My Journey to 26.2: The Challenges of Desert Training

My Vegas bike. Don't tell my New York bike about her.

My first week of official marathon training offered an easily doable set of workouts (short run, a few short bike rides, and only 10 miles on the long run) but rather daunting weather conditions: temperatures in the 110s while I was in Vegas for the holiday weekend.

I have been struggling with training in Vegas for the past year and a half, since I started dating a wonderful man who lived there.  The situation poses a number of unique challenges.

First is jet lag. It’s not just that Vegas is 3 hours behind New York—the Vegas lifestyle causes bedtime to be about 9 hours behind New York. Staying up late the night I get to Vegas results in my body being completely confused about when to sleep, which in turn causes me to lack energy for the long run.  My body similarly gets confused about when it is supposed to eat and how much.  I hate getting up early when I’m in Vegas because it puts me on the complete opposite schedule of Dave (who works nights). But on many days, early is the only time it’s cool enough to work out outside.

Which leads to the second challenge, climate.  June and July are unbearably hot in Vegas, and even in the other months when it’s a bit cooler, there are few trees to prevent the sun from completely baking you. At all times of year, the air is extremely dry, which is hard on your lungs if you are used to humidity, and even harder from a hydration perspective.  There are few public water fountains in the neighborhood where I run and no carts selling water like there are in New York.  Last weekend, the temperature did not dip below 100, which meant that there was no point of the day when I felt it was safe to run outside. 

The third challenge is finding a place to work out. Dave lives in the middle of a hill, which means that somehow whichever way I go when I head out his door, I end up doing the first few miles of my run uphill. I belong to Equinox, which doesn’t have a branch in Vegas, and the boutique gym trend (where one can pay for things like spin and pilates by the class) has yet to really hit Vegas. Much of my athletic equipment (bike, bike trainer, foam roller, yoga mat) doesn’t fit neatly into a carry-on suitcase.  I broke down and bought a bike in Vegas a few months ago, but finding a place to ride has been difficult, because to get to Red Rock Canyon, where most cyclists in Vegas hang out, I have to ride 8 miles uphill.

Obstacle course race in Vegas in May.

So how am I overcoming these challenges? I’m trying as hard as I can to schedule my longest runs for weekends when I am in New York. I’m not wild about running in the humidity either, but at least in New York, it’s easy to get water on the run. When I do have to do long runs in Vegas, I’ll either do 5-mile long loops around the house or have Dave create water stops for me so I can refill my water bottle at regular intervals. I’ve been experimenting with various forms of hydration. For running, I need water in the bottle I carry to wash down my Gus, but I drink electrolyte drink at the water stops (I’ve come to prefer Nuun over Gatorade because it has less sugar). For cycling, I invested in a Camelback insulated water bottle, which really does work to keep my water fairly cool despite the sun.

I also broke down and joined a local Vegas gym. I spent a long time looking for day passes and pay-by-class gyms so I would only have to pay for what I used, but I figure out that these options cost more than the monthly membership at the Las Vegas Athletic Club. The gym is not fancy (I have to bring my own towel) but it serves its purpose.  And, it has an indoor track that is rather nice—no incline, and about half of it is framed by floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto the desert.  I got a little dizzy after 2 miles of loops, but I was able to alternate 2 miles on the track and 2 on the treadmill to get in 10 miles last weekend.

I’ve yet to figure out a good solution on the jet lag other than just powering through to the best of my ability.  I’m opting for fewer, longer trips to Vegas this fall instead of frequent short ones, which I hope will let me adjust better to the time changes on both ends.

Now, if I could just figure out how to run in New York’s insane humidity.