As our vacation in the South comes to an end (we fly back to California on Saturday), it’s been a whirlwind. Jeremy and I wanted to spend a good amount of time in Athens, Georgia, where we met and where we both went to college. We wanted to make sure we had lots of time to see our friends that we miss dearly, and since Jeremy hadn’t been to his home state in two years, it was nice to know we’d have enough time to do everything we wanted to do. Well, that’s what the plan was anyway. After my sleeping issues and the change of weather from California to here, I had a sneaking suspicion I would come down with something. It seemed like everyone was sick everywhere we went, and normally I have a really strong immune system, but after the sleep deprivation, my body just couldn’t hold out any longer. I kept telling myself, just don’t get sick before New Year’s Eve, please. Luckily, my body granted me this favor, and I came down with something on January 2. I ended up having to stay in our apartment we rented on Airbnb (with no internet and no TV/cable), while everyone got together and had a blast. I really hate missing out on stuff, and this killed me. I had to stay in the next few days, and then finally felt good enough to have dinner with some friends. I’m still dealing with a cough and head cold stuff (and exhaustion), but luckily my whole body doesn’t hurt like it did that first day.

The worst part about all of this is that since it’s so cold here, I signed up for a week-long membership at a gym here and have only gotten to use it once. So if I’m not able to go again before we leave on Thursday (which is looking like the case), that one treadmill run will have been the most expensive run of my life. Since I’ve had to take so much time off (it seriously feels like an eternity), I’m trying to be realistic about my sub-two hour half marathon goal time on February 8th. I’m hoping my body can bounce back quickly. I was just on such a good run of good runs. Arghh! But it’s a good lesson, really. Realizing that things are not always going to go as planned, and to not let it deter you from your goals, but be realistic at the same time, knowing that your body needs to get 100% healthy before jumping back into training.

Other than the sickness and not running, Athens has been great. As everyone knows, there is a nasty cold spell going through, and it was 5 degrees overnight. I don’t mind too much, just as long as I don’t have to be outside too long, and as long as I don’t look up the weather forecast in Santa Barbara to compare. I did have a dream I was sunbathing by a pool last night and felt so warm… I think I might miss SB weather a little bit.