My legs felt really sluggish during my zone 2 run this morning.  It’s not unusual for them to feel a little tired at the start of the run, but a few miles in, they typically ‘wake up’.  This morning they didn’t; they were tired for the whole run.

Given I just finished quite a big weekend of training, I shouldn’t have been surprised my legs were tired.  I was surprised however, and that got me thinking. Was it just fatigue from the hard work over the weekend or was it something else?

There is no doubt that the hard workouts were a factor, but when I finished my run this morning, I felt unusually thirsty.  That is when I thought…. maybe I am dehydrated.  I was a little lighter than expected when I weighed myself this morning, which also pointed to dehydration.  I became convinced that dehydration was also a factor in the way I felt during the run.

This was the first weekend of really hot weather.  I was outside all day on Saturday, and I did sweat a lot during my ‘inverse brick’ session yesterday.  So being dehydrated is not surprising and it is a good lesson; I now need to focus more on fluid intake, especially with summer approaching.  I have been drinking water all day, and my legs feel much better tonight.

This sport is a constant learning process…