heat wave

we have been having a bit of a heat wave here on the east coast.  naturally, the air conditioning for half of our house broke at the end of last week, and lucky for us, our room is on the 3rd floor of the house.  temperatures in our room were in the 90s for most of the weekend.  we slept in the empty basement room (which was at least 20 degrees cooler) on saturday night because it was too hot.  last night though the new housemate had moved in and we were confronted with a night in our room again.  i opened the door that leads out onto our small patio just to remind myself that it was hotter outside than in, but what i discovered was a very nice breeze.  in fact, it felt cooler outside than in our room.  so last night we opened the three large windows in the front of the house and the door in the back (our room with its bathroom and closet takes up the whole 3rd floor), let the ceiling fan run and discovered that, though warm, it was actually quite pleasant in our room.  the breeze and fresh air were lovely.

we move into our new (permanent) place on wednesday.  it will be nice to have everything out of storage and not be living out of a suitcase.  i am excited to play the piano (keyboard) and not have to fight for space in the refrigerator.  and the timing of the move is perfect to find anything i think i might use for leadville next month and take it with me this weekend.

saturday will be my last long training run before leadville--50 miles.  i hope to test some more nutrition ideas.  we had to fill out medical forms this weekend for the race which is bringing home how soon it really is.  i was perusing the leadville 100 website and discovered why i should be glad i did not go out for training camp this year...snow.  there was so much of it that it was not safe to run part of the course and on another section they had to "make" trail through the snow to be able to run it.  i am wondering what this bodes, if anything, for next month.  i wonder how high the water will be in the stream crossings, how cold the air temperature will be and if it will snow.  racing in the cold is a different animal from racing in the heat, so i know that no matter how much i train, there will probably still be some things i am learning or experimenting with while i'm racing.  i suspect this is why so many people tell me that "life" is training for these races--doing things when you're hungry, tired, cold, hot and sore while doing your best to keep your attitude positive and your body in forward motion.  i am excited though to say the least.