This is the clouded view from my parent’s home this morning. The haze, a warning that it is going to be a scorcher today, gets me up and out the door for a run in a hurry. The longer I wait the hotter and more humid the island will become. It is my last long training run before the Nottingham Marathon. I am running ten miles, my legs already tired from running that same distance just last night. I had to split the twenty mile distance or otherwise sacrifice my lower limbs to Gozo’s hot hilly pavement, possibly becoming immobilized for the remainder of my holiday because of torn muscle, aching joints and heat exhaustion.
Without an air conditioned environment to escape to here, I have gotten a real feel of climate change. But an air condition powerful enough to cool me off would only worsen the stifling air quality. Instead of conditioning the air, I am left to condition my body to the environment. I wonder how quickly mitochondria proliferate. Not fast enough. Even standing still and breathing is difficult this morning.
A few weeks ago when I arrived it was even more difficult. Training effects. I wonder if habituating my lungs to filter the saturated air is even healthy. This though makes me hesitate as I double-know my shoe lace.
Physiological changes take time, but the hardest part is conditioning my mind to the forecast. It’s not looking good for the long-term and its not about to change over the next ten miles.
