#ilovetheheat #embracetheheat
I've decided I'm done complaining about the heat. Yup, simple as that. I'm a whiney biatch about it lately. I've been in Arizona for 12 years now, which basically makes me local by now I think. I figure if I stop complaining about being so hot, I can still get away with complaining about freezing my ass off.
I have seriously great logic sometimes. Just sayin'
Anyway, I realized how much I've been complaining about the heat lately because I keep getting these little responses to my training notes from coach BSC about ebracetheheat, lovetheheat, blah blah blah. Pretty much what she is saying is "SUCK IT UP, you live in Arizona for crying out cloud, of course it's going to be warm."
DUH.
So, this weekend is the infamous Tempe International Triathlon. It was my very first ever Olympic race (well, slightly different, but same time frame and logistics) back in 03. I nearly died. It took me 3:30+ minutes to do the race. I remember starting the second loop of the run and yelling to my running coach that "I would rather run a marathon, ANY day!" I was undertrained, overheated, probably didn't drink even a bottle of water on the run or bike, AND the swim course got screwed up so I swam my furthest distance EVER on that day. 1.2miles instead of 1500m.
I remember feeling like I was going to pass out after the race, dry heaving and being sick all day long. In fact, the fire department/EMT people were looking pretty appealing.
I don't know if that day ruined me mentally in the heat, or if I'm just weak; but ever since then I've been completely and irrationally afraid of being too hot and racing. I let it get to me. I fall apart. I bitch and moan.
This weekend I had a little turning point. We headed to my favorite getaway home for a nice long weekend vaca. We had some fun and athletic friends with us so we made it a little mini training camp full of open water swims (yay, I actually swam in the ocean TWICE and didn't die!) and a couple of good runs. The schedule called for an up to 2:20 long run on Sunday and a progression hour run Friday. My logic was that I would do the long run the first time I woke up not hungover. Brilliant, huh? Well I woke up Friday morning feeling pretty not hung over so decided to get er done. As soon as we started we were soaked, covered in sweat. We stopped back at the house after an hour and refilled water. I took in some extra calories and 2xe21 (I heart you www.recoverye21.com) and we headed back out.
My long runs have been a pretty good pace lately so I did the math and realized I would be close to 16miles if I finished the whole 2:20. This quickly changed as the heat wore us all down and our water was dwindling. With the breeze at our back one direction, the only saving grace was knowing that we'd have a slight headwind to cool us down on the way back. Clothes soaked through, Shane hit an incredibly rough batch at mile 12. He was seeing stars, goosebumps, out of water. I had just enough to get me back home so I couldn't really give him any, but I remembered seeing some friend's of ours car just a block or so away so I told him to WALK, get water then I'd go get the car and pick him up.
I turned of my brain, tried to embrace the heat and not think about it. Wouldn't you know I was able to negative split the run and finished completely coherent and believe it or not ALIVE!
Right then and there I decided that this heat thing, for the most part, was all in my head. Clearly if my body can handle 85 degrees and 90% humidity with a slight hangover it can handle a whole lot more. So, this weekend my mantra will be once again, "suck it up buttercup." Yes, it's going to be hot. Yes I'm going to want to walk. Yes I will think I'm going to die..
But guess what? I won't. Sometimes I swear I am my own worst enemy!
#embracetheheat #ilovetheheat #suckitupbuttercup
I have seriously great logic sometimes. Just sayin'
Anyway, I realized how much I've been complaining about the heat lately because I keep getting these little responses to my training notes from coach BSC about ebracetheheat, lovetheheat, blah blah blah. Pretty much what she is saying is "SUCK IT UP, you live in Arizona for crying out cloud, of course it's going to be warm."
DUH.
So, this weekend is the infamous Tempe International Triathlon. It was my very first ever Olympic race (well, slightly different, but same time frame and logistics) back in 03. I nearly died. It took me 3:30+ minutes to do the race. I remember starting the second loop of the run and yelling to my running coach that "I would rather run a marathon, ANY day!" I was undertrained, overheated, probably didn't drink even a bottle of water on the run or bike, AND the swim course got screwed up so I swam my furthest distance EVER on that day. 1.2miles instead of 1500m.
I remember feeling like I was going to pass out after the race, dry heaving and being sick all day long. In fact, the fire department/EMT people were looking pretty appealing.
I don't know if that day ruined me mentally in the heat, or if I'm just weak; but ever since then I've been completely and irrationally afraid of being too hot and racing. I let it get to me. I fall apart. I bitch and moan.
This weekend I had a little turning point. We headed to my favorite getaway home for a nice long weekend vaca. We had some fun and athletic friends with us so we made it a little mini training camp full of open water swims (yay, I actually swam in the ocean TWICE and didn't die!) and a couple of good runs. The schedule called for an up to 2:20 long run on Sunday and a progression hour run Friday. My logic was that I would do the long run the first time I woke up not hungover. Brilliant, huh? Well I woke up Friday morning feeling pretty not hung over so decided to get er done. As soon as we started we were soaked, covered in sweat. We stopped back at the house after an hour and refilled water. I took in some extra calories and 2xe21 (I heart you www.recoverye21.com) and we headed back out.
My long runs have been a pretty good pace lately so I did the math and realized I would be close to 16miles if I finished the whole 2:20. This quickly changed as the heat wore us all down and our water was dwindling. With the breeze at our back one direction, the only saving grace was knowing that we'd have a slight headwind to cool us down on the way back. Clothes soaked through, Shane hit an incredibly rough batch at mile 12. He was seeing stars, goosebumps, out of water. I had just enough to get me back home so I couldn't really give him any, but I remembered seeing some friend's of ours car just a block or so away so I told him to WALK, get water then I'd go get the car and pick him up.
I turned of my brain, tried to embrace the heat and not think about it. Wouldn't you know I was able to negative split the run and finished completely coherent and believe it or not ALIVE!
Right then and there I decided that this heat thing, for the most part, was all in my head. Clearly if my body can handle 85 degrees and 90% humidity with a slight hangover it can handle a whole lot more. So, this weekend my mantra will be once again, "suck it up buttercup." Yes, it's going to be hot. Yes I'm going to want to walk. Yes I will think I'm going to die..
But guess what? I won't. Sometimes I swear I am my own worst enemy!
#embracetheheat #ilovetheheat #suckitupbuttercup
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