Had my checkup yesterday along with the accompanying blood test and the good news is the infection is gone! Finally! I've been dealing with this thing (Prostate infection) since I first woke up with a fever back in October...blood in the urine, painful urination, loss of bladder control as the day went on.
A visit to the Urgent Care with a shot in the ass of a powerful antibiotic and a 10 day round of Cipro, known as the tendon killer. Not good for runner, BTW ;-)
Another follow up visit in November showed the infection was still raging, so another round, this time Bactrim to save my tendons...and at this time my PCP told me to make an appointment with a Urologist as he is the specialist with these problems. My PCP was not only concerned about the infection, but the possibility of cancer. (Notice I don't capitalize the word as my Mother had a double mastectomy (still alive at 86) and I lost a sister to the disease back in '95.
So I made my appointment with the Urologist and it was his opinion that cancer was unlikely, but that he wanted to do another large round of Cipro, which is the only antibiotic that can get to a deep infection like a prostate infection. So even with the possibility that I may rupture a tendon or tendons, I went on 21 days of 1000mgs of Cipro...a nuke, as my doc put it. During this time I also went ahead and ran a road marathon in El Paso (a total failure) and also the Salida Trail Marathon, another failure. During both races I did have achilles tendon pains, deep in the calf where it inserts, so didn't feel like I could or should push it. El Paso was too hot anyway, so I stuck with a low HR during that race to keep from overheating and overstraining my tendons. At Salida, I actually had tendon issues in my shoulders and achilles, so I had to run easy.
How has this affected my running? Not too good....I've been working harder, breathing heavier at a much slower pace. Lately my paces have been around 12:30ish, where several months ago I was cruising in the low 10's/upper 9's. The doc said how being on this much antibiotic and as powerful as Cipro is affects everything. It kills all your good gut flora and your gut is the center of your universe, mess with it and all sorts of things go haywire! If my PSA score was still above the norm, then I would need a prostate biopsy to rule out cancer. Needless to say I was sweating out going to the doc yesterday, but it was normal and am clear to move on with my life :-)
So to get back where I was I am now running pure Maffetone (120 BPM) until I start feeling my running coming back. No speedwork whatsoever. I hope this gets me in shape to finish the Zane Grey 50 miler coming up next month.
There's still the question of how this infection came about...it is very similar to a female getting a Urinary Tract Infection. My theory, and something I have mentioned to my doc, is that finishing the Hardrock 100 in July was my most difficult ultra yet, even harder than the Barkley fun run I did in 2001. I think being out on those trails for over 44 hours put my body into a deep fatigue and caused my immune system to get out of whack, thus I was open to illness. Add to that my late summer into fall marathon training schedule (yes, I'm a stubborn runner), there was not much recovery, even though I added in recovery days/days off, with the infection I should have been doing nothing!
I feel like I'm now back in control and like I said in the prior paragraph, it's all easy from here through Zane Grey and also after for at least a month. I then will start training for a 5K old man personal best. Eventual goal is 19:59, which may take me a year or more to achieve ;-)
See you on the roads and trails!
Steve
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Sandias!
Deb and I were down in ABQ on business and opted for a longish run in the Sandias for Zane Grey training.
Our day began with dropping off some of Deb's artwork for the Masterworks show at the Expo, so We got a late start, but were sure even if we ran and hiked easy, we'd be back in plenty of time before they closed the park.
We started at the bottom of the Pino Trail in the Elena Gallegos Picnic Area and ran along a nice rolling foothills trail in around 60 degree temps. It was awesome! From there we made our way over to the Tram building and found the Tramway trail at the far end of the parking lot, which said would take us to the La Luz trail. Getting on this trail was another delight, rolling around just above the foothill homes, several times we got caught on some connecting trails where there were no signs and ended up down in the housing area, but climbed back up from where we came and found the trails again.
Soon we were on the La Luz trail and if I remember right, this took us close to 2 hours. We ended up about 1.75 miles up the La Luz from it's trailhead.
There were lots of hikers on La Luz....until we reached the 5 mile point, where the snow begins and it gets colder and windier. The snow was well packed down, but we still put on our Katoola Microspikes for added traction as the trail is maybe a foot wide and angled down to the left or right.
