It's Too Darn Hot

A woman is like a tea bag -- you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water. -- Eleanor Roosevelt

Well.  The good news is that I'll know how strong I am after this coming Sunday.  Because I'm going to be in hot water.  And hot air.  And hot everything.  I'm set to race my 2nd HIM (hopefully more successful than Raleigh's head-kick DNF) at Rev3 Williamsburg and the forecast is unGodly.  As Cole Porter would say...it's too darn hot.

Now, I get it - I'm a little bit of a Goldilocks.  Too hot, too cold, too soft, too hard.  Nothing is ever just right.  The perfect riding weather, in my opinion, is 75 degrees, sunny but not too sunny, a light cooling breeze always at my back, and downhill.

But that's not my reality - not this Sunday and generally not ever.  So what's the plan?

Well, I'm hydrating.  My coach even sent me an email to get a report on my fluid intake.  BWAHAHAHAHAH.  I'm guessing she wasn't expecting my answer (coffee, diet Mt. Dew, sugar-free lemonade...yeah, healthy stuff there, folks) but it did make me more conscious about what I need to do.  Water.  Sports drink.  Water.  Sports drink.  (And of course the occasional diet pop and always coffee thrown in.  Maybe a bit of vino in the evenings...)

And I've tried to get out into the miserable weather, doing some of my easy runs at lunch time or in the afternoon, to at least acclimate a little bit.  It's horrible, but at least Sunday won't be quite as much of a shock to the system.

I am trying to use some cooling technology.  I bought a pair of cooling sleeves to try, but they made my arms feel like sausages - so uncomfortable.  I returned those and have a bolero coming in today - I know, nothing new on race day, but I figure I'll get a short test with it before Sunday and worst case I just take the damn thing off if it is bothering me.

Finally, I'm setting realistic expectations.  It will suck.  The best thing I can do on Sunday is go out there, avoid getting kicked in the head, swim to T1, bike to T2, and run/walk to the finish.  And enjoy it.  Smile.  And finish.  That's the only goal.  And a mighty fine goal it is.  Because that's all you can do when it's too darn hot.

Next time...pre-race packing...