Anything Has Happened

This year I've taken my running hobby to new levels of obsessive mania. As of this writing I've run 1,955 miles since January 1, 2022. At the same time last year I had run 1,383 miles. I routinely run 50-70 miles a week and I love it, which is why the last two weeks of sickness have been difficult.

Two weeks ago my son spent the night throwing up. The next day, I started to feel a tickle in my throat - never a good sign in the era of the forever pandemic. I ended up having a low fever for about a day, but at my age apparently that means that I'll be coughing and congested for at least a week.

After driving myself crazy not running, I did a five mile run and felt reasonably okay. The next day my toe felt slightly stiff. I thought that as long as it didn't get worse I'd be okay to run. I went for a 12 mile jog I noticed my pace was a little slower than normal, but I attributed that to the lingering effects of my illness.

I did not experience toe discomfort while running, but after the run my toe was not happy. In fact it got so swollen, inflamed and painful that I went to urgent care where I was diagnosed with gout, which apparently is something that not just medieval lords get. I've been on medication now for a few days and my foot is much improved, but I suspect I'll be sidelined for at least a few more days.

In the meantime, I have a marathon to run in a little less than two weeks. The plan for this race is to run with my dear friend and help him beat the four hour mark. Three weeks ago I was a little apprehensive about this goal as this is not an easy marathon and while a four hour marathon should be well within my physical bounds, anything can happen.

Anything has happened so now the mindset has to be I've run 1,955 miles this year. It doesn't matter that my mileage has been nearly 0 over the past two weeks. The fitness is still there.

And as soon as I'm able, I'll be running again. This could be so much worse. This could have been a tendon injury or stress fracture that sidelined me for months. Luckily this is something that can be treated with some simple anti inflammatories.

Running can be taken from us at any moment. I have to stay positive. I can do this.