Gnarly air quality

In DC here - I wore a mask on my commute using the train/bus into work and my throat is already a little sore and scratchy. I will most likely not run again today, which kind of sucks but I don't have access to a treadmill right now. Running Grandma's marathon next week and would really like to get in some miles to stay sharp, but I also don't want to feel like i chain smoked a bunch of cigs

Do you have a 30 second-long hallway you can jog in?

lol i was actually walking through the office here a minute ago and thought, 'hmm maybe if i wait until everyone is gone and just go out and buy a pair or running shorts i can run this ~75 meter horseshoe for a half hour'

I've done a similar thing twice - once due to rain and insane cold, we didn't want to go outside for a premeet so we jogged back and forth in a gym for 25 minutes.

The other time I couldn't run due to snow rather than air quality, but I wanted to keep running: ended up jogging an hour back and forth in my apartment building which was also about 75m long. Not enjoyable at all, but I made sure to turn the other way each time so I wouldn't get overuse injuries.

The wildfires and disgusting air are awful. Unfortunately, this isn't a temporary problem that will soon pass. It's going to keep happening and it will only get worse. Very few people will be able to avoid it.

But that isn't the worst part! No. As smoke-filled air becomes more common, and as people grow increasingly worried about the long-term health impacts on themselves and their kids, Republicans will be there to eagerly inform us that breathing smoke aktchully isn't unhealthy at all. In fact, anyone who avoids going outside or *gasp* wears a mask when the air is thick with soot will be tarred as a virtue-signalling climate change cultist. And a p*ssy! The people responsible for measuring air quality? Paid shills for the climate change industry who want the government to control your lives.

Soon, it will seem almost like they WANT people to breathe the toxic air. They certainly won't propose any solutions to actually do anything about it, other than sending prison inmates to Canada to "rake the forests." Prepare yourselves.

Four pages and not enough time to read, as my flight to Maui is departing.

Anyone know if Greg has been blamed yet?

I agree the discourse on the right is childish and tiring, but I also think many on the left are too quick to doomsday predictions when things like this happen.

For example, wildfire incidence in Canada was actually trending down from 2015-20, before having an average year last year and a record start this year. Oftentimes a couple benign years are followed by a massive year, so this could be a continuation of that trend.

Also, the crazy bad air in NYC is a function of an extremely unusual wind pattern that blew the smoke at low altitude directly over the US northeast. This is probably a side effect of La Niña and similar to the atmospheric river over California a few months ago. To my knowledge, climate change doesn’t impact wind patterns, so it’s unlikely NYC will have another moment like this for a long time.

That’s just a counter argument, I’m certainly no expert. It does seem logical that climate change makes the fires more severe on the margin.

Source for fire data:

It seems pretty safe to say at this point that this will be a regular, seasonal occurance for many parts of the country. It already is for the west coast/rocky mountains. NYC might not get the same amount of wildfire smoke from Canada for a while, but it's not like the forests of the Adirondacks, Catskills, or Appalacians are non-combustible.

You did this because you live in DC. I can guarantee you most people in rural areas are not wearing masks outside right now for any reason.

This is starting to feel like the first months of COVID. People worried and yelling at each other about the cause and wearing masks. Yes, Covid and the fires are bad. No, arguing about masks isn’t going to fix anything, nor make your life any better. It’s a false sense of control, and misdirected anger.

Also an update:

I was discharged from the hospital and ran another 7 miles on the trails in NY with my toddler today. We both loved it, laughed a lot and saw plenty of other little kids an old people out enjoying nature. I’m not doing this to flex or prove how tough I am (I’m not tough at all, actually). Just being honest with what I did and how it felt. Take it as it is and disparage me as you please!

Way to go, get out there and breathe deeply, as deep as possible, better yet, head over to the track and run 20 x 400m with a minute rest as hard as you can.

Why though?

Because it’s all a plot by Big Mask, duh.

Don’t show the data on air pollution and IQ in kids. Hope the kid can get an athletic scholarship!

56 today. way way better and feels normal outside again. hopefully it’s over for now