Chapter 1- 102.4... The fever that tried to sideline me.

Chapter 1- 102.4∞- The fever that tried to sideline me.

Playing hooky from school was the best choice on Friday. Gary was flying in at 7:45am and planned to be meeting Emily at the airport. This, of course, would not due. I managed to pull a “sick” day and tag along with Em to pick up our Canadian counterpart. The surprise attack was easy; I crouch in the back on the floor and jump out to surprise Gary…FOR 15 MINUTES! Once Gary was finally coming towards the car, I was more than ready to get out of the fetal position. While Em and Gary were hugging I slowly pushed the back door open and made my way awkwardly out of the car. The reason to tell this entire story is this: Gary saw the backdoor opening slowly and actually thought, “Wow! Spencer is already car doors from his seat, that’s pretty advanced.”

Friday with Gary:

Friday was half good and half awful. After getting back to Madison and settling in with short naps, we made our way to the Arboretum to have a quick run and show Gary my home court. It was hot! But, we had a great run and Gary was more than impressed with our little trail system in the middle of the city. Lunchtime. It is hard to come to Madison and not enjoy some of our excellent Southwest/Mexican food. The top of the heap is definitely the Eldorado Grill on Willy street, or for faster chow you can gorge at Tex Tubb;s Taco Palace or Pasqual’s. We hit up some good Mexican food with the sole intention of beginning the pre-race gorging of food. But then…

Sometime between the run and the third bite of my burrito, the small cold that I’d been fighting for two days began a downward spiral into a feverish flu. By the time we picked up Spencer at 3 I was feeling achy all over and couldn’t believe what was happening. At 4:30 I took my temperature and almost lost my mind when I saw 101.8∞. Quickly I was on the phone with Doug and Jenny asking the only couple I’ve met with the ability to make such things disappear, how to make it do just that. Within 10 minutes I was drinking hot ginger tea, wearing heavy sweats, and in bed beneath two down comforters. After twenty minutes I finally broke a sweat, announcing to Emily…”I’m Sweating!!!”

While the sweat gave me temporary relief, it did not find it’s way to the roots of my fever. I took an hour and a half nap, got up, put Spencer to sleep, and loaded the car to head to the motel. Nobody was really discussing the question of “what if.” What if I wake up with this fever? What if I start vomiting? What if I can’t run the race?

At 8pm Gary got our good luck kisses from Em (I think Gary got a bigger kiss than meJ), and headed to the motel about an hour and a half away. On the trip, Gary got the distinct pleasure of seeing other sides of Wisconsin. Outside of Fort Atkinson, we made a pit stop at Piggly Wiggly. First of all, for those non-Wisconsinites, the Pig is a grocery store, and this particular Pig has…wait for it… wait for it… you guessed it, carpet. Gary was beside himself as he walked the carpet-lined isles of the Pig. As we headed down the road away from the Pig Gary caught rural WI secret number two: a license plate that read, “McCain till the death.” Oh the multiple layers of irony and entertainment in 4 simple words.

THIS IS GETTING LONG….

At the rustic motel my temperature persisted. In fact, it climbed to a constant 102.4. At 9pm Doug called to get a feel for how I was feeling and where my head was at the moment. After a brief conversation Doug was in his car and headed to our motel. While I felt selfish saying yes to his offer to come and help drop the fever, I knew that it was my last ditch effort to race. For the next hour fifteen, Gary and I settled in to the Family Guy and tried to forget about everything….Yeah, that didn’t work. I was up down and sideways trying to focus on packing my bags, eating some food (which I had been unable to do for the majority of the afternoon and evening), and preparing my mind for anything. Emily and I were staying in regular contact and I could tell she felt a certain ease and comfort knowing that Doug was on his way and Gary was there.

At 11pm the good doctor walked into our room bearing his bag of Chinese treats. He went right to work mixing me a drink with Ban lan gen. I prepared for a nasty taste and was delighted with a sweet enough disguise. He then placed two “ear seeds“ on each ear stimulating points that encourage a drop in body temperature. One last text goodnight to my Emily and Off to bed!

I laid awake for about 25 minutes concentrating on a wonderful energy in the room and in my body. I felt many things working together to break my fever. It was almost a out-of-body feeling. Then at about 20 minutes, I felt “it”, something pushed the fever right out of me and I KNEW I would be racing in about 6 hours. I slept 4 of the best hours of my life.

4am…97.6…Race Day