By Zoë Durand

Get With It Intern

 

As temperatures soar I find myself feeling more and more lethargic. Confronted with humidity around 60 percent and temperatures between 85 and 90 degrees, sometimes I feel like doing nothing but stretching out on my cool tile floor after returning home from work. 

Lying down on the floor is a dangerous business at my house, however, because my furry best friend is perpetually ready with a hot tongue to remind me of his daily jog. Often I wish to take a shorter exercise route with my dog or even walk our normal course instead of jogging, but then he turns those pleading eyes on me and I find myself unable to cheat him of the activity that he looks forward to all day.

My years spent living in the tropics provided an ideal training ground for learning how to manage the consistently hot and uncomfortable Tennessee summer temperatures while maintaining canine peace and harmony. While stretching before every jog, my dog and I renew our exercise bargain: he can accompany me but we run at my pace and we walk up the hill that I secretly refer to as “the Big, Bad Beast.” 

When we return to the house, I rinse off both of us with cool water from the hose and then we share a couple of frozen grapes as a special reward. I have found that bananas also make surprisingly sweet and creamy frozen treats, but they are so delicious that I keep them for myself. After a cool shower and glass of water with lemon, I feel better than I did before my run.

Get With It offers free summer exercise courses much more comfortable than my daily dog jog. If you, too, wish to exercise with your canine then bring her/him to the shady nature walk at the Lost Sea on Fridays from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. If air-conditioned exercise is more your style, then drop by one of the indoor fitness classes offered including weight training, aerobics, and Zumba dance. 

You will not even have to bargain with your exercise friends about the pace because trainers Shanie and Sara are sensitive to the needs of everyone in the group and set exercise sessions at a comfortable speed.

For more information about free exercise classes, please visit our Web site: www. getwithitwomen.org or call us at 1-(877) 420-3991 or (423) 420-3991.