Training for the Boulder Marathon isn’t going to plan.  I caught my first cold of the season.  Actually, for me, my first cold in 3 years.  Working from home, isolated in my basement office, sometimes has benefits.  I suspect I caught this from my daughter.

But Ellie is there for me – blessing me every time I sneeze.  And she asked me where the term “under the weather” came from.  According to the Internet, the full phrase is “under the weather bow” and refers to an ill sailor going below deck.  And the weather bow itself refers to the side of the ship that the bad weather is blowing against.  Seems reasonably true to me.

I’m more concerned about how long I’ll be below deck.  The Boulder Marathon is October 21st – just two weeks away.  I know it’s unlikely I’ll fall out of shape, but I was hoping to improve over the Denver Marathon.  The dreamer in me was fantasizing about qualifying for Boston.  Might need to run something at sea-level for that – maybe the Houston Marathon in January.  Nah, Houston sucks.  I could run the Austin Marathon again.  It kicked my ass last time and I’d like another shot at it.  That’s in February.  I’ll think it over while I’m bed-ridden this weekend.