AmazingMFitness.com

I used to look forward to the days I run- Monday, Wednesday and Saturday- because I could sleep in until 7 a.m. (Tuesday and Thursday I wake up at 5 a.m. to take a spinning class. I know it’s crazy, but I love it!)

However, I have been waking up earlier and earlier in an attempt to beat the heat. I started out hitting the road at 7:30, then 7:00, then 6:30. As summer kicks into high gear, I notice there isn’t that much of a difference between my 6:30 and 7:30 run. It’s just plain hot no matter how early I get up.

I have nothing against sweating. In fact, I love it. I often measure how good a workout I have based on how much I sweat, but there are limits.

I got back from a 3-mile run today and looked like I had spent the morning swimming. I was drenched. I kept a steady pace with an 81/2-minute mile, but felt like I was pushing through a dense fog. My legs were heavy. My shirt was so wet that it did no good to use it to wipe the sweat off my face.

I usually love starting my day exercising outdoors, but I’m starting to think it may be getting too hot. Moving my runs to a treadmill indoors is an option I’m considering.

However, there are several reasons why I won’t give up my outdoor runs just yet:

1. I would miss the ease of rolling out of bed and being outside stretching in less than 5 minutes.

2. I would miss listening to U2’s ‘Beautiful Day’ as my first song and thinking, “It is a beautiful day.” (This works better on a cool spring day when jasmine are blooming and birds are chirping -but sometimes I can get this thought in before the wall of heat smacks me in the face)

3. I would miss the comfort of my “usual” route, mixed in with the unknown: Will a train slow me down today? Will that crazy squirrel run in front of me AGAIN? Will my timing be in sync with the traffic lights?

And, most importantly:

4. Going to a air-conditioned gym to use a treadmill would add drive time to my morning exercise routine, which means having to get up even earlier.

If you are like me and refuse to give up your morning runs, click here for tips for staying safe in the heat.

Spend any length of tme on the phone with Dr. Cathleen London, and you’ll leave with one thought.

This is a very energetic woman.

It’s not just that London, a family medicine physician in Boston, has been competing in triathlons since 2007 and will continue that pursuit at the Rohto Ironman 70.3 Florida on Sunday at Disney World.

Or that she played soccer in high school or fenced in college.

Or that she has two teenage boys, Ben, 14, and Noah, 12, who play lacrosse, among other sports.

Or that she competes in paintball tournaments with Ben.

It’s all of those things.

“I have been practicing [medicine] since 1998,” said London, 47. “When my patients tell me they don’t have the 3-4 hours per week to work out, I call that b.s.”

London, who works out 9-12 hoursweekly, enjoys being active although admittedly she is notan elite athlete.Shewas looking to get back into working out after a divorce when shehired a personal trainer.

“I wasn’t in horrible shape, but I wasn’t in the shape I wanted to be in,” London said. “He suggested I should begin competing. I think he meant lifting weights.”

Instead, London was thinking about triathlons.

“I thought, ‘Why be good at one sport when you can be mediocre at three?” London joked.

The first triathlon in which she competed, a sprint event in Orlando three years ago, London took first place in her age division. Since, London also has entered Olympic and half-Ironman triathlons.

“I use the float-hammer-shuffle [technique],” London said. “I float in the swim, hammer it out on the bike and shuffle in the run.”

She has seen myriad mistakes made by first-time endurance athletes. Among the top ones to avoid:

1. Don’t pull any surprises on race day. Practice like you train. If you haven’t used a specific gel for fuel during training, don’t test it out during the race. Same thing with shoes. Don’t break in a new pair during the heat of competition. You never know how your body will react.

2. Don’t forget sunscreen. Your performance — not to mention the potential for skin cancer — will suffer if your skin is redder than Tiger Woods‘ shirt on a Sunday.

3. Nutrition is king. For events lasting under two hours, London said you’re probably OK not fueling during the race, but for anything over it, be thinking about how to replenish your body’s blood glucose.

4. Don’t go out too hard. Remember, these races are not sprints, and you might have to remind yourself not to overdo it in the excitement at the start.

The Ironman 70.3 Florida consists of a 1.2-mile swim, followed by a 56-mike bike ride and 13.1-mile run.

Read more about Dr. Cathleen London:

Her website: http://www.drchaya.com/

Her Twitter page: http://twitter.com/drchaya