Parvovirus B19

I went to the doctor last Tuesday night because I just wasn't feeling well, in fact I hadn't been feeling 100% since before June 24th.  June 24th sticks out because it was that day that I came down with a pretty high fever and generally felt like crap for a solid two days.  I didn't know if it was a result of the triathlon I had done two days earlier or possibly I was having an harsh reaction to the numerous jelly fish stings I had received during the race.  Whatever the cause was, I dealt with it and thought I was better a few days later. 

Move forward a week and I played a soccer game on a Tuesday night.  The following day I was more sore than I can remember being, and it wasn't necessarily my muscles, it was my joints....even my shoulders were in pain.  I dealt with that for about a week before I finally felt better.  Over the next three weeks I dealt with periods of unexplainable pain.  My neck tightened up on me one morning while swimming as still has yet to go away.  My right wrist was killing me for two days and then went away.  My left shoulder was causing me discomfort for about a week and a half.  My right hip was tight and sore, but has gotten better.

Well, last Friday I heard back from the doctor, who had tested me for Lyme Disease and Parvovirus B19 (AKA Fifth's Disease), and I was told that I have Parvo.  It looks like I got it from my daughters school and that is what I have been dealing with for the past month and a half.  Apparently I will have to deal with it for at least another few weeks, possibly longer, and there is nothing I can take to make it go away.  I can take Tylenol, Advil, Motrin, etc. to alleviate some of the pain and discomfort, but I have more or less just learned to deal with what I am feeling.  Honestly, I am just happy to know that I have gotten a diagnosis and will be able to move forward.

So with all of that said, I have still been keeping up with my training and generally feeling pretty good about it.

Tuesday
AM - I was in the pool early as usual and did swim workout #6 from my training program.  That consisted of:  500m warm-up, 4 x 100m drills, 4 x 200m @20 sec, 6 x 100 @15 sec, 8 x 50m drills, 300m cool down.  I felt really good for the most part and I think I am getting better with my body rotation and my pull.  I really pushed myself during the swim and it showed.  Totals:  3,000 meters in ~1:02:30

PM - Lunchtime run with Chris (and Scott for the first two miles), on what turned out to be a quite a warm and humid day.  We both felt pretty good until 15 minutes in when we had to do 2 x 6 minutes in Zone 4 (heart rate), which translates to ~7:15/mile pace.  Holy crap it was tough and we didn't make it any easier on ourselves by having the second 6 minute take place on a pretty steep hill.  It only makes us stronger, right?  The last half of the run was pretty mellow and we did out best just to make it back to the office.  Came up a few minutes short of the planned one hour run.  Totals:  ~6.4 miles, ~53:00, 8:15/mile pace.

Today
It was tough getting up this morning, really tough.  Down to the basement to put in 45 minutes on the trainer while watching the end of the 2007 Ironman World Championships that I started watching last week.  I wanted to watch the season two Jersey Shore premier but my DVR didn't recorded it. DAMN!!!  I was not feeling all that great during the ride, I just wanted to be done.  Once off the bike it was out on the road for a 30 minute run.  Actually, it ended up being around 25 minutes because it was getting a bit late and I needed to get back to the house and shower.  Total run:  3.09 miles, 25:30, 8:15/mile pace

That is about it for now.  I have off from work on Thursday and Friday so me and the little ones are going to be doing some fun stuff.  I hope the weather stays nice for us.  I am really looking forward to spending a couple days with the girls.  Cheers!