Marathon Weekly Update

Tan lines

I'm going on a cruise to the Bahamas with my friend Libby in just over a week. Last weekend I started thinking about my fair skin and how it reacts to sun after being covered up and pasty for so long. I figured it would be a good idea to get a little bit of a base tan before heading to Florida/the Bahamas for a week. Sunday I popped into the tanning place that is around the corner from my house and foudn that they had a 2 week, all you can tan, special - perfect for my needs. Since I don't care about being golden brown, my first session was a mere 8 minutes.

On Tuesday night, after my water running class, I went back. The man at the front desk said that they had just changed the bulbs and so he was only going to put me in the bed for 7 minutes. The next morning when I awoke I was on fire. My whole body was red but I still put on my sweats and headed to school to work out.

When I emerged from the shower I noticed that I had 2 white swaths of skin between my armpit and breast. I stood dumbfounded at the bizarre tan line that I was seeing and I couldn't figure out what might have happened. I put my arms in the position that they had been in and didn't see how I could have cast a shadow on that particular part of my body. Then it hit me. Those of you who are not particularly well endowed in the upper region of your body may not know that the larger the breast, the more they slide into your armpits when you lie on your back. In my case they created a fold, creating a triangular patch of white skin on parts of my body that I don't necessarily like to call attention to. The design reminded me of the back of Charlie Sheen's hair in that awful 80s movie, Major League.

I fretted that I was going to have to fashion some sort of taping regimen to keep everything where it was supposed to be. I came up with a better idea, but not one that I'm willing to detail in my blog. Rest assured that I tanned last night and this morning there are no more white triangles in unexpected places.

posted by Heidi @ 8:11 AM