Better not knowing

     Monday I was at a small dairy to preg check the entire herd.  The gentleman that owns the farm has had enough, and decided that it's time to sell the cows.  This always makes me sad, I hate to see small family farms come to an end.  I'm also a sentimental guy, and I have a lot of good memories I have made on this dairy over the years, and it's sad to think I won't be going there anymore.
     The set up for preg checking cows is less than ideal though.  On this particular dairy we run them through the milking parlor one at a time, where I then get behind them and do my work.  Well these cows are used to coming in the barn to be milked, so at least they come in willingly.  Too willingly you might say.  I was shoulder deep in a cow, when I realized that no one had closed the door to the barn behind me.  Cows outside eager to come in did not care that I was there, and piled in right on top of me.  I was able to jump up, and get out with very minor injuries.  I have an eyelet on a boot that's now crushed, and is hard to lace now.   Also there's some bruising on my right leg, but it seems to be intact and functional.
    It is a little sore to run on though.  But being in training for a marathon doesn't leave time for luxuries like days off because of injury.  So I ran six miles on it yesterday anyways.  For the first three quarters of a mile, it felt like I was limping severely in my running stride, and I started to have doubts creep into my head "What am I doing this for?  Why don't you just quit?"  But after a while like always seems to happen on a run, your body falls into it's natural rhythm, you forget about the pain, and the world gets smaller.  Suddenly all that seems to matter is the few feet surrounding you.  Once this happens all the world seems right.  Also the rest of the night the leg didn't hurt.
     However, getting out of bed this morning the leg was once again stiff and tender.  A coworker saw me limping around on it, this coworker also witnessed the accident at the dairy the other day, and suggested that maybe there is a hairline fracture in the leg, and that maybe we should X-ray it.
     This I politely declined.  Explaining that if I find out for sure that there is a crack in the leg, then I'll feel obligated to quit running on it.  Whereas I don't know, I don't mind running on it, especially if it loosens up during the run, and makes me feel better later.  One of our receptionists over heard the exchange and said "Mike, you know you could really hurt yourself with that kind of attitude."  To which I responded "Well, I did just recently sign up for a Marathon, so seriously hurting myself seems inevitable already."
   

An ill advised bet?

My beloved CSU Rams were defeated in the 2014 Las Vegas bowl by the University of Utah.  So being the good sport that I am, I sent a text message to a long time friend of mine (and a proud Utah Alum), congratulating him on the win.  He quickly wrote back, and suggested that we should run the 2015 SLC Marathon together to mourn/celebrate.
     Being the sucker that I am, I went home and immediately started running again.  It had been approximately a month and a half since I'd last run (I'd run a half marathon shortly before the layoff), but was nearly maimed in a hydraulic chute accident and had been to sore to run.
     Just before the deadline to sign up for the race, I plunked my money down, and made it official.  I'm now 2 weeks in to the 4 month training program.  My left achilles is already flaring up, as well as the plantar fascia in my left foot.  I'm hoping to be able to complete this thing with my buddy.  But so far my body is not cooperating.  I'm hoping that the fact that I'll be running slower, to stay with my friend, and not trying to qualify for Boston in this race, will be able to keep me healthy.