Not me. The weather, obviously.
Canada has been in the grip of a heat wave and Pemberton is no exception. I’m not complaining, I love it. We only get about 2 months of really hot weather, so why complain? Just last week I was moaning about wearing flannel. A true Canadian, I is.
I wanted to run yesterday and the only real window I had was early in the morning or mid-afternoon. I dedicated early in the morning to coffee and reading on the deck while everyone slept. That left afternoon nap-time as my window to escape. When I left the house, I checked the car thermometer (parked in the shade). 39C (102F). Sweet.
I knew I’d be running in the shade and I had a camelbak full of ice water. I wasn’t planning on running long, but I kind of wanted to see if I still fared as well in the heat as I used to. Because I am quite small (in fact, according to this BBC poll I am “most like an Ethiopian — with a few VERY distinct differences, I might add), the heat doesn’t affect me in the way it might some bigger folks.
I ran the usual Happy Trail + a few extra kms loop. It was very manageable in the shade but running into the sun baked and exposed parts of the trail felt like running into an oven. Thankfully, those sections were short – my pasty white skin could feel the sun very acutely. I guess that’s the only part of the heat I don’t fare well in. But for the most part, it was great to get out and run, sweat and be warm.
So I’d like to know: how do you cope with heat?
Sidebar: I startled an OWL on my run. The hell? Don’t those things sleep during the day? Once I lowered my heart rate back below 200, I was able to appreciate how beautiful the bird was. And then bolt far, far away from it…
Sidebar #2. Today, my car read 17C. A 22 degree difference. Oh, mother nature, you’re a fickle one, aren’t ya?
Sidebar #3. And totally unrelated to running or sport. I have a summer reading list about 45 books deep so far. Oh… my kingdom for 72 hours of peace and quiet, preferably lake or ocean side, uninterrupted by children…
Happy Summer!
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