Curve ball.

Well there were actually 7 days on the ALC ride and I only wrote about 6 of them. Deal with it. If you want to know what Day 7 is like you should sign up and do the ride. Maybe, just maybe, you will get to experience a full police escort on PCH through Malibu with 5 other fast riders. Awesome!

My time in LA after the ride was pretty fun and I let loose a bit with some old friends. However, I think my immune was down as it seemed like I was always on the verge of getting something. I thought for sure that alcohol kills all that stuff....

I never really came down with anything and once I got back to Boulder I went back to Tri Dork and gave up the fun juice and got back to training. I had to start putting my head on about Buffalo Springs 70.3. After loading up on a big week of riding I figured I would be in great shape for it if I played my cards right in the next few weeks.

I had a nice recovery week and felt back on top of my game. SBR was all going very well and JZ and I decided to go hit Magnolia for a nice long run. My foot had been behaving and I was going to actually try and hit 1:45-2 hours. It had always been our plan to get me back up to longer runs if the foot did not act up.

JZ and I started out together and then I kinda ran off. I was feeling good and I don't seem to notice the high altitude up there that much. In fact, I think I would do quite well in a race that high. Anyway, I was moving along and had noticed that I had a slight blister on my heel. Nothing major but I could feel it. When I hit my turn around point I decided I would re tie my shoe to see if I could maybe make it not hurt at all.

Five steps later and I was not able to walk. Something happened after I stopped and the blister just went bananas on me. DAMN! JZ had gone on as she was running further and now I was up at Mags stranded about 7 miles from my car. The road up there is not heavily trafficed so getting a ride might be hard. I did try to run on it but that was not in the cards. I had my shoe off and the blister was massive.

I was so pissed that I was missing this run. It was my best to date and now I am trying to hitch hike. Several cars went by me like I was some kinda of mountain man rapist. Not even an "are you okay"? Finally some guy picked me up and it turns out that we had met on the track a week ago. He was coached by a friend of mine and I met him at a session on the track. Small world.

Once back at the car I waited for JZ to return. My foot was actually throbbing but I had nothing safe to pop it with so I just had to wait till I got home. Being a "picker" that was the first think I did when I got to the house. Needle to flame. Lance!

I was impressed with how much blood came out. It seemed like it was going to be okay now but I wasn't sure how it would fair on the long ride the next day. None the less, my buddy Billy Edward's was getting married and I had to cram it into a dress shoe and get to his wedding.

Seemed okay until I woke up the next day. It was extremely sensitive. So what do I do? Cram it in my bike shoe and ride to Estes Park of course! It was going to be a fun ride as we had a good group going. Denny and Matt were going to join and Belinda and Justin Granger were in town and I had not seen them in long while. Also, Marlyin McDonald was joining us and of course training wife JZ. I really didn't want to miss the ride with this fun group. So I grunted it out but every pedal stroke it just got worse.

The pace was a bit slow for a good while and I decided, in all my pain, that I would just get her done. I went off the front and started on my own pace. I was riding great minus that fact that my foot felt like it was going to explode. When I hit Glen Haven I was wondering where the hell Denny and Matt were. I wasn't riding that hard and I figured they would catch back up. Eventually they did and the three of us hit the Devils Gulch climb which is pretty damn steep. Nothing new to us, but a hard effort for the fittest rider.

Once at the top I almost passed out with pain. The foot was done. I must have used up all the endorphins on the climb. I couldn't even put the foot on the ground. I tried to ride into Estes with my feet on top of my shoes but even that hurt too much. Finally I had to stop. Eventually JZ and Marlin came up on me. I had a minor moment and then they helped me hitch a ride into Estes. From there my good buddy Jim Morriarty was on his way to come get me. He started with us but was only doing 2 hours so he was already home. A friend that will drive out to pick you up in Estes Park because you are too fucking dumb to not know when you shouldn't start a ride is A GOOD FRIEND!

Jim took me right to Urgent Care where they had to cut out the heel and inform me that it was loaded with Staph. Lab results would later confirm all this but they went right ahead and gave me two shots in the ass and some orals to start taking. The blister really looked bad now and it would appear that I was going to be out of everything for a good week. I was NOT happy.

The next day I went back to urgent care to get it re wrapped and checked out again. It seemed a bit better but I was feeling "off". I had a massage that day with Kim so I went up there but the massage was horrible. Not because of Kim, but because something was not right with me. My skin was hurting lightly all over. Long story short, I was having severe chills and fever within hours.

Cicely was at my house and had dinner with me but I made her come back when all this started. My fever was getting really high and I could not move. My legs had this ache in them that I had never felt before. I figured I had the flu but was curious about the feeling in my leg.

