A real scorcher!

Last night I needed a good run after long day of conferences out here in Las Vegas. It was not one of my better decisions in the last few weeks! When I got back from my conferences it was 6:30pm and the temperature outside was still a searing 106F. Of course, that did not intimidate me, I love running in the extremes so I chugged a bunch of water before I headed out and decided to run up the strip and back down the other side to give my shirt some publicity with the folks who had ventured out of their seats at the slots, roulette and craps tables. By then they probably had no money to donate, but what the heck ;-)

The first thing I noticed was it was hotter than just "hot" out there running (no kidding). The sun was low in the sky but it was still very hot on my face. The second thing I noticed was how many people were making wierd faces at me and making exasperated statements as I ran by. Apparently they didn't think I was in my right mind to be out running in this record heat. The third thing I noticed was that I did not really sweat. My brow was wet but the perspiration was evaporating so fast that I rarely had to even wipe the sweat off my forehead to keep it out of my eyes. As I slowed to work my way through heavy crowds at the Bellagio water fountains and Treasure Island's pirate ship battle, lots of people were checking out my shirt and commenting on it. Hopefully some of them remember the URL and visit my site. So if you are one of those people then... Thanks for noticing and visiting :-)

I got a good 10K (6.2mi) run in and though I was very hot, I felt fine. The temperature had cooled to a sping-like 105F (not!). It was after I stopped that the heat hit me. I was TOTALLY overheated and had to wet a big towel with ice cold water and wrap it around my neck and keep wetting myself down. It was amazing how fast it hit me when I stopped and how much worse I felt once I was no longer running. I have a HUGE amount of respect to those runners who ran the Olympic marathon in Greece a few years ago in 110F temps! And also the badwater ultramarathon which goes through Death Valley. How they run so long in these extreme temps is beyond me.