It's too hot!!! The humidity will kill ya!!!!! It can't be healthy!!!! All valid responses when someone asks you the question.....running tonight? But before you use any of these very convenient excuses, challenge yourself and let the heat be damned. Personally, I love running in the heat. The hotter, the better. Throw in some oppressive humidity and let's have at it. You know, the type of heat that leaves you in a full, stanky, sweaty mess. The sweat that gets in your eyes mid-run causing momentary blindness. The heat that causes you to sweat from places previously incapable of producing moisture. My shins are sweating? seriously? Yeah, that heat.....and the best part? The first couple of minutes after you finish. When your body seems to declare.....hey, he stopped.....lets get rid of all this extra sweat in the next 3 minutes!!!!
Ok, enough of the hyperbole. What's really going on when we run in the heat. Disclaimer: not a doctor, just a curious reader with the internet at my fingertips. First things first, heat increases the stress on our physical plant and its to be taken seriously, very seriously. If you have medical issues, particularly concerning your heart, hazy-hot-humid days are no time to be a hero. Pour a glass of ice tea and let the old ticker chill. But for the other 98% of us, our bodies are well equipped and designed to handle an increase in physical exertion during the summer. Sweating is the bodies natural cooling system. Actually, its the evaporation of the sweat that causes the sensation of cooling. The issue here is the action of sweating will send more blood flow to the skin to be cooled, meaning further from the heart. This is why when we run in heat, it feels like our heart is about to jump out of our chest. This also explains a common phenomena seen during high heat exertion, feeling light-headed and disorientation. Not like zombie apocalypse disorientation, just that "weird, not right" feeling.
So that sounds horrible, and dangerous. It can be, but doesn't have to be. A couple simple precautions and common sense and you too can he a happy, sweaty runner. First, fluid replacement. Here's the common sense. Drink a lot of water or sports drink the day before and day of a hot run. During your run, especially a run over 30 minutes, aim to replace your fluids DURING your run. And finally, drink after. If you experience cramps, you are not drinking enough. If you detect signs of salt on your skin or clothing after your run, make sure you are replacing sodium in your diet via a sports drink.
More common sense. The really hot days are not the time to set a speed record unless you are in top condition. My guess is if you are an elite runner in top shape you know all this. But for the beginner or casual runner, take it easy out there. If you are training with a heart rate monitor, you are one step ahead and your adherence to your zones will go a long way towards keeping you safe. Personally, on the really hot days I will stick to my Zone 2 workout (60-70% of MHR). If I cant work around the heat and have to do a hard workout on a hot day, I am ultra, ultra aware of my personal condition. Not a bad idea to have a running buddy on these days.
And THAT leads me to my final point. I use the CRR Monday Night Summer Fun Run as one of my hard runs. Perfect for me as the course offers a hill portion and enough incentive courtesy of some friendly competition via fellow runners. But most important....I have over 100 running buddies in the unlikely event the heat got the best of me. There has to be someone in the medical field, right?
So if you find the heat curtailing your runs.....come on down to the Lions Club on Monday nights at 7pm. If it's hot, run it nice and easy. And when you are done, you can stand around with rest of us pretending that standing in a puddle of your own perspiration is a normal activity.
Run FOR life, not from it.
JD
