Leg Pains and Heatstroke

Hotter than the surface of the sun. Possibly.

I am not sure if I have ever mentioned this in the blog, but where I live, from May-October, IT IS HOT. Like, so hot that there are a few "code orange" days each summer where you aren't really supposed to go outside and they set up "cooling areas" all over the city with free water and AC. Yeah. That hot. I, however, love this about my hometown, since I am constantly cold and also happen to enjoy warm weather a lot more than snow, ice, rain, etc. Yesterday, however?

 

  I. WAS. DYIN'.

Coach SuperW,(who is also now Coach SuperTriW as she metaphorically holds my hand on my journey to my first Half-Iron), had told me to do a 10 miler followed by an easy 40 minutes of spinning. She said to push the pace on the ten-miler if I wanted to, since she found out Tuesday night at the track workout that I am actually a lot faster that I say... (running on the dreadmill for 4 months apparently skews your times. 1:35 400 hard on the 'mill? Outside I can hit 1:30s like they're my job. Not to be cocky or anything....). So I set out hoping to keep up a pretty good clip, around 8:20 or so. BUT it seems my brain had other plans.

  6:05: Cell phone alarm goes off. Press "snooze"
  6:15: Normal alarm goes off. Press "sleep"
  6:30: Both alarms have gone off, and I am still not out of bed. I decided that since I was sick on Thursday and Friday with a cold, this is probably my body's way of telling me I need rest, and I decide to obey and go running at 8.
 8:38: When I actually wake up. I don't really freak out, since working out is really the only thing I *have* to do that day, so I take a GU and a Shot Blok in lieu of b-fast, slap on some sunscreen and a sportsbra and hit the pavement.
   

   3.5 miles later......
Internal Organs: "HOLY $#!#!@!@ IT IS HOT! WE ARE DYING AND NEED MORE POWERADE AND AN ENDUROLYTE!
Me: (take endurolyte tablet, chug purple sludge)
   2 minutes later....
*cue horrific heat cramp*
Brain: What the heck?! You just ran 16 miles a couple of weekends ago and now you're struggling to do 10? We have a race next weekend, woman! And a half-iron which means you will be running farther than this AFTER swimming almost a mile and biking 56. SUCK IT UP.

Internal Organs: Get us to a cool place aka your treadmill before we burst and bubble like that purple sludge in your water bottle. And next time, don't be an IDIOT and wait until 8:45 to run, because it is already 80 degrees and feels like 100.

  
(see left for an example of the level of fizzyness goin' on in my Ultimate Direction bottle)

Can you guess the end of this story? I had to suck it up and trudge home to the 'mill after 5 miles outside. It was a beautiful day and I wanted nothing more than to stay outside and roam the neighborhood on feet, but I was near fainting and I knew I needed to get this workout IN. THE. BAG.

  5 horrifically boring miles on the treadmill that involved a few breaks to get my heart rate down to normal workout rate and to refill the sludge were following by that trip to the gym for an easy spin. I read Kara Goucher's new book while I spun, but I have to say, I wasn't really all that impressed... kinda seemed like every other running book I have ever read (this could be a sign that I have simply read too many). On the plus side of the entire workout, with both the outside and inside running included, my pace for the 10 miles was right around 8:30, which isn't awful given the heat, but now that I know I am a lot faster than I thought I was  (outside, my recovery runs are around 8:10; inside, doing 8:30 some days is a struggle), I was really hoping to kill it on this run.

    The rest of the day was spent watching the Glee Marathon on Oxygen, and going to swim practice at 4. I didn't actually get in the pool until 4:15, since I was the only triathlete there, and my coach and I thought that baking in the sun sounded a lot better than cranking out the 2200 yds of drills that I ended up doing. Gotta say, though, as tired as I was, swimming was still so enjoyable. I love the feeling of gliding through the water and feeling weightless... and listening to Eminem on the underwater speakers. That helps, too.

Last night, though, my legs were KILLING. ME. I felt like I was 8 again and was experiencing the extreme leg pains I used to get when I had my growth spurts. It felt like someone was stretching my tendons out or something... not fun. The only thing that seemed to help was elevating them, so obviously I took that as an opportunity to lay on the couch with my feet up for 2 hours while I watched 10 different Lady Gaga videos on Fuse and finished the book Running on Faith by Jason Lester. If you are ever having a bad training day, just look up this guy online. He is actually a Superhero.  UltraIronman with a half-paralyzed arm? H.E.R.O.