Some Like It Hot

As anyone who has internet or TV knows, it's hot in Minnesota right now.  Really hot.  Really, really hot.

I do not like hot weather.  My sister does...here she is on our recovery skate on Sunday, literally dancing at the end of a lap of our favorite trail, glorying in the 98 degree heat and 300 per cent humidity.

I wasn't quite as excited.  When I stepped out of my car at the trailhead, my glasses immediately did this:

And the heat continued into the week.  By Monday, this is what my car said when I got in after my German Endurance workout (which I only survived by ducking into the hockey arena to cool off between sets):

No, I am not a fan of heat.  Neither is the Hubster.  And neither is Keira.  Despite the fact that she's young, trim, and reasonably fit, she is the laziest dog on the planet, and she has zero heat tolerance.  Any temperature over about 75 usually has her finishing her daily one-and-a-half-mile walk in what we refer to as "Trudging Dog" mode.

The last couple of days, though, the heat-induced lack of activity has driven even Keira a bit stir-crazy.  And I was right there with her tonight.  The good workout yesterday had me toying with the idea of actually trying a race tonight (the Oval has a summer inline race series called, strangely enough, "Summer Inline Series"). I have raced the SIS for years, but hadn't this year because I just couldn't face sucking as badly at it as I knew I was bound to.  Now, though, with my lap times improving a bit, I was willing to give it a try.  I checked the website continually as the heat climbed throughout the day--nope, all was well, races not cancelled.  So this evening I packed up everything I'd need and began getting my brain into "race" mindset again.  Then I checked in on the website one more time before I left--damn! Races cancelled!  

At that point, I shared Keira's obvious "get me out of this house now" sentiment, so I decided that, heat or no heat, we were going to the dog park (Hubster was off working with his business partner, so he was spared the necessity of coming up with a reason not to venture out into the heat with us).  

And it wasn't too bad.  Keira was so sick of being stuck in the house that she actually ran more than she usually does even on cooler days, thundering past me on the dog park trail like a small horse.  And she loved the pond, of course--she likes to lie in it like a small, bearded sea monster.

This is from a previous dog park adventure.  To pretend it's today, imagine her panting histrionically and surrounded by duckweed.

So now, post-dog park, I'm sitting in my (thanks to off-peak electricity) not-quite-cool-enough living room, smelling essence of dog park pond (it's one part stagnant water, two parts wet dog, and just a hint of stale dog urine to round out the bouquet) wafting over from Keira, who is, finally, happily passed out on one of her dog beds.  The heat wave is finally supposed to break tomorrow, just in time for a hellaciously long interval workout--and I can't wait.