cautious optimism
1722 days ago
With 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?
