Feeling funky but looking up

Last Tuesday, I came down with my first sickness since retiring July 28, 2006. Despite all the mileage and stresses I put on my body over the last 18 months, I successfully avoided colds, flu, grunge... Perhaps it wasn't "in spite of" but "because of" all the mileage that I was so darned healthy. In any case, this fall my mileage has been declining, and now I'm sick.

Last week I had a fever, no voice, no energy. In fact, I logged my lowest total weekly mileage since breaking my arm in September, 2005. But this week, I have turned the corner and am running (and speaking) again. Yay! And today's run home from my radio reading service volunteer job was a wonderful reminder of many of the delights I experienced during the summer's run.

• A train (infrequent in Boulder) chugged alongside giving me the opportunity for one more race-with-a-train (the train always wins).
• A flicker landed in a tree next to me, tweeting and pecking.
• Geese flew overhead.
• A stick threaded its way up into my shoelaces as I trotted down the trail.
• A giant pile of tumbleweeds filled up the entrance to an underpass, bringing to mind this summer's famous "Take Heed! It's a Tumbleweed" song.

• And Paul and Jester met me along the trail, running me home once again...