Beating the Heat with Powerade ZERO®!

This post brought to you by Coca Cola. All opinions are 100% mine.

Running is a solitary sport and that is most likely why I’ve come to enjoy it. I don’t have to talk to anyone. I can put a headset on and everyone leaves me alone with my thoughts. I can watch the world around me as I run and no-one is the wiser.

running in the georgia heat

I am addicted. I find myself perusing the grocery store magazine racks where I find a surprising number of magazines whose entire format is based on the sport. I never really looked beyond the section with the National Enquirer and the puzzle books before. Ask me what Oprah is doing or who George Clooney is dating, I’d readily have an answer for you, but quiz me on anything to do with marathon training and I’d draw a blank.

Now I buy anything on this sport that I can find. I read them cover to cover and study the terms, the acronyms, the articles on techniques, the suggestions for running gear, the sports sites like shop indoor, and the makes and models of running shoes.

Usually I run by myself, but my sister joins me at least once a week. Typical Georgia weather this time of year is 95 degrees with 250% humidity. At least that’s what it feels like. I cannot complete a run without looking like I just crawled out of a swimming pool. I’m having to take so many darn showers that my hair color is only lasting 4 weeks instead of 6. But walking around smelling like a construction worker is not my cup of tea.

We tackled a gravel running track on monday, planning to work on speed. This track is mostly flat with a slight uphill grade on one side and is exactly 1K around. It encircles a small playground and is generally populated enough that we don’t feel unsafe yet don’t feel too crowded.

We had been avoiding this track as of late because of a certain group of walkers that use it about the same time as we do. Since they can walk as fast as we run, their presence is incredibly annoying. Naturally, as we pull into the parking lot, so do they. The group consists of three women. Two of them are my age or older.  The third is a younger woman who seems to be in excellent shape.

Did you ever wander across someone that you instantly disliked for no obvious reason at all? Well my sister and I are not her biggest fans. It took us a while to figure out that it’s not only the fact that she quite quickly leaves us in her walking dust, but she has a distinct resemblance to Kate from “John and Kate plus Eight”.

We decided to go in the opposite direction so as not to be intimidated. But everytime we passed her; she would stare us down.  We figure she’s either jealous because after all, I’m sure we look like Katherine Heigl and Catherine Zeta Jones in our sweaty running gear, or she has Superman-like hearing like my sister-in-law who can hear us talk about her a block away. Apparently, we were as annoying to her as she was to us.

But actually the main annoyance with the park that day was that apparently, the bugs all go there to exercise too. There were literally clouds of bugs in certain areas that you had no choice but to run through. And since we were covered in sweat, they ended up sticking to us.

Nice visual, I bet. Nothing like running in the humidity, trying to look cooler than “Not Kate” with a bunch of bugs stuck to your face having a bug-party. We actually did our best time yet- 37.5 minutes, but I think it had something to do with trying to outrun the bugs.

My point here?  The absolute most important thing to consider when taking up running is not your shoes; it is not your type of clothing; and while it certainly can help, it is not your choice of venue.  The most important thing is keeping yourself hydrated.

powerade zero

Our favorite choice while training is Powerade ZERO® .  It is designed to refresh and quench your thirst, without adding back in calories.  It is one of the fastest ways to replace fluid and sodium lost through sweat during training.

And it tastes fabulous!!  My favorite flavor is the grape, but they are all great tasting.  My sister and I have tried every single flavor.

Powerade ZERO® is a Coke® product and you can now find it and other great refreshing Coca Cola products at Sam’s Club!  Products like:

•NOS®
•Dasani®
•Powerade®
•Fuze®
•Vitamin Water®

Sam’s Club offers unbeatable prices, so be sure to stock up for the summer.  Keep yourself hydrated.

My favorite part of the run?  Sitting down afterwards, downing an ice-cold Powerade ZERO®, and watching “Not Kate” lap us again.  She might have the speed, but we have something even better in this humid Georgia heat.  We have ice-cold Powerade® .

So there!

suzy_sign