Small Changes

A cold front has worked its way slowly into the area, and the temperature this morning in Highlands was in the mid-60s.  What a difference a few degrees can make!  The sky was that bright clear hydrangea blue, and there was a nice breeze out of the northwest that actually made me a little chilly as I started out on my ten-mile run!  I felt as if I had more energy than I have had in a long time.  The miles seemed to slip away easily, and I even threw in a Race Pace mile late in the run, something I have done in the past when training for longer races in order to accustom the body to running hard even after the accumulation of many miles.  As I write this on Saturday afternoon it is still only 70 degrees, a welcome relief from recent afternoon temperatures in the high 80s, and a reminder of how much better we will all feel in September and October.

More important to me is that the dew point is only 50 degrees.  I have come to rely on dew point more than relative humidity as a more accurate way to describe how comfortable outdoor exertion is.  Dew point is the temperature at which water vapor in the air will begin condensing to form dew on the grass, or mist and fog in the air.  "Relative humidity," according to a weather site on the internet, "tells you how close the combination of temperature and humidity are to saturation, but it does not tell you the overall amount of moisture in the air.  Most people find dew points of less than 60 degrees comfortable."  Recent dew points have been in the upper 60s, close to 70.  Today they were down into the 50s.

It is amazing what a difference very small changes can make!  We recently bought some new tires for our Mini Cooper and had the wheels aligned, and I realized that my air pressure was a little low; much reading on the internet determined that 38 psi is recommended for our model (measured cold, with two passengers).  I had no idea how much of a difference it would make to increase tire pressure by a mere 2 psi!  Taking those curves on the Walhalla Road up to Highlands are an absolute joy.

Small changes, big results.  Imagine what a difference it can make in all our lives to eat just a little more thoughtfully each day, to walk or run just a little bit more, to smile more and encourage more and be just a little more positive?