Monday, April 06, 2015

Drug Report and Running in the Rain

I have been taking Riluzole twice a day for just about two weeks now and I am happy to report  I am still not experiencing any side effects other than the mild "itchy mouth" I get shortly after taking it.  Honestly the worst thing I have had to deal with is making sure I do not eat anything 2 hours before and 1 hour after taking the medication.

I have been communicating quite a bit with a friend of mine who lives in Virginia with his wife, dog, and a couple of cats.  He has been a good person for me to unload my issues on.  We trade e-mails several times a week and talk on the phone once in a while as time permits.  We don't talk as much as we probably should simply because when I am  talking on the phone with someone I prefer that call to be private and a lack of privacy is something I am in great supply of, at least for the time being.

Physically I feel mostly the same although I would venture a guess that my left hand has lost more coordination and typing is getting harder with it.  So far that is the only real issue I have noticed.

I have been get more frustrated with my lack of coordination each day.  Today my hand is unusually problematic, giving me fits with the buttons on my shorts as well as my typing.  I really have not been blue or depressed, "mad at God", or anything like that.  It is mostly just frustration.  I have a very active mind and to have my body not keep up with it presents me with a special kind of hell to live with.

I am scheduled to participate in the Fairview Half Marathon on Saturday,  which will be a real test for me since I have not ran more than  5-6 miles in one stretch in several weeks.  For quite some time my left ankle was giving me issues (I think I tweaked it) then after it started feeling better my heal started bothering like I had a stone bruise.  All that bit of injury has certainly affected my cardio and/or endurance to some degree so I am pretty certain my time will be much slower than my last (and my only) half to date at 2:06:42 ... I am expecting a closet to 2:20 time but will certainly welcome something faster.  The weather forecast is not looking too good at the moment with a 40% chance of rain on race day and a high of 76.  Around race time it ought to be about 60% which will make for a cool, sloppy run.  Ought to be fun. 

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