I’ve written several times over the years about the struggles with running in July and August. Once again today I hit the wall at about mile 18 or so when I was terribly dehydrated, even though I took all the precautions I have been taking week after week, it just wasn’t enough. I felt it coming about mile 13 or so, and tried to fight it off, but it just didn’t work, I was too far behind I guess. This morning when I headed out, it was already 68 degrees, with the humidity being very high (it was real thick out, lets put it that way).

Hopefully by the time you’re running your twenty milers, you know your body pretty good, like I do, and can tell (based on these signs that I always get) that dehydration is setting in:

1. Your heart rate increases, this is usually my first sign because I can’t seem to get my breath in all cases. I felt this about mile 13, usually my first sign that there’s going to be an issue.
2. Your mouth gets dry, regardless of how much water you’ve taken in. I took in 52oz of water today, and it wasn’t enough .. i’m still taking in glass after glass after glass …
3. Fatigue sets in unexpectedly .. this hit me about mile 17 today. I have been running strong up to and including 20 miles the last few weeks, today shouldn’t have been an issue, but because of the dehydration, I was fatigued beyond belief.
4. Minor muscle cramping .. I didn’t feel cramping per say until I got home.
5. Sweating stops (this doesn’t always happen with me though) .. this didn’t happen today, not sure why, but it didn’t.

Be advised that there are other signs of dehydration however, sometimes you don’t feel them until after you’re home from a run. For example I won’t use the bathroom for probably 4-5 hours after I’ve returned from my run, and then when I do, its dark yellow (not good). This means my kidneys were working harder than they needed to. Another one is the headache and dizziness, which sometimes sets in ..

So whats the best advice to avoid dehydration? Good planning I guess. I had a 32oz water with me and stopped for another 20oz water along the way, and it still wasn’t enough today. What may have gotten me today though was the hilly course I decided to run. Its funny how I plotted out a new course on gmap pedometer, drove the course last night and said to myself, ‘Its not that hilly’. I’m not sure my wife agreed with me, but I guess you really don’t know the elevation until you run it (even if you check the elevation map).

One note though, please use your own judgment when it comes to dehydration, you generally should not run through it, its not good (just like I say not to run through injuries just because someone like me can). I know my body and my limits, and if you do too, then do it safely .. in most cases, the above signs can turn very serious, very fast and you can end up in a hospital with heat stroke, so always BE SMART when running in the summer!

The course itself was beautiful though (minus the hills), I was running down the middle of farmers fields out in the middle of nowhere. I had a hay field on one side of me, and a corn field on the other side all around … felt like I was in Nebraska or something. I didn’t realize that by heading 4 miles south of where I live, I could end up in such a rural area (and i’m not that far from downtown Allentown).

To kind of wrap it up for the day, I had to stop and walk in the last 2 miles a couple times, but in looking back on previous years, July is always the tough month where my body is fully adjusting to the heat, so there can only be good things ahead I hope.