Cold

This morning, I woke up, yet again, with a head cold. I often get one major flu-like cold a season, but since the fall I've now had three colds, albeit they are fairly minor and usually only last a day or two. Either way they suck. I am not sure why I getting more than usual. Maybe it's a result of running more? Or licking random people's doorknobs in my apartment building? Screwy weather? I am dying a mysterious disease? Not eating well enough?

I went out for a leisurely 12 miles this morning from The Line, but after 3 miles I began to beg for a bed. I thought a long slow run might "run the sickness out of me", but instead all I wanted to do was sleep. I labored back on the trails and felt extremely achy and tired. I felt like the Tin Man; all my joints needed oil. Exhausted, I drove back home and attempted to sleep before eating $8 worth of chicken noodle soup from Balducci's. I also purchased a plethora of other things (RedBox movies, Gatorade, fresh bread, cold medicines etc). I hope to be back on the wagon tomorrow after another nap and a good night's rest. Only 6 miles today.

On an unrelated front, I need to start drinking more. See this synopsis on the famed Henry Rono below...

What happened in 1978 was that Rono started drinking.

Nothing excessive at first, but rather a simple indulgence into the post-race or off-season practice that was then fairly common in distance running culture.

In 1980, when Kenya boycotted the Olympics, Rono began cursing his fate and his luck, and the drinking become a real problem.

The following year his weight was fluctuating severely, and Rono was fast succumbing to alcoholism. He somehow managed to put a track season together, despite drinking daily, and late in the summer was invited to small meeting in Knarvik, near Oslo, for a crack at his 5,000 metres world record of 13:08.04. As soon as Rono arrived in Norway he promptly started drinking, and by all accounts got hammered drunk in the meeting hotel the night before the race.

He woke the next morning with a massive hangover, naturally enough. Filled with remorse, Rono went running, practically flat out, for over an hour in an effort to sweat the alcohol out of his system.

At 4pm, and paced by the British pair of Ian Stewart and a young Steve Cram, Rono produced one of the greatest world records in distance running history – given the circumstances – when he improved his record to 13:06.20, closing with a 56-flat last lap. It was to be his last world record and one of his last notable achievements on the track.