The Heat Wave is Over, Well Sort of

We recently tied the record for the longest stretch of days for temperatures reaching 105 degrees and above. We tied the record for 21 consecutive days. (June 13-July 3).  I was kind of hoping that we would break the record, so I could always remember this summer

This is pretty close to how it felt the last two weeks of June

On July 4th monsoon season began to make an appearance.

The monsoon season arrives usually the first week of  July in the Las Vegas Valley,  Monsoon season isn't a single event, it lasts a few weeks to two months and this is where two weather systems meet (The Jet Stream & warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico).  The cold air and hot air meet  and sometimes this can lead to dramatic thunderstorms, humidity, and flooding.  The plus side is that it will bring our temperatures down a few degrees.

When the heat wave arrived on June 13th. I had stopped running outside at lunchtime.  If the daytime high is expected to be 110, then at noon the temps are already above 100 degrees.  If the daytime high is only expected to be 102, then at noon the temps are closer to 90-95 degrees, and with cloud coverage it is doable.  I don't run anything longer than 5 miles.  I also  always carry my hand held bottle with me, and I try to err on the side of caution.

You are the wind beneath
my wings in the summer.

Training Updates

Friday-7/3-Rest, I had the day off from work, my husband didn't.  I took the kids out for some fun.  We went to the Splash Pads and then to Chuck E Cheese.  FWIW we don't eat the pizza, we just enjoy the games and rides.

Saturday 7/4 6 miles.  I had wanted to run early, but we needed to grocery shop, and we wanted to knock that out before the day got really warm.  I lucked out because we had some cloud coverage move in, and it dropped the temps down a few degrees.  I ended up leaving at noon.  The temps were in the high 90's but I kept cool, by pouring water on my head and neck throughout the run.  I also took a cold shower as soon as I got home to lower my body temperature.

Sunday 7/5  3.25 miles on the treadmill. I wasn't sure if I was going to get to run today.  We had stayed up late on the 4th, so I didn't get to leave the house early.  I ended up running 3.25 miles on the treadmill.  I have a treadmill out on my back patio. It's the best of both worlds.  I get to run outdoors in the elements, but at least there is shade.  I ran these at recovery pace.

View from the treadmilll

That night I also made homemade pizza

Half Vegitarian Half Vegan

This is what vegan pizza looks like

My husband has gone almost completely vegan.  He still eats Greek yogurt sometimes.  But, he has given up cheese.  I made Spinach Artichoke dip with white beans, and you don't really miss the cheese.  I don't think I can go vegan quite yet.  I like eggs (and cheese) way too much.


Monday 7/6- Two a days 7 miles total.  Before work I ran 3.7 miles along the Pittman Wash,  At the very end of my run I did 4 sets of strides.  The strides were about 25-50 meters long, so they weren't very long strides.  At lunchtime I ran 3.3 miles around my work place on the busy streets.  I had been on the treadmill for three weeks straight, I was itching to go outside at lunchtime.  After my run, I only had time for a little bit of strength training.  I did the following exercises: Flat bench bench press, reverse ab crunches, triceps dips , single leg Bulgarian split squats (body weight only) I mostly did the squats to stretch out my legs.

 I noticed that my right heel was feeling a little sore when I ran early in the morning.  It goes away after a half mile, but it's sometimes really sore first thing in the morning.  I hope this doesn't get worse.

That night we had a huge thunderstorm dump down a half inch of rain (not a lot) but that rain fell in a really short period of time, and there were several water rescues across the valley.

Tuesday 7/7-  Two a days- I ran 3.1 miles before work on the roads. At lunch time I did some circuit training.

For the 1st Circuit I did the following exercises:

Sit ups on an incline board

Hamstring dead lifts with dumbbells

Bicep Curls

Decline Bench Press with dumbbells

For my 2nd Circuit I did the following exercises:

Chin ups x 2, followed by Lat pull downs w/ 80% of my body weight

Side Step downs off of a flat bench bench

Push Ups

Box Jumps onto a flat bench

For my 3rd Circuit I did the following exercises:

Back extensions

Roman chair leg lifts

Push ups

Mountain climbers

I was going to run another 1.9 garbage miles to round out my daily total to 5 miles, but I decided to stretch instead.  

Wednesday 7/8- Rest-  My right heel was feeling tender last night.  I think a complete day off, is what I needed.

Back at it tomorrow.

Thank you for reading!!