not really hot, is all in the mind

As I ran, I was thinking that it was hot.  The mental picture of heat was all around me, in my peripherals.  I thought that people should/would be cheering my dedication.  I can remember one year at the U of I in Iowa City; the day after a grad student shot some people in one of the campus buildings, classes were called off.  The next day was about 0 degrees and I went for a run.  I was wearing a sweatshirt, hat, gloves, etc. and passed someone who said, “That’s dedication.”
Running is nothing if not psychological.  The mere forecast of warm weather is enough to slow me down.  I ran today at 5:00 pm when the temperature was 95 degrees.  The temp was supposed to be 98 degrees.  Yes, only a tiny difference, but I was thinking while I was working that it didn’t seem to be terribly hot.  We quit work at 2:00.
I wore a black t-shirt today—even as I put it on, I was thinking that it might not be a wise choice.  Black absorbs the sun’s energy, while white reflects it.  One person asked me about the black t-shirt and we agreed that it didn’t really make that much difference.  I said that it was like the cold here in Iowa.  When you have on all your clothes—the insulated coveralls, the flannel shirt, sweatshirt, insulated rubber boots, etc.—and you go out, you are just cold.
The temperature made me think of the pre-Italy bike trip in Albania.  I rode 50 miles in 106-degree heat.  I may not have attempted such a ride if I had known that it was so hot.  http://italianbikejob.wordpress.com/2011/08/27/52-miles-102-f/