Beat the Heat

 

Scottsdale, Arizona

This race was purposely planned to take place during the Summer Solstice and historically the hottest day on record, at the hottest time on record. That temperature was 122 degrees. This race starts at 2:47 in the afternoon on what should be one of the hottest days of the year. Interestingly enough the race is sponsored by the Scottsdale Fire Department and PMT Ambulance.

The race started inside an equestrian stadium. What a strange group of people that seemed disappointed when the race director announced that the temperature outside was only 104 degrees. That was in the shade of course. By the end of the race my Prius registered 111 degrees while I was driving home. They measured the road temperature at 150 degrees. It is hard to say how hot it actually was, but I can tell you this for sure: 111 degrees in the shade is a lot cooler than 111 in the direct sun. 111 degrees in the direct sun is a lot cooler than 111degrees running in the direct sun. 111 degrees running in the direct sun on a dirt path is cooler than 111degrees running on a black asphalt road. It was hot. I had envisioned and planned on using cold water and ice to regulate my body temperature during this race as I do in Ironman races. To my surprise, the aid stations only had warm Dixie cups of water. No ice and no cold water at all! I kept thinking that the next aid station would have ice, but it never did. I made sure to keep myself as wet as I could so that at least evaporation would cool me. By the end of the race my throat was very dry. I ran hard and it felt like I had a hair dryer blowing down my throat for an hour. It took me 1 hour and 1 minute to cover the 11.22 kilometers. While it was not my fastest running, I managed to hold an 8:41 pace in that heat which I am proud of. There were a lot of people who struggled, especially towards the end. I finished strong. At the finish I was handed a warm water bottle, there was no food or anything else. I have no desire to do this race again.  The heat was bad enough, but to have nothing but warm Dixie cups out there is just stupid. Doing this race with that kind of support is just plain unnecessary brutality to your body. I see no reason to mistreat my body like that again in the future, especially given the price I paid for overheating my body during this run in Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs a week later.

 

IRONMAN 70.3 Hawaii

 

Kohala Coast, Hawaii

            This remains my favorite race of the year. . . . and favorite trip. Lori ended up flying having to Indiana a few days before the trip to help her Mom. She actually left the kids home before I even got back from San Francisco. That is two years in a row that she has not gone.

The kids and I had a lot of fun together and did a lot of snorkeling. Vayden was fearless and I had her a hundred yards from shore. She really loves the water and made huge progress in swimming this trip. She also fell in love with the lava hot tub at the Fairmont Orchid. She learned to pronounce the State fish, and even got a shirt, which instantly became her favorite. We saw tons of them this year.

Prior to the race start, I was talking to a very nervous guy who was doing the race in board shorts. I tried to calm his nerves and reassure him. I told him to just take it steady. Two days later I heard his voice behind me in the Outback in Kailua. He had made it and we exchanged hugs. Turns out he was the Mayor of Kailua-Kona and was having a meeting with the Board of Supervisors right there in Outback. He is the guy who fires the cannon every year at the World Championships.

I am not going to detail my race this year, but what I can say about the race this year, is that it was HOT! I was so hot on that run. One of the locals told me that we ended up racing in what turned out to be the hottest day since a record set back in the 1960’s. It was brutal. I managed to cut off two minutes from last year. Every year I seem to cut off two minutes.