Nah

Fatigue. Soreness. Dizziness. Difficulty breathing. And, did we mention fatigue? Could it be the dreaded coronavirus? The question lingers for a second or two.

The short answer is, nah. At least, probably not. It's just Dan on another of his not-so-hot daily runs. Dan, you see, has good days and bad days, or, more accurately, bad days and stinkers. Today is in the latter category.

He is half-way through his planned eleven-mile route when the first raindrop falls on his head. Hmmm, he thinks. Could the weatherman have been wrong? Nah, he thinks. But then comes a second and a third drop. He begins to think that the weatherman, who'd stated that the rain would hold off until 8:00 AM was indeed wrong after all, by an hour and a half.

Dan's run, which had started off even more slowly than usual, had only just begun to slightly improve. This rain may cause one of three things: further improvement, further lousy running at the same speed, or a complete Wicked-Witch-of-the-West type meltdown. Guess which one Dan experiences?

Further improvement or running at the same speed? Nah. Anyone who knows Dan and who hasn't been living under a rock for the past 66 years knows that Dan hates cold rain. This day, he hates it more than usual, and he slows down more and more.

That's when the fatigue, dizziness, etc., occur. Somehow, Dan soldiers on, even as the miles get slower and slower. He manages to complete the eleven miles, but he's cold and wet and decidedly unpretty.

And those symptoms: are they better? Nah.