What's a Runner to Do?

I've missed a couple of weeks of running now. Last week, I was feeling way to heavy, mostly as a result of a overeating and a busy schedule with not enough time to work out. This week, I have the flu and, in the words best said with a thick Texas accent, I'm feeling puny.

The Cowtown 5K is February 23, and I'd better get back to pounding the pavement . . . or treadmill.

Unless, of course, I can think of another excuse to convince myself not to run . . . my wife is right. I am SO easy.

But I'm sick and have a temperature

Originally published June 6, 2007

Back in the days of three TV channels (four if you could get PBS), 'I'm sick and have a temperature' was the tag line delivered by a semi-faking kid for a sure-fire remedy commercial. That's probably what my excuses for not running for the last few weeks sound like. Actually, I think I pulled a muscle in my lower abdomen after my 5K, and it really seems to become aggravated when I run. I have been using the elliptical trainer at the Y, but it's not quite the same (not nearly the sweat and staggering and general overall misery). I'm hoping that I'll be back to full speed (me and speed used in the same sentence -- ha!) in about a month. Can't do any ab work, and I feel kind of like Santa Claus.

And, then there's the friend, another dad, who's devastated because his son has chosen to run cross country and track instead of playing baseball. I don't think that the boy's coming out of the closet; I just think he's chosen to run. Is run-o-phobe an appropriate diagnosis for the dad?