Week 11: Dog Days

The one thing about summer that makes people asolutely crazy? The heat and humidity. And we are no exception. It simply gets harder and harder as the heat gets more and more unbearable.

"It feels like an armpit out there. You know how you can see your breath in winter? I can see my breath. It fogs up my glasses in a puff because the humidity is so bad -- 97%! It has no business being 80 deg. F out there this early in the morning," ~Astrophe

Planning for food and water suddenly become critical and performance suffers if it gets messed up. Dehydration is something we are starting to worry about.

"lack of training + lack of nutrition + lack of water + poor mental preparation + heat + humidity + demoralizing comments by onlookers = DNF!" Adrith, after her 5K race on the Fourth of July.

"Normally I try to eat and drink a lot of water and just sit for an hour or so before I go. Today I gave me as long as it took to drive to the gym only. The result? A slushy feeling and a MAJOR side cramp during my workout. Ugh. The food jostling around in me made me feel gross, and I felt like a heap of junk rattling about. Yutz, yutz, yutz." Astrophe, the same day at her gym.

Sometimes coping involves getting new gear.

"Waiting on the hydropaks I ordered earlier this week though. Got a 50 oz. CamelBak portable for Paul. That means the reservoir holder doesn't come with straps -- you slip it into whatever bag you have. I got a 2L MountainSmith Torrent for myself for both biking and walking. It came out to about $60 for both, so vulturing around gear.com finally paid off. Let's hope it gets here tomorrow!" ~Astrophe

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