Once up near the top after the Albuquerque Road Runners sign, the trail was now on the sunny side and more mud that ice. We reached the Tram house on the summit at around 4:45 into the run and at this point were getting concerned as to if we were going to make it back down to the truck in time before we got locked into the park.
From the Tram house on the summit (10,640'), it was about 4 miles to the Pino Trail in off and on ankle to calf deep snow, which slowed us down quite a bit. I forget exactly what time we reached Pino, but ti was somewhere around 6:30PM, 4.9 miles up from the park, which closed at 7...not good. So we made the decision that I'd go ahead and run down as fast as I could in the hope that I'd get there in time before the Ranger left. I knew my fastest time running down this was 45 minutes, mostly due to being old and some icy spots when I did that. This time add more ice and snow and several blowdowns....but I tried.
About the top third or so I had to run in the microspikes due to the ice and snow, but I had pretty good traction and with that comes confidence in not slipping. Once i got down to where I thought there was no more, I took them off and blasted down as fast as I could. Again my time was around 45 minutes, arriving at the park around 7:15. The ranger was just cleaning up and getting ready to lock the park up, but he was a nice guy and waited for Deb to come down. She was only around 15 minutes behind me, arriving around 7:30.
Once down we both thought the same thing....FOOD! So we drove on over to the Range in Bernallilo. Now I will mention here that we've both been vegetarians for quite a while, maybe 1-1.5 years for me and maybe 3-4 for Deb. After ordering my La Cumbre Elevation IPA to sip on, I ordered a juicy green chili cheeseburger and Deb got some salmon ;-)
So that's out adventure....our day began leaving the house for ABQ at around 8:30am and we got home a little after 11PM...tired, we showered, I grabbed one of my home brews, a nice stout and sat down to watch some "Big Love" ;-)
Now it's Sunday morning and we're heading to Los Alamos for some errands and a gentle hike...
See you on the trails and roads!
Steve
PS: No images, etc because my internet here at the house is lame.
Our day began with dropping off some of Deb's artwork for the Masterworks show at the Expo, so We got a late start, but were sure even if we ran and hiked easy, we'd be back in plenty of time before they closed the park.
We started at the bottom of the Pino Trail in the Elena Gallegos Picnic Area and ran along a nice rolling foothills trail in around 60 degree temps. It was awesome! From there we made our way over to the Tram building and found the Tramway trail at the far end of the parking lot, which said would take us to the La Luz trail. Getting on this trail was another delight, rolling around just above the foothill homes, several times we got caught on some connecting trails where there were no signs and ended up down in the housing area, but climbed back up from where we came and found the trails again.
Soon we were on the La Luz trail and if I remember right, this took us close to 2 hours. We ended up about 1.75 miles up the La Luz from it's trailhead.
There were lots of hikers on La Luz....until we reached the 5 mile point, where the snow begins and it gets colder and windier. The snow was well packed down, but we still put on our Katoola Microspikes for added traction as the trail is maybe a foot wide and angled down to the left or right.
Once up near the top after the Albuquerque Road Runners sign, the trail was now on the sunny side and more mud that ice. We reached the Tram house on the summit at around 4:45 into the run and at this point were getting concerned as to if we were going to make it back down to the truck in time before we got locked into the park.
From the Tram house on the summit (10,640'), it was about 4 miles to the Pino Trail in off and on ankle to calf deep snow, which slowed us down quite a bit. I forget exactly what time we reached Pino, but ti was somewhere around 6:30PM, 4.9 miles up from the park, which closed at 7...not good. So we made the decision that I'd go ahead and run down as fast as I could in the hope that I'd get there in time before the Ranger left. I knew my fastest time running down this was 45 minutes, mostly due to being old and some icy spots when I did that. This time add more ice and snow and several blowdowns....but I tried.
About the top third or so I had to run in the microspikes due to the ice and snow, but I had pretty good traction and with that comes confidence in not slipping. Once i got down to where I thought there was no more, I took them off and blasted down as fast as I could. Again my time was around 45 minutes, arriving at the park around 7:15. The ranger was just cleaning up and getting ready to lock the park up, but he was a nice guy and waited for Deb to come down. She was only around 15 minutes behind me, arriving around 7:30.
