Oh Come On!

You won't believe this. No really, you all are not going to believe what I'm about to reveal. I am sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Well it's probably not all that shocking to those who know how cursed I seem to be at Western States. It's really almost laughable how bad my luck is this time of year. I'm really trying to stay upbeat about this and hopefully beat this crud. If I do, there's no doubt that I'll be coming in well rested. I literally have not run a step since Tuesday of last week. No surprise to anyone, that's not really the optimal way to lead up to your biggest race of the year.

So how did this happen? Well I came into work the Sunday before last, having just finished the store run and wrapping up my final big week before the race, when I was stopped cold in my tracks by the deep rumbling cough emanating from the back room. One of my co-workers was obviously very sick, and I quickly encouraged him to pack up and go home before spreading anything. It was a mostly selfish move, but obviously customers don't want to receive service from someone who is hacking and sniffling, especially with the fear of swine flu. So on he went, and I wiped everything down and continuously, neurotically, washed my hands throughout the day. In the end, it was all for not. My immune system, heavily compromised from training, caved in to the bug, and I've been sick ever since.

I'm on day 10 now. Slowly I'm improving, but I need to see something change drastically in the next couple of days, or else I'm going to pull the plug on States. That kills me to say, but I got sick in 2007 and tried to run. I knew starting the race that I probably would not finish, and I certainly could not be competitive. That year I ended up dropping at Dusty Corners, and I felt miserable about it. I really don't know if I'd feel any better just not starting, but I promised myself that I would never start a race that way again. So I've tentatively set Sunday or Monday as my drop dead date, meaning that I'm going to make a decision one way or another by Sunday night or Monday morning as to whether or not I go to Western States.

In light of all that, I did have a very exciting moment at work the other day. Exciting enough to have taken at least a little sting out of being sick right now. Mike McCready, yes THE Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, wandered into Seattle Running Company the other day. Thankfully I was working and got to help him out. Rather than beat around the bush, I flat out told him that I was a huge fan. He seemed genuinely pleased to hear it. The guy seems incredibly down to earth and was quite friendly. He asked me a lot of questions about my own running. We even talked about Western States and what it's like to run 100 miles. Without coming across as a freaky fan, I told him that I thought the performance of "Got Some" was great. Again he seemed truly excited to hear it. The new album, he told me, is eleven songs long, and he described it as having a new-wavey feel. He said that it was great to work with producer Brendan O'Brien again. They last worked with him on 1998's Yield. He was in the store for about 20 minutes or so and ended up getting a couple pairs of shoes. Interestingly, he's not so much a runner as he is a cardio boxing participant. He even shared with me little news about a certain Seattle band playing a certain Seattle venue in the fall. It was pretty darn cool.

So unless you're a Western States frontrunner, keep your fingers crossed for my health. And, by all means, if you have any special remedies please share. PLEASE!!!!

PS Hal, I asked Jeff Dean what "coctupe" meant. It was so filthy that I can't even share it here on my blog.