Now about that humidity…

…a mere 83% at 5 o’clock this morning, when I got up to head out to meet my running group.

83% humidity.

My friends, let me tell you 83% is crazy humid. Especially when you’re doing interval training in it.

Logically, given that we haven’t actually had vast amounts of rain, we’ll probably hit even higher humidity in the next few weeks, but for now, 83% was sticky enough, thank you very much.

Coupled with the humidity, Delhi this morning was grey and airless, and there was almost a fog-like haze over the sports ground where we train. All very oppressive.

I’ve blogged before about running in humidity. Like so:

July 17 2017

August 1 2017

July 14 2018

The advice remains pretty much the same.

Hydrate well, ensuring you take electrolytes to counteract the effects of the copious sweating, & to give you much needed energy boost.

Run slower and less.

Wear loose fitting clothes. I think many more people will be in singlets the next session. It was w-a-y too sticky for Ts.

Don’t wear a cap.

Now this is actually a new piece of advice for me, even though it’s not rocket science.

I have such bonkers, messy hair that I try & wear a cap so that I don’t look too ridiculous.

But today Coach advised me to dispense with the cap after a while, so I could sweat through my head. Made a big difference.

Today was overcast so I didn’t have the fierce sun to worry about.

I’ll make a judgement call later on, whether or not to wear my cap on a day when it’s both sunny and humid. That’s a decision for another day.

I felt a little nauseous at times today, as did Sonali, with whom I did most of my intervals this morning. So we rested a while and then ran (even!) slower.

Basically, the trick is to be cautious and careful, and to listen to your body.

I took 2 bottles with me today – one with water, and one with an electrolyte mix in.

Don’t particularly like the latter, but needs must.

Kept sipping on them both.

I’d also drunk quite a lot of water before going.

I made sure to eat a few dates before leaving the house, and took a packet of snacks to eat as soon as the session as over.

So?

Take home from this morning’s crazy humidity?

Listen to your body.

Take it slow and easy.

Stay hydrated.

And remember, we’re all doing this for fun 🙂

Plus, I tell myself it’s all good practice for the humidity in Mumbai in January!