Monday: 0
Had a really rough night. Just didn't sleep much at all, a lot of pain, difficult to get in and out of bed, both chills and sweating.
Tried so hard to mask my awkward and uncomfortable gait walking when I got to work. Fortunately, either no one noticed or if they did, they didn't ask.
Called the doc as soon as the office opened, and took the last appointment left. Even difficult to lower my corpulent mass into his chair, and raise it back out. He explained the high reading on my C-reactive protein result only indicates that there is a lot of inflammation in my body, but doesn't indicate where or what. While the Lyme test came back negative, he reiterated that false-negatives are the norm, especially early after tick bites. Next step: Repeat every lab test I had, add more detailed tests for ticks, test for Rheumatoid Arthitis (similar symptoms as Lyme), Procalcitonin (systemic infections/sepsis), and start a new regimen of Doxycycline.
Tuesday: 0
Noticed and pulled a very engorged nymph tick off my right leg. Mother Fletcher. Very bloody. Damn it all. How long has that bugger had me as a host?
Wednesday: 3
Fun Run. When the run started, I couldn't believe how creaky and stiff I was. Should I just pull over and quit? No, I definitely don't want to answer a bevy of well-intended questions after. Maybe I can just finish the mile event. Felt like I was working just to make a 7-minute pace, with lots of aches. I went on to finish the 5K, but definitely did not feel good. 21:52. I'd like to say I was just taking it easy, but the truth is it was work.
Thursday: 0
Got a call from the doc. The first half of the second labwork series came in. The bad news is that my C-reactive protein (normal is < 10) rose from 48 to 61, so I still have a lot of inflammation in my body. The good news is the test for Rheumatoid Arthritis came back negative.
Friday: 1 walk
Didn't sleep too well last night with some nagging aches, but nothing like Sunday/Monday overnight. Felt better as the day progressed, and the incessant rain finally stopped! Went for a post-dinner walk around the neighborhood. Pleasant. No pain; minimal aches (hips and shoulders).
Saturday: 5
University Orthopedics 5K, East Providence. What am I doing running a race with my ailments, and having BRR tomorrow? I was asked to run for the Washington Trust (my employer) team, and given a code to run it for free. Jana and I both ran. I was expecting to run in some run-down area, but it was actually quite nice, especially on the East Bay Bike Path along the water. Went on a 2-mile warm-up to ease out some of the creaks, and felt better afterwards and was ready to go.
Ran my first two miles at 6:27, and final mile with some moderate uphill at 6:32. Finished sub-20, barely. Was I running all out? No, but I was still working pretty hard.
Sunday: 12
Back Road Ramble, Charlestown
Showed up at 6am to mark the course with Sergio and Jonathan. Huge thank-you to the latter for reaching out to me and offering to help mark, especially given he wasn't even racing the event! That really made the marking so much easier.
I've been on the YMCA race committee for six years now; I think longer than anyone else. Sometimes I wonder if it's time to move on (from this or my WTAC VP/RD position or marking the course for the high school XC home meets), but I do enjoy running related functions and still enjoy giving back to the community. When it is no longer a labor of love, it will be time to pass the baton.
Volunteers were dropping like flies today, so we would have to improvise and eliminate course marshals at two locations, where the short and long courses split, and then where they cut across each other. Fortunately, we had marked well and I would remind myself at pre-race announcements to repeatedly point out the course splits and color differences in flags. There's only so much you can do.
The race: At the start of the race, Tommy 5K, Aaron and Brandon Tallardy, and guy in American flag shorts all went out quickly ahead of me. I was concerned about running roughly six miles on moderately technical trails, especially given that I had barely run at all in recent weeks with my ailments and this would be my longest run since Cranmore. (yeah, pretty pathetic, eh?)
About a mile in, near the beach that we couldn't run on this year (as the state had it blocked off and is assessing the feasibility of adding 96 campsites at North Camp), I caught up to Brandon and went past him. (Flag Guy was leading the way, followed by Tommy 5K, followed by Aaron, and now me in 4th place.) I was in complete no-man's land by the time we got to Sammy C's two miles in, and I took my time working through the rocky sections. One benefit out of the very rainy spring season is that it was nice to see the streams flowing quite well (there are several sections you need to cross). With about a mile to go, I was surprised to come up on the next runner. No, it wasn't high-school runner Aaron, it was Flag Guy, and when he tripped on a root in the mud, it was the perfect time to go by him. After asking if he was OK, he said yes, and just waived me on.