I made it through the night but around 5 AM all Hell broke loose and I started vomiting. I knew then that something was really wrong so we went to the ER and sure enough they were telling me that I had an infection that had now gotten into the rest of me. It was not pleasant and they said I was gong to have to be admitted to the hospital for a few days. Fun.

They took good care of me and the funny thing was that my first nurse had just had dinner with Belinda and Justin that night. Small world again! Not to mention that I had her as a nurse when I did actually have a severe case of the flu last January. When a gay guy gets sick like this twice in 6 months you go into a bit of a panic. Nobody likes to talk about it but I made those people give me an HIV test STAT and I wanted results ASAP. I was starting to go a bit mental at this point. My fever was so high and the drugs they were giving me was making any rational thought go out the window.

Once they admitted me I started to feel like things were getting under control. I had some test results back now and we were getting closer to an explanation. The big guns, HIV, Swine Flu etc were ruled out. However, they thought I might have West Nile because of some exposure to bites and I had all three of the major signs. That test takes longer to get back so we had to wait on it.

I thought I was feeling better. JZ, Carole and Cicely had all come by for extended periods of time to basically watch me sleep. When I was awake I thought I felt better but as soon as the PM rolled around things took a really bad turn. My fever went way up again and all the pain in my legs was back in full force. I was developing a migraine type headache and was starting to get a bit scared.

The night nurse started me on a Morphine, Vicodin, Fentinol cocktail. I am not a fan of these drugs at all but within a few more hours I was begging for them. It all sounds so dramatic but the pain I was getting in my legs was now traveling up my my body, into my arms and eventually was in my head. My eyes would move on their own when I would close them so sleeping was out of the question. All I could do is sit there and take it. My nurse had to come in and put me on ice and started mopping me down as the fever just would not break. 106 for 6 hours is pretty much the worst thing I have ever experienced.

3:30 AM rolls around and I had had the Morphine pumped in every hour since about 11PM. That is a lot of drugs for someone like me who doesn't even like Advil. Lucklily something magical happened. I exploded! Literally for 10 min I went into a sweat that was out of control. The bed looked like buckets had been poured on it. And just like that I felt 90% better. I took advantage of it and got up for a few, took a shower and tried to have some food. The window of freedom lasted about 2 hours and then it all came back. I spent the rest of the day with a mild form of the pain I had in the night. It was pretty bad but nothing like what I went through that night. Then later I dumped water again and the fever never came back. The leg pain was still there and all I did was sweat for the next day, but I was definitely out of the woods.

So two nights in the hospital and then another two days of bed rest at home. I was feeling better but totally out of it. Depressed and tired. The infection felt like it ruined everything. I was doing the best I could not to go to the "dark place". JZ is really good at those kinds of talks so she was on "dark place" watch LOL. The nurse did tell me that I would have some withdrawl from the narcotics I had. And that was the truth. I threw out the bottle of Vicondin they gave me to take home. I know myself well enough....

As I started to come back over the next few days I was eager to try and do something but at the same time my motivation was pretty much gone. Makes no sense I know. I had a 70.3 race lined up less than 11 days away and knew that wasn't going to happen now. It felt like my season was over. Everything hurt.

Getting a curve ball happens. The people that can still hit one have excellent control over how they react to it. I know that I have some weakness in that department so I decided that this would be the perfect time to work on that side of life. Curve balls come in all forms. Ask anyone screwed right now by the economic climate. I know that if I am to achieve any of my goals in life I am going to have to be stronger in this department.

Did I bitch about it? Sure. But that helps me. I like to express it and then try and let it go. Did I feel like it was over when I tried to go for a ride and had to sleep 5 hours after? Sure did. But after each "episode" I just let it go. I think it is good that I have all these feelings but I needed to make sure that they are kept in check and that I am the one in control. It can be hard to do when you are a crazy OCD triathlete.

As of now, each day is better and better and I think I will be fine. Did I have to get out of the pool this AM after 1K because my body hurt? Yes. Did I bark at Carole? Yes. Did I let it go and then have a great ride and run? Yes! Not so bad after all.

I think it all comes down to stress. I have Lifetime Fitness on the 11th and then Vineman 70.3 on the 19th. I want these to go well and now that I had a major curve ball it is uncertain how they will go. Really all that means is that the expectation needs to be lifted and just take it one day at a time and see what happens. There is less chance to do well when you think you have been screwed.

So we will see what happens in a week. I think I will get stronger and stronger and be in top form by my races. Then I can write about how all us crazy triathletes need more rest LOL! That is what I am banking on!

To sum up a long story- Don't pop your blisters. And if you do and end up in the hospital with an infection; don't come crying to me! haha.

Cheers,
bdc