Oh Everest, My Everest

This morning was pretty brutal. I itched all night from the score of bug bites covering my legs (again). I have no idea where these little fuckers even are! When are they getting a shot at biting me? I only ever go outdoors to run or go to my car and I always put on bug repellant when I run! >:(

I smelled like a walking Vicks factory when I finally got in to work. Then when the Vicks kicked in and made my legs stop itching, I realized that there was another reason I had a hell of a time waking up this morning: I had the beginnings of the SICK. The mildly irritated throat, the slightly warm temperature, the full body aches...

I used to get sick all the time. ALL. THE. TIME. Frequent and recent enough to know that I have to head it off at the pass with a bunch of zinc, vitamin C, food and sleep. If not, it usually takes me out for a whole week. I mean, I stay sick for almost two weeks as it fades away in that annoying sniffly-coughy way, but I am down for the count for a good long week at the beginning.

Looking ahead into my work week and the fact that school starts tomorrow (no small deal right now), I thought maybe I should do what I could to head it off at the pass. So I called in a solid you-owe-me from all the people at work who have been benefiting from my usual run-myself-into-the-ground-to-get-things-done approach for the past 1-10 months. I didn't feel quite right doing it, but once I laid down the facts (especially the part about having to be OUT-out for a couple of days if I let it get bad), well, let's just say that they all decided to just bite the bullet and help me out.

A little after 3pm, I grabbed the lunch I had had delivered 2.5 hours earlier and ran upstairs to eat, take preventative meds and sleep. I put in Little Miss Sunshine (great flick!) and slept through it. Then I woke up to the main menu screen and switched over to cartoon network where, to my delight, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends was on. More sleeping and sleepy watching. Then around 10pm I was awake.

Remembering Coach's words of warning as he rode his bike alongside me this last weekend - making sure I wasn't going to pass out in the humidity - I decided to go running and tire myself out for bed. Two birds, one stone. I need to make sure to do at least two short runs during the week. I am not even doing the minimum. How am I supposed to run this bitch in October if I can't even make time for little 3-milers and such during the week? I won't. That's how.

So out I went around 11pm (it took an hour of self-coaxing to get around to actually dressing and going out for a run at this hour). It was relatively cool and nice. I reek of Off!, but I don't have any new bites (thank goodness). It was a mediocre speed run. Miles in the bank. Forward motion. One foot in front of the other. I guess that's all a person can do when her body is screaming for her to quit. Anything it takes to not give in.

Much as it pained me to abandon a bunch of people at the office who needed me to be there, I'm glad I slept off the sick today. When my body calls in a you-owe-me, I'd be stupid not to deliver.

Labels: bites, cartoons, lemon-lime powerade, long run, movies, short run, sick, speed run