105 degree days

Well, this has been fun, actually it seriously has been fun!  Today I went to Caesar's Creek with Scuba Steve and Red for a little swim-bike-run nonsense.  We showed up around 6:45 and figured that we would be some of the very few people hanging out at that early hour.  Low and behold, when we pulled into the parking lot that we were not the only ones by a long shot.  When we started to get ready for our swim there were about 30 other triathletes all with the same idea of trying to get their work outs done early to beat the afternoon heat.  By the time that we finished our swim there were about 60 athletes in the water, all doing open water swims, not just hanging out, and some more athletes up in the parking lot!  We were shocked that there were so many people out there, but it was really cool!  To me it seemed to help having all of those people out there because our swim seemed to be more focused, and it forced us to sight more instead of just letting ourselves zig zag everywhere.

Now about this beating the heat shenanigans...yep..that wasn't a thing.  First off the water was rather warm.  Red and I swam at Caesar's on Wednesday and the water was not exactly chilly, but it didn't feel like bath water.  Today, after another 3 days of 100+ degree weather, the water was decidedly bath water temperature.  I didn't completely mind because I really don't like cold water, but at the same time, it's kind of hard to cool off and enjoy the swim portion of your work out when the water is nearly the same temperature as the air.  I really did enjoy the swim though because it was a lot of fun trying to keep other swimmers in my sights and attempt to pick them off on our laps up and down the beach!  We swam a mile which means that we swam up and down the beach swim area twice.  I think the best part though was making fun of Scuba Steve because he left for our workout this morning well before Red and I did, and he got there after we did. He lives the same distance from the park as we do.  He had to stop at Walmart and pick up a new nose plug because he couldn't find his.  I thought this was hilarious because lately he's been taking his 3 year old son to swimming lessons where they are teaching them to blow bubbles out their nose and not need nose plugs.

funny and almost accurate :D

Meanwhile, after we finished our mile swim we decided to head out for a 38 mile bike ride.  I actually enjoyed the ride despite the heat and the two ridiculous-I-think-my-heart-is-exploding climbs.  On the way up the second climb my Garmin beeped and Steve asked if that was my heart rate saying I was dead or if it was time to drink water.  I set my Garmin to beep every ten minutes so I would get an adequate amount of water in my system during the bike because I am terrible at drinking on the bike.  It's not a balance thing or anything, it's the fact that I simply forget because I'm usually too busy trying to hang onto Red's wheel.  Well this time I figured with temperatures climbing well above 90 by 10am I thought setting a little reminder was a good idea, and it turned out that it was a great idea for all three of us!  The only set back was Scuba Steve getting a flat and figuring out that his replacement tube was also busted.  He went through 1 CO2 trying to inflate said replacement tube, thought the cartridge or something was faulty so he wasted his second CO2 on the same tube, finally felt the air coming out of the tube with his other hand.  Red had a spare tube and I had a CO2 so we finally got him fixed up to finish our ride.  The tire wasn't perfectly aired to the 120psi that he probably wanted but it definitely got him back and able to ride with us the rest of the way.  

Finally, we got back to the parking lot after cruising for the last 6 miles or so and decided "Yeah going for the run is a good idea".  Hmm...our original plan was to only run 3 miles, well about 0.4 miles into the run that plan quickly dropped to 2 miles simply because we didn't want to back out that much farther.  Red and Scuba Steve had put a ton of ice in their shirts and shorts while I was in the bathroom so I had no ice.  Scuba Steve gave me a handful of ice from his shirt pocket which felt wonderful!  All of Red's ice had melted by that point so it wasn't going to be any use.  We finally made our world class slow run back to the car and were ecstatic to be done for the day!  We had logged over 40 miles for the day, didn't die, and enjoyed each others company!  Our workout for the day was longer than the poor souls stuck doing "Ironman Muncie" today since their Half Ironman distance was dropped to an Olympic distance due to heat.  Tons of people were ticked because of the distance change, but meh, I'm glad I didn't pay $300 to run an olympic distance race!  I didn't pay anything and was able to stay close to home and still go farther than they did.  From what I've read it sounds like everyone was safe at Muncie, which was the point, but I still think a half would have been doable, incredibly slow, but doable.  

Now as for tonight, I work all night.  I just checked the weather and it is nearly 10:30 at night and still 85 degrees or so.

Yep, that says 102 for tomorrow.  

Everyone hydrate, fuel, and stay healthy!  Happy training!

Oh, and the title of this post says 105 degree days.  When we were done our cars thermometer said 101, when I listened to the radio and checked "what it feels like" it says 105+.  Woot!  Tomorrow is supposed to "feel like" 110, at least I'll sleep all day in AC and work all night in AC :D

Heat Wave!

Wow!  So it has been over 90 degrees almost every day for weeks, I think it has been 90+ since the beginning of June.  This heat has made training interesting, but it is getting better.  When I first attempted to run in the heat a 10 minute mile for 1 mile had me thinking about turning around, now I'll run 4-6 miles, and so long as I pace myself, I'm fine.  Today I was retarded and felt really good and ended up running about 8:03 for a bit and then paid for it in the end.  I was keeping 9 minute miles for the first mile then was like, hey I feel good just keep running, and dropped to 8 minute miles.  After that I slowed up for a second and getting started was not going to be a thing.  The next two miles hurt like crazy, namely the last mile.  It was rather rough.  I still ended up averaging about a 10 minute mile over all but it was still crazy hot and I felt like shizen.  I'm getting better though so it's ok.

On the plan for tonight is a 30-40 mile bike ride and a potential 2 mile run depending on what time it is.  Red and I are wanting to go to Lebanon for fireworks this evening :D  I love fireworks!

Since tomorrow is officially Independence Day Red has the entire day off!  I, unfortunately do not, but that's because sick people still need hospitals no matter what day or time it is.  I don't have to work until 7pm though so we're thinking about taking a bit in the morning and doing a baby tri essentially in training.  We're going to swim about a mile, then bike maybe 40, and depending on time and heat, we'll run probably 3-6 miles, again, that depends on how hot it is and the temperature.

I hope that everyone has a great July 4th!  Stay safe!  I hope everyone gets to watch some fireworks this year even though a lot of them have been canceled due to the lack of rain lately so everything is REALLY dry!