It has been HOT in Philadelphia lately. Saturday and Sunday were officially 97 degrees, Monday was officially 98, breaking a 44 year old record for hottest day before June 15. Tuesday looks like it was also 98 degrees. With humidity felt like 105 or so. Even the breeze felt like you were baking in an oven.
On Friday I managed to squeak in a swim. I think I did 750 meters in 28 minutes, although possibly less since I am not good with counting laps. I powered through some of them, so I was very out of breath at the end but felt kind of strong. Saturday was not a workout day, although it was so hot I definitely sweated enough for a workout.
On Sunday I braved the horrible heat for a bike ride, figuring it would give me good practice for July. I froze one of my water bottles and put the others in the fridge so I'd have a fighting chance of coolness. I thought I might try to do the run afterwards so I also chilled some Goya Coconut Water because coconut water is reputed to be even better than Gatorade for electrolytes. (Supposed to be good as a hangover cure, by the way.) I have had limited luck in finding the coconut water in grocery stores, but I did find the sweetened at Genuardi's and at Walmart. It looks like I can buy both sweetened and unsweetened online, which I might pursue at some point.
I got up and decided to get out the door earlier than I normally do, in order to avoid some of the worst of the heat. I filled my Fuel Belt flasks but put them in a lunch cooler bag with some cold packs so they would stay cool. I drove to Conshohocken so I could bike from there toward the city and explore more of the path. I kept the frozen water bottle in one of my jersey's back pockets, which was nice and helped keep me cool. I made pretty good time through Manayunk until I reached the end of the Tow Path and had to go toward the street. I was a little confused as to why everyone was on the sidewalks and no one was on the road (hey it was hot and my brain was fried!) until it dawned on me that the Manayunk Bike Race was going on. I rode a little bit more and then stopped to watch the race. After a while I continued on and then stopped again on Kelly Drive right before the intersection at Falls Bridge. It looks like maybe I rode about 15 miles round trip. I actually had a nice time, but it was 2 pm by the time I got back to my car and no way did I want to try to run. My car's temperature gauge read 101 degrees.
I did no exercise on Monday or Tuesday, apart from work. I very much appreciated AC at the office. I knew there was a storm coming on Tuesday evening that was supposed to break the heat wave. I was at a client's house that night when the thunder came booming down, shaking the house. I think the storm rampaged for 10 minutes or so. I didn't hear much rain and my car wasn't wet later, although there was a lot of tree debris in the road. I wondered if we would have power in my neighborhood, for this was the kind of storm that usually involves power outages. All the lights seemed to be working from there to the laundromat and then to home, so I didn't think more about it. I was therefore surprised when I got home last night to find the power out. I was hoping it would be fixed quickly. Alas, power was out until 8 am this morning. It was very very hot at home, and there was no breeze coming through the windows to cool things down. I was miserable.
It didn't look like I'd have enough time for a swim today so I went for a run instead. I met a nice man in the parking lot who told me he was training for the Lake Placid Ironman. I wish him well! I thought it was still very hot for running, but that may have been because my core temp was still high. I initially thought I'd do a 3 mile run, but as I got back to my starting point I decided to throw another mile in there. Went pretty well, I have to say. Still slow as molasses, but at least I was moving. I finished up with some chocolate milk as my recovery drink. Yum!
Tomorrow I will swim, but I probably won't get any more exercise in before the Luray Triathlon Race Prep Clinic I am doing with a couple of my friends. We aren't signed up for the Luray Tri, and it actually costs about as much as registering for a tri, but it'll be a great way to get some coached info and check out the course in case we want to do that one next year without having to actually compete.
I checked out a Specialized Ruby bike today, but it was not love at first pedaling. They set me up on a trainer for the short term and I will probably go back to test ride, but I think I like the Fuji better. Still want to hop on a few more brands before I plunk down my $$. Also, there's a bike swap in DC this weekend so who knows what kind or where I'll get a bike. I won't have it for the tri clinic, which is sad, but oh well. I wanted to get some tri clothes too, but I wasn't loving the options. I might have been a little cranky from the heat, so I'll try to try some on again tomorrow or Friday. Not the end of the world if I don't. I'm thinking about renting a wetsuit for the open water this weekend to get a feel, but if that doesn't work out it's also not a huge deal.
