It's nice not to burst into flames as soon as you walk outside. I'm sure it'll be hot again soon, as we have probably 4-6 weeks of potential 90*+ weather left. And then we'll dive into winter. Even with it being so hot, I'm not quite ready for snow. It seems the snow lingered around so long last year, coupled with the fact we aren't going skiing for the first time in 8 years, doesn't have me anxious for the season of wind-chill.
My training has been completely bonkered between the hot weather, A/C being out/back on/out/back on again, Warrior Dash, and another 5k in a few weeks. Maybe I should start running at some point? I need to get shoes...maybe over lunch. I'm looking at getting some New Balance trail running shoes. There's something far sexier about running through the woods instead of pounding the pavement. Maybe it's the risk of getting attacked by a mountain lion.
My sister told me that one of the guys from her work ended up dying from the Warrior Dash. I should say he succumbed to the effects of heat stroke after being in the Warrior Dash. People are quick to offer all kinds of opinions on why we should or shouldn't do races like that on such a hot day or whatever circumstances you wish to call into debate. He (Jeremy) was young, athletic, and the circumstances were tough. I don't know if he trained for this or not. I don't know how much water he had been drinking the days before, nor if he'd gotten beered up before the race. It was hot, and there could have been more water. I raced on Saturday, the cooler of the two days, and there were just two water stations doling out warm water. I hear that there were more accommodations made on Sunday. The only blame I could assign to the organizers were that it took so long to get medical assistance to various parts of the course. It's a short, yet treacherous race.
I'm sure that the death of this young man can equally be shared between himself, the organizers, maybe even his friends. But I don't think there was negligence, just a bad combination of events. It's too bad, but if you get 16,000 people running a race, the odds of one of them experiencing congestive heart failure or arrhythmia is pretty fair. I'd rather break my body on my own accord then let it wilt from inactivity.
It's funny how probably one of the more deterministic traits of your friends is their activity levels. It probably has something to do with finding a group that supports your lifestyle, something I've had a tough time doing with cycling. I have a great team, no doubt, but it's quite a trip to go drive 30-40 minutes to go do a group ride. I wish there were more group rides out south. Maybe I should just start one.
Maybe I should blog more often so the entries don't come out like drunken ramblings. But what fun would that be?
ReplyDeleteCasey b. Rides from the south to group rides, that's how you get fast and won races.
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