Overheating on the Trail

I am taking today off after overheating last night. And I’m not happy about it.

Last night was the Hill Country Trail Runner club run, and I was looking forward to it. For once, I got there on time with no traffic issues–a good omen, right? Roger was leading and I liked the sound of the route he’d outlined. I may not always know what a trail is called, but I pretty much know my way around the Barton Creek greenbelt and I’d like to think I’ve hit most of the trails at least once.

Anyway, we took off. When we hit the Super Highway, I realized I was working very very hard to not do very much at all. My heart rate was ‘way up and I just felt so damn hot. I was carrying two handhelds and found myself continuously drinking, not because I was thirsty but as a vain attempt to cool myself down.

By the time we got to Sculpture Falls, I knew I had to cut my run short. Roger gave a quick review of the route again–we’d go do Shan’s Loop and come back to the main trail before proceeding on through the Grotto and hitting Humpback and Rattlesnake; I announced that I was going to cut in short and go back after Shan’s. Several other folks (Reenie, Layla, and Kelcey) said they would do so as well.

Dude, I walked all of the uphill and barely managed the run downhill. Back to the main trail, said goodbye to the group, and shuffled off towards the HOL. I ran about 10 minutes and then walked it the rest of the way in. To be fair, I started walking when I realized I couldn’t see the two girls behind me, one of whom I knew did not know her way so I wanted to make sure she was able to follow, but once I started walking, I just had no desire to start running again.

I felt sick and hit the shower as soon as I got home. Even the shower water was not enough to cool me down completely; I briefly considered an ice bath. Drank a bunch more, but I certainly wasn’t dehydrated based on my weight and urine. It was just plain old heat issues, which I have been prone to ever since I passed out back in my freshman year at UT during Longhorn Band practice (it was that horribly hot summer of 1980).

So I skipped my run this morning.

Pisses me off. I may go run on the treadmill inside at the gym, which totally pisses me off, but prudence is telling me to do nothing at all but stay cool. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

What the hell is August going to be like? Or July?