Whilst most people were frantically buying paddling pools and scavenging for the last ice-cream in the freezer, I spent the hottest day of the year sprinting, squatting and repeatedly being shouted at to "go faster".
If you think that sounds like a living nightmare, you'd be marginally correct - but I promise I didn't have a death wish.
I had signed up to join former UK Special Forces soldiers, Jason 'Foxy' Fox and Matthew 'Ollie' Ollerton, for a workout - and they aren't the type of guys you can let down, even in 40C heat.
So armed with endless bottles of water, apprehension and pure fear, I headed to a (thankfully air-conditioned) gym in London to train like a Royal Marine commando and see if I had what it takes to survive Channel 4's SAS: Who Dares Wins.
As I gave Foxy my firmest handshake, he could immediately see that I didn't fit the physical requirements of a Special Forces Operative.
Standing at 5'1 with a child-like frame, I was less than half the size of him and my all-black outfit wasn't fooling anybody that I was an avid gym goer.
The second I opened my mouth, I instantly regretted it. "I can't even do one press-up," I blurted out. Nice start. Impressive.
Foxy was sent to physio for his recovering leg injury, so I was introduced to former Royal Marine Denny Denholm, who cracked a sympathetic smile that made me feel reassured. At least I could start fresh.
I took my place in the centre of the gym and was handed a microfibre towel which I was clearly going to need. The warmest day to date was about to get even hotter.
Ollie and Denny talked me through their 'Battle Ready 360' workout, which emulates the gruelling and deadly military training that Reserves are put through to test their physical and mental resilience.
"It's designed to unlock the warrior within you," Ollie told me, whilst I stared at my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror and questioned if there was anything warrior-like even in me.
"You need to dig deep," he stressed, explaining that we'd begin with basic exercises on repeat and gradually get more challenging.
We started with a "gentle" warm-up to get the blood flowing, which involved sprinting on command, complex star jumps (who knew you could even make them hard?!) and lots of hand-eye coordination.
"Many lads never get the hang of this," Denny said, as I attempted to put one arm left and one arm up whilst jumping my legs in and out simultaneously.
Surprisingly, it wasn't that difficult and I almost felt smug that I'd be able to smash the whole workout.
Though I was quickly brought back down to reality - quite literally - as Ollie cried: "Drop to the floor!"
He perfectly demonstrated how to do a pike press-up by squeezing your shoulders together.
I was absolutely certain that I wasn't doing it right, but he still persisted as I appeared to be having somewhat of a full-body twitch.
"Remember to breathe!" Ollie shouted, shocking me into an actual gasp.
Then I tackled crunches and lunges, which were super strict and regimented in three military-style steps.
"Pulse" appeared to be their favourite word, forcing me to painfully bounce mid-air ever so slightly until I could feel my heart in my thigh.
After a thirsty water break, I had to master a pull-up, though not your typical type on a bar (thank God!)
I had to lie on my stomach with my sweaty microfibre towel stretched out between my arms.
Ollie explained that overtime you can build it up to a proper pull-up, but I was quite happy to remain on the floor.
Still, it didn't last long as I was straight back up in the air for sprints - you can see the pattern here.
"Look where you're going, not where you came from," Ollie shouted, forcing me to keep my head facing forward instead of down.
With two elite personal trainers either side of me, I really had nowhere to hide.
Finally, we finished with 'The Punisher' - which was all in the name - and truly killed me off in minutes.
Ollie had me continuously squatting, planking and running on the spot, then when he shouted "cover!" I had to drop to the ground to stop the "enemy" from spotting me.
It's safe to see if this was a real-life scenario, I would have been shot dead and they'd be burying me back at camp.
"Are you safe?" Ollie yelled at me. "NO!" I responded. "Keep going!" he said chuckling, then attempted again: "Are you safe?"
"YES!" I pleaded, having finally clocked that it meant I could stop and return to "base".
We came to a halt and ended the workout in a sweaty mess after what felt like forever, but was actually only 30 minutes.
I left the gym feeling proud and shattered, but the ache was nothing compared to the second day.
The morning after my training was much like a painful hangover - I was full of regret, fear of embarrassment and struggled to get down the stairs.
Every single muscle in my back, arms, legs and stomach hurt. I couldn't even laugh or pour hot water into my well-needed coffee without wincing.
On reflection, I'd most definitely have collapsed in Special Forces training and never made it to the field.
There are only two woman that have enrolled in SAS to date and I won't be making marine history anytime soon.
Battle Ready 360: The Mission Series is available exclusively on leading fitness and well-being community app, TRUCONNECT.
