Scottsdale Beat the Heat Race

Kristin, Karin and I before the race.  Ironically
an ambulance company was the main sponsor!

It was 104 degrees when the race started.  The race was planned for the Saturday before the hottest day on record in Phoenix, when it reached 122 degrees at 2:47 pm.  Considering this, we felt pretty lucky that it was only 104!  It was such a dry heat that I didn't even sweat!  For 3 miles!  And I didn't see many others sweating either.  More specifically, people's clothes were wet with sweat, but the dry air evaporated the sweat from bare skin so quickly that no one seemed to be perspiring at all!

I ran the 5k with Karin and a few other friends (including my gym buddy Kristin), while 2 of our other friends ran the 11k!  All the runners started together, then the 5k runners turned off near the 2 mile mark.  When we reached that turn, I was extremely glad I was only doing the 5k!  The weird thing was the heat didn't really seem to bother us until well into the race.  It probably helps that we work outside in this heat every day.  I only really started to feel it around 2.5 miles, and then only because I could tell my lungs were working harder than usual.  (Apparently running in extreme heat or humidity is similar to running at altitude in terms of physiological adaptations.  Meaning: it's harder to breathe!)

We worked from 5:30 am till noon, then headed to the race.  We made sure to be very diligent about hydrating throughout the day.

I finished in 28:29, which I was very happy with.  I had no idea how to pace myself in that kind of heat, so I was careful not to push too hard in the beginning.  Karin had to walk a good portion of it because she is still recovering from a achilles strain (safety first!), and I know forcing herself to walk was hard on both her patience and her pride!  At the end of it all was this:

4-story water slide!

We went down the slide, which felt fantastic, then we went home and ate a whole pizza between the 2 of us! Then we staggered to bed at 7:45 pm (!) and were fast asleep by 8.  I felt great during and after the race, but I guess exercising in that heat takes more out of you than you realize!