Yesterday afternoon I felt my throat close in upon itself. Perhaps the wind, the hail, and miles logged had finally caught up to me. It wasn’t just because I got called to Jury Duty today and was looking for a Ferris Bueller excuse to get out of it. After all, I dutifully got up this morning and went downtown to the courthouse. No, no. The throat was still sandpapery and my body was aching. I grabbed some Halls throat lozenges and settled in for a long day of civic responsibility.
After several hours of Voir Dire questioning, I was excused from the criminal case and sent home. And I still have a sore throat and feel the cold a’comin’. A’comin’ round the bend.
This is all a long way to explain that I just didn’t have it in me to get out on the road for a few miles of running today. And that’s okay. I’m not a streak runner like some folks I know. They run a mile+ every day… no matter what… and some have been doing so for literally years and years. You can find out more about these hardy, stubborn, amazing people over at http://www.runeveryday.com/. I have to say, that’s a pretty good URL for their group.
In any case, I’m hoping I can kick these germs to the curb with a solid night’s sleep tonight and then rally for this weekend’s double bill of Fargo, ND, and Green Bay, WI. I spent the afternoon plotting the road trip necessities and routing. I’m flying into Minneapolis as a mid-point, heading to Fargo Friday night and running there Saturday morning. A fellow Marathon Maniac/50 States Marathon Club member has offered to pick up my Green Bay Marathon packet for me and I’ll meet her late Saturday night or early Sunday morning so I can run in Green Bay. I hadn’t quite realized just how far it was between Fargo and Lambeau Field — with construction, traffic, and whatnot, it’s looknig ike an 8 hour drive after the race. Marathoning is never easy… neither running the race nor just in getting to the start line!
Still, despite the “blech”-ness of the incoming cold, I’m excited at the Mid-Western-ness of this weekend. I’ve run Fargo twice before actually and this is their 10th anniversary; they sent me a customized magnet that read “How FarGo will you Go, Kevin?” Like the URL above, that’s a pretty good marketing ploy; got me to sign up. As for Green Bay, I’ve never been and given the race starts and finished in storied LAmbeau Field, it just seemed like a fun thing to do.
Ask me again AFTER the 8-hour drive if I still think it’s fun. I’ll render my verdict then. Until then, best to keep an open mind. All things are fun until proven otherwise, right?