Pukey Pukester

The week before my The Glass Slipper I was sick with a cold, but I powered through, trained that last week, had a good two races, and came back home.

Then my sickness came back with a vengeance. For the past few days I've been in my apartment feeling miserable - constantly swallowing phlegm, sneezing, coughing, sore throat, fatigue, grossness.

Today I decided that I was sick of being sick, that I would pretend that I wasn't and go to the gym.

There's this guy who works at my gym, we'll call him Ted. Ted was the one who actually sold me my membership. I see Ted almost every single time I go to the gym AND I HATE IT. I get the feeling that Ted thinks I'm fat and out of shape and feels pity for me. While that feeling is completely unfounded, as he has been nothing but friendly, he just always has a smug look when he says "Hi Caitlin," or "Nice to see you," and after Christmas break he was like "Caitlin! It's been a while! Where have you been?" Like yes, I know I'm chubby, and I should be in here every day, but I'm not.

So today I get to the gym - no Ted in sight. I start running on the treadmill and of freaking course he comes in and sees me. I was shaky today. I did four miles, but it was four miles of hell. Cold sweat, snot running down my face, mouth breathing. But there goes Ted walking past my treadmill every couple of minutes JUDGING ME.

Finally after mile four I felt that horrible- oh no-I've pushed myself too far-I'm clammy-I'm gonna puke-why did I come- feeling, so I hopped off the treadmill, grabbed some water and headed for the locker room, feeling like I was gonna vomit. I get in there and of course there's a dude janitor cleaning the place, so I couldn't puke. I grabbed my jacket, feeling the puke rise in my mouth. It was there in my mouth as I'm headed for the front door of the gym, just trying to get out there to figure out what I was gonna do WHEN FREAKING TED APPEARS.

I had almost made it to the door when Ted said, "Hey Caitlin!"

I had no choice. I swallowed my puke. Then I turned around and said, "Hey Ted, see ya later!"