Staying Cool (and a Hydrating Salad)

As Jen pointed out in her last post, it is hot here. Temperatures in the thirties and humidity do not mix well. Add in exercise and I come out looking like I'm running in slow-motion. This weather wipes me right out and leaves me feeling (and looking) like a wet rag.

I had similar experience to Jen when I ran yesterday. I went out in the morning and even though was well-rested and feeling great, I soon felt like I was running in hot soup. I tried to speed up, but the wall of air stopped me.

It is like this here for most of the summer. So unless we want to give up on running for the next four months, we have to find a way to make it through this heat.

We are lucky where we live because we have a number of waterfalls close by. Cooling off under the spray feels amazing. Last summer we planned many of our running routes according to local waterfalls.

Also, I find hydration works wonders. I’m sipping water as I write this and am already thinking of ways to make it taste better. I get bored of plain water. I also try to eat a lot of foods with high water content. A bonus is that they make me feel full longer which helps keep calories down.

Here is a recipe for a very basic salad that I made for lunch today. I saw something similar in a magazine a while back but as I didn’t keep it I am trying my hand at replicating it. I love adding fruit to main meals, which is probably why I remember seeing this recipe in the first place.





Spinach Watermelon Feta Salad

1 cup Spinach
1 slice Watermelon cut into pieces
30 g Light Feta Cheese
¼ of a Lemon
Almonds, Walnuts or Sesame Seeds

Lay a bed of spinach in a bowl and layer on the watermelon, feta and nuts. Squeeze a ¼ of a lemon over the ingredients and mix it up. Simple! And full of hydrating melon.

TIP: I like to squeeze lemon over my watermelon slices. It makes them taste a bit like sour candies.

(Note: The photo shows the salad without the nuts as I thought of them after I took the shot.)