Once down we both thought the same thing....FOOD! So we drove on over to the Range in Bernallilo. Now I will mention here that we've both been vegetarians for quite a while, maybe 1-1.5 years for me and maybe 3-4 for Deb. After ordering my La Cumbre Elevation IPA to sip on, I ordered a juicy green chili cheeseburger and Deb got some salmon ;-)
So that's out adventure....our day began leaving the house for ABQ at around 8:30am and we got home a little after 11PM...tired, we showered, I grabbed one of my home brews, a nice stout and sat down to watch some "Big Love" ;-)
Now it's Sunday morning and we're heading to Los Alamos for some errands and a gentle hike...
See you on the trails and roads!
Steve
PS: No images, etc because my internet here at the house is lame.
Friday, March 21, 2014
Back to blogging here...
I've decided to move back to this blog for a number of reasons.
1. I'm voluntarily leaving the Wasatch Speedgoats.
- I'm no longer running 100's, which is one of their requirements, plus I'm moving aside to make room for new members. You'll be seeing me wearing my VHTRC shirt in most of my trails races and once I move back and get settled with the Monadnock Milers, I'll be wearing their shirt again for my road races.
The Perogoats blog was more about us both being members of that team. Deb is still a member, it's just me leaving...at least for now. Who knows what the future will bring for her, she's very much into painting and gardening and her training seems to get pushed aside more and more. Especially this year her not getting into Hardrock has taken the wind out of her sails.
2. Deb never posted on there, so I figured I'd just come back here. I need a place to write my daily notes about anything and post any pictures I've taken.
So far it's been a tough year....I woke up with a fever in October and my life hasn't been the same since. Off and on Cipro (the tendon killer) since then to push out a prostate infection. I just finished a 21 day round of 1000mg's of it and see my urologist on Wednesday to see if it's cleared up.
The antibiotic, Cipro, is not just a tendon killer. It also made training difficult, breathing has been heavier, my paces have been a lot slower and I just have felt overall really tired.
I had planned on running a road marathon last year to attempt to qualify for Boston again, but this kept pushing things and I settled on a marathon in El Paso last month. I even had to withdraw from a half marathon in Albuquerque the day after I woke up with the fever.
El Paso was a bust....I just couldn't get in shape and it turned out to be near or at 80 degrees that day where the average temp was supposed to be in the mid 50's. So I just wore my HRM and kept my HR at what "should" be my marathon pace HR. It worked for awhile, as I was on a 9mpm pace for the first 5 or so miles, but the closer to Mexico we got, the hotter it got and as my HR stayed at 145, my pace decreased in the heat. I ended up at 4:40, my PW in the marathon by 50 minutes. I have run in the past almost 2 hours faster than that! Of course that was 30 years ago ;-)
I won't give up the hunt for that elusive BQ time of 3:54:59. The goal is actually 3:45 to get a BQ-10 in order to register early. I know I can do it, just have to get through this illness.
Last weekend I went to the Salida Trail marathon, which I've done in the past a couple of times. It's a really nice race, very similar to a fat ass where the entry fee is low, but you do get a shirt and some good food at the finish. They were even serving beer this year, which I bought one....and nice Elevated Porter :-)
The race never felt good....my breathing was heavy from the start, but as it got later in the race I slowed down off my hopeful sub 5 hour pace. My 2 times here were 4:45 and 4:56. Towards the end, after 20 miles it becomes rolling hilly trails and I started to get paranoid as my shoulder joints and achilles tendons were all aching...so I started thinking about the Cipro destroying tendons and backed off to avoid a rupture. This cost me the over 60 ag win as around mile 21 the guy who did win it went by me while I walked. Well, he can finish ahead of me, but not beat my time of 4:56 from 2 years ago ;-)
Just got back from a nice rike in the forest with the dogs while Deb cleans the rental cabin. She's going to go for a run after that. Me and the dogs went on these nice XC ski trails that were mostly dry, but had mud, ice and snow in spots....but it's a nice place to bring them because it's quiet and not many people hike up there. It felt good, I'm right now trying to keep my Maffetone HR at MAF-5 in order to repair and recover from the Cipro and infection. I will, in time, move it back up to MAF +10, which is where i usually train and is 130ish.
Future plan, once we get past the Zane Grey 50 next month is to train for a 5K. Work my way from the ground up....my theory is if I can improve that, the marathon times will follow. Once we move back to NH, I'm planning on running more road races and less trails, I'll be supporting Deb in her trail races.
