Feeling the heat

Yesterday was a training day - for two of us, anyway. We parked at the finish line in Wesburn Park, walked back along the highway into Yarra Junction, and then followed the trail route back to the car. All up, a distance of 18-20kms, with a bit of climbing along the way. Not too arduous, you might say. So why did it feel so hard?
Well, the first problem is that it got hotter than forecast - we were expecting a top of 28 degrees, and it certainly got to 31 if not a bit higher. The heat radiating off the track on the final climb was quite something. However, the major problem for me is that I was hotter than I needed to be - when I got home, I found I had a temperature of nearly 39 degrees and now have some antibiotics!
Hopefully, then, the fact that I really struggled with the final climb is due mainly to the latter. Otherwise the last ten km of the walk are going to be dreadful. Even so, we managed the distance in a touch over three and a half hours, which is probably a little quicker than we'll manage on the day itself. We know it won't be so hot, because we expect to be doing this part at dawn!