cautious optimism

img_0437.jpgWith a week’s worth of allergy medicine, and a new asthma inhaler, I have been feeling a bit like a superhero for the past few days.  I won’t lie, this is pretty awesome, but I am wary of it.  Over the past few months my health has been teasing me, giving me a couple of weeks of solid training to get my hopes up,  then dashing those hopes with a sinus infection, a head cold,  or a touch of hantavirus.

So I am approaching health warily – forty-seven times bitten, forty-eight times shy, as they say.  There is a malady among cyclists and hikers called “climbers syndrome”.  People who have been riding or hiking uphill for long enough begin to distrust any downhill section of trail, knowing that any elevation they lose will only have to be reclaimed soon afterward.  Any crest can only be a false summit; any corner will inevitably reveal a new hill to scale.  I feel that same way about being healthy, which is too bad, because I’m not enjoying feeling healthy as much as I want to.

On the other hand, as I said, I do feel like a superhero.  Every morning when I wake up, I think “Oh, OK, NOW I am healthy, wow, this feels good, much better than yesterday!”  And – cautiously – I push a little harder in my workouts, feel a little better.  I must be the most circumspect superhero on earth.

Also, I got a new bike helmet!  Pointy, eh?

  1. Not Fast Will said...

    Hope you’ve got it licked. I have horrible allergies as well, but luckily no athsma. What allergy medicine are you on? The stuff that I took before Az totally zapped me and usually I use my more “granolaish” cures that work really well. I boil some water and put a little australian tea tree oil in it. Put a towel over your head and use it like a vaporizer. That stuff will do wonders for your sinuses, but make sure it is australian tea tree oil. I’ve done the neti pot thing as well which works, but prefer the tea tree method.

  2. John Young said...

    Will, I *can’t* be the first to make a Death Star Trooper joke. Can I? Anyway, good luck with your fully armed and operational superhero status!

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