I’m sick. A nasty head cold that seems to be getting worse not better. My teeth hurt in that sinus pressure kind of way. Hell, my hair follicles on my head hurt. I’m stuffy, sneezy, fought, achy, NyQuil is a lie sick.
I told my Mom I was off to Ogden, Utah, for a marathon Saturday and Santa Rosa, California, for a marathon Sunday. She asked if maybe I just shouldn’t run one or both because of my head cold… Then before she could even see my Dwayne Johnson/Leonard Nimoy love child look she realized that was more a rhetorical question in theory and not a practical solution for my madness.
A few weeks ago, a top tier female athlete at an event struggled through to the finish and thought she’d fractured her foot but wanted to finish anyway. Last week in Iceland, several folks were going off illness, injury, or were in fact ankle deep in pain and sickness (not to be a jerk, but I suspect I picked up some germs from either them or perhaps tainted whale meat). Normal, rational, smart people would opt not to run, to rest and pump fluids, to do whatever it took to recuperate, get healthy, and get back to living. Runners are stubborn and fool hardy, a glutton for challenges and endurance tests. And so while the smart play would be to rest up, the runner play is to err on the side of endorphins and push through. It’s a dumb decision but, hey, a lot of great things have come from dumb decisions. A lot of terrible things too but we flip the coin and see if it’s heads or tails.
***
Speaking of dumb decisions, I somehow resisted signing up upon the announcement for the Mainly Marathoners inspired “other distances” club, The Road to 50. The first 50 roadies got custom jackets… And I probably have too much running gear swag as it is. But today they said they were at Roadie # 68 and wondered who would be # 69. It’s a silly, 13-year-old giggle fest of a number. But one can never have too many laughs in life… So one PayPal click later and you’re looking at Roadie # 69. Bill S Preston, Esquire, and Ted “Theodore” Logan would be so proud… And snickering.
***
I’m sitting here waiting for 1:15 to roll around do I will only need a rental car for one day rather than paying the hourly excess charges had I picked it up earlier. This may seem like yet another dumb decision but it’s going to save me about $25 to do it this way. I’ve recently mucked up quite a few things monetarily speaking and so every little bit helps.
I did grab lunch here at the airport while I was waiting. This just might be the personification of an epic airport failure — a McDonald’s Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad whilst watching M Night Shyamalan’s “The Visit.” I’d guess this is what hell might look like except they don’t serve Diet Coke in hell… Too heavenly.
