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September 23, 2006
Barely Winning
I'm bravely fighting a battle against some sort of bug that wants to send me horizontal into bed with illness. I'm barely winning, but it's been rather tough so far.
It all started a week ago, when I was out in a snowstorm all day at a cross country meet. I began to feel suspciously unwell shortly thereafter. However, lots of rest tucked those symptoms away for the time being. It doesn't really help that this bug is cycling its way through my cross country team and that I spend more time with them as a collective whole than anyone else in my life. Then, I spent Thursday outside in cold, rain, and sleet for another cross country meet. Resultingly, I started feeling sick again on Thursday night during my night shift at work. However, another good chunk of sleep afterwards made me feel a lot better by the time I woke up on Friday afternoon. I was scheduled for a long run on Friday, and I went through with it then simply because there is no other time to do it this week. Unfortunately, this also meant running in a snowstorm when I wasn't feeling perfect. However, I did it, and I was, again, feeling sick by the time Friday night's shift ended. More sleep and a lovely rest day from running today has made me feel lots better, but I feel that the battle isn't quite over, yet.
So, my long run. It was snowing and very windy. I ran due north for the first half of the long run, straight into the wind and snow. That felt good, real good. Actually, it hurt, a lot. Stinging snow crystals on my face and stuff. My attire included a hat, 2 shirts, a vest, gloves, and tights. How sad is that? The way back home was joyful, though, being pushed along by the wind. I had a choice with 2 miles left to go. Do I go right, up, over, and down a big hill? Or, do I go left, down a totally flat trail? I went right, and worked hard both up and down that hill, putting in a solid 2-mile effort at the end of at least 18 miles of running. It felt good to work hard and feel that good at the end of a long run. However, it felt even better to climb into my car and turn the heat on, so lovely.
My home has been damaged by a bull elk. My neighbor's car has also been damaged by the same elk. There are a number of trees in our yards that have also been mangled by the big guy. He went on a testosterone-induced rampage on Thursday night when another bull elk pulled off a successful maneuver and stole the aforementioned elk's harem of ladies. The resulting outpouring of physical and mental frustration was quite comical to witness from the safety of inside my house. It's gotta be tough to be a bull elk.
Posted by Meghan at September 23, 2006 6:39 PM
Comments
"...It's gotta be tough to be a bull elk." What, is it like winner takes all now sans battle? How about that. Just how did his colleague pull off such a stunt and more importantly manage to escape the testosterone-induced rampage, avoiding confrontation? I thought their issue was to look for the confrontation as a way to affirm their alpha-ness. But hey, maybe the animal world is evolving in ways that should undergo deep scrutiny... either way sounds like top quality Discovery channel sort of stuff...
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at September 25, 2006 2:51 AM