It was a very hot day and I made the mistake of not getting my run in early, when it was slightly cooler.  Instead, I worked in the yard all day and then went for my run, late afternoon … it was 87’F when I ran.

Fortunately, my run was an easy pace, endurance run.  This meant I could basically run by feel, and keep my pace at a manageable level.  That is exactly what I did, but the heat still got to me, and the run was very tough.

As the run went on, my pace got gradually slower.  A lot of triathletes would be disappointed with that, but I am actually quite pleased.  It shows that, as my core temperature got hotter, I chose to slow down in order to keep the same level of perceived exertion.  I will admit that my perceived exertion was higher than normal for an easy pace run, but with the super high temperature, it’s tough for a run to not feel harder than normal.

The other mistake that I made, apart from not running early, was to not bring enough fluids for the run.  More water would have allowed me to use some on my head for cooling. I didn’t have enough for that and I barely had enough to quench my thirst.  Normally, there are water fountains on my route, but they are currently cut off to prevent issues with Covid-19.

It’s forecast to be hot again tomorrow.  Will I learn from today?