Saturday, August 7, 2010

Smokey Skies, Dry Spells and Raindrops

For the entire month of July, here in Nanaimo we did not see any rain. Well to be honest, we saw a very small rainfall on Canada Day (July 1st), but not a single drop the rest of them month. Instead we saw consistent sunny days, minimal cloud coverage and plenty of warm temperatures.

Most of BC has been this way, which is really dry. There are over 400 wildfires burning throughout the province. This past week (Wednesday afternoon) was at work and I noticed a smoke haze in the air. Worried there was a fire around town, I searched the local newspaper online. With relief I read that there were no fires in town or near town and that the smokey haze was actually from the wildfires in the interior of the province. The winds had shifted and carried the smokey haze a great distance to cover a large portion of Vancouver Island. I cannot take credit for this photo (one of my NDSS athletes Katelynn posted it on her facebook) but here is what it looked like.



The local health authorities ended up listing the air quality as 5 out of 10 and put in place an advisory for anyone with health or respiratory conditions to avoid strenuous activities. Good thing I have no issues as I was out there Thursday morning running through the smoke. Overall it wasn't too bad and I didn't really notice it other than seeing it. The smoke lifted on Friday and is barely noticeable now, though they do warn that we may see the smoke again later in the week.

With regards to rain, we finally saw some fall early Thursday morning. Not enough to lift any of the dry conditions though. We would likely need a few days of consistent rain to do that. This morning we received more rain as it poured for half the day. I had my long run to do this morning and it rained every single minute of it. By half way through my run, my fingers were prunes. It was a warm rain though, but still very refreshing. It poured and I had water dripping off my nose and chin and by the time I finished I was muddy and drenched. I LOVED every minute of it! August rain is the best!

Now that it rained, it's calling for sun again. Good thing I suppose as I am spending tomorrow afternoon down in Victoria for another session of the Mindful Strides Workshop. This time it is shorter, only 2-5pm but I will go and see how I am progressing with the drills and to see whether I have improved or not. Maybe I will receive further tips to help me improve. It will be a bigger group this time, which should add to the fun!

I just finished a down week in training this week, to recoup and recover my legs after some big training weeks. I am back into it starting Monday and am looking forward to seeing what the next couple of weeks will bring. In the meantime see you on the trails!

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