so thirsty

I didn't know how much sweat a human body could really produce, until I moved to the Southeast (1999 - Athens, Ga). Most people perspire when they get hot... beads of moisture appearing on their brow. People get embarrassed when their shirt reveals underarm dampness.

Well... these little tell-tale signs of a rising body temperature are NOTHING compared to the SWEAT that streams from your pores when you're training in 1,000% humidity! Sometimes, after running, my clothes are so saturated (as though I took a dip in the lake... clothes, shoes, and all) when I finish a run... I don't know what to do with them. I've gotten to the point that, when it gets this bad... I simply get in the shower with my running clothes on. *NO - this is not my substitute for actually laundering the running attire! I just like to give 'em a good initial rinse.

Peter, on the other hand, removes his shirt by his front door. He actually strips the soaking article from his torso, and wrings it out. And get this: he squeezes the dripping shirt over his plants.... and calls this "watering them." Seriously?! I wonder how they like the salty solution?

This past weekend wasn't the most severe humidity I've experienced, but there was extreme sweating involved. I'm sure the sweating began in the pool on Friday afternoon (yes, I'm not-so-happy to report that I, once again, achieved loser status by visiting the Y on a Friday evening). However, when you're swimming... you don't notice the sweating.

Then on Saturday, during our ride... the dehydration monster attacked. We tried to recover with fluids after the ride, but sometimes it's hard to come back from such a deficit! Water fails to make up for the loss. In getting ready, and going to a friend's birthday party (HAPPY 40th CHRIS!!!) I didn't pay attention to my parched system.

*I would like to report that the party was a blast... and I'm sure I wasn't the only dehydrated person in attendance! It was tri-geek city ;) No joke: I even caught a pair checking their heart-rate.

After more super-sweating on Sunday morning (running)... Peter announced that he was going to get "fizzies." His term for soda, pop, coke, carbonated beverages, etc... I was horizontal on the floor (on a towel, in an attempt to keep his carpet dry). I responded with a weak, "I can't make it." So, he took one for the team and left for the store.

I heard him come back into the house... and I expected to see him carrying a few liters of pop. Instead, he had bags of every imaginable liquid. Peter had bought: bottles of Coke, lemonade, ginger ale, raspberry soda, mixed berry soda, beer, gatorade, lemonade powder mix, and my favorite Fruit2O hydration drinks. "The check-out kid asked if I was thirsty, ha ha."

btw... a great post run mix is 1/2 lemonade, 1/2 coke. Very quenching.

So, we drank... and drank... and drank some more. I think I ended up looking like one of those Ethiopian kids with a bloated belly. If you can judge the success of a weekend by the amount of sweat produced -- I had an AWESOME weekend.