I could have sworn I was back on mountain standard.
We’d been off the plane for over forty-eight hours. I’d slept two full nights, crashed hard that first night and then went to bed a bit later (but still like a grown up) the second night. I didn’t even really feel all that tired.
So we went to run club.
Forty-eight hours back in the country and I figured a six klick run wouldn’t be that tough.
I was so wrong.
I’m no doctor and I’m definitely not an expert in sleep, but I like to think of energy like a cup: so long as the cup is not empty, you can get by with your day. If you want to go for a run, that cup doesn’t need to be full or overflowing but it had better have something in it.
My cup was not empty, but jet lag meant that the cup was a lot less full than it would have been otherwise. Half way through what should have been an easy six klicks I was bagged and ready to call it.
Jet lag. Ugh!
I was asleep less than an hour later.
Definitions
- august
- In the month of August where I live summer peaks and the days are often relatively hot (in the high 20s or low 30s) muggy, smokey and dry. Rain is infrequent, but when it arrives it comes in the form of drenching downpours and epic thunderstorms. We begin our runs earlier in the day because the local marathon runs late in the month and our training distances are maxing.
- klick
- As a Canadian I run in metric. As a writer, I find the word kilometre clunky and clinical. I'll usually use the colloquial "klick" or "klicks" to substitute in for this.
- october
- Fully into autumn, October is a month of shifting seasons, short days, long shadows, and gorgeous sunsets. The cobwebs are hung on the eaves in preparation for halloween, and here in Canada we're running off Thanksgiving dinner for a couple weeks after a proper good meal mid-month.
- run club
- Picture it. A group of strangers meet in a quiet parking lot on a cool morning and, dressed in shorts and neon t-shirts, set off into the unknown while sweating and breathing heavily together. Adventures ensue. Conversations flow. Friendships form.
- september
- The days are noticeably shorter when we realize that September is upon us. The post-summer routine kicks in and people are back to regular work schedules and kids are back in school. It can still be warm, but the hottest days are behind us and most of the biggest races of the year are in the rear view. We savour September knowing winter is too soon to come.
