But - guess what!?! We enjoyed the bliss of a school free week and the twins at Grandma and Grandpa's for an early visit for the Thanksgiving week. But then...IT happened. What's IT happened. What is IT? Well - name the ONE thing that can end any ambition for Marcothon before it ever begins: THE STOMACH FLU!
Yep, our daughter Logan had been "struck" and from that point on my husband and I were ticking time bombs just waiting for it to take us down as well. By 2 hours post turkey coma on Thursday afternoon, I was praying to the porcelain gods and seeing Marcothon and December 1st completely unattainable. Thankfully, I had 2+ days to recover. I may have been the sole person to actually lose weight over Thanksgiving this year, but I did. And thankfully, but Sunday morning, I was well enough, to attempt 3 miles after no luck of anything since my 5+ miles on Tuesday before IT struck. I was able to get healthy but I was up many sleepless nights tending to my husband and daughter who also fell to the bug eventually (and many others of our family members...yep, the Thanksgiving gift that just keeps giving...ugh :( ).
And with that, I'm also interested in finding out - does this level of activity actually allow me not to gain weight....maybe even lose weight? So, I'm going to be completely transparent here.
I am 5'-7" tall. BEFORE the flu, I weighed 150.5 pounds. After the flu/Thanksgiving, I weighed 148.8 pounds. We'll see what happens as I weigh in later in the month.
Today I was visiting my in-laws in downstate Illinois. They live about 7 miles out in the country from St. Elmo, IL. As a grain farmer, the family in enjoying the downtime after a great fall harvest. The last is as flat as flat can be. All the fields are bare and only random farm dogs and birds seem to occupy the land now. They farm between 2 and 3 thousand acres of corn, soybeans, and wheat. I have run these roads many times over the last 10 years and each time, I have a story. Mostly one that includes talking about how many dogs joined me for my run. They use to have a mut named "Buddy". I remember taking Buddy on a 10 mile run with me about 5 years ago. My in-laws said he needed about 3 days to recover from that one. Today I was pleasantly surprised to meet Magnet. Magnet was his name, he was excited to join and eager to lead me down the path, jump on me while I stopped for a drink, and even hang outside the door for an hour to just make sure I didn't want to run anymore :)
How do I know his name was Magnet? Well, about 1/4 mile down the road from my starting point, I ran past what I thought was deserted house trailer to see a dog barking and and old woman holler out her front door with her house coat on as the dog chased me down the road
"Now Magnet! Get Back Here! Don't You Hear Me? MAGGGNNNEEEETTTT........".
And with that, I had a running partner :) Magnet stopped to pee, at least 10 times that I counted. He also pooped twice :) Yes, even when running alone (and no music today), this kept me occupied and quietly laughing. We don't have a dog, but I had one growing up. I sure love having a dog to run with.
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| Why, Hello "Magnet"! |
The run was slower than normal. My husband joked that I may have to make a pit stop for the stomach flu 'reoccuring'...but luckily, it didn't! (I did bring Kleenex just in case!)
Here is my activity info for my run. Nothing to write home about...BUT, considering where I was 3 days ago, just thankful to finish in one piece :)
MI
3.01
DURATION
26:40
AVERAGE PACE
8:52
CALORIES BURNED
339
Tomorrow I will be taking the Amtrak to Carbondale for a work trip. I plan to get in another short run there before dinner. I went to college there....so it'll be some great sites to take in to make the miles fly by.
Happy Marcothon!
I was worried about you when I saw that you came down with the stomach flu last week. I was praying that you would be on the mends before the 1st because I figured you would run hell or high water.
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