Last Sunday, the day before Presidents’ Day, we got the never welcome call of my husband’s grandfather passing away. He was 94, so, this really is not that unexpected – he lived a long, full life. One of the drawbacks of living out here in beautiful weather, miles of beaches, and bountiful produce is that we are thousands of miles from the rest of our family (aside from my parents who followed me out here). Anytime we get those calls, it’s a last minute scramble of flight booking, asking for time off, trying to get as much work done as possible, etc, etc.
So knowing running would be tougher to do out there, I tried to squeeze in a bunch of miles before we left. Sunday: 3 miles, Monday: 12 miles, Tuesday: 3 miles, Wednesday: 8 miles.
We took the red-eye Wednesday night and the plane was a million degrees. Like Sauna Cabin. And full – no seats open. Normally, I am always cold. On this plane I was sweating. And so was everyone else. I got approximately 30 minutes of sleep. Awesome. Three more hours of driving after we land in Philly and we get out to my husband’s home town (he is from the sticks of PA). I manage to get few more hours of sleep. Surprise, surprise, Friday morning I wake up with that telltale sore throat telling me I get to be sick for the next week.
Suffice to say that even though I packed my running stuff, I did not run.
Saturday was the funeral service which was nice and familiar (he was Catholic unlike my husband’s parents who are Presbyterian and Episcopalian, so I felt kind of at home). So many people showed up – his grandparents are very well known and loved in their town (his obituary made the front page of their local paper). I spent that entire day in tights since it was a high of 38. It made me thankful I don’t have to do that out here. Pantyhose suck.
Sunday we flew back and the last 30 minutes were miserable – with my headcold, the pressure of the descent made my ear drums feel like they were going to explode. Very unsettling/scary feeling when there is nothing you can do to relieve the pressure. Tried all the tricks but the sinus congestion prevented anything from working. I didn’t feel normal until Tuesday (two days).
I went five days without running. Monday I had an all day training at work and spent the entire day chasing calls from Wells Fargo and the title company concerning our refinance because they are finally ready to close (a month+ late). Of course when I have maximum craziness going on in my day-to-day life. I finally got a 3 miler in yesterday and while my body and breathing were fine – but my sinuses are still touch and go (my teeth hurt during the run – weird). We signed docs last night with the mobile notary and this morning I have to run to the bank to wire the remaining funds required from our end.
Oh, and lets not forget that I have to run a marathon in 5 days in New Orleans.
I am kind of worried it’s going to be a bad race.
