Darn you Roy Halladay!

For those of you who aren't total baseball nerds like me, Roy Halladay is the reining 2010 National League Cy Young winner (best pitcher), All-Star pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. A HORSE. A STUD. Generally know to be the best conditioned guy in the game of baseball. Cyborg like. (awesome.)


Well, he pitched Monday night in Chicago. It was super hot. And humid. And the invincible indeed WAS vincible. He left the game in the 5th inning with heat exhaustion. HEAT EXHAUSTION.



So if this elite athlete, pitching in the evening, up north in Chicago, could succomb, then what about ME? A 41 year old, overweight housewife and mother in coastal Georgia? What chance do I have? At least this is what went through my mind today as I attempted my run. It was 89 with about 80% humidity. Hot, but I usually like hot. But today, I kept reviewing those darned symptoms- did I feel a little dizzy? So instead of trying to run at least a mile before stopping like I normally do, I took walk breaks. I'd run 1/4 mile, walk a 1/10th. I DID do a little over 3.5 miles (2 miles running was on my training schedule today) and I did feel like a pushed with the heat, however, without Halladay's performance running though my head, I am sure I'd have pushed it more. Damn you Halladay and your sudden mortality, damn you!

I suppose I could have run on the treadmill, but a: not a fan and b: am hoping MAYBE running in this will get me in better condition... I did go in the gym after my run and did some stretching/situps/planks/pushups in the a/c. Oh and picked up my kids from childwatch, ha ha, almost walked out without them. Was in my post workout coma- do y'all get that sometimes? A preview for future my dementia I am sure...

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Extra quotes from Halladay, so you non fans can apprieciate his hard-coreness:

From Sports Illustrated April, 2010:

Halladay controls as much as he can, including his own body. He takes the ball knowing that he has run not one less mile, done not one less repetition of a leg press or worked out for not one day less than what he planned to do. Halladay takes off only two weeks out of the year, in October. When he works out he never allows his heart rate to drop. Instead of resting between sets he jumps on a treadmill or mixes in another exercise. One reason he likes to train before anyone else arrives is that he never has to wait for a piece of equipment.
"Everybody always talks about the workouts," he says, "but I really don't do anything different. I just try to be more consistent and pay more attention to detail. I do it every day. And if it's 15 reps, I do 15. Not 12 or 13." 

 Former Blue Jays manager Carlos Tosca:

“He is—by far and nobody comes close—the toughest, toughest individual mentally and the most driven I’ve ever been associated with.”

and finally, from Philly Sports satire site Philly Gameday.com, this, which though in jest, is based on his phenomenal work ethic:

“With the core training, plyometric work, cardio and throwing sessions, it’s really hard to sneak in the additional core training, plyometric work, cardio and throwing that I need,” Roy Halladay said during a quick break to gets some squats in. “But working out all the time is no excuse to skip your workout.”

Oh and the night he came out for the heat, I saw a tweet on Twitter that said: "Watching Roy Halladay tire is like seeing your father cry for the first time"

Truth!