July 7

Total time: 20 minutes

Total distance: 1.68 miles

Three days in a row! Lest you think I'm being terribly hard on myself, let me reassure you that it's simply because it's the weekend, and sometimes, if I don't find a reason to leave my house, I simply won't. Going for a run forces me to do something other than lounge around (and believe me, it's definitely been a lounge-tastic sort of weekend) and ultimately a reason to shower and get cleaned up.

In the same vein that running to fetch my car the day after I'd maxed out my energy to complete a 5K was maybe not a good idea, going for a run in 90 degree heat today may not have been a good idea, either. I'm not even sure what compelled me to do it, because I hate the heat and I generally prefer to stay indoors when it gets to be that hot out. I bribed myself with the promise of getting to wear an Oiselle running tank that I had won from a blog giveaway, because it was finally warm enough to justify it, and to hell with what anyone thought (I haven't worn a tank top in public in, erhm, a long enough time that I can't even remember – let alone a fitness tank that tends to cling maybe in places that you'd prefer it didn't.) It was incredibly soft and comfortable and it's really kind of amazing how much new workout gear can motivate you to, you know, work out.

I actually didn't think the heat was that bad when I first stepped outside. The humidity is usually the killer – the air gets heavy and it's twice as miserable as a high temperature alone. I swapped my usual evening bug spray with middle-of-the-afternoon sunscreen (I'm always spraying stuff on myself before I head out for a run, it seems) and was on my way. I had somehow convinced myself that the heat wasn't going to deter me at all, despite my usual aversion to it. I felt pretty good. Good enough to make myself run for twenty minutes, at least – and at around Minute 16, I even toyed with the idea of extending it to 25. (Minute 17 and 18 quickly changed my mind on that, though.)

It wasn't until after I'd stopped running that the heat became a problem for me. I had a really, really hard time catching my breath, and the walk home from the park was excruciating. I wanted to stop and sit, but I was kind of afraid that I wouldn't be able to pick myself back up again. So I kept going. It's a short walk – three blocks, maybe? It felt like forever, today. I've never, ever been so exhausted at the end of a run that I had issues with the walk home. But today, I had to will myself to keep going, to drag my worn out body all the way back home.

Even once I was inside (sweet glorious air conditioning!) and had started rehydrating myself, it took a really long time before I could breathe properly again. It was really rather unpleasant and almost a bit alarming, but eventually everything started to return to normal and I no longer felt like I was going to collapse or pass out (though, really, at this point, I was pretty much just lying on the floor, so I was probably not in any danger.)

So, I'm possibly turning into a crazy person, but I was still pretty proud of myself. Not sure if I'll shoot for four days in a row and try to get out for another run tomorrow, but we'll see. I should probably take a couple days off this week if I have any desire at all to attempt to run the Color Run next Saturday.