Saturday, January 23, 2010

Heat Training!

So the purpose of heat training is to teach my body how to tolerate heat and intake and process large volumes of water.
Here's the break down: Two weeks straight of heat sessions. Two wet(steam), the rest dry(sauna). Consume 2-3 bottles of water, one containing electrolyte replacement. Day one starts @15 minutes leading up to 60 minutes on day 14.
After calling every hotel and B &B in town I finally found a hotel with a sauna. I haven't thought of saunas since I was like 8. Who uses these things anymore anyways? On my first day of heat training I sat in the bloody thing for 15 minutes thinking it wasn't hot enough. Turns out you have turn it on. Day one, round two worked much better. Except for the fact I have to wait 10-15 minutes for it to warm up. It still didn't feel unbearable though. Oh that's because, I'm told, its actually broken. Missing two out of the three elements. Great. Well at least tomorrows heat sess is a wet one, and I can use the steam room at the public pool. Oh guess what? Its broken too. Just on the day I need to use it though. I can at least read/text in the sauna. Steam room-not so much. I've found this to be a form of torture. I am getting used to it though as the sessions get longer and longer. Although the heat is so intense my earrings burn my cheeks, my water bottles hurt to touch, and I have to hold my book with a towel so my hands don't burn! Oh and a shout out to the gentleman who sings Opera ballads at the top of his lungs while soaking in the hot tub! I sit in the sauna listening to his amazing voice and get hypnotized by his sound. I would also like to thank Opera guy for warming up the sauna for my 6pm arrival-real time saver! Well only four heat sessions left, which means(yikes) four days until I fly out!

2 comments:

  1. oh lol! Nice work Shan! Love the opera guy. Love the pics! You're on the home stretch! GO Shannon!

    ReplyDelete
  2. HAHA, damn I hate heat sessions!!
    You're gonna rock it Shannon, enjoy the experience and make sure you take it all in and appreciate how you got there while you're racing. It's been quite the journey for you, and inspiring for many others!
    GR

    ReplyDelete