A surprise cool day results in a fantastic run

For the past month or so it has been extremely hot here in Chicago and this is nothing new. It is like this every year.

I have been going out and running anyway though and the last time I went out it was probably a bad idea. I got seriously over-heated and while I am no quitter and did finish the 5k without stopping my heart rate was seriously high. It was over 200 and approaching levels that doctors would agree is not a good thing to maintain for long periods of time.

I experienced great difficulty in cooling down after that run and ended up in my bed with an ice pack on my chest and re hydrating like mad. It wasn't until I had 4 bottles of electrolyte drink and about and hour in the AC with an ice pack on me that I started to feel a bit normal again.

I am not going to attempt a run like that again. It was a stupid idea and I am not invincible.

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I've had a few "suffer runs" as I call them in the past few weeks and after this last one I was talking to a friend and though that perhaps, training in such extreme situations would better prepare me for when the weather is a bit more amicable.

Well the other day we had some winds come in from over the lake and it rained a little bit and the temperature dropped about 5 degrees C and it was still breezy in the afternoon while overcast with clouds.

Here is my chance to test my theory

While this pace isn't going to impress any serious runner, I was really happy with this run. My BPM on my heart rate was 30-40 less than the other day and all the while I was running a bit faster than I normally would. I wasn't pushing myself either, this was comfortable and at no point did I feel like quitting until I did that stupid thing that all of us do and looked at my watch and saw that I had 700 meters to go. That final stretch is always the most difficult even when it isn't.

My heart rate stayed pretty good this entire time and I never entered VO2Max, which is something that young people strive for but I try to avoid.

The best thing about this was that I found my stride and I never felt like I was getting tired or even overheated.

This pace isn't fantastic but again, I wasn't trying to go fast. I was trying to find an easy rhythm and stick with it and that is exactly what happened. I think I pushed it a little bit at the end because I wanted it to be over. As luck would have it, just around the time that I was nearly done a large group of people were blocking the path and for once at least, this didn't annoy me because it was time to stop anyway.

My plastic bottle that I bring with me that starts out as a frozen solid block of ice was still 50% ice, so I think that shows you how much of a difference the 5 degrees in temperature can make. If the water in the bottle is still ice after that amount of work, imagine what my living body is feeling.

I had no difficulty cooling down and re hydrating took a fraction of the amount of time.

I still don't think that training in the blazing sun is a good idea, but seeing as how it made me appreciate more temperate weather and made running in such weather easy, maybe it isn't a terrible idea to have a go at it every now and then.

Gotta keep the body guessing!