I'm on day 7 of being sick. Seven days, are you serious? Before children (BC) I would never have gotten sick for more than 24 hours, granted it would be like the second coming of the grim reaper but just as fast as it would come it would be gone. But after children (AC), I'd be sick once every couple of months easy and it would last minimum a week. I understood the why, not cleaning my hands properly, kids are walking germ bags, drinking and smoking are bad for you yada yada, but I never understood why the sickness would last so long until now. It's an energy thing. You see, when you're single and you get sick, you hole up for a couple of days, rent season X of show Y, you catch up on the phone with some friends you haven't spoken to in a while, but then you recover, you open the windows, and life is fresh again. It's cathartic. Nothing is happening around you to stress you out, you don't speak if you don't want to and no one is speaking to you. But when you have a self-centered, blood related four year old in your space, the energy that is supposed to be directed towards your health, is now being used just to repeat yourself, over and over. It's like each word that you verbalize extends the length of your illness by 30 minutes, and when you have to preface yourself each time with "Sweety, please don't make me repeat myself, daddy isn't feeling well, will you please {command} " it adds up quick and before you know it, you're at a week. Not to mention sometimes they don't even have to do anything and they affect your recovery. Sunday afternoon, I'm home in bed sick, having again successfully avoided my wife's annual Easter brunch, the earth begins to shake. I'm thinking, I'm sorry G-d I swear I'll go to the stupid brunch next year, then I think, get under an archway, then I think, wait is that right, the only training for this I've ever had was in Jersey where there were no earthquakes and all they ever had us do was crawl under our desks in case the Russians were to bomb us. Then I think, I have a kid what's her name? Chayse! I leap out of bed call her forcefully three times (that's an hour and a half more recovery needed times 6 because I had to use an alarmed voice). I find her on the computer watching some baking show on you tube, pick her up and rush the both of us outside. That entire sequence with her cost me two extra days of sickness for sure. If I was without child I wouldn't have uttered a word and I would have casually walked out of my house and been healthy the next day, guaranteed. Life AC and life BC.
Break in Training
There hasn't been any training since last I wrote because of my self diagnosed acute upper respiratory infection. The evil news team must be chomping/champing at the bit. I'm behind, I know it, but like most things in life everything happens for a reason. Being sick this week has taken my mind of beating the KCAL news team and helped given me perspective. This run is about the children, about beating cancer, about celebration, and not about my ego. As it so happens Hunter's memorial service in Los Angeles is this Saturday. I have to admit I'm nervous. There's been a fair share of death in my life, the last being my friends from college, Scotty, GG, LP, and Freddy. They passed away on September 11th. Scotty was a runner, and by runner I mean he ran the NY marathon, the real deal. I remember supporting him that day and if you've never been to a marathon go, it's so much fun to support and cheer for all the runners, and then once they pass, you drink a beer and cut over to the next place where you'll get to see them pass you, and so on. Losing them was an incredibly difficult time and certainly they left us way too soon just like young Hunter. His parents, Zen and Lenore, are driving down so that we all may celebrate and honor Hunter's life. I like most of the others will be honoring them as well. These two beautiful people, they have shown everyone that is a parent and anyone that will be a parent, what it means to love, to fully support and sacrifice wholly of themselves for another. I'm nervous to see them because in truth I look up to them and hope if ever the time calls, I'll be there as they have been.
Scotty Weingard
We run May 2nd
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