Red Eyes, Half-Hearted, Can’t Think

Hoo-boy. I took a red-eye flight last night that was plagued by delays – maintenance malfunctions on the first leg and then trouble replacing the emergency equipment due to a medical incident on the inbound flight for the second leg. When all was said and done, I think maybe I lost consciousness for about an hour or so combined. I wouldn’t call it sleep — just a loss of consciousness.

I was doing okay through the morning here in Philadelphia. Whether that was powering through or a time zone benefit of coming from the West Coast. But as I sit and type this before meeting a classic friend from my study abroad down under in the late 90s, I find myself drifting through a foggy haze.

I’m in town to run the Philadelphia Marathon. Part of the reason was to catch up with an old kindergarten pal who told me a few months back he was running the race. A couple of friends were also looking to run Nashville this weekend but I couldn’t make the logistics work on that one… but could make Philly happen.

Or so I hope.

I say this because I’m feeling quite lumber-y, Jack, and I’m super slow from my “training” runs of late. I have no idea how tomorrow is going to go. I keep telling myself these 2021 races are all about trying to find the reset after the pandemic hiatuses. But the truth is, much like the world at large, I’m not sure my running will ever get back to “normal.” There are the days before and the days ahead. And they’re not the same by any stretch of the imagination.

And yet, I still try to recapture a little of that devil may care, “look at me, I’m a tourist!” vibe. Sure, sure… I’ve done these sights a few times over the years… but this time I’m wearing a mask!

Part Two: Yo, Adrian! I Did It! The Philadelphia Museum of Art!

Spotted just next to the Rocky statue: I assume it’s a touristy thing to do — some places have horse drawn carriages, some [used to] have those duck boats, and here they have “large bikes.” I really wish they rented out those bicycles with the HUGE front wheel… I’d like to bike one of those some day.