Real Heat and the Art of Hydration

For my first few years of running, long runs really did me in. It wasn't just the effort. I would be left very dehydrated and having headaches for the rest of the day or longer. Yesterday, I made the same mistakes all over again. It has been well over a year since I have been on a run this long. And much longer since I have put myself through the long run in severe heat. Things were forgotten.

Now, it was not that I neglected hydration. Over 15 miles I took in 120 oz of fluids and several salt caplets. That would have been fine at a reasonable pace. Reasonable is not the pace I was running. Extremely slow is a better description. The trip took over 3.5 hours to complete. Temperatures were probably around 80 at the start and over 90 by the time I finished. It was also extremely humid.

Looking back now, I can see I was conserving salt and fluids early. I normally drink every half mile or every 5 minutes. As it gets hotter, I usually take bigger drinks instead of drinking more often. Still, trails often force me into the every 5 minutes schedule which would have been more often than the every half mile at the pace I was moving.

It was not just a fluid issue either. Given my lighter running schedule, one of the things I haven't purchased recently is salt. I started the run down to the last 5 caplets I have. I started taking one an hour. I was losing much more.

Now I know many runners consideration hydration a science. It has never worked that way for me. Maybe it is the extreme heat and humidity I run in during the summer. Maybe it is that I weigh 250 pounds. Maybe it is the long miles I run.

Yesterday was a reminder of some tough lessons. Listen carefully to the body and what it is craving. Pay attention to how it feels. Yes, I can feel when I am becoming dehydrated. Never conserve water or salt even if it feels terrible to run out late in a run.

I'm sure yesterday I dehydrated myself early and was just never able to catch up. All the fluid I took on at mile 9 and after finishing may have helped but never corrected the damage I did early in the run.

Next week, I should hit the same run again to see if I have learned anything. Sometimes it takes a while.