hot hot heat

WHEW.

so it got hot in portland. in spite of my namesake hearty shrub, i wither in hot hot heat. melt like lipstick on a hot black dashboard. so i thought run = early. get it in. early for me, this morning, meant 10 am. by the time i got home and ate a little snack, drank a little water, and dressed for my run, it was 10. ah well, already pushing 80.

my trees. remember my posse - the trees? how they playfully smack me with wet sloppy branches in the winter and spring? how i high-five them back like a crazy woman? well, they're even better in the summer. they give me shaaaaaaade. i live in an old neighborhood, and on some streets those trees provide a solid canopy of cool, dark shade. and with the light breeze that is a-blowing... i was staying plenty cool.

and then, there were the stretches of sun. the air was still fairly cool from the morning. but when you're running, and already hot, and your blood is pumping throughout your body, and your face is red and you hit one of those sunny stretches - your face feels like it starts to sizzle and pop like bacon. even if it is just for a moment, you can feel the sun focus in on your face like a heat seaking missle. i'd eyeball the nearest patch of shade and lengthen my stride - the extra effort rewarded the instant the shade covered my face...cooooool relief.

and i did something i never thought i'd do. i ran in shorts and a bra top. well, sort of a bra top. not a t-shirt, like a stretchy tank. but it didn't cover my belly - it kept riding up just over my belly-button. and i got tired of fighting it. so my inner-tube was exposed. and my auxillary ass - the one i keep right above my current ass, just in case of emergency. the one that in these days of low slung pants (and running shorts) oftentimes brazenly exposes itself to the world. ah well...