Thought now would be a good time to re-post part of my post from last year about training for the Chicago marathon as many of you are literally in the thick of it! It’s hot and it’s going to get hotter and it’s no joke. The heat doesn’t care about your PR, how fit you are, your BMI, or how great you look in your running skirt (or shorts, sorry guys). It . . .will . . .take. . .you . . down. So although the basic life advice “don’t be an idiot” is still the best guide for training in the heat of summer, you can read my friend Laura’s post here, my friend, Stephanie’s post here, and if you want more you can read about my failures as a spring board for your own success(or as a summer board, I guess?).

The top 5 dumbest things I’ve done running in TX heat:

1. Forgotten to use Body Glide. Again, TMI perhaps, but one cannot underestimate the affects of road rash, monkey butt or whatever else you care to call it. Chafing is not our friend. Buy Body Glide. Use Body Glide. Interestingly, they just came out with Body Glide for Her which I found out from the helpful woman at Run On is actually exactly the same as regular Body Glide but in a pink container. And it’s smaller. Yeah, because women chafe LESS than men. Said no one ever.
2. Started out too late. You MUST be out the door by 6:15 or just before sunrise. I don’t like running in the dark by myself (even though I live in the safest neighborhood in America) because I hear noises and get spooked, so I have to wait until I can see. But more than once I have gotten lazy and left even 20 minutes after sun up. Bad idea. The TX sun is like the eye of God searing your very soul with burning lava that will fry your brain like that old ad with the egg in the frying pan and the drugs.
3. Started out too fast. I cannot run fast when it’s 81 degrees and 70% humidity. Maybe some of you can. I can’t. And yet I always seem to forget this and start out way faster than I should and by the end I start to cramp up, see the Care Bears, and talk to street lights. It’s not pretty. Go slow in the heat and humidity. Once I swear I saw Olivia Newton John wearing her outfit from Xanadu and roller skating right next to me. Swear.
4.  Forgot to bring a small washcloth to wipe sweat out of my eyes. I wear BondiBands and love them, but they are no match for TX heat. They help wick away maybe 30% of the sweat but the rest will pour down on my face and into my eyes like a water hose from above with saline. It hurts my eyes, it hurts my skin, and it leaves a white film that is actually my body losing essential minerals. Take a small washcloth, stash it somewhere, and wipe your face with it when needed.
5. Not hydrating enough. Yes, I know, this should be obvious. After all, I have three children. I’ve been married for over 20 years. I’m successful in my work and lead a lot of amazingly talented people. I’ve read Dickens. Surely I can figure out that you need to drink water when you run in TX in the summer. And yet I find myself routinely underestimating the amount of water needed. (ETA found a great article on the Boston Marathon page with great info on hydration for marathoners – here you go.) As the saying goes, “in a marathon, if you’re thirsty, it’s already too late.” And too late for me it has been. Too many times.

You can run in the heat. It takes about 2 weeks to get acclimated but if you allow your body to get used to it, it will. It’s a miracle of a machine and it will adapt to almost anything you ask it to do. But please be smart. Smarter than me. Which, as you can see from the above, is not that hard:).

Fall and Winter will be here again soon and with them there will be different running challenges to complain about. And I’ll be right here. To complain then, too;). Actually, no complaining here. Just grateful every day for legs that work, a safe neighborhood to run in, clean water to hydrate with and a God that loves me.

Happy Running!!

Jen