The game has changed.

As I write this, there are 77 days until Patriots' Day. Twenty-eight days in February, thirty-one in March, and eighteen in April.

The bad news: I lost the entire month of January to sickness.

The good news: I am healthy now, and I am hungry. The last couple of days, I have felt this energy in me, trying to find its way out. I feel strong. I feel anxious, in a good way, like I haven't felt in longer than I can remember.

Tomorrow is my first day back on the grind. Probably a light run, some time on the elliptical, some core work, and maybe a little strength training, depending on how I feel.

I don't have much time. Eleven weeks. I have to train smarter than I've ever trained. I have to push myself further than I've ever pushed myself before. I have to stay healthy, eat healthy. This challenge is so much more than I ever expected, now. Of course, no one can foresee being sick for nearly a month straight, either. That said, it's here, it's in front of me, it's attainable. I got this.

I got this.

Is there a doctor in the house?

Last time I wrote, which was about 11 days ago, I explained the lovely, and odd, cold symptoms that I was having. Sinus pressure, headaches, bloody mucus, and a hint of a scratchy throat. All of those things I had had for a little less than a week at that point.

A few days after that post, I saw my PCP. Gave me some antibiotics. Started taking them, the sinuses started to get better, less bloody.

Flash forward to today, 8 days after that appointment.

I am still sick, but have a whole new set of symptoms!

Sinuses are more or less done. Still a little stuffy, but manageable. I have had a fever, very off and on, for perhaps the last two weeks. Due to its strange timing -- sometimes it goes away for a day or two before coming back -- I did not really notice it until a few days ago. Thinking back, I probably had a fever in a few situations where I just didn't notice it, like being outside shoveling or walking or waiting for the T.

Throat is 1000% percent worse. It hurts very much to swallow. Eating Saltines feels like eating swords. My glands are swollen like crazy, and I am salivating a goddamn ton. On top of that, in the last 48 hours, dry heaves/vomiting has been added to the mix. Just lovely, really. And, while it's not really a symptom, per se, the horrible dreams/nightmares I have been having the last few nights suck.

What is with the wheel of symptoms? Does anyone have any logical explanation for this?

Now playing: "Sick, Sick, Sick"

Good god.

I feel pretty miserable.

For the last... week or so, my sinuses have been exploding. I'll spare you all the lovely, disgusting details, but I will say that in the last couple of days, it has turned distinctly bloody. Not cool. The headaches and neckaches that have come along (the former due to the pressure, the latter due to being unable to sleep) have only made things lovelier. I tried running on Thursday and I thought I was going to faint. It was not good.

It's time to see a doctor. Though I'm not sure what he'll say -- this feels like more than just a sinus infection. I've had those before, they've come and gone pretty quietly. Never like this. The only symptoms I've got are the sinus headaches / the horrible mucus, a slightly scratchy throat, and possibly swollen glands. Otherwise, I feel fit as a fiddle. No cough, no fluid in the lungs, no fever, no fatigue. I just feel like I've been beaten about the head and neck.

Ugh.

Anyone know any temporary fixes until I can go see the doctor later this week?

New Year and a race day recap

New Year's Day, Wicked Frosty Four. Nice little race, mostly flat, a few hills of little consequence, one good size one. I didn't feel particularly great for the third mile, thought I was going to puke; the OJ and toast I had for breakfast sorta bubbled up. No good. That said, between that and essentially taking the month of December off, my time of 39:50 was better than expected. I came in hoping to break 40, and with an admittedly bad run, I still did, so I feel pretty good, in retrospect.

Anyway, we are officially in 2010 now, which means that the Marathon looms ever closer. I'm off to the Y tomorrow for some strength training and either a short run or a long session with the elliptical machine, depending on how crowded it is. Might consider a swim if the pool is open. Guess I'm gonna play it more by ear than I thought.

Gotta remember to stretch better. I've done a shitty job of it as of late, and that will not cut it going forward.

I've been a bad runner, a bad blogger, and a great son

Since Thanksgiving, a number of maladies have kept me from keeping a proper running schedule. As I believe I've mentioned, I was working 30+ hours a week at work on top of school and life in general. My last day of work was Christmas eve, so I get those hours back, plus, until school starts up, the hours from class. On top of that, I managed to bruise the underside of my heel. Had some dead skin peeling off of it, a callous giving way, so I gave a pull at it, and the skin didn't come. Ouch. Thing was deep red for a few days, now it's more purple. Doesn't hurt much now, thankfully.

