Every Race is an Adventure!

I never thought I'd feel good about running a 4:39 marathon. I don't feel great about it, but given my injuries and conditioning, and how hot it was, I am quite satisfied. My hip and IT band acted up some, but on the whole my body held up well and I pulled out of my very limited conditioning about all that was there. I've recovered quite well and actually feel pretty good.

Wayne, Kevin and I ran together at about 9:15 pace until after Veyo. At our prodding, Wayne pushed on ahead and Kevin and I stayed together a bit longer. I messed up and lost Kevin between 11 and 13. His already bad knee gradually got worse and he (I think wisely) pulled out at 16. I continued on alone the rest of the way. At 21 I had averaged 10:15/mi. I slowed down and ended up averaging 10:39/mi.

Starting at Veyo, I started my plan to take it easy and walk when needed to rest my joints. I think it worked well. I'd usually only walk for 20-30 paces, or until I got my breathing back to normal, but that seemed to be enough to keep my injuries at bay and keep me moving forward despite my lack of conditioning.

Now it's time to focus on getting healed over the winter. Next year I'd like to try running after training properly again.

Well, life sure is full of new adventures. I thought I had come through Saturday's St. George marathon relatively unscathed, but today the doctor confirmed my self-diagnosis of shingles, most likely triggered by the stress of running the marathon.

For my own future reference, here is a summary of the diagnosis and treatment: 

Shingles is a viral infection that causes a painful rash. Although shingles can occur anywhere on your body, it most often appears as a single stripe of blisters that wraps around either the left or the right side of your torso. Left side for me.

Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus — the same virus that causes chickenpox. After you've had chickenpox, the virus lies inactive in nerve tissue near your spinal cord and brain. Years later, the virus may reactivate as shingles. Shingles is more common in older adults (such as 51) and in people who have weak immune systems. It can also be triggered by stress (such as running a marathon).

While it isn't a life-threatening condition, shingles can be very painful. Vaccines can help reduce the risk of shingles (I saw a sign at Rite-Aid today offering Shingles vaccinations, too late for me), while early treatment (what I’m hopefully getting) can help shorten a shingles infection and lessen the chance of complications. (My dad lost vision in his right eye from a bad case of shingles. Permanent pain after the infection is gone is also a possible complication.)

My Treatment:
Valacyclovir (Valtrex) – 1 (blue horse-pill sized) tablet 3 times a day - suppressive therapy of shingles (herpes zoster). Also helps in controlling the spread of the virus.
Kenalog injection: a corticosteroid hormone to reduce the body's immune response. (When I jokingly asked if the steroids would help me buff up, the doctor did say that my sore joints might feel better.)
Lyrica: to treat nerve pain after shingles. The doctor wants me to take these at night (because they cause drowsiness) for 3 weeks.

All of these drugs, of course, have potential negative side effects (permanent dementia, spontaneous gender change, increased risk of alien abduction, the feeling of being drawn and quartered, etc.). Time will tell how my body will respond.

The doctor told me that my body is fighting a major infection and that I should avoid stress and rest whenever I feel tired. I'll probably work from home mixed with resting for a few days.

Life is full of adventures/adversities. This is my new one for now. It should be interesting. I’m curious to see how it goes. I hope to endure well.

Larry, Wayne and I went for 5 easy miles up Provo Canyon at 5:45am. It was still dark when we finished. Wayne headed out for more after Larry and I headed home.

Well, I think my shingles outbreak has run its course. I feel very fortunate that I got into the doctor and he knew the right medications to minimize the symptoms and long-term risks.

I wish I had as much confidence in the diagnosis of my hip pains. I'm confident the sacral stress fracture diagnosis is accurate. I can feel pain in the affected area when I lift too much or overdo it, and the pain is minimized or eliminated when I where my sacroiliac belt.

The pain that I can't explain is the pain I generally only get in my right hip after running 4+ miles, sometimes not until 9-10 miles. The MRI showed a labral tear, but the hip specialist at the U of U Orthopedic Center, after examining me, said I was not showing any sign of pain in the location of the tear and didn't recommend hip surgery to correct it. The diagnostic cortisone injection in the hip also had no affect, indicating the pain is not from the tear.

I've decided for the time being to stick to walking or stationary bike. I went 20 minutes on the bike this morning. I've never worked out on a stationary bike before so I took it kind of easy. Our bike has 4 pre-programmed workouts and I did #4. The resistance got as high as 5 (out of 10). I barely worked up a sweat by the end. Karen customizes her own workouts. I may have to do the same. I can gradually push the resistance higher and go longer.

It may be a long, boring winter, but I want to err on the side of doing too little rather than too much. I really want to be healed by spring.