Training for SeaWheeze: Chris’ third entry

Returning once again as the official water supplier of Vancouver’s SeaWheeze Half Marathon, members of the Whistler Water team are training for this year’s big event.  Below is the third entry from Chris:

It’s 9:00pm. The unfathomable heat has subsided and my teeth feel as though they are covered with a thin layer of silt. I run my tongue across my teeth.  It’s hard to place what it is. It feels gritty, yet my senses do not know anything of that calibre.  Nevertheless I bound onward.  I want to be home before dark.

Mother Nature has certainly curtailed our training the last few weeks.  After trying to give us hypothermia, she has since felt bad and is now over compensating with this insane heatwave.  We have taken to running later in the evening in order to avoid heat stroke.  We have missed a run here and there due to the heat and more recently, due to the smoke that seems to have enveloped the whole city. Driving into the North Shore felt like driving into a cloud, not a mountain in sight.

With our running schedule not being as regimented, we have found some solace in other activities that still benefit us.  Hiking has become a big one.  Kristen has fallen in love with the outdoors, and I have become a sucker for a good view.  Scaling the side of a mountain with a baby on your back really helps work your legs even when walking.  The ego boost from people saying they are impressed helps a little as well.

Kristen has kept up with her workout routine and got me to join in every so often.  I am not sure what is more embarrassing.  The fact that I am participating in something called the “Bikini Body Guide”, or that my fiancée who is a foot shorter than me, and a fraction of my size, destroys me on the workout.  (NOTE: This has nothing to do with gender, there are plenty of women who are more athletic and in better shape than me.  It is just a comical spectacle to see when you compare the two of us. Now also try and picture me working to perfect my look in a bikini. You’re welcome.).

As I race down into Deep Cove, Mount Seymour ahead of me is hazy and out of focus.  ‘How long will all this last?’ I ponder.  We turn back at our 5km mark and finish the 10km strong.  Rain and cooler temperatures are in the forecast. I never thought I would be happy to hear that.