I poured a quarter of my four litre jug of water over my head. Splashed my face with water then lathered enough sunscreen on my face to make my eyes water. I moved swiftly because I knew if I spent anymore time at my Qashqai it would be harder to start running again.
Unwittingly I created a makeshift aid station out of the trunk of my car on Sunday. Plans to camp all weekend got quashed when I couldn’t find a first come, first serve spot the day before. My trunk was still jammed pack with water and food.
Lacking any creativity Sunday morning, I decided to run the Barrier Lake/Jewel Pass. I got there about 7 a.m., early enough to snag a great parking spot. I chose this route because I knew it would be relatively cooler than the rest of the area due to the lake.
I was right. Not so bad. I felt pretty awesome when I reached the Barrier Lookout. Most of the trail is shaded by trees so the heat didn’t really affect me much for the first half the of the run. Not surprisingly there were many people hiking and taking advantage of the early morning breeze.
Did I mention Western Canada is in the middle of an unprecedented heat wave? Temperatures have reached a dangerous average of 35C or higher in the last week. In a small town in B.C. the temperature soared to 47C on Monday. Got to be safe kids.
After I finished the 15K loop, I decided I had at least another 10K in me. I made the pitstop at my car to cool off and to grab something to eat. By now the parking lot was hopping. There was even someone directing traffic. Everyone had the same idea – cooling off in the lake.
When I started up the trail, a couple stopped to say someone had seen a bear on the trail. They had few details but they felt a warning was in order. I thanked them and kept going. Shortly after I came across a group of five people walking in my direction. Had they seen the bear?
They had turned around because they were worried about running into the bear. I reassured them the bear (if there was indeed a bear) is not interested in them. He is probably under a tree somewhere trying to stay cool. I reassured them that bears do not randomly attack groups of people especially on such a busy trail. Thankfully they heeded my wise advice and turned around to the summit. Later when I was running down, they thanked me for convincing them to stay the course.
I considered doing the full loop again but I was low on water and I was starting to feel the heat. I turned around at the summit then ran back to my car. There I did my second good deed of the day – giving away two litres of water and two frozen Gatorade to a parched family.
Saturday adventures in the heat
The day before I had joined Barry for a run starting on the Prairie Creek trail in Kananaskis. I wasn’t entirely sure where we were headed but I trusted Barry knew the route. I had to shake my head at one point when he said, “I haven’t been on this trail before but …” That’s a common theme with him so I just went with the flow. We couldn’t find a trail so we didn’t get in the planned distance of 28K to 30K.
We finished with Prairie Mountain where we took the jaunt up Kneesaver. This was the first time I went up this way. Usually I run the route in reverse. It was so hot on the mountain. Barry was not having a good moment. I really thought he was going to pass out. Thankfully it didn’t go that far. We made it back to the parking lot with 24K and 1,150 metres in elevation gain under our feet.
I tried to find a camping spot for the night but I gave up after checking out three sites. I was frustrated so I headed back to Calgary for the night. All in all a good weekend of training. Monday, I headed to Edworthy Park for some hill repeats. Got to get in that vert!
Heat warnings in your area? How are you coping with the heat? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.
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