as some]

It's important to experiment with hydration. There's no magic formula and too much is just as bad as too little. You CAN beat the heat, you just need to take the time to figure out what you need.

Waddle on, friends.

John