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A minor setback paves the way for a major comeback

#abetterversionofme2018
Making the decision to withdraw from the HCMC marathon this past weekend was far from easy, but I know deep down that it was the right thing to do.

Over the last 5 days, I’ve gone from experiencing a sore throat, to suffering from a head cold, to dealing with flu-like symptoms – body aches, fever, nausea, cramps, fatigue, lack of appetite, to having trouble breathing… It’s as if my body systems all just went completely berserk!!!

But… Why? Why me? Why now?

Could it be nerves, could it be over-training, could it be the effects of “tapering ”, could it be my diet, could it be a lack of proper sleep…I can go on, but realistically, I’ll never really know the true reasons why I got so sick.

As I’ve laid in bed ill, shed a few tears and “painfully” watched fellow runners post hundreds of pictures and videos of the race over the last couple days, I’ve come to realize that...

1 – I actually like running a lot more than I thought;
2 – I’m surrounded by some pretty good people, near and far, that support me when I'm down;
3 – My body and my health are so much more important than any one event;
4 – All my hard work wasn’t really wasted, as I enjoyed my training sessions spent with new friends and old friends, both in new places and old places;

5 – Things could be alot worse and this isn't the end of the world!

Time to turn this SETBACK into a COMEBACK!
(I mean, as soon as my body is ready of course...)

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