Yuck. This illness just is NOT GOING AWAY. I lay in bed last night (in the spare bedroom, my wife having kicked me out so she could get some sleep) listening to myself wheeze. Which led me to do three things today: Go home from work at 10 a.m. because my breathing was not any better; have my nurse call in a prescription for an inhaler for me before I left; and finally, get an afternoon appointment with my PCP.
After he listened to me detail what has gone on, starting with the 12/6 marathon which undoubtedly knocked down my immune system and started this progression, he told me he thinks what happened is that the course of antibiotics right after Christmas reduced but did not eliminate the sinus infection. Which has come back with a vengeance, and the resulting drainage has triggered my asthma, hence the wheezing. So he put me on a stronger antibiotic for 10 days. Otherwise, he said the self-treatment was pretty reasonable -- the inhaler, the antihistamine to try to reduce the drainage. He said the first course of antibiotics would have been fine if all I'd had was bronchitis, but it didn't knock out sinusitis.
But in the meantime, I have not been able to run since Saturday. Nor will I for a while. Ten-milers and wheezing is not a good combination. Get this under control, then start to train again. I still have 18.5 weeks left until Newport. If it takes 10 days before Im ready to run again, so be it. My 18-week plan will become 17. Still enough time to get ready. In the meantime, I think the rest of my body will welcome a little break -- especially since it's not feeling too good now either. We'll have to see if I'm ready to RTW tomorrow. Right now, I'd say the answer will be no. | 