Yesterday's race definitely ranks as one of the hardest I've ever done. It's a hard day if you go in fit and strong, just because the heat on the run is unimaginable. I went in with a couple of swims, 3 cycles in the last month and zero (nada) runs.
Think I'm exagerating? This is what Karlee posted yesterday on her website (www.karleezelmer.com):
This weekend was so hot that I just took it easy and stayed inside reading and watching videos under the air con. :) Not too interesting, but a lot better than melting outside. I can't believe how hot is is here. I know I went through this before, but it is still hard to get used to.
I've been suffering a lot in the heat as it is. I also can't believe this heat. I'm bacially nowhere near acclimatised to very humid weather, hot, mid 30's C weather like this. So to actually race in it was always going to be a tough ask.
According to our Polar heart rate monitors, temperatures on the road scorched up to 38 C (with high humidity). My heart rate shot up to 170bpm on the swim (and even the swim was warm), and I tried to moderate my effort after the first 5km on the cycle. I'll describe the race in more detail later. I ended up being out for 7h 46m, and stopped a few times to smear Factor 44 sunblock. I even stopped on the bike to cool off in an irrigation canal. My body was wet the whole time, so the sunblock was greasy and runny and ran off my skin the whole time. It still did a reasonable job.
Below is a paragraph I've copied from an email I've just sent. Don't have the energy tonight to sit here writing odysseys all night.
Body is pretty roasted, I'm a walking Thirstland, but not limping quite as bad as Ironman.
Like Ironman came really close to passing out afterwards.
Bossmail
That's a new word I've invented that means emotional blackmail by your boss.
Been cranky all day today. Director chose the wrong day to thumbsuck about stuff ...I dunno what he's thinking...he's a bozo. He's griping about stuff that isn't even happening. I think because I called him this morning to inquire why our vacation is 5 days instead of 7, he is trying to save face or ward off me asking for vacation time by blaming me for stuff at school. I asked him, if I've made so many mistakes, why has he only told me that face to face twice in 3 months. I suggested if he tells me about a problem, I can speak to parents, apologise for whatever, and understand what is happening. I dunno, maybe he has a point. But I get the feeling he is panicking now because so many teachers have left, and now is trying to get us to foot the bill, work harder, and make everything right. I'm not 100% rational today and maybe I have made some mistakes. I'm sure I have. But you know what, I don't really care. The school's a shithole, or maybe it just feels like that because it's so sticky. But you know what's funny? There's an aircon in every room except the teacher's room. His actions basically say this: screw the teachers. That's why 5 of them have left in the past month.
His face started twitching with anger as he was speaking to me, and that anger started to resonate when I realised he was talking about stuff that wasn't even true. Do I want to work for a jerk like this? Am I supposed to cower like a little puppy? I gave him a little speech about how dirty this school has been (he had his newest teacher clean the whole place till 1am at the end of her first day), on his being rude to everyone, his staff, (Sun Young, the doctor I'm teaching said as much when she called the school looking for me and ended up speaking to him), and asked him how come he is a Christian reading the bible everyday, and very obviously but 'there's no kindness'.
Blame Game
He kind've changed his tune after that, and you know, I was surprised he didn't interrupt my temporary fugue with a stupendous self righteous rant, or show some kind of angry reaction. He actually seemed to be listening. A phone call interrupted my Oscar Clip, and I later got to thinking that this was all just a ploy to make me feel guilty or undeserving asking for the week's summer vacation stipulated in the contract.
I don't always understand how minds work here, and I don't pretend I ever will. I have a few ideas and most are probably off target.
Elsewhere, the world is also cooking. If you've read the earlier posting showing how CO2 is now 3 times higher than any records we have (including from ice and mud cores going back over 400 000 years), and we bare in mind that CO2 and rising air temperatures go hand in hand, my own personal,firsthand, original, source experience is to feel that the weather is definitely changing. If next year is hotter than this year, here, then that's frightening. Because a few degrees higher than it's been and it's becoming life threatening.
Now to focus on something altogether different: Black Hawk Down is on OCN.
Triple-Digit Temperatures Scorch Midwest
By NATHANIEL HERNANDEZ, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 45 minutes ago
CHICAGO - Skyrocketing temperatures surpassed the 100-degree mark here for the first time in six years, prompting Chicago officials to implement an emergency response plan honed after hundreds of people died in a heat wave a decade ago.
Sweat-drenched city workers fanned out across Chicago on Sunday, checking on elderly residents and shuttling people to cooling centers. By late afternoon, temperatures at Midway Airport had reached 104 degrees, just one degree lower than the highest temperature ever recorded in the city, according to the
National Weather Service.
"If you looked at who died in 1995, it was not triathletes, it wasn't people at ballparks, it wasn't people at outdoor festivals, it was the elderly who were living alone," said Dr. William Paul, acting commissioner of the city's Public Health Department.
Full Story here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050725/
ap_on_re_us/midwest_heat_wave
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