The Aftermath

Well now that it's been a couple of weeks since the Umstead 100 things have started to almost get back to normal. There was some normal expected stuff in the recovery time, like blisters and walking with a limp. What I did not expect was a sinus infection. Apparently, the entire body responds to 75 miles of trauma with inflammation and it really blew up behind my nose. A sinus infection was already present before the race (according to the doctor), and the inflammation response blew it up into sinus pressure. The pressure then generalized into a migraine. This got worse every day. Finally on Friday after the race I went to the doctor thinking I needed an antibiotic or something. $300 later I got a shot in the ass that relieved the migraine for about 6 hours before it came raging back. I cannot express how badly our health care system sucks.

Week 2 was more of the same. I sang a solo in the church choir that Sunday, under severe medication. It went ok, but not my best stuff. The antibiotics did nothing. Blisters and muscles felt fine, and I really wanted to start working out again. But this migraine was absolutely debilitating. I haven't had a multi-day headache like this since 2005, and I did not miss it at all. Finally this Friday the 15th was the first day without medication so I thought I would be in the clear. The best combination of meds seemed to be 2 Aleve and 2 Excedrin Migraine at the same time for about 4 hours of relief.

Saturday I ran 10 miles, my basic route to the State Capital. The headache was easing up, it was a beautiful sunny day, and I really wanted to get some miles. I did end up pushing the speed some, and the heat meant that I was a bit under hydrated. But overall it felt amazing just to be out there again. If I go more than about 2 days without a workout of any kind it makes my personality a bit "testy" - not exactly pleasant for me or my family.

So of course tonight (Sunday) the headache is roaring again. I'll medicate up before heading into the office on Monday. This is not an aspect of recovery that I was expecting or was prepared for. In fact, I really wanted to hit the bike today, I'm ready to start triathlon training for this year. Swim practice starts again on Tuesday.

Really looking forward to biking more this year

The big news for this weekend is that my mother-in-law is finally living in Raleigh again! She closed on a condo about 4 miles from our house on friday morning, then we spent the whole weekend getting her moved in. She is very happy with her decision to get back to NC after spending over 25 years in South Carolina. The kids love having her in town. I am thoroughly relieved that she is here too, and will be very glad when she is settled down more and I don't have to lift heavy furniture.

Ladders in a covertible? That's how we roll.

Nana and the Evil Genius

In my goals post for 2016 I left something vague. After the Umstead 100 I wanted to come up with some other kind of challenge for the summer that was not triathlon based. Well it's time to formalize that goal and start working on it! I've decided to try a weightlifting challenge. I've always wanted to be able to bench press 225 lbs - that's two 45 lb plates on each side of the bar. The closest I've ever come is benching 205 during my crazy weightlifting phase in 2003. I think mustering up the testosterone to build my bench after age 40 makes this challenge extra hard and extra fun. I also think working the bench will end up strengthening my swimming as well.

Heavy weightlifting starts on Monday! migraine pending, unfortunately. I'm going to just roll with the punches here and see how it works.