The road section was a blur. I was going past walkers from the tail end of the short course, down the hill to Camp Watchaug, and done.
Final results: 44:45, 3rd place overall. Full results here.
I finished a good five minutes behind Tommy (39:43) and just over a minute after Aaron (43:21). My finish was not surprisingly at all much slower than recent years (2018: 40:29, 2017: 39:49), but I was just happy to be out there. Played out on the water trampoline with Tommy, and got some lunch before awards.
What I was not happy about was that the Chariho high school runners, who had volunteered to sweep the course, did not show up at all. When called by YMCA staff, the response was "we forgot". I was tired and ready to go home, but needed to go back out on the course now and pull flags and signs in the now hot sun. This is feedback I will give to the Y, as this just has to change.
Weekly mileage: 20 run, 1 walk
Weekly synopsis: Started the week horribly in pain and mercilessly pessimistic. Ended the week feeling the best I have in three weeks and with a healthy and renewed optimism. While two consecutive days of feeling good does not a pattern make, and I do have a some fear of a sudden repeat of these arthritic and painful symptoms, I am cautiously optimistic.
Weekly highlight: Today (Sunday). To run 12 miles and feel sore but otherwise good, this made me happy indeed. With the day coming to an end (10pm), it looks like this will go down as the first day in three weeks that I had no pain at any time during the day!
Weekly lowlight: Last Sunday night/Monday morning was an absolute miserable existence for me. Painful and scary at the same time. Fortunately, at this point, that does appear to my nadir of this ordeal.
Had a really rough night. Just didn't sleep much at all, a lot of pain, difficult to get in and out of bed, both chills and sweating.
Tried so hard to mask my awkward and uncomfortable gait walking when I got to work. Fortunately, either no one noticed or if they did, they didn't ask.
Called the doc as soon as the office opened, and took the last appointment left. Even difficult to lower my corpulent mass into his chair, and raise it back out. He explained the high reading on my C-reactive protein result only indicates that there is a lot of inflammation in my body, but doesn't indicate where or what. While the Lyme test came back negative, he reiterated that false-negatives are the norm, especially early after tick bites. Next step: Repeat every lab test I had, add more detailed tests for ticks, test for Rheumatoid Arthitis (similar symptoms as Lyme), Procalcitonin (systemic infections/sepsis), and start a new regimen of Doxycycline.
 |
| My lack of athletic endeavors is not doing me any favors. This was me weighing in at the doctor's office before my appointment. |
Tuesday: 0
Noticed and pulled a very engorged nymph tick off my right leg. Mother Fletcher. Very bloody. Damn it all. How long has that bugger had me as a host?
 |
| Be honest; can any of you actually read this prescription? Do people working in the medical people study scribble as a course? ------- Handed my PT my prescription and recommendation that I received from the ortho doctor. He struggled, but read it. I was impressed, as it just looks like garbled scribble to me. |
Wednesday: 3
Fun Run. When the run started, I couldn't believe how creaky and stiff I was. Should I just pull over and quit? No, I definitely don't want to answer a bevy of well-intended questions after. Maybe I can just finish the mile event. Felt like I was working just to make a 7-minute pace, with lots of aches. I went on to finish the 5K, but definitely did not feel good. 21:52. I'd like to say I was just taking it easy, but the truth is it was work.
 |
| My gait looks pretty horrible here; mirroring how I feel. |
Got a call from the doc. The first half of the second labwork series came in. The bad news is that my C-reactive protein (normal is < 10) rose from 48 to 61, so I still have a lot of inflammation in my body. The good news is the test for Rheumatoid Arthritis came back negative.
Friday: 1 walk
Didn't sleep too well last night with some nagging aches, but nothing like Sunday/Monday overnight. Felt better as the day progressed, and the incessant rain finally stopped! Went for a post-dinner walk around the neighborhood. Pleasant. No pain; minimal aches (hips and shoulders).
