Twelve Down - Eight Weeks to Go!

Sunday, September 4th marks the start of week twelve of my 20 week training plan.

On Monday morning my poison ivy rashes were better so I ran 8.5 miles.  I wanted to run more but I had a bit of GI distress so I cut my run short.  I made it home just in time.

On Tuesday I ran 11 miles around the lake.  Before I left the house my wife said “don’t shoot any birds”.  I told her on Monday that, for the second time, two drivers basically ran me off the road while I was running and as a consequence they got flipped off.  I said I would be good and I was.  My run went on without incident.  I finished the 11 miles in 1 hour and 19 minutes averaging a 7:11 mile pace.  The weather was close to perfect, overcast and 70 degrees.

Maximus Herrmann von Bruffmore

No Max, that daddy’s medicine!  After days of battling the spread of poison ivy blisters like kudzu on a pine tree, I decided to take some drastic action.  I'd already tried Zenfal, Ivarest, dish detergent (I thought it might remove the oil), a bleach and water wash mix, and h-h-hot water.  None of it seemed to work.

Prednisone pills

My 120-lbs German Shepherd dog Max has suffered with allergies every summer since he was a puppy.  During the years he has been prescribed all sorts of medication to relieve his symptoms.  One of oral his medications was Prednisone.  It helped but it turned Max into a ravenous eating machine.  Prednisone is “a synthetic corticosteroid drug that is particularly effective as an immunosuppressant drug”.  Our new veterinarian has prescribed a different medication Temaril, which works better with less side affects.  Temaril is “an antihistamine to relieve itching”, not a steroid. Max had a few Prednisone tablets left and now I’m taking them.  I hope it helps and I am not a doctor so please don't consider this an endorsement of any medication or their use.

This ordeal reminds me of when I was a kid and I had an ear ache in both ears.  Unable to sleep, at about 2am I couldn’t stand the pain any longer.  I rummaged through the medicine cabinet for something to relieve the pain. I found a tube of Jiffy Toothache medicine.  I’m sure my eyes focused in on the words “numbing” and “relief” somewhere on the packaging.  In seconds I was squeezing the red goo into the ear that was causing me the most pain.  In retrospect, that was stupid. It provided no relief and took me days to get all that junk out of my ear.  While we’re on the subject of things not to do, let’s add to the list pouring turpentine on your head when you have paint in your hair and playing tag with friends and a 5-gallon bucket of roofing tar.  The later required a serious haircut to resolve.

Anyway, I have a pill plan for the poison ivy and my training continues, hopefully.  I’ve got the Tri the Parks John Tanner #2 sprint triathlon race scheduled for Saturday, September 10th and I really didn’t want to have to worry about itching and scratching before the race.

On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday - Nothing!  That's not part of the plan.

On Saturday I did the Tri the Parks sprint triathlon.  It was a good gauge of my general fitness and highlighted some areas where I need work.  I finished the race in first place in my age-group (M50-54).  My run saved me.  I ran the 5K run course in 21:16 at a 6:51 pace.  Feeling a bit guilty I ran another 8.5 miles later in the afternoon.

A summary of my weekly numbers are not good.  I swam 600 meters, rode 13.8 miles, and ran 31.1 mile in 4 hours and 45 minutes.

I'm gonna have to step it up this week.

Thanks for reading.