the cold truth of a cold box of pizza



In the cold light of THIS morning I groped for a glass of water.  My throat was parched and my head a little woozy.  I had slept like the dead and felt like the barely living.  I went out drinking last night after work.  Not a crazy, hard knuckled, throw 'em down affair, but definitely more than usual.  And to make matters worse, on my way home, I ordered a whole pizza for delivery.

It was a rookie move.  Thumb-suckery of the lowest order.  I might as well have been holding my breath and stomping my feet.  I was just over it.  The construction, the showering at friends, the going to the bathroom in the basement, the whole lot of it.  So I drank away some of my suffering and sat down in front of Braveheart to eat the rest of it away.  With a large meat-lovers pizza as my opiate.

It was pitiful.

I crawled into bed at 9:30 and was just drifting off into the sleep of the stuffed when I got a text from and old friend.

Want to go for a walk around the park? She asked.

Ugh. I thought.  The last thing I wanted to do was get out of my bed.  I just wanted to succumb to the lazy.  Just drift off to sleep with the mildest scent of pepperoni on my lips, tempting the wrath of Queen Mab.

But I wanted to see my friend and sleep was a terrible excuse.

Sure thing. 10 minutes? 

I got up, got dressed, and went to meet her.

We walked my morning loop.  Just over 3 miles.  We caught up and talked about life, eating, exercise, her son, her work, my work, life and all that good stuff.  We talked for a while because walking 3 miles takes some time!  I was surprised how long it took.  Running it, apparently, is much quicker (even in my case).

After we said our goodbyes I walked home. I felt pretty good, even smug, about getting in a 5 mile walk after the pizza.  Once I got home it was straight to bed and sleep. Which brings me to this morning and the cold light and the groggy.

Sure, I was loopy and tired and cranky and a little sore.  But after hemming and hawing for 10 minutes or so I said fuck it and got out of bed.  I put on my running shorts, my new batman t-shirt (baby blue), my running shoes and my Mets cap and then, right after walking down to the basement to go to the bathroom, I headed out for my run.