I stopped in the middle of the dirt path, knowing the group was going ahead without me. My face was flushed and pink and I was out of breath. Sweat made the loose black tanktop I was wearing stick to the top and small of my back and I pulled it up to wipe the sweat from my lips and face.
Just next to the path was a shallow pool leading off into a river and I succumbed to some of my exhaustion and got to my knees into it, letting the sticky mud of the bottom cool my legs.
My hands dug into the bottom and I could feel the coolness radiating from the water as my face got nearer. I dipped it in, nearly gasping when the cold spread across my face. I pulled my face out quickly, my cheeks still burning and my top now soaked. The water had soaked down into my lose running shorts cooling off my body partly. I was grateful for something to take the edge off.