I was sure that I would wake up in the morning and my allergies would have relinquished their death grip on me and this long run would finally be done and I'd be sure of my ability to run this marathon, save the princess from the clutches of King Koopa and remain in the running to be America's Next Top Model.
However, when I woke up my face still looked like Commish-era Michael Chiklis' and I was concerned. I laid in bed completely still for a moment or two, like when you wake up after a big night of drinking and convince yourself that you're not hungover until you actually move or blink. I really had myself going and then bam - sneeze, sneeze, sneeze.
I didn't care. I had to at least try this. I put on my running outfit and figured out a new route that didn't involve running through a field of pollen that even Dorothy and the gang from Oz would realize was a bad idea. It was a 5 mile loop by my parents house. All I had to do was get through it 4 times. I could do this.
Actually... I couldn't I got through it once, before I realized that I wasn't going to be able to run anything ever if I had pneumonia. I went back to my parents, again defeated, but this time realizing that I should probably go back to the doctor.
I called my general practitioner, who was closer in proximity to my parents house and my office, and made an appointment for that day. They actually didn't have any appointments, but I think the panic in my voice made them realize that this was a non-negotiable issue - I was either showing up at their office or at Dr. M's house.
I filled Dr. M - a very thorough, very good doctor - on the Strep that I was just over and the antibiotics that I was on. He had already known about my marathon training, so he understood the urgency without me bursting into the hysterical, panicky tears that I constantly felt infiltrating my thin veneer of cool. He took some blood, checked me for Strep and did a chest x-ray. For the most part the results were good: The Strep was gone, the chest x-ray was clear and I had no fever. But then he uttered the worst syllable I've ever heard in my life: "Hmmm..."
He took a look at my blood work, and noticed my White Blood Count was high - "through the roof" was the term he used. What did this mean? I hadn't been running with allergies after all - I had a sinus infection. His concern, and mine as well, was how I managed to get a sinus infection while on heavy duty antibiotics for Strep Throat. He used the words "interesting" and "fascinating" often, which didn't sit all that well with me.
Incidentally, this kind of turn in events, healthwise, is not that shocking - this is fairly typical of me. If you have the common cold, I catch it and turn it into some supervirus that only my body can incubate. It's just my way. I've just never done it with a marathon on the line.
Dr. M sidelined me from training for a few more days and put me on another round of antibiotics - but this time they were pretty serious. He warned me that I could only take the antibiotics at night and it had to be immediately before going to bed. I have to admit, I was a bit concerned. What were the side effects of this antibiotic? I envisioned myself sleepwalking while speaking in latin tongues and having sex terrors. I was resigned to fixing myself up in time to run the marathong, so whether these antibiotics were going to cause me to permanently smell french toast or brought into this country in the anal cavity of an illegal Mexican immigrant, I didn't care.
I left the doctor's office somewhat defeated, as you can imagine. I called Heathaaaa who had been constantly receiving the updates of my general health. At this point, we were really in this together. She did put some things into perspective for me, however. She said that she couldn't believe that I ran 10 miles with a sinus infection - and that a few months ago, the thought of being disappointed by running "only 10 miles" would've been ludicrous. It was a good point, and did soften the blow, but my mind was starting to go into overdrive. At this point, I couldn't quite imagine anything worse happening to me than not being able to run the marathon - I just hoped my determination was enough.
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