Sioux Falls, SD

Running Time: 55:53 + 2-minute kick

Dunham Park/Silver Valley Greenway Trail

Another last-minute venue shift. I saw this trail running along a river as I got off the freeway for my hotel, and it looked inviting, although it was paved. It was walking distance from the hotel, and it got away from traffic about as well as could be expected within the city.

Turns out it was not a river, and certainly nothing as exotic as the Missouri River, but rather it was Skunk Creek, which turned out to be oddly appropriate. It was a picturesque route, and there were no foul aromas – just the occasional goose poop to avoid.

The weather was warm and windy. I ran upstream and into the wind for the first half, then turned around and glided back to my starting point. The trail took me past some ballfields and over some quaint wooden bridges. A fair amount of walkers, bikers, skateboarders, and runners were out.

The foul part of the run was not the run but the aftermath. I had a nice beer at a taproom right next to the hotel as I waited for my Ruby Tuesday dinner to be delivered from next door. I ate and worked, and went to sleep, and woke up with chest congestion. I got a Covid test and – negative. I went about my day. The next night I hardly slept at all. I took a second test – positive.

So now I was in Waterloo, Iowa, with a flight to catch in Omaha that evening, in a rental car, in a Holiday Inn. I called the rental car center in Omaha and arranged to switch cars. I canceled my flight. I reserved a room for the night in North Platte, NE. I drove to Omaha, switched cars, then drove to North Platte, spent the night, then drove Saturday to Salt Lake City and picked up my car and drove home.

My symptoms were mild. That made it possible to drive from Waterloo, IA, to Santaquin, UT, in two days. Mostly I just felt tired and sleepy. DayQuil knocked down the symptoms efficiently. I stopped a lot and rested. I actually like the feeling of sleepiness, so it was not an awful time. But, I would be coming home contagious and putting the family at risk – not good.

Triple-vaccinated, ardently masking – still at risk. Somewhere in my trip this week, I came close to an unmasked contagious person, maybe when I had my mask off. And it beat my immune defenses. No guarantees, people.