I'm Melting

When everyone is hiding inside with their air conditioners, I absolutely love going out for a ride. I love the heat, the hotter the better. When it's 30+ celsius outside, I have the trails to myself. No dog walkers, no hikers, not even cyclists. I can go as fast and as far as I want with no interruptions! However, this summer is beginning to take it's toll on me. It started a few weeks ago when I did the 250Km road ride in 38 Celsius weather. It took awhile to recover from that, but now the feeling is back - when I step outside into the heat, I feel ill. Nautious perhaps. It's hard to explain, but I have had enough of it. I know I'll regret saying this once things begin to cool down, but ultimately I am sick and tired of the heat. So this paves the way for Saturday's mountain bike ride. When I set out, I felt really bad. I could tell my energy levels in this humidity were the lowest they've been all summer. The plan was to hit a bunch of hills to work on my climbing. On the first hill, I damn near had a heart attack. My hearrate screamed out of control and if it wasn't for a cyclist I ran into at the top of the hill, I probably would have quit right then and there. I stopped at the top and had a conversation. Well, he did most of the talking, I just tried to get my breathing under control and not have my head explode. This worked out good as it gave me a chance to recover. After this, I felt my energy level bump up a notch as my body was definitely awake after that episode. I forced myself to hit every major uphill climb I could find in the Dundas Valley area. This is several thousand vertical feet of steep climbing. I didn't realize just how far I had actually gone until the final stretch. I was just about broken at that point. I was close to bonking, probably more to do with lack of nutrition intake but this was compounded by the relentless heat. The quality of this ride trumps any century ride I could have ever done on my road bike. The climbing was just that tough. So sure enough later in the evening I had to hide inside with air conditioning. Again, even Sunday morning I really felt like vomitting when the wall of heat hit me as I stepped out the door. I knew I had to get a run in, but ultimately would have to wait until the end of the day in the hopes things cooled down. Nutrition wise, I could feel that my body was lacking something but just couldn't tell what. I should have taken the day off after Saturday's hardcore ride but I'm desperate to improve my running with IM Muskoka just around the corner. I mixed it up a bit and took my run down a route that has some decent hills in it. I found that uphills use much the same muscle group as my cycling and I felt comfortable on them. The key is to watch my heartrate and not let it climb too high. The downhills, I just don't understand. I can't figure out a proper technique, it just feels awkward and I was dreading the downhills. I'll need to work on this for sure. Regardless, the route was a little shorter than I would have liked but it was better than nothing I guess.
Monday will be an unscheduled rest day as I have to take my son to his soccer game. Fran, Mrs. Lord of the Chainrings, has left me for a business trip. Oh how the world falls apart when she is not around!

WEEK 4
Running: 3 hrs
Cycling: 5 hrs
Swimming: nil