Let me start by mentioning that if you are planning on telling me how you run in the early morning before the sun comes up during the summer, and that I really should do the same, thanks…. I know.  I will follow that up by saying, please feel free to still leave those comments and be as hard on me as you would like to because sometimes it takes me a while to learn or in this case re-learn from my mistakes.

Yesterday my three kids and I went out for a run as soon as we got home from church, before even getting anything to eat.  The original discussion was that we would run after lunch and a short break to let the food digest, but as I looked at the weather the temperatures were going to be climbing steady all afternoon and with the temperature already near 90 degrees I knew the sun was already planning some destructive behavior at the current temps.

The first mile was fun running with all of my kids at one time, my oldest daughter Ashlee said she felt like we were a running group with the four of us running down the road.  She was embarrassed, but I am not sure when a 17 year old is not embarrassed having to hang out with their parents where other humans can actually see them.

After the first mile had passed we dropped Ashlee and Brady off at home and Payton and I circled back out to do 6 more miles. After about three and a half miles we were really starting to feel the sun and the heat. By the time we hit the four mile mark we were feeling it so bad that we had to walk a little bit to avoid the onset of heat exhaustion.

It is always hard running that first really hot and sunny run. We have had some runs in the heat with some sun, but not this many miles, and this much sun combined with the heat. An additional factor is that I am sure neither of us had hydrated as well as we should have given the conditions.  I am sure this also played a big part in our demise.

We walked about 3/10’s of mile five and then finished that mile running.  We continued to run 7/10’s into mile 6 and then had to take another walk break to get to the start of the seventh mile.  From that point we only had one mile to get home and finish the planned 7 miles.  We were able to finish the last mile running, but not without feeling really drained and literally ready to fall over.

This seven mile run was really hard for both of us.  When we walked in the door we were both completely exhausted and spent. So many things worked against us being a success in this run, but we made it back alive which was a success in itself.

I don’t understand why I have to learn this lesson repeatedly.  It seems that ever year in late spring I have a run like this before I start to respect the heat and sun again.  Proper hydration would have helped I am sure, but also going out too fast for those first few miles knowing the conditions worked against us in the return portion of this run.

Are you the perfect runner always in tune with weather conditions?  Does proper hydration and planning come to you naturally like breathing, or do you sometimes struggle with being properly prepared as I do?