It has been very hot in Pittsburgh for the past few weeks, and even though I have been hydrating during exercise, I don’t think I’m hydrating enough.

Staying fully hydrated in very hot weather is hard.  You lose more fluids than you think, and you need to drink a lot, to make up for those losses.  I have been feeling a little more fatigued lately and I think it’s down to dehydration.

I typically ‘drink to thirst’.  This means I rely on my body to ‘tell me’ it’s thirsty, as my guide for when to drink.  I don’t think this approach is working during this spell of very hot weather.  I came to this conclusion through observation of my urine yesterday… it was way too intensely yellow colored (sorry for the gross image!).

So, as of today, I have started a focused effort to drink a lot more fluids.  By consciously focussing on drinking more, I would estimate that I have taken in more than double the fluids today, than on most days over the past month.  It’s too early to tell if it is helping with my fatigue; that will take several days.  Besides, today was a rest day.

Stay tuned for an update at the end of this week.  I will let you know, if I think anything has changed.