While practicing hot doggery, one of the most common questions I'm asked is "do you get hot?". I've never really minded heat, as evidenced by mid day training rides in Arizona. However, in the HDS, it's the sweat that becomes a bit of a problem. One day last summer I was particularly curious about just how much I would sweat. So, I hopped on the scale, donned the suit, then hit the road. The route I chose was a loop around Stratton Open Space. From my house, total distance was 15.7 miles. The route was selected primarily based on available water stops, along with the fact that there's a good chunk of elevation gain (2600 ft). My starting weight was 150.5 lbs. During the course of the run, I drank aproximately 3 bottles of water, or 3.9 lbs of water. My weight on return was 146. So, I sweat aproximately 8.4 pounds of water during the course of the run! Given the fact that the run lasted 2:37, that's a rate of perspiration of 51 ounces of sweat per hour!

Yes, I do was the suits. I also replace them frequently!

Broke out the wiener suit for the first time this spring for a run up Barr Trail. Yesterday was spent scraping and staining the deck, so I was a little sore to start. However, I let myself go coming back down, and even though I had to dodge quite a few people heading up, it felt good to lengthen my stride and stretch out a bit. Today also reminded me why I like to wear the wiener suit in the first place. It feels great to make people smile and laugh. Of course, I still have to wonder what's going through the heads of those that continue to stare blankly ahead. Sometimes I like to think it's really because their lives are so bizarre that seeing a guy dressed like a hot dog in the forest seems commonplace by comparison.

Today's stats:

Milage - 8.10 miles
Max elevation - 9366 feet
Time - Just over 1:45 (I forgot to stop at the bottom)
Thumb's up - 1
"You're making me hungries" - 4

Hopefully, with spring springing and most of our house chaos behind us, the HDS will come out more often. Still working on prototype of the race suit. My latest vision includes integrated cooling cores. Right now I'm using Otter Pops to experiment, but I keep eating them.

AM Sausagery

We introduced a couple of out-of-towners to the incline this morning. While it was definitely cold, the timing couldn't have been better. As we worked our way up the steps, the sun slowly rose behind us. Throughout the course of the hike, the snow changed from grey to orange to pink to white. Marty and Nancy (aka "the flatlanders") hung tough.

There's no question that today was a good day for the HDS. It helped keep my core warm, and having wiener hood induced tunnel vision helps you focus on the task at hand. But, after attempting to drive to the office still in the suit, I'm reminded by how terrible peripheral vision is. I really need to work on that for the race suit.

Please to enjoy some pics!

Goals

Now that registration procedures have been posted for the Pike's Peak Marathon, I feel I'm ready to commit to my goals for the year. First and foremost is the Pike's Peak Marathon, and I'll start with a BHAG. Sub 3:00 on the way up, and top 20 overall. To be honest, I don't really care about my finish place. I just really want the sub 3:00 time. I know that would mean going out much faster than I should. But, I'll just approach it as an Ascent followed by a nice cool-down jog.

To that, I'm going to need to do some work on a new race suit (aka HDRS 1). I just received a new suit, and after a trip to the fabric store, I'm ready to start modifications.

Heat is the biggest concern. As is, the material is thick, and there's no ventilation. In training, this isn't a problem, but at race pace, it becomes a cooker. For an event that's over 3 hours, I'm concerned that if I don't improve ventilation, I won't be able to keep up with hydration needs. So, for v1, increasing ventilation will be my primary focus.

Today's Run

Okay, so it wasn't in the HDS, but I thought I'd mention it anyway. Today was the first Incline Club weekend run. Total mileage for the run was 15.5 miles, with just over 5,000 feet of elevation gain. I'm definitely worked! At some point, I'll break out the HDS for these runs, but right now, I'm not sure I want to deal with the hot/cold and massive sweat out pour that occurs. I'd hate to freeze to death encased in a cube of my own perspiration.

I learned a couple of important things today. No matter how cold it is and how well hydrated you are, it's better to have water and not need it than to need water and not have it*. I resorted to filling my bottle with snow, which leads me to my next pearls of wisdom. If you fill a bottle with snow, don't expect body heat to warm it very fast. If there was water in the bottle when you filled it, don't expect to enjoy it any time soon. It all becomes a big chunk of unflavored Slurpee really quick. Holding it your hands doesn't warm it very fast. Neither does peeing on it.

*I had a friend once who came to visit me when I lived in CA. It was his first visit to "the big city". While driving, I noticed a gun underneath his seat! When I questioned its presence, he gave the perfect NRA response - "It's better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it". While this works with many things in life, I've found it to be most critical when dealing with water and toilet paper. And champagne.

Finally

Finally, http://www.beathewiener.com/ actually does something! Of course, if you're reading this, you already know that.

Check here for my 2 seconds of fame. http://www.krdotv.com/Global/story.asp?s=6950968

Looks like I still have 14:58 to go. Actually, my interview on TV lasted about 10 seconds, so it's probably more like 14:50.

I'm trying to decide on my '08 wiener BHAG. Any suggestions?

Race Day!

After some misdirection at the porta pottie line, the race started off well. My starting position wasn't great, but in a 3 hour uphill running race, who really cares? Moving up wasn't much of a struggle even with my limited peripheral vision. The crowd was fantastic, as were most of the other runners. The exception - Mr. "This is a running race, not a costume contest". Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough to actually challenge him to BEAT THE WIENER as he went past me, and I really didn't want to waste the effort to catch him. I knew I'd see him later!

With the exception of the constant rubbing of my bottle carrier on last week's scab and laces that were either too tight or too loose, everything was going to plan. I vowed not to check splits until Barr Camp. When I did, I saw that I was a few minutes under my goal of sub 3 hours. Things stayed this way until A Frame. Shortly thereafter, I cracked. Whether it was last week's ride, not enough altitude training, or just a bad day, I don't know. Regardless, while my head kept saying go, my legs were slow to respond. Walking doesn't seem to agree with my feet, so I'm rockin' some sweet blisters now. Outside of that, while I did cook my brain's out, the race suit worked out pretty well. Before the next 1+ hour event, I'll need to work something out for improved head and face ventilation.

Tonight is the Denver Moonlight Classic. So, I'll exchange this morning's race suit for the freestyle suit, and take the Hot Dog Chronicles on the road. I'll capture whatever hi jinks I can.