5 Things you should know about running in the heat

1. It's hot!
2. If you live in a location with humidity expect the heat to feel oppressive.
3. Drink a lot of water before and after.
4. Plan to run at a slower pace than you usually might.
5. Hope that you don't die and praise your deity if you survive.


I experienced all of these at a recent 5k race called 811.  It was held at 8:11am on a bright sunny day with the temp already at 87 and the humidity at 66%.  You know it's going to be a battle race when you are standing at the start line in the shade looking up at the hill you have to run at the beginning of the race and you already have back sweat. 


There were hills at the beginning, middle and to my utmost joy a hill at the end. The last mile was a gradual uphill all with no shade. By the end I was disappointed in my poor time and not one inch of my body wasn't covered in sweat. Oh and I felt both dizzy and nauseas at the same time.  I believe everyone was running a little slower than normal that day. My positive thought for that race was that the overall female winner was a 14 y/o taller than me and came in at 21 min.  Therefore I was only 7 min. slower than a 14 y/o. Woohoo! Cause to celebrate.  The rest of my stats were as follows: overall place was 151/536, 17/100 in my age group, and 51/323 overall females.  Note to self- never run a race in SC outside in the summer!