So I haven't really run much in the last month. Shame on me. I've kept up my core workouts, which is good, and work got me used to being on my feet for hours and hours on end. With the New Year will come true dedication -- running a 4 miler on New Year's day, YMCA membership will be back in use, and my newly acquired Under Armour (woo Christmas gifts) will be put to the test.

That said, Christmas went well. I was up until the wee hours of Christmas Eve/Christmas morning putting together the presentation of my Dad's gift.

First, I took a beat up, old, empty shoebox. Then I dug out my beat up old Sauconys. Then, I took the lovely banner that we received from Dana-Farber, folded it up, and put it in the bottom of the old shoebox. On top of the banner, I placed the card I wrote, which said something to the effect of the following:

Dad, over the last year, you've had a long, difficult journey. You've met it head on every step of the way.

Now it's my turn.

As a tribute to your victory over cancer, I will be running the 2010 Boston Marathon to raise money for cancer research, as a member of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge.

Merry Christmas, and many more.
Love, Chris

On top of the card, I placed the busted old Sauconys. I closed the shoebox, taped the lid shut, wrapped it. Christmas morning, I told him he couldn't open my gift until we got to my aunt's house, where his entire side of the family would be for Christmas dinner.

After dinner, dessert, and everyone else had opened their presents, my mom got everyone's attention, and I gave my dad his gift. He opened it, took out the shoes, confusing everyone. Then he went for the plastic of the banner, but I yelled at him to open the card. He opened the card, and read it to himself. Everyone else watched closely. He passed the card to the right and let a few people read it before everyone asked my uncle John to read it aloud. He did, and upon finishing, I looked around the room and realized that everyone in the room was crying.

I made roughly 15 people cry tears of happiness on Christmas day. I think it's safe to say it was the best Christmas gift anyone in my family has ever given, and I am endlessly proud of that.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Equilibrium

I have found myself in a balancing act worthy of Cirque du Soleil. And I have no idea how to manage it from now until Christmas.

I am working, on average, about 32 hours a week. I have no problems with that by itself, I'm 21, I need the money. However, I also have roughly 16 hours of class a week. Plus time commuting to and from both places, and in between classes. That puts me at about 55-60 hours of work and travel. Two and a half out of seven days. Then there's sleep. Probably 48 hours of that in a week. And work for classes, which at this time of year is probably another 8-12 hours a week. That's five out of seven days of my week accounted for. You'll note that this is omitting "menial" tasks like eating, showering, using the bathroom, and breathing.

It's also omitting my social life. The one thing I want to be taking up my time. And to my credit, I have managed to keep myself from becoming a total hermit / workaholic. I've kept up with my friends pretty well, all things considered.

And I've met an amazing girl. I'll save you all the gushy details, but her name is Lauren, and I am smitten. The commuting required for our dates is a bit... obnoxious (Salem for me, Brigham Circle area for her), but I couldn't care less. Curiously, the DFMC is actually making it easier. Runners meetings at DFCI are close for her, and when I start getting out to some of the Crossroads runs, that'll be almost as easy, I think.

Anyways, here I stand, like a stork in quicksand, trying not to lose my footing. Thankfully, school is over on the 18th and work is probably done for me on the 22nd. But in the meantime, S.O.S.!

Catching up

Been busy lately. Thanksgiving was good. My mom knows that I'm running the Marathon, and has agreed to help me tell my dad and his side of the family on Christmas day. Working on mapping out who where donations will come from and how much we stand to raise. It's looking pretty solid. My fundraising is gonna start catching up with my training.

Training, on the other hand, has ground to a near halt. Blisters on my feet are weird, in that they are under the calloused skin. They won't break open on their own, but I'm not about to break them open, either. It's still uncomfortable to run on them, particularly up any sort of incline. I'm going to go by the Y tomorrow or Thursday to renew my membership and probably hop in the pool. I sorely miss the swim workouts I was doing in the spring and summer.

Anyway, that's the word from me. Happy December everyone!