Catching Up

Not a lot of personal posts from Degolar lately, because I’ve been doing my best to just hang on. Not that I’m really complaining because I chose everything I was taking on and wouldn’t want to have dropped any of it, but I probably bit off a bit more than I could chew. It started Monday two weeks ago. I’d been dragging for a good week and it finally ran me down to the point that I was sick and had to call in to work so I could sleep all day. I wasn’t really better Tuesday, but it was spring break and we had programs all day that I needed to be at. I made it through work the rest of the week, but went home and rested each evening instead of working out.

I already had a bunch of plans for that weekend. The wife had been working on her administrative degree for the previous 18 months that culminated in a $500 certification test. She and a classmate had made a pact that if they each passed the test on the first try they would go to Vegas to celebrate. They passed, so they made plans to go the second weekend of spring break. Which meant I would be a lonely bachelor for 4 days. So I agreed to see V for Vendetta on opening night with Hadrian, followed by our usual night of D&D, with a Sunday dinner at Jazz to discuss Moby-Dick with the survivors.

Three nights of festivities and revelry would have been a full weekend on their own, but Wednesday night we got a call from a casual acquaintance from the community center. He had a team for the Brew to Brew run and needed someone to fill in for a last minute cancellation. I’d heard of the event--though never participated--but it sounded fun and I agreed. The race route is 44 miles from the Boulevard Brewery in KC to the Free State Brewery in Lawrence. There are ten legs, with teams consisting of 5-10 runners (or you can do it solo). I was on a 5 person team, so I would be running two legs. Sounded fun, except we were meeting at 5:30 Sunday morning to get ready for our 6:30 start.

So I got home from work Friday night and didn’t have quite enough time to work out before having to leave again to meet Hadrian for dinner. Instead I lounged and semi-napped. We met at Village West and tried the new restaurant Dave & Buster’s. A huge place, it’s one-third sports bar, one-third upscale Applebee’s-like restaurant, and one-third arcade. Actually the arcade was probably over half of the floor space. But like a Chucky Cheese for big kids (and adults). An interesting combo, and none of it really impressed us. We decided the arcade is a casino training ground. It had the same feel. You get a credit card to keep track of your money, which is called chips instead of tokens. And they have the big plastic cups/containers to hold the tickets you win at skeet ball and the like. The movie was good. Not “you have to see” awesome, but good. It’s worth checking out. Got to bed between 1 and 2 a.m.

Saturday morning I had just enough time to get a haircut before meeting my BtB team at Ward Parkway. We spent an hour getting acquainted and planning our strategy and then picked up our registration packet. Our leader rented a van and each person was to bring refreshments and power foods to get us through the race. After that I went for a casual bike ride and ran the dogs. Finished just in time for a fun night of D&D. I felt awful doing so, but insisted we quit at midnight so I could get a bit of sleep before my alarm went off at 4:30.

The race was fun. Some people were actually sampling the Boulevard brews at 6 Sunday morning before the race. Our leader had planned some costumes for us to pose in so our picture might get used somewhere along the line. But we got off in fine form and followed our runners from checkpoint to checkpoint. I ran the 5th and 9th legs, which meant I showed up early to spend the first couple of hours riding in the van. Then I ran 5 miles with only minimal warm-up and immediately jumped back in the van to stiffen up. My 4 mile leg was a bit slower, but really didn’t feel too bad considering. We finished in Lawrence a little after 12 and headed off to the brewery for lunch. I got home, very sore, tired, and stiff, around 3:30. But it was fun and I’ll do it again next year if asked.

After an hour-long nap I got up and headed to Jazz for excellent conversation with Scott, Kelly, Erica, Erica’s hubby, and Erica’s mom. Some of the conversation was even about Moby-Dick. Finally I got home and had an excellent night’s sleep.

I tried to take it easy and get lots of sleep all week to recover, but didn’t want to miss my Tuesday night spinning class with TriKC for the second week in a row. Probably a mistake. Even following that with light workouts the rest of the week I was ultra sore and not getting better. Finally I took Saturday and Sunday off, but it wasn’t enough. The ache in my body kept getting worse and the sickness I’d never given myself a chance to fully get over came back. I went to sleep at 8 this past Sunday night and continued to sleep most of Monday, calling in sick once again. But I finally woke up this morning feeling rested and recovered, and hope to get back to normal again now.