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July 12, 2007
Sweat can evaporate??
Even though I got enough hours of sleep last night, I think my lack of sleep the night before and the time change caught up with me today--from the time I woke up, I've been tired. But we managed to have a packed (and fun) day anyway.
I ran this morning and it turned out to be mostly hilly on the way from the hotel up to Washington Park--the park we went to before dinner last night--and then downhill on the way back. I definitely struggled on the hills but aside from that felt okay. The park is beautiful and quiet and well-maintained. I was trying to make it to the Portland Zoo (also in the park) but I am still trying to be cautious so I had to turn around before I got there.
Besides the natural beauty of the scenery, the best part of the run was that it was so pleasant without humidity! I could actually breathe and although I was sweating a lot as usual, it was evaporating!! It was like that first cool, dry day in the fall when the humidity finally goes away. A dream come true.
It was already getting warmer when Matt and I left later in the morning for our visit to the University of Oregon. Not normally a tourist destination, but how could I come so close to Tracktown, USA, and miss it? It took about two hours to get there. We checked out the track, which is closed for construction/renovation, probably preparations for the Olympic Trials next year, and then took a walk across the Willamette River to Pre's Trail. It was all really nice. The campus is beautiful and you can tell track is a big deal there--cool!
We ate lunch on the outskirts of campus and then headed back to Portland. Instead of gong directly back to our hotel, we went instead to the NIike Wolrld Headquarters in Beaverton. We met a friend from Matt's class at business school who works there, and she gave us a tour. It is an amazing campus with infliences from athletes around the world, and the culture of the compay encourages staff members to work out during the work day, try new sports, etc. I saw a pool and a rockclimbing wall and an awesome spinning studio. I could go on, but I'm falling asleep as I write this. We finished the day by having dinner with our Nike friend and a couple of others. We got back to the hotel just in time to avoid being rained on. It was a great day for many reasons!
Posted by becky at July 12, 2007 11:36 PM