"Summertime"

I think it's here. Up til now there's one aspect of training and racing that I haven't coped with and that's heat and humidity. Today was my first taste, and tomorrow's supposed to be warmer.

I tried to do a little comparison research between here and Penticton and as near as I can make out the average temperature for August is about the same with the daily high being a little higher out there and the daily low a little lower. The big differences however are that it is generally not near as humid in the Okanagan and also they don't get near as much rain. Both very good things. That's if I'm reading the charts correctly. The average wind speed seems about the same.

One thing that I have not really appreciated enough about where I live is our proximity to Lake Erie. I went swimming there again this morning and it was very calm at 9 am. I can't believe how much less stressful it is swimming without walls and lane markers. I swam for about 40 minutes, not having any idea how far I went and not caring either. I felt like I could keep it up indefinitely. I could be fooling myself but I think it will actually help improve my stroke. I simply swam west for 20 minutes and then turned around and came back. It could be the drift of the water but the return leg took only 18 1/2 minutes? I will not swim in the pool again before Aug 30th unless the weather forces me to do so. Oh and this may surprise you or it may not, but Lake Erie is much clearer and seemingly cleaner than Guelph lake.

I tried running this afternoon as well but it was a weak effort....not worth mentioning. Tomorrow is my long run day. I hope it goes well.

I wish to dedicate day 279 to Alisha Zadilsky who I have decided to like as soon as I meet her!

"People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy."--- Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

"In summer, the song sings itself."---William Carlos Williams

love
peter