Just when you thought it couldn't get any hotter...

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

It’s the year of record rainfall, so why not follow it up with record heat? It was somewhere around 200 degrees give or take and the perfect day for the air conditioning system in your office building to be down…or maybe not. I sat through six appointments, dripping sweat on my paperwork to the disgust of those poor folks who weren’t prepared to be around the world’s sweatiest guy. I made my way to the car after grossing out the last client. I was thinking how good my apples and orange were going to taste but discovered they’d been cooked in the sun.

I started down the road with the windows open, but finally succumbed to the heat, closed the windows and hit the air conditioner. It wasn’t long before the temperature gauge in the Honda was indicating that it too did not like the heat of the day. I knew the radiator was on its last legs, so I had a gallon of water in the back seat. I made it to the park for my workout and figured I’d let the engine cool while I sweat and then dump some water in for the trip home.

I started jogging slowly. My hamstrings were screaming with pain and in knots from all the bending and yard work I’d done the day before. I knew they’re supposed to loosen up once I got started…but after five minutes, I began to doubt that they knew. I managed to do the entire workout with 28 minutes of slow jogging despite the heat. Maybe because I was thinking how I would be submersing in the waters of Clear Creek at the end of the effort. Maybe because I’m a finely tuned athletic wonder…impervious to the ravages of the heat. Maybe I’m just too stupid to stop. Anyway, I made it to the creek and walked straight in. The water was reasonably warm and I wasted little time plunging beneath the surface. I was floating comfortably in full dress and running shoes when a jogger came by. I could see him upside down as he crossed the rocks and I floated at his feet. He smiled (or was it a frown since I was seeing him upside down) as he hopped from boulder to boulder. He seemed anxious to get away and unconcerned about my well being…which was well.

After five minutes or so, I climbed out and continued back to the car with the accompanying squish of water-soaked shoes with each step. When I reached the car, I filled the radiator and called Dan. He couldn’t get to it until Thursday, but told me if I kept it hydrated, I could drive it until then. Looks like another ride from Chardon in my near future.

Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes. Run workout: 28 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm for workout, 140 bpm running.
Calories burned during workout: 600 for survival workout. 425 running.