So. Its been a little while since my last post and, while there are some folk I keep up with over email, I know that a few other people have been wondering what’s going on. Anyway, last Saturday I decided that I wasn’t going to run if I had over a degree of fever in the morning (I’d been hitting 101 on and off this week); when I got up that day I was reading 96.8, so I figured that was even better. I headed out and met up with the Gazelle group at RunTex, listened to Gilbert talk about the new marathon course, and then grouped up with Jay, Emily, and other fun people for a brief jaunt around Scenic. I was disappointed that we wouldn’t have time for the full 14 up the mount, but hey, Scenic isn’t bad.

That was the plan. From the first mile, the run sucked. It was certainly more humid than it had been earlier in the week (like Thursday when I couldn’t run), but it wasn’t too nasty compared to the summer running I had been doing. Still, I was sweating from the first step and my heartrate was up in the mid 170s almost immediately. Not good. I peeled off for a few gulps underneath MoPac and caught up with the pack about a mile later, at barely under a 9:00 pace, and it was work to do so. Another 9:00 mile brought us to the waterstop at the boat docks, and I was more than ready for the break.

It was nice to chat with people like Jay and Emily who I haven’t talked with a whole lot lately, so that made the first few miles more bearable. As we headed off up into the hills, I ended up near the back of the pack with Emily, and so she was the one who got the news; about a half mile after the waterstop I decided to call it quits and head back. My head was pounding with every footstep and I was feeling light-headed and faint. Not great. I pass my decision on to her so that the other folk won’t be looking for me, then turn around to go back.

Not a tenth of a mile later I came up short and started walking. I ended up walking most of Bridle Path east towards O’Henry middle school, where I knew another waterstop was waiting. Once there I sat and rested for a few minutes, but my HR never dropped below about 130 and I eventually just geared up and headed out. I ran to MoPac at about a 9:45 pace, which was manageable but not real fun, and stopped for more rest and water. That’s when I ran into Shawn who was just starting his run for the day; we talked for a few more minutes and then he headed off.

I decided to try to salvage something from the run, so I took off past him and tried to do a fast finish for the last couple of miles. Well, the first half mile was decent. Actually it was crap, 8:15-8:30 pace, but better than the second. By the time I reached the Pfluger footbridge I was done, I stopped and rested, walked up the stairs, rested some more, and ended up running it in slowly for the last 3/4 mile. Pretty sad, eh?

Since then, I’ve been in to see the doctor a few more times. I’ve had very little energy, to the point where walking around a large store (think supermarket or larger) tires me out to the point that I want to sit down. I don’t have to rest, thanks to the fact that I have built up a little endurance over the last few years, but I’m pretty worthless at that point. The lovely Stephanie has commented that I’m walking slowly, and I’ve noticed myself needing to catch my breath after doing things like climbing the stairs a couple of times in a row.

Oh, and I’ve also been running moderately high fevers most evenings - about 101 when I’ve measured them. Sometimes I sleep through them, but I realize that they still happen when I wake up in the middle of the night soaked in sweat. Lots of fun, let me tell you.

So far, I’ve had a pretty comprehensive series of blood tests (all of which came back normal enough), a chest x-ray (probably negative), and right now I’m scheduled to have some CT scans done on Thursday morning. I’m torn between hoping that nothing bad shows up, and hoping that it does so at least I’ll have some idea of what’s going on. Until then, I have headaches, no energy, and an increasing level of concern. I also become uncoordinated pretty quickly when trying to do anything “difficult” like, oh, typing more than 30 minutes or, say, eating a plate of nachos by hand. Its sad.

And to top it off, I’m missing some of the all time best running days of this or any other year. 62 degrees with just enough humidity to make it pleasant. Damn it…

Anyway. More talking with the doctors is planned for tomorrow morning, and my scan is scheduled for 9:30 on Thursday. Let’s see what happens.

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