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.