Respite: Training Day 2 (Better Than Advil)

I did it. I found a slightly uncomfortable yet quick way to cure a headache. And, no I don't mean this. Get your filthy minds out of the gutter. Filthy.

I'm not sure if it was my out of wack sleep schedule, the accumulation of stress, or the mental feat of attempting to complete the Sunday New York Times Crossword puzzle yesterday, but I woke up this morning with a terrible headache. Just awful. Tried advil, tried napping, tried sitting quietly (by far my best skill), nothing worked. Realizing that I had a six day shoot in front of me and that the half marathon was only six weeks away, I decided that it was necessary for me to run today, headache or no headache. So I ran.

Initially it was a little annoying. Every time that my foot struck the ground a surge of pain shot to my head. "Why am I doing this to myself?" I thought (which is ironically what I often think in the middle of particularly difficult runs). I didn't think that I would be able to make it and was prepared to stop pretty much as soon as I started. As a newly inducted member of the school of Completism as founded by my dear friend, Cathlin, I decided to run on. The terrible headache tearing me apart bit by bit. My faith in completism diminishing by the second.

BUT, Wait! Stop the presses! Hold on! I said wait the hell up! I hit my stride. The pain diminishes and then...well what do you know about that? The headache is gone. McDonald's once asked us if we believed in magic, and I'll be damned if they didn't hope we did. I am a firm believer now, my friends.

I'm sure there's some scientific explanation for this, but I'll chalk it up to a big fat miracle; especially given that I ran 3 miles in 21:18. So kids, if a headache is putting a downer on your day, lace up your running shoes and take to the streets. You'll be glad you did!

If I break 21 minutes by the end of the year, I'm treating myself to some kind of absurdly unhealthy reward. No, I'm not going to take up smoking so don't worry. Binge drinking was an option but I'm sure I wouldn't have the energy, time, or concentration for it given all these film shoots. No, I was thinking something along the lines of ice cream. A big thing of ice cream. COMPLETED in one sitting. A solid reward for 21 minutes of strenuous work. What do you think, Cath?

Ryan the Intern

Addendum: 100,000,000,000 points if you know why that photo is at the top of the blog.