Three days!!!! Three more days and I am finished the worst summer ever. Never have I been so glad to wave goodbye to a summer. It is slightly ironic that I live in one of the best places in the world, yet I just suffered through the worst two months of my career. I only have seventeen mosquito bites, one jagged scar from a boy who body surfed a wave right into me, a sore shoulder from my coworker launching a steel chair into my back and one extremely greasy face from a summer of sunscreen. I have survived! This feeling is akin to the high I get at the end of my races. By Friday night I plan on being so deep into an unconscious oblivion that will erase all memories since the beginning of July- and I mean sleep induced oblivion, because that is exactly what I plan on doing for the entire weekend... maybe more. Now if the summer has been difficult, then August has been the hardest. Aside from my torturous days, I have apparently lost my sanity as I signed up for the annual Stroke & Stride. This is a series of three duathlon races. The first was a swim of 400m followed by a 2 mile run. The second was 600M swim and a 2 mile run. The final race in the series is tomorrow night, and is an 800m swim followed by a 2 mile run. I am not sure I will make it to the end! Due to my complete lack of energy at the end of the days, I decided not to bother with training, I mean, if I could run a half marathon 2 years ago, then I must still have some of that fitness left...right???? Haha, the first race saw me nearly collapse at the finish line. I felt like I had thrown everything I had into it, so I was absolutely shocked when I found out it had only taken my 28 minutes. It felt like a century. The second race went much better, but the after effects were way worse. For more than an hour my head pounded and my eyes teared up at the pain. So as you can see, I am much excited for tomorrow to be over and done with, and no, I have not started to train for it...
August has also sucked due to the weather. The heat here is unbearable sometimes. Even the iguanas and snakes seek refuge from the unrelenting sun. Initially I was surprised at how bearable the weather seemed, but that was in June. Now it is a whole different story. By 8:30 in the morning it is already 30 degrees. By 10:00 it is over 35 degrees in the shade. The weather network puts the "real feel" temperature between 42-46 degrees. The fan we have set up at camp blows the hot sticky air straight at us, and I find that my hair is nearly wet through by noon. I am able to sweat through at least two to three shirts in a day and even the chickens are too smart to come out in the heat. They hover in the crevices at the side of the yard clucking away. At some points it is too hot to even think, and I sink into the only comfy chair on the porch and feel as if I will wilt away. Our field trips require getting in to the hot van, which must simmer at a temperature in the 50 degree range all day long. Lucky that Speedo Lady had her windows glued up so we are at the mercy of the air conditioner, which always takes at least three minutes of blowing hot air until it can finally cool down. The only bonus to this heat exposure is that next time we're in Canada and Blake wants to play "hot car" I will certainly win!
So as you can see, the fact that there are only 6 days left in August has me smiling. I can't wait for September, which will bring with it a two week vacation in Canada, of all places! Thats right, we have chosen to vacation at home this fall so that I can return to normal temperatures and actually put on a T-shirt and jeans for the first time in 8 months... and of course the fact that it is my sister's wedding makes the trip even sweeter. Although August was a difficult month I hold out much hope for September, mainly because all of my teacher friends are back to work and now I get to relax!
Pictured above: Even the iguanas need to cool down, cycling in a sprint triathlon- which gave me the idea to sign up for Stroke & Stride
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