Humidity is not my friend. It zaps my energy and turns me into a sweaty mess. Case in point: Saturday morning’s 16-mile long run that ended up being an 8.32-mile mental whine fest. My entire body was wet, my sports bra was chaffing, and it felt like I was trying to breathe through a hot, damp t-shirt.
I have to take some of the blame for the irritated skin. Lately, I’ve been applying Gold Bond Friction Defense before getting dressed, but I was still half asleep that morning and it totally slipped my mind. Have you tried this anti-chaffing rock star? I slick it on around my waist, ribcage, and over my shoulders to prevent waistbands and bra straps from rubbing me the wrong way. It’s not sticky, and doesn’t leave oily marks on my clothes—the way some petrolatum-based skin lubes can.
So yeah, that humid run left a red mark in the middle of my chest and put me in a funk. I get really down on myself when I give in to feeling uncomfortable and cut a long run short. I start thinking that I’m not tough enough, that I’m not really cut out for running, and that I should just give up my marathon goal this year.
A cold shower, an icy glass of Coke, and a couple of hours sitting next to an air conditioner later, I was looking up different routes to try out on Sunday’s run. What a difference the temperature makes!
What do you do when humidity makes running outside miserable? How do you cool off?
Some Kind Of Runderful 