How Not to Recover From a 20 Mile Run

I feel like shit right now. My chest is so tight and my sinuses are still congested and my legs ache and I keep coughing up this horrible, disgusting stuff that I haven’t coughed up since I quit smoking (and which was a big part of the reason I quit in the first place.) I am finally going to bite the bullet and track down a doctor this week. It’s gonna be a pain in the ass, though, because I don’t have health insurance and can’t afford to spend the small fortune that seeing a doctor here in Manhattan would cost. I researched a couple free clinics, but it seems like you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get an appointment there. But, I’m really kinda out of options here — I need to get this problem with my lungs fixed soon before it gets worse and I have an encore performance of my failed marathon attempt of 2001. And, with all this economic crap hitting the fan and the financial uncertainties that brings with it, I really can’t be out spending more money than I already am. So, it looks like I’ll be jumping through hoops. Wish me luck.

But, before you start feeling too sorry for me, you should know that part of the physical misery I’m experiencing right now (mainly the soreness in my legs) was brought about by my own foolishness in skimping out on proper recovery from yesterday’s 20 miler. I had friends from Colorado in for the weekend and so, rather than going through my typical post-run routine, as soon as I got home and showered after the run, we headed down to Union Square and got lunch and a couple beers from Heartland Brewery. From there we walked over to the West Village Pet Store (an art exhibit thing that was totally lost on my un-artistic self). Along the way, we found a used record store and I was able to extend my new collection with some Elton John, Barry Manilow, Barbara Streissand, and Tom Rush. This is what I love about having the record player. I would have never bought any of those for CD (well, maybe the Elton John), but I’ve actually enjoyed listening to all of them. In fact, I’m listening to the Barry Manilow now. But, back to what I was saying, from the Pet Store, we went to a grill to get a couple more beers, then hiked back to the subway and finally ended up on the Upper East Side eating sushi (and drinking Japanese beer). Finally, after my day-long beer tour of Manhattan, we ended up back at my place and started drinking vodka cocktails.

So, as you can imagine, my four mile recovery run this morning was actually at a slower pace than yesterday’s twenty. It didn’t help that I read the weather wrong and was totally overdressed. Still, it was the slowest I’d run this little stretch along the East River near my house since September of last year. Yikes. But that didn’t stop me from getting a couple beers at brunch back down on the U.E.S. They were delicious and did a great job washing down my super-nutritious meal of fish and chips.

This weekend was a good break, though, because I really have to buckle down and get some serious work done this week. Just signed a new contract with Nathaniel today for an investment site that we’re going to be building and I still have my mile-long checklist of crap to do for my own sites, not to mention a forty-hour week for Precision. But, I still have another few hours to enjoy before all that, so let me get back to my recliner where I’ll finish watching Game 7 of the ALCS and then a documentary on Jack Kerouac that I’ve been wanting to watch for a while. Good night.