So the Old Man and I are commandeering the troops down to St George. Actually Alice took over the wheel so I can blog. She’s doing her best to keep up with the Old Man (he doesn’t drive like he’s old). He drives like he runs - faster than most. We’re rolling past Nephi and He Who Shall Not be Named just drove up behind us. Oh, they’re stopping. Potty break.
It’s been a strange couple of weeks. Tapering down from your training program is always interesting. It’s like my body starts going through withdrawals. My muscles twitch and I get all these phantom pains. I feel something weird in my muscles and I start thinking, “Uh oh, what’s that. I must have pulled something. I better ice.” So this time I didn’t taper quite as much. Actually, my plan was to run more than I did but life got in the way. That’s probably a good thing ‘cuz you gotta be rested and ready for a marathon.
The strange part had nothing to do with the taper. See, the Twins are not going south with us to run the marathon. Crazy, huh. I mean these knuckleheads are so tough they’d finish a marathon on bloody stumps if they had to. In May at the Ogden marathon the Twin was having trouble with his calf during training. He rested extra before the race and ran anyway. By the end of the race he had torn his calf muscle and limped over the finish line - but he wasn’t about to stop. He went to the doctor a couple weeks later and he couldn’t believe he just ran a marathon.
So Fatso did something to his hip. We went on our last 10 mile run about 13 days ago and he woke up the next morning in so much pain he could hardly walk. He’s been to the chiropractor several times to get straightened out and it just keeps popping out of place. It’s a fluke I tell ya. I’m convinced the man upstairs is involved. It just can’t be explained any other way. Fatso called me Wednesday ballin’ about how he can’t run and I told him, “. . . ya gotta quit worrying about it. Maybe Someone is trying to protect you or your family from something bad.”
Have you been talkin’ to my wife? I know you talked to her.
No, I swear. I thought that two or three times. I think there’s a reason you can’t run.
Shut up. I know you talked to her. She said the same thing last night.
I didn’t. Just take it for what it’s worth Fatso.
Then on Thursday Fatso’s wife called. She had the same impression and told Fatso about it the night before. She prayed that Fatso would find know there was a reason he couldn’t run the marathon. So when I said the same thing she was sure that was her answer. Crazy, huh.
So we’re all bummed out that Fatso can’t run with us but we’re movin forward and makin plans for the race. Callin each other to make sure we got this or that; and making arrangements for dinner and stuff. Then we all get this text from the Twin - saying he can’t go.
This caught us all totally off guard cuz we were makin plans just a couple hours before. I couldn’t believe it. I was worried about what went so wrong so quickly. So I called up the Twin to see what was up and what I could do to help.
Nothing. I couldn’t get anything out of him. Only that it was important enough that he couldn’t leave. I asked what I could do to help but that didn’t go anywhere either. I respect him enough to not pry and left it at that.
It’s going to be different running without the Twins. But you know - the marathon is just the measuring stick to see how productive your training was. The race is grueling and painful; anticlimactic at best. The training is the fun part. We laugh, make fun of each other (and practically everyone we see), push each other, tick each other off, and argue over the best program to improve our time. The marathon is just one day out of many.
There is still a good sized Fatso crew and we’re gonna have a lot of fun. Tami’s running - cancer or no cancer. She has inspired us all and our Fatso Running Shirts are a tribute to her. We’ll wee how it goes.
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