Lunchtime running in Florida = bad idea!

     Today I decided to run during my lunch break.  Yesterday marked the beginning of a 3 month challenge I started for myself.  I’m keeping track of what I eat, my workouts, etc. and my goal is to lose 20 pounds, improve my run times and tone up.  I’m going to blog about my progress in the hopes that it will keep me accountable.  Not that anyone actually reads my blog except maybe my mom and cousin…but it will help me so I’m doing it!

     Florida is hot…duh! Not really sure why I thought running at 12:30 p.m. during my lunch break in October was a bright idea, but whatev.  It was HOT….I gave myself 35 minutes to run.  That gave me time to change and then time for cooling down and cleaning up before I had to go back into work.  I should have known things were not going to turn out well when I went to start and my Garmin (I use the forerunner 305) flashed battery low (I let a friend borrow it and didn't charge it…ugh!).  But it started up once I cleared the low battery and I was off.  I felt good and was proud of myself for getting out and being active during lunch so I was starting off at a good pace.  I hadn't mapped out where I was running but there is a nice little neighborhood a quarter of a mile down from my office that I figured I would just circle through.  I was pushing myself and well on my way to an 8:30/mile when my Garmin died….7:30 into my run! Not sure why…but that killed my mood.  I hate running without my Garmin!  I kept going but after another 10 minutes I was POURING sweat and was so freaking hot.  I just kept thinking about having to go back to the office and take a washcloth bath in the sink in the public bathroom so that I could go back to the office….it was not looking pretty. 

     I only ended up doing 2.5 miles and only ran for 24 minutes when I had allotted myself 35 minutes…the Garmin died though and I didn’t want to be late so I just came back and when I saw my time, I figured I would use the extra time to cool down and clean up.  Boy was that a good decision.  I walked the shade of my building for about 10 minutes and then headed in to clean up…still sweating like crazy.  I normally wouldn’t have even considered doing something like this at lunch but since I didn't get up that morning to go to the gym like I was supposed to, I was making myself do this at lunch.  I got to the bathroom and stripped to my sports bra and spandex shorts and took a poor man’s bath in the sink with a washcloth and soap…praying the whole time no one would walk in on me! Thankfully no one did and I was able to clean up and get dressed but could NOT cool down…sweat was still pouring off me.

     Lesson learned…lunch time in Florida at these temperatures is NOT the time to run.  But, that being said, I felt so good the rest of the afternoon.  When normally I would be feeling sluggish instead I felt fresh (minus the drying sweat) and alert.  So, yes I should do something active during lunch every day but no, it should not be running in the heat!