…or would “done for” have been a better way to describe the last few days.

Last year, I was downed by a series of flu like symptoms during my taper period and it cast doubts on my ability to finish, or even run, the Milo Marathon. This year I was feeling good coming into the last 2 weeks with my knee concerns fading into the background when….my place nearly gets burned down! A fire struck the 24th floor of the apartment building I live in and while I was in the office and my family was able to evacuate the premises before they were in any danger, I worried for all my things left behind specially my race bib and running shoes. At almost midnight, when the fire was finally put out, we were allowed to go up to our units to get some things and lock up. However, the elevator was out and I needed to climb 12 flights of flooded stairs to get to my floor. On the way down, I was carrying enough bags for a 1 month stay in Europe. Talk about tapering!

While packing some clothes into our bag, my wife gives me a strange look. “Tatakbo ka pa?” She saw my Nimbus 10, together with my running shirt and shorts. Since I did not know how long we would be out of the house I brought along 1 set of running gear. I planned to wash it after my runs so that I could use it again the next day.

The next day we needed some more things from the house and I had to do my new stair workout all over again, but by last night the service elevator was finally working and we decided to go home. Because there is only one elevator functioning, it takes a while for it to get to my floor when I am going up or down. In which case I don’t hesitate to take the stairs anymore (at least when I’m going down).