As I drink my glass of wine in my air-conditioned bungalow and watch a documentary on Death Valley where the temperature is in the triple digits 8 months out of the year and elite athletes participate in the "Badwater Ultra Marathon", a mere 135 mile race in 120+ degree weather, I feel like a big fat wimp. But darn it, it was hot this morning, or so I thought. Turns out it was about 86 degrees at 7:30. Lets be honest, it wasn't really that hot.
As I attempted my usual 6 mile run along the canal I started getting a headache around mile 1.5, the kind of dull ache that I've come to learn tends to indicate dehydration. That's when my mind went on a morbid little run all its own. What if I overheated, fell over and shriveled up like a raisin on the canal path because I was too stubborn to turn back to my car. Yeah I know, its a wee dramatic, but with the right circumstances, heat stroke/death is entirely possible. True there are a good number of runners, walkers and bicyclists that travel the canal at the same time as I do, but what if... What if I continued my run like a stubborn past athlete, overheated faster than I realized, fell over, passed out and died of heat stroke before anyone could find me. That's no way to go at the ripe age of 27. Its very likely that I wouldn't have died or even come close, but I decided to turn around none the less. What I was hoping would be a non-stop 6 miler quickly became a pitiful 4 mile run/walk.
In recent days I've heard from friends and family in other states that Fall is on its way. Fingers crossed it actually makes its way to Phoenix some time soon, a change in season may do this troubled runner, or rather lady who enjoys running, well.
No comments:
Post a Comment