The cold air nipped at us, and I struggled to stop shivering as we waited for the start of the Black Canyon 100k ultramarathon. Luckily, it was only a few moments of shiver-waiting, before it was time to cross the starting line. I tucked inside of my jacket a bit and put one foot in front of the other. Those first 3 or 4 miles were rough. I shivered and tried to ignore the sound of my heavier-than-typical breathing. About 9 days before this moment, I woke up with a chest cold–a deep, dark, slimy and furry organism had burrowed …