Do you know what I'm already tired of?

[press]

Do you know what I'm already tired of (and it's only April)?

Wearing lots of clothes during training. While my intensive heat training won't start until 45-60 days prior to the race, I've made the decision to start wearing more clothes than normal during my training runs. I live in the Pacific NW, and although we've been having temps a bit cooler this week than normal, our high temps are still in the mid-50s.

By my usual standards, this makes for very nice training weather. But since I'm training for Badwater, clothed in tights, a short sleeve shirt, a long sleeve shirt, and a warm fleece jacket, my runs are feeling pretty warm. On the upside, I'm sweating quite a bit and getting a lot of nutrition (read: beverage consumption) training while I'm at it.

So, mostly, I'm just bitching a little bit. I guess, somewhere deep in the recesses of my consciousness, I'm enjoying the (relatively small) sacrifices I'm making now in order to TRY to feel slightly more comfortable in Death Valley. I'm not deluding myself--I know that it will be infernally hot, but every bit of physical and psychological advantage helps...right? RIGHT??

Thanks for listening to my small gripe and for helping to assure me that I'm doing the right thing.

Press

[Greg]

I feel for you. Here in So Cal when the temps get over 80 degrees I think I must be nuts to wear extra clothes. But it is easy to endure the heat at home. It will take training like you are doing to be able to handle the heat of DV. When I train in DV, after the heat gets over 100 you can tell you are not at home. I also leave the heater on when I drive home each day. As you get used to your heat training keep the liquid training going also.
Your body will need to be able to process more fluid. Just Keep Running. Greg

[Marcia]

Wow! You're really getting an early start at this. I don't usually start thinking about heat training until about a month before the run. My thought is that I'd rather just concentrate on my general training for awhile. If I'm heat training for too long, my running ability tends to decline. I'd rather take advantage of the cool workouts to make my running stronger, and then top it off with heat training for the last month or so. That way, I avoid burnout--both the literal and the figurative kind.

[Greg]

Marcia, by this time last year it seemed that summer had hit us early. I think everytime I ran it was a heat training run. Hopefully this spring will stay a little cooler to enjoy some of my running. See ya, have a good run Greg.