Cool-down tactics

photo by -sel

We've been practicing and experimenting with different cool-down techniques in this NYC heat wave. Today, we used all of them, as temperatures reached up to 98˚- maybe higher.
Tactic #1 is to be somewhere, anywhere with air conditioning- we stayed at home for half the day. Tactic #2 is to eat something very cold (and preferably delicious)- we had fruit sorbet after lunch and root beer floats after dinner. Tactic #3 is to go to the water- we, even I, played in the water at the nearby park and later, the girls went into the tub with their bathing suits on.

This evening's cool-down, tactic #4, was introduced by Hannah. We were walking down our hill to go home around 7pm at a temp of 94˚, and Hannah started running fast and got far ahead. I called out,
"Hannah, wait for us, please!"
Hannah stopped, turned around and said,
"Mom, I'm just trying to get colder".
With that, she turned down the hill and started running again. Then, Jane started running after her, so we decided to give running as a cool-down a try. To our surprise, we did feel a bit cooler as the slightest of breezes whirred by. Let it be known, however, that this tactic only works before one has exerted the amount of energy to cause a rise in body temperature.

We will be exploring more methods and techniques of cooling down until the days themselves have done so.