On Friday I managed to squeak in a swim. I think I did 750 meters in 28 minutes, although possibly less since I am not good with counting laps. I powered through some of them, so I was very out of breath at the end but felt kind of strong. Saturday was not a workout day, although it was so hot I definitely sweated enough for a workout.
On Sunday I braved the horrible heat for a bike ride, figuring it would give me good practice for July. I froze one of my water bottles and put the others in the fridge so I'd have a fighting chance of coolness. I thought I might try to do the run afterwards so I also chilled some Goya Coconut Water because coconut water is reputed to be even better than Gatorade for electrolytes. (Supposed to be good as a hangover cure, by the way.) I have had limited luck in finding the coconut water in grocery stores, but I did find the sweetened at Genuardi's and at Walmart. It looks like I can buy both sweetened and unsweetened online, which I might pursue at some point.
I got up and decided to get out the door earlier than I normally do, in order to avoid some of the worst of the heat. I filled my Fuel Belt flasks but put them in a lunch cooler bag with some cold packs so they would stay cool. I drove to Conshohocken so I could bike from there toward the city and explore more of the path. I kept the frozen water bottle in one of my jersey's back pockets, which was nice and helped keep me cool. I made pretty good time through Manayunk until I reached the end of the Tow Path and had to go toward the street. I was a little confused as to why everyone was on the sidewalks and no one was on the road (hey it was hot and my brain was fried!) until it dawned on me that the Manayunk Bike Race was going on. I rode a little bit more and then stopped to watch the race. After a while I continued on and then stopped again on Kelly Drive right before the intersection at Falls Bridge. It looks like maybe I rode about 15 miles round trip. I actually had a nice time, but it was 2 pm by the time I got back to my car and no way did I want to try to run. My car's temperature gauge read 101 degrees.
I did no exercise on Monday or Tuesday, apart from work. I very much appreciated AC at the office. I knew there was a storm coming on Tuesday evening that was supposed to break the heat wave. I was at a client's house that night when the thunder came booming down, shaking the house. I think the storm rampaged for 10 minutes or so. I didn't hear much rain and my car wasn't wet later, although there was a lot of tree debris in the road. I wondered if we would have power in my neighborhood, for this was the kind of storm that usually involves power outages. All the lights seemed to be working from there to the laundromat and then to home, so I didn't think more about it. I was therefore surprised when I got home last night to find the power out. I was hoping it would be fixed quickly. Alas, power was out until 8 am this morning. It was very very hot at home, and there was no breeze coming through the windows to cool things down. I was miserable.
It didn't look like I'd have enough time for a swim today so I went for a run instead. I met a nice man in the parking lot who told me he was training for the Lake Placid Ironman. I wish him well! I thought it was still very hot for running, but that may have been because my core temp was still high. I initially thought I'd do a 3 mile run, but as I got back to my starting point I decided to throw another mile in there. Went pretty well, I have to say. Still slow as molasses, but at least I was moving. I finished up with some chocolate milk as my recovery drink. Yum!
Tomorrow I will swim, but I probably won't get any more exercise in before the Luray Triathlon Race Prep Clinic I am doing with a couple of my friends. We aren't signed up for the Luray Tri, and it actually costs about as much as registering for a tri, but it'll be a great way to get some coached info and check out the course in case we want to do that one next year without having to actually compete.
I checked out a Specialized Ruby bike today, but it was not love at first pedaling. They set me up on a trainer for the short term and I will probably go back to test ride, but I think I like the Fuji better. Still want to hop on a few more brands before I plunk down my $$. Also, there's a bike swap in DC this weekend so who knows what kind or where I'll get a bike. I won't have it for the tri clinic, which is sad, but oh well. I wanted to get some tri clothes too, but I wasn't loving the options. I might have been a little cranky from the heat, so I'll try to try some on again tomorrow or Friday. Not the end of the world if I don't. I'm thinking about renting a wetsuit for the open water this weekend to get a feel, but if that doesn't work out it's also not a huge deal.
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Hey, if you want to confirm the electrolyte analysis of coconut water vs. Gatorade, look up the coconut water on the USDA Nutrient Analysis Lab website. There should be more information about the analysis of coconut water than you ever wanted to know! You could also try Gatorade Endurance formula, which has about twice the electrolytes of regular Gatorade. -LS
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