The house is quiet. While I sit here at the kitchen table, the rising sun is blazing through the bay window, reflecting off the cayenne-colored walls and warming the room. I haven’t yet had a cup of coffee. It’s actually been two weeks since I had one. It’s not really missed…anymore.
I wrote that paragraph on Sunday morning…it’s now Tuesday night. As soon as I typed that last period, I heard the upstairs toilet flush while Ava started to sing ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’. The silence was over.
So…Tuesday night: the house is quiet. I’m slowly sinking into my couch while the glow of a muted hockey game fills the room. I’m sinking into the couch because it’s a terrible couch; it’s not comfortable. Not at all. I actually despise the couch. It’s a sore spot in my back, a flare in my sciatic and a kink in my neck. It literally sucks me in between the cushions and holds me there. This is the true description of ‘the couch of doom’ (1).
I have my aching feet propped up on the ottoperson (a.k.a. ottoman); I spent roughly eight hours on my feet. For some reason I can take the joint pounding of running for two and a half hours, but if I stand for one hour, I need to start stretching. This couch isn’t helping.
This week will be a test in my strength. Long days, on my feet, while trying to maintain a modified eating plan (for the office ‘Biggest Loser’ competition) and increasing my mileage to appropriately train for the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon at the end of April. Oddly enough, both yesterday and today didn’t try my patience. Maybe it’s the change in weather.
Have I been so down in the dumps with the day-to-day because of the weather, and not for the actual day-to-day? Yesterday, I worked ten hours and only saw Ava for forty-five minutes before bed time. Did the weather make this tolerable?
Today, after work, I drove with my windows opened. The fresh air was a welcomed change. Maybe this is what I needed. Maybe this is making my body aches tolerable and easing my resistance to this damn couch. After all, I am sitting on it.
The thought of this dreadful week has shifted to positive thoughts: I can start eating some lean meats tomorrow, so I better get propane for the grill, gotta pick up daffodils for the table, maybe I’ll brush off the deck’s chairs so I can enjoy my tea outside in the morning.
Oh, what? Wait. Never mind. It’s going to rain on my springtime parade.
(1) Walker, Steve (alias Runner, Steve). Phedippidations Podcast. http://steverunner.com/
Steve Runner often references ‘the couch of doom’ as the piece of furniture in a person’s home responsible for destroying their fitness goals. It’s almost described as an alternate dimension that is difficult to free oneself from. Just check out he podcast. Steve posts weekly. Phedippidies, a herald in Ancient Greece, ran twenty-five miles to announce Greek victory in the Battle of Marathon. He collapsed on the spot, dying of exhaustion. Guess he wouldn’t have done well in the ultra-marathons.
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