This is part five in a five part series, I have written about my experience with training, racing and the adventures of 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo in 2023.
Part 5 The Bittersweet End
So what really did happen during the race? Well…..COVID happened. Unbeknownst to me, my body was fighting the virus. And it took me out hard on Saturday evening. Sunday, my body rallied and was running on fumes of adrenaline from the race. On Monday my health started to decline rapidly. I woke up with what felt like a mild respiratory congestion, but as the day progressed, I started to feel more and more ill.
As soon as I got home I took a covid test. As I was worried about my brother and him bringing anything home to his family. Sure enough, I tested positive.
Tuesday, I lost an entire day, I slept 22 of 24 hours.
I’ve had a lot of emotion about this over the last week as I’ve sat in quarantine sick. There is so much that this virus has taken from us. Time that it has robbed us from our families and loved ones. Three years of living with this virus and it is still taking time away from us.
One of emotions I have is pure sadness. I was given the gift of being able to spend 5 quality days with my brother. 5 days that he spent away from his family. Only for him to come home and have to quarantine from his family for 10 days. He has two little kids at home. Not an easy an ask for him or my sister-in-law. And not fair to the little ones that missed their dad and only wanted to spend time with him once he returned from his trip.
I feel selfish that this is the price that we had to pay.
Frustrated that I was careful but “not careful” enough. I am quite certain that I picked it up on Wednesday during my travel day since I didn’t start to feel any ill effects until the race. My brother tested positive a few days after I did so he obviously picked it up from me once I started to become symptomatic.
One month prior to this trip, I had gotten the bivalent booster. Two weeks prior to the race, I reverse quarantined from any social activities for to avoid picking up any illness before the race. I wore a mask into any stores.
I wore a mask on the plane. But the mask was a surgical mask, I should have worn a K95 or N95 for more protection. When I landed in Phoenix, I wore a mask 80% of the time while I was running errands into the stores. I should have been more diligent and worn a mask 100% of the time.
Those two things are literally the only 2 things I could have done differently. Would it have changed the outcome, maybe not. But I won’t take that gamble again.
I will say, because of the race season and travel I have planned for 2023, I don’t want to be taken out again. Nor do I think I could emotionally handle it. Not to mention the physical toll it has on my body, the time it takes away from training to recuperate. I will be taking these “should haves” into practice going forward.
Again many more emotions: frustration, depression, helplessness, hopelessness, anger. It sounds grim but just being honest. I am ok, and I will be ok, I’m just feeling the emotions and sharing them to normalize the fact that it’s ok to feel all of these emotions and it’s ok to talk about it.
Our lives are not always rainbows and sunshine. I’m an optimistic at heart and don’t dwell on the negative and very rarely do I ever share about it. But I do believe mental health is important and we all need to have a safe place to share and normalize all of the emotions. The reality is, the implications of this pandemic and the mental and emotional toll that it has put on all of us, is something we will continue to see emerge. Be kind. Be patient. Be present. Be love. We all could use more of that in our lives.
Fueled By TheFeed.
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