The Curse of the DOWN !!!!!!!!

To get the full effect of this blog entry, you need to read the title in a low and echoic voice and follow up with an immediate Jaws-like, "da duh.........da duh................da duh da duh da duh da duh!"

What you are about to read is true. Nothing has been changed to protect the innocent.

I discovered this morning that my running habit has often been affected by a curse. It is the curse of the down! (Repeat the first paragraph if you'd like.) You see, my wife and I bought a down comforter approximately 12 years ago. While the duvet covers have changed through the years, the soft, warm, plush, (did I mention soft?) comforter has remained the same.

I was all geared up to start the morning off right. I had my coffee set to go off at 5:15 in the Quisinart, gym bag packed up, lunch prepared, and clothes laid out. My alarm went off promptly at 5:15 am. I actually remember that I was having a dream about terrorists. I was working with an individual of a particular religious persuasion and trying to determine if he was being honest or buying his time to carry out his evil plan. It was a true "24" dream and not the kind you particularly want to go back to sleep for.

I pushed my arm outside of the covers and hit the snooze but then, suddenly, the down comforter wrapped around my shoulder, pulling me back into a spoon-like position. I could not escape its grasp! Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

No more than ten minutes later this scenario would be played out all over again. The down would tease me by allowing me to get one arm out just enough to hit the alarm but then suck me back into its clutches like a helpless bug in a toilet flush. Another ten minutes later its “game” would begin all over again.

It wasn't until an hour and a half later that I finally escaped its evil…although…oh so comfortable grasp! As I staggered down the hallway I could almost hear its goose feathers swishing in glee that another workout had been thwarted.

I got ready, repacked my gym bag with my workout clothes, and headed out the door. I would have the last laugh! I would work out after work! My new plan worked out flawlessly except that a newly formed hole in my sock began to cause a blister and cut my run short. Who knew all these fabrics work together? But I have to figure out how to break the powerful grasp of the down each morning.

Tomorrow is a bike day and I plan to preload my bike on the trainer tonight so I will be all ready in the morning. I have 2 hours of Cyclism Sundays on the DVR I can watch as I ride. Tomorrow I will try a new plan and set TWO alarms to get up in the morning, with one all the way across the room. Tomorrow the marathon starts all over. I just hope I can break the curse!