Not so Pretty Lady in Red

Lately, whenever I go for a run, I've been feeling a bit like this afterwards (minus the obnoxiously large smile and overly abundant enthusiasm)...

Like any good hypochondriac, I couldn't help but worry that something might be seriously wrong with me. I see people running all around me whose faces look perfectly normal, and yet, mine looks like it's reached its boiling point and may spontaneously combust at any given moment. So, I investigated the many questionable resources out there on the World Wide Web, and found out the following:

First and foremost, it's okay. I'm (relatively) normal. 

And I'm not alone. 

Whew.

But why is it happening, you ask? Well, according to Buzzle.com...

"Our body heat is directly proportional to our effort and the intensity of the physical activity. So as you put in mile after mile, or pedal away faster and faster, your body starts heating up from inside. Now it is important for the body to get rid of this heat and regulate a normal body temperature from within. This to a large extent, happens through the process of sweating. In addition to sweating, what our body does, is circulate the warm blood closer to the surface of the skin, so that the internal body heat can be radiated outside. Due to this, a large amount of blood collects near the face (in addition to a few other parts of the body). But since the face tissue has a lot of capillaries which are superficial (i.e. located close to the surface of the skin), the sudden arrival (and the collection) of this increased amount of blood is much more visible and noticeable (as compared to other parts of the skin)."

So what, if anything, do I do about it?

Nada - so long as I'm not also feeling excessively dizzy too. But FitSugar also says, "Drinking an adequate amount of water before and during exercise may help reduce the redness by ensuring you're hydrated enough to sweat to properly cool yourself down."

So, many apologies to my fellow Sport + Health-ers out there. I promise I'm not about to erupt - I'm just a new and (absurdly) awkward runner taking my recently discovered motivation out for a spin in a body that isn't quite ready for a test drive.