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Health & Fitness

Olympic Torch, Heat Exhaustion or Gnats?

Here are my choices:

1. Get annoyed beyond my comprehension by swarming gnats while running in shaded areas

2. Run in the hot sun and risk heat exhaustion

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3. Get the Olympic Torch and run with that to keep the gnats away

 

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With the oppressive heat last week, I decided to use nature and run in the shade as much as possible during my third week of training for the New York City marathon. I live near Farrington Lake, and I know the bugs can be a pain there, but apparently they needed to get away from the water and hang out on my route.

I was bugged the most during the part through Beaver Dam Drive and Connolly Drive, and the best part is when I’m huffin’ and puffin’ and they fly in my mouth. Yum. It’s as pleasant as when they zip into my ear.

So, since I am not breaking the sound barrier during my runs, it gives me plenty of time to think, and I had a few solutions.

First, I could run in the heat and under the ever-present rays of the sun, and do so with a gallon of water, but that isn’t smart, safe or something I would.

Second, since the Olympics aren’t this summer, I can “borrow” the torch and run with it. Heck, I watch people run around the globe with it, and they do it in the summer, and they never have bugs attacking them during those runs, so it must work. I’m sure it will be a bit cumbersome running 11 miles Sunday while holding it, but I might as well try. It can’t be worse than having bugs taunt me.

On the training front, week three was one in which was a scheduled pull-back day. My longest run was six miles, and that worked out perfect because of the heat. Every three weeks there are pull backs so your body has the chance to recover, and while it doesn’t sound like much, having a long run of six miles instead of 11 is huge.

It was also fun to have my two boys help in the training runs. They both want to do a full training run with me, so I take them around the block every now and again to remind them they actually want nothing to do with distance running.

The weather also served as a great reminder as to why I am running the marathon (to raise awareness and donations for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society). The heat was a minor irritant for me. For those suffering from MS, going out in the heat can be crippling. Doing any kind of physical work could be even worse.

I was at my sister’s house one of the days and she sat outside with a cold towel wrapped around her because the heat is just too much to deal with unless she has it on.

This week promises to be cooler, which I’m sure is accurate because I know the weather is always so perfectly forecast.

 I am running the New York City marathon to raise money and awareness for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. To learn more about my personal story and why I chose this charity, please click here.

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