Dear Diary

Dear Diary
Last Tuesday I ran out of my thyroid medication. I was a bit disorganised that day no! you cry so I didn't get around to looking in the basket on top of the fridge for the script until Wednesday and realised I didn't have a refill left. Bugger I said, for the rest of the week wasn't looking filled with clear space to go the the drs and get a new one. Then stuff happened, as it does, and I forgot about it again. On Thursday I drove my parents three and a half hours to Melbourne so my Dad could have a heart procedure, just a keyhole thingy, no dramas. Or so we thought cue sinister music dun dun duhnnnn.....
There were three huge blockages and the valve is more buggered than they expected so poor Dad will be having A Triple Bypass and Valve Replacement! Cue wide open eyes and horrified gasp! Well of course we knew that was going to happen said my saintly yet sometimes quite annoying parents, he was far too crook for it to be fixed with stents, we were expecting this and it'll all be fine. They're old no offence Mum, they know heaps of people who've had OPENHEARTSURGERYAARRGGHHH and are now prancing about like young gazelles. That's all very well, say I, but this is My Dad!!!
I love my friends. One post on EffBee and I was inundated with stories about how their Dads/Uncles/Inlaws/friends at work have had OPENHEARTSURGERYAARRGGHHH and are now prancing about like young gazelles. A running friend of mine is actually a cardiac ICU nurse hi DG!!! and she said most of her patients who have had OPENHEARTSURGERYAARRGGHHH are now prancing about like young gazelles and Dad will feel much better really soon. Which is good.
It was pouring on Friday and Dad looked pretty crook all the way home so it was a bit of a strain, especially for Mum b/c I like to sing when I'm driving. Dad's a bit deaf so he was spared. I remembered to ring the Spousal Unit and get him to pop in to the Dr and order a refill for my thyroid medicine because they won't do it over the phone. I had planned to do my long run on Saturday morning, but instead we got stuck into the housework so the house was pleasant and welcoming again. Noddie and I had a massive row about how like an irretrievably spoiled brat she was choosing to behave, and I did a bike workout while J took Noddie to tap dancing. He did the shopping while he was out and came home with some mouth-watering prawns that he made into a delicious curry for tea. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
4.45 am came around really quickly on Sunday. I set out in my cool hat with the light in the brim, my camelbak, 1p0d, gels, gloves, the lot. I could tell pretty early it wasn't going to be one of those 'effortless' ones where you just float along (do you ever have them? You do? Bully for you *sulks*) but I'm pretty good at getting the not-super-fun ones done by now. I just felt strange. The curry made plain its displeasure at being awoken and shaken about at such an hour, but there are plenty of trees along the trail and it wasn't really too bad. It was more that I kept going hot and cold for no reason. After a while I felt almost separate from myself. It wasn't like normal tired and leg-weary at all. I was eating and drinking to The Schedule. I was going even more slowly than usual yet still moving! How does she do it? At 18km, all I could think was that I had to sit down. I. Had. To. Sit. Down. So I did.
Yes.
I. Sat. Down.
There are nine Benches O'Temptation on my 30km route. I do an out-and-back so that's 18 little moments of enticement to be given the finger before trudging gamely on. Never, ever before, not once have I stopped and rested on one. I didn't this time either - there wasn't one in sight so I sat on the ground. Just sat there. It was like a strange dream, where I was moving like cold honey and had no choice about it. When I got up again I had no run left. It crossed my mind that a Real Runner would be all Brave and Keen and walk home to Get the KMs On The Legs. After about a nanosecond I gave that idea the flick and rang my mum because the fam was at church. It seemed to take a long time to walk back to the highway. Mum's Jaguar is really comfortable.
Notes to self:
a) don't expect your thyroid medication to kick in overnight
b) DON'T RUN OUT OF THYROID MEDICATION SCRIPTS YOU IDIOT
c) The Spousal Unit's prawn curry is yummy but contra-indicated prior to long runs.
More anon, livers-and-learners!