The Week in Numbers

1 - number of birthdays, Mardi Gras, times I have gotten sick, trips to Austin, and mothers of mine who have cared about the foregoing.

2 - number of times that the firm I interviewed with in Austin (that I really liked) would like to see me again; number of boxes of Girl Scout cookies in the house that I really ought to just throw away; number of boxes of marzipan fruit consumed as a reward for also consuming that truly vile (yet reputedly therapeutic) ginger root tea; number of Kleenex boxes used

3 - number of miles I have run in over a week (for reference, I usually run 25-30 miles per week); number of work days missed while out sick; number of days I would still like to sleep straight

10,000,000+ - number of glasses of orange juice and bowls of chicken soup consumed in the last 9 days; number of calories in same

1 - number of races I was supposed to run this coming weekend but was told in no uncertain terms that my job is to show up and cheer for ONLY and that if I run, my friends will send me home; number of Daddies who made me pico de gallo to help my snuffy nose go away.

As you can probably tell, this has not been a banner week at Chez Lisa. Between getting sick, leaving town, getting older, and - oh yeah - there was jury duty in there somewhere too, I have probably gained weight like nobody's business. At present I feel fine, but every time I go out to run all of that nastiness lurking down in my lungs makes me feel like I'm drowning. Whatever it is, it's not letting me get enough oxygen to run so on Tuesday when I put feet to pavement for the first time in a week, I got super dizzy and had a hard time making it through our short and easy run. I have been involuntarily benched from running for the rest of the week and I feel miserable about it.

Okay. Now I'm done whining.

This week that I have gone without running has been really demoralizing. When I think about that, though, it's pretty amazing that I haven't gone a week without skipping out on this training regimen, especially when I think about how hard it was for me to get myself to the gym consistently before I started running.