Heat, Chicago in a few weeks and the Olympic Trials

It's hot again here in KC. Temps in the 100s here for the last few days coupled with an umpiring schedule of 10 games in 3 days has allowed (?) me to take four consecutive days off. Oh, and a knee that deserved a few days off to recuperate from what was probably too much running and too little rest. This is beginning to sound like a broken record. I am constantly surprised with the impact that heat has on how I feel during and after a run. Despite drinking anough (when did we start calling drinking "hydrating"?) both before and during a run, the heat takes it out of me. My times increase by about 30 seconds a mile with the same effort and recovery time goes up as well. Mileage is impacted as well and I find myself walking in the middle of long runs more often. Everything I read (and my own logic) tells me that this is normal but it still is depressing to run harder and go slower. The Chicago Rock and Roll half marathon is coming up and I will not miss running with Sara, Pat, Jacob and Sandy in this one. Based on the responses to my casual inquiries about training from my kids and in-laws, I suspect that the heat is impacting all of us. Pat is still chugging along, so at least one of us is training hard. Triathalon? Good luck. I'll stick to the run. OLYMPIC TRIALS - I have faithfully watched the OT from Eugene live on TV. It's a shame that NBC misses much of the field events, doesn't do justice to the heats of any event, and misses some of the better stories of the trials. The announcers (Bolden in particular) are knowledgeable but the time allotted to the actual racing is insufficient for true track fans. I guess there are fewer track fans than I thought. Watching the trials made me realize how much I missed running fast. Sprinting. Warming up so much that every muscle was loose and stretched. Getting into the blocks and feeling every heartbeat, concentrating on nothing but the gun. It's amazing what emotions emerge when watching TV and how much a single race can bring back feelings that haven't been felt in 35 years. I feel lucky to have had those emotions and to be able to feel them again.