Jul 11, 2007

heat training has started

Yesterday I decided rather than running in the morning while it was still cool I slept in till 7a and put my run off till after work. When I left my office it was already in the 90s so I stalled a bit and went to Speedy Reedy to look at wet suits - I had seen something about a sale coming up and I wanted to see if it was true. I tried on the Blue Seventy full sleeve Helix again and again liked it. Though I do not recommend trying on wet suits when it is so hot just does not makes sense looking back - the last thing I needed was insulation. Any I found out the wet suits will go on sale on the 15th so I will wait till then to purchase. Though after I left I wondered why I needed a full wet suit rather than a farmer john with no sleeves.. So now I'm not sure what I want... I think I would like having sleeves early/late season and in colder races but I like the idea of having more movement in the shoulder by not having sleeves. so we will see.
That finished I headed to green lake to do a 4 mile run with specific instructions not to cut it short. Because of the heat I made sure to take a couple of salt tabs, a gel and some Gatorade before I started. I was rather sluggish and had a hard time keeping my pace up so I just focused on getting it done. A couple parts of the route were in full sun and were extra miserably hot but I was surprised how quickly I was finished - not that I was fast at all. It took me 35:40 to finish with no pain in my lower legs and feet.
Afterwards I quickly changed out of my running shoes into my crocs and dipped my legs into the lake to cool down - it felt wonderful. I was early for meeting Col and Bryan for an open water swim so I just hung out by the lake till they got there.
Everyone got there around 7:30ish and we got going. It was really windy which of course made the water very choppy (enough that the rowing class stayed on shore). With in only a couple strokes I had water way up my nose... It pretty much sucked - I would breath and a wave would brake over the back of my head and get in my mouth. It may have been the choppy water or just me but I was not feeling it - my left shoulder got tired, my neck was tight, I had a horrible time staying focused, and I could not swim straight. At the half way point I even considered swimming to shore and walking back - but of course I didn't. I was quite a way behind the group - I think I added a good 5 to 10 minutes on to my swim compared to them. When I got back to the dock I was exhausted and glad to be done. In all I swam for 49:22 - I have no idea how far.
Luckily today is a day off for recovery because it was 101 degrees - which is just plane wrong in Seattle. I spent the evening washing my car and watering plants just so I could play outside with cold water :) Hopefully I don't melt overnight.

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