It's been a long trail running period, with my first trail 50K back in 1987, my first hundred miler in 1998 and many years of Hardrock. I'll miss doing Hardrock, but that ship has passed. It's becoming too difficult to get in and I always struggle there. Got my third finish last year and in the opposite direction, so I feel complete there. I do have one ultra trail carrot dangling in front of me and that's the VHTRC's Reverse Ring. Deb's finished that and I haven't...got to get that done ;-)
OK, I think I'll end this here, but will be a more regular blogger....maybe even daily!
Until the next time, Happy Trails!
Steve
1. I'm voluntarily leaving the Wasatch Speedgoats.
- I'm no longer running 100's, which is one of their requirements, plus I'm moving aside to make room for new members. You'll be seeing me wearing my VHTRC shirt in most of my trails races and once I move back and get settled with the Monadnock Milers, I'll be wearing their shirt again for my road races.
The Perogoats blog was more about us both being members of that team. Deb is still a member, it's just me leaving...at least for now. Who knows what the future will bring for her, she's very much into painting and gardening and her training seems to get pushed aside more and more. Especially this year her not getting into Hardrock has taken the wind out of her sails.
2. Deb never posted on there, so I figured I'd just come back here. I need a place to write my daily notes about anything and post any pictures I've taken.
So far it's been a tough year....I woke up with a fever in October and my life hasn't been the same since. Off and on Cipro (the tendon killer) since then to push out a prostate infection. I just finished a 21 day round of 1000mg's of it and see my urologist on Wednesday to see if it's cleared up.
The antibiotic, Cipro, is not just a tendon killer. It also made training difficult, breathing has been heavier, my paces have been a lot slower and I just have felt overall really tired.
I had planned on running a road marathon last year to attempt to qualify for Boston again, but this kept pushing things and I settled on a marathon in El Paso last month. I even had to withdraw from a half marathon in Albuquerque the day after I woke up with the fever.
El Paso was a bust....I just couldn't get in shape and it turned out to be near or at 80 degrees that day where the average temp was supposed to be in the mid 50's. So I just wore my HRM and kept my HR at what "should" be my marathon pace HR. It worked for awhile, as I was on a 9mpm pace for the first 5 or so miles, but the closer to Mexico we got, the hotter it got and as my HR stayed at 145, my pace decreased in the heat. I ended up at 4:40, my PW in the marathon by 50 minutes. I have run in the past almost 2 hours faster than that! Of course that was 30 years ago ;-)
I won't give up the hunt for that elusive BQ time of 3:54:59. The goal is actually 3:45 to get a BQ-10 in order to register early. I know I can do it, just have to get through this illness.
Last weekend I went to the Salida Trail marathon, which I've done in the past a couple of times. It's a really nice race, very similar to a fat ass where the entry fee is low, but you do get a shirt and some good food at the finish. They were even serving beer this year, which I bought one....and nice Elevated Porter :-)
We had these views all day long at Salida
Just got back from a nice rike in the forest with the dogs while Deb cleans the rental cabin. She's going to go for a run after that. Me and the dogs went on these nice XC ski trails that were mostly dry, but had mud, ice and snow in spots....but it's a nice place to bring them because it's quiet and not many people hike up there. It felt good, I'm right now trying to keep my Maffetone HR at MAF-5 in order to repair and recover from the Cipro and infection. I will, in time, move it back up to MAF +10, which is where i usually train and is 130ish.
Future plan, once we get past the Zane Grey 50 next month is to train for a 5K. Work my way from the ground up....my theory is if I can improve that, the marathon times will follow. Once we move back to NH, I'm planning on running more road races and less trails, I'll be supporting Deb in her trail races.
It's been a long trail running period, with my first trail 50K back in 1987, my first hundred miler in 1998 and many years of Hardrock. I'll miss doing Hardrock, but that ship has passed. It's becoming too difficult to get in and I always struggle there. Got my third finish last year and in the opposite direction, so I feel complete there. I do have one ultra trail carrot dangling in front of me and that's the VHTRC's Reverse Ring. Deb's finished that and I haven't...got to get that done ;-)
OK, I think I'll end this here, but will be a more regular blogger....maybe even daily!
Until the next time, Happy Trails!
Steve
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