Saturday: 5
University Orthopedics 5K, East Providence. What am I doing running a race with my ailments, and having BRR tomorrow? I was asked to run for the Washington Trust (my employer) team, and given a code to run it for free. Jana and I both ran. I was expecting to run in some run-down area, but it was actually quite nice, especially on the East Bay Bike Path along the water. Went on a 2-mile warm-up to ease out some of the creaks, and felt better afterwards and was ready to go.
 |
| A lot of the course was either right along the water, or had views of same. |
Ran my first two miles at 6:27, and final mile with some moderate uphill at 6:32. Finished sub-20, barely. Was I running all out? No, but I was still working pretty hard.
 |
| I'm about three rows back, in BISS blue singlet, about to cross the start line. |
 |
| I passed this 18-year old at about 2.5 miles, but he had a kick and blew past me at the end (you can see me coming in behind him). |
 |
| Done |
 |
| I seem pretty happy for some reason |
 |
| Not my usual 5K time and hope this isn't the new norm, but with the ailments didn't think I would get much under 22. |
Sunday: 12
Back Road Ramble, Charlestown
Showed up at 6am to mark the course with Sergio and Jonathan. Huge thank-you to the latter for reaching out to me and offering to help mark, especially given he wasn't even racing the event! That really made the marking so much easier.
 |
| Not a very good picture, but it was neat to see the mountain laurel in full bloom along the course. |
 |
| When there are blow-downs, mountain bikers typically create detours around them. But this is a trail race, so I blocked it off ... |
 |
| ... and put the course back over the fallen log. This is a trail race, right? |
I've been on the YMCA race committee for six years now; I think longer than anyone else. Sometimes I wonder if it's time to move on (from this or my WTAC VP/RD position or marking the course for the high school XC home meets), but I do enjoy running related functions and still enjoy giving back to the community. When it is no longer a labor of love, it will be time to pass the baton.
Volunteers were dropping like flies today, so we would have to improvise and eliminate course marshals at two locations, where the short and long courses split, and then where they cut across each other. Fortunately, we had marked well and I would remind myself at pre-race announcements to repeatedly point out the course splits and color differences in flags. There's only so much you can do.
The race: At the start of the race, Tommy 5K, Aaron and Brandon Tallardy, and guy in American flag shorts all went out quickly ahead of me. I was concerned about running roughly six miles on moderately technical trails, especially given that I had barely run at all in recent weeks with my ailments and this would be my longest run since Cranmore. (yeah, pretty pathetic, eh?)
About a mile in, near the beach that we couldn't run on this year (as the state had it blocked off and is assessing the feasibility of adding 96 campsites at North Camp), I caught up to Brandon and went past him. (Flag Guy was leading the way, followed by Tommy 5K, followed by Aaron, and now me in 4th place.) I was in complete no-man's land by the time we got to Sammy C's two miles in, and I took my time working through the rocky sections. One benefit out of the very rainy spring season is that it was nice to see the streams flowing quite well (there are several sections you need to cross). With about a mile to go, I was surprised to come up on the next runner. No, it wasn't high-school runner Aaron, it was Flag Guy, and when he tripped on a root in the mud, it was the perfect time to go by him. After asking if he was OK, he said yes, and just waived me on.
The road section was a blur. I was going past walkers from the tail end of the short course, down the hill to Camp Watchaug, and done.
Final results: 44:45, 3rd place overall. Full results here.
I finished a good five minutes behind Tommy (39:43) and just over a minute after Aaron (43:21). My finish was not surprisingly at all much slower than recent years (2018: 40:29, 2017: 39:49), but I was just happy to be out there. Played out on the water trampoline with Tommy, and got some lunch before awards.
 |
| Good representation from WTAC on a beautiful sunny day |
Weekly mileage: 20 run, 1 walk
Weekly synopsis: Started the week horribly in pain and mercilessly pessimistic. Ended the week feeling the best I have in three weeks and with a healthy and renewed optimism. While two consecutive days of feeling good does not a pattern make, and I do have a some fear of a sudden repeat of these arthritic and painful symptoms, I am cautiously optimistic.
Weekly highlight: Today (Sunday). To run 12 miles and feel sore but otherwise good, this made me happy indeed. With the day coming to an end (10pm), it looks like this will go down as the first day in three weeks that I had no pain at any time during the day!
Weekly lowlight: Last Sunday night/Monday morning was an absolute miserable existence for me. Painful and scary at the same time. Fortunately, at this point, that does appear to my nadir of this ordeal.
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