Man-eating fish in Chagrin River

Friday, July 23, 2010

I’m sure that somewhere in my past I’ve run on a day that was hotter and more humid…but I don’t have a clue when it was. It was so hot that the deer fly were afraid to come out. But I had to get in a run. I’ve been avoiding the heat for the last three days and had to get back to running and I knew that tomorrow was supposed to be hotter still. What the hell…get it done. Whine later.

I knew I was going to run 45 minutes, but I didn’t know where. One thing was for certain…I would be finishing this run in the water. I decided to go to the South Chagrin Reservation and run the trail going north along the Chagrin River. There is plenty of shade…and plenty of opportunities to soak my head along the way. Unlike Don, I’ll stop on hot days to soak by bandana in an attempt to keep my head as cool as possible.

I ran slowly the entire way and as I approached the 40-minute mark, I recognized the early signs of heat illness. I was still sweating heavily, but was getting a headache and not feeling particularly well. I regretted that I had forgotten to bring my water bottle, but was sure about one thing…I’d be in cool, running water in a matter of minutes.

I found a stream running into the Chagrin. There was a waterfall of about 8 feet, with a clear pool of water about 3 feet deep at its base. It was now my pool. I plunged in, sitting neck deep in cool refreshing water, leaning my head back into the falls. Ahh. As I sat there, I noticed fish about an inch or two in length, swimming round my legs. I thought this was pretty cool until one of the little bastards bit me…and it actually hurt. Maybe they were piranha’s from someone’s aquarium? After the second bite, I decided to exit the pool. My serenity had been invaded.

I returned home and got busy making four new Pinole recipes. I knew I needed to come up with something even more palatable if I was to look forward to eating it on the trail (actually…one of the great things about backpacking is that after long days on the trail everything seems to taste good). I had an idea that by adding the things I put in my gorp (trail mix acronym for – good old raisins and peanuts…with M & M’s, too), I could create a really tasty bar. That and adding more sugar – something of which I can never seem to have too much.

I ended up with a very tasty recipe that included another tablespoon of maple syrup, crushed peanuts, little baby M & M’s, and raisins. I’m calling it Pinole Gorp and, I’m thinking, will soon be producing it wholesale and threatening Clif bars. More on this exciting, entrepreneurial development later.

Run duration: 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140.
Calories burned during workout: 765.