We've been experiencing a heatwave recently and today was the worst of it yet. I struggled through a 20 mile bike ride yesterday. I knew my planned trail run and bike ride today would be tough, I just didn't realize how tough.
I went to Jacobsburg to run. The plan was to take advantage of the shade and run an easy 5 miles. I haven't run since Sunday's race. I was a bit sore for a few days after that, plus I was sick at one point. I felt much better this afternoon.
I started off with not shirt on and my handheld water bottle to keep me hydrated. I began across the road from the parking lot. I knew I'd need to walk some. I figured that I would run out about 2 miles and then come back.
Most of this section is in the shade, but even there, it was still hot. I walked early and often. The areas in the sun were just unbearable. It was hard to even run a full mile, even at my slow pace.
I got out to about 1.6 miles and I had just had enough of going out. If I wanted to run extra distance when I was at my car, that would be fine, but I couldn't keep going out.
I was soaked by this point and it only got worse. The final half mile or more back to the car was downhill, so that helped and I ran a lot of it. I passed some kids hiking. Earlier, I saw a couple women hiking with a dog. It was great to be back at the car, but I was only just past 3 miles at that point.
I stopped off at the water fountain to get a drink. I just sputtered along the main path along the creek. This path is flat, but busy with families using the creek to swim in during this time of year. I had to navigate around them.
I walked some of the uphill in this section. When I got to 3.8 miles, I was starting to go downhill. I didn't want to have to come back up it, so I turned around. It was mostly downhill back to the water fountain.
When I was back at my car, I was still only at 4.5 miles. By now, I at least I knew I'd complete this slow run. I went back on the original trail that I took earlier. This required some slight uphill. I cruised downhill to finish then and was just exhausted. I couldn't believe how brutal it was. I couldn't have done much more mileage, even if I would've rested more. This was easily among the hottest conditions that I've ever run in.
I went home and rested for about half and hour. I then headed out to bike. When I rode yesterday, it was hot. It wasn't too bad though because the air that blew onto me was cool. Today, that wasn't the case. The air was very hot and sticky. I started to get lightheaded. I felt so bad that I was afraid I might pass out if I kept it up. I cut the ride very, very short, to just 7 miles. That was enough in the heat.
I felt dizzy and overheated one time when I rode in this type of weather. It took me hours to recover and I was so scared that day. Luckily, I didn't push it that far today. When I came in and got into the cool air, I was fine.
Tomorrow is supposed to be just as bad. Since I want to get more miles on the bike, I'm going to try getting up early and biking. I know that will be tough, but it is better than riding during the day. I hate the heat so much and can't wait for this to be over.
5 miles - 57:00 (11:25)
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