105 degrees... Ahhh!!!

Dateline: 5/29/2000

The warm weather is finally here. You know the kind I mean. When you take a deep breath it's kind of like you're searing the inside of your lungs.

It's wonderful. Us desert dwellers can finally take off our shirts and feel comfortable.

The temperature reminds me of a feature I wrote last year called "Be a Drinking Man". In it I wrote about drinking large amounts of liquid before, during and after your run. Pity I don't follow my own advice.

Today I went out a little later than I had planned and ended up walking a part of the way till I came across a "Runner's Oasis" (a broken lawn sprinkler). There I basked in the cool geyser like stream emanating from the ground. It gave me a boost of strength for the final leg of my run.

I have now decided to change my style of determining where to run (especially for long runs) this summer. Last year I spent one half of my running time running and the other half searching for water. This year I decided to route myself around a local drainage reservoir. It's about a mile and a half around with a park at one end. Of course the park has drinking fountains and public restrooms.

I'll be able to run for hours! :)

It's a good thing, too. Since my poorly planned and un-trained fiasco at the Las Vegas Marathon I decided I'd better sign up for another before I got cold feet. So I'm all signed up for the St. George Marathon in October. This is the site of my best times as it is almost completely downhill.

You know the kind of race I mean. When it's over you have to walk up stairs backwards for a few days!!

So now I've developed my training routine for the summer.

• Short morning runs ( one to three miles ) with hand weights. These are short only because I start work at six in the morning and I just hate getting up in the morning.
• Slightly longer runs (in the heat) in the afternoons - four to six miles.
• An easy two mile jog/walk with my wife soon after the previous run.
• A long run and/or a race on the weekends.

There you have it. My love of the heat is manifest in the decision to put myself through the marathon training process once again.

The fall is, for many, marathon season. Are you training for your first, 21st or maybe your 101st. Let us know. Leave a note on the Forum.

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