This Sunday I completed the ING Miami Half Marathon.
The Saturday before I was seated in the Green Room of the UCB Theatre before the Reuben Williams show, and my friend Eric made an astute observation. “You’re always sick,” he said.
“I haven’t been sick once yet this winter!” I replied. Then I knocked on a wooden table. So of course that following Thursday I woke up and felt the onslaught of a cold emerging in my nose and throat. It was the usual – stuffy, runny nose, lumpy throat, cough, head congestion. I took some hippie homeopathic medicine and drank a lot of liquids. We woke up early Saturday morning to get to the airport and I felt like even more ass. The plane ride turned my head into a magical balloon that felt like it was about to explode while being pounded by 2x4s. I figured out that it was a sinus infection. Party!
When I woke up at 4AM Sunday morning to run the half marathon I decided against taking any medicine because I am nuts and anxious and was afraid running for two and a half hours on Tylenol Cold & Sinus might make my heart stop. So I rocked it sans meds. I met up with Sean at 5AM in the hotel lobby and we headed over to the Start Line, where we were supposed to get into our corrals and trot into the sunrise. Instead we stood in a downpour for twenty minutes waiting to go. And we finally did – 1o minutes late – but still, the race started all wet and puddle-y and off we ran over a giant bridge into South Beach in the dark.
And it was totally awesome!
Not only was in a really nice course (ie: FLAT) with pretty scenery, it was well organized with lots of water and Gatorade stops. I felt great – my sinus infection put itself on hold and I ran the whole thing without using ONE TISSUE – a milestone for me as I normally go through an entire box of tissues per run. By the end of the race the sun was out and I was not too destroyed at the finish line. It was great!
The only time I got mad was when I noticed that this chick was totes rocking my original Nike singlet.
The best part of the whole thing was having my friend and improv guru Sean Conroy run the thing with me. We got separated during the 5AM downpour but finished within minutes of each other.
That night we all went out and smoked cigars and drank scotch at some fancy hotel, which is what all the elite runners do.
This also REALLY helped the sinus infection, which started back in about a minute after finishing the race.
I’m totally addicted to half marathoning. There’s something about beating your body into the ground that is extremely appealing to me. I’m on the hunt for my next one.
WHEE!
