Has it really been a month?

Seriously, I cannot believe that it has been a whole month since I last posted. Where does the time go?

The family and I have been incredibly busy during that time. Alaric had a couple of t-ball games, and I have been helping coach. I ended one job and started another. We have been busy in the yard and around the house (we have actually had 2 minor floods in our basement during this period; one of which we still have not fully recovered from). We took a 4 day trip to the Wisconsin Dells with my parents, sister, and her boyfriend. And I have continued to train for the half marathon in August.

There have been a couple of set backs on the training, but I think I will still be ready to go come August 21. The first setback has been balancing my work/home/fitness lives. When the family is busy running around the house and the Midwest, it can make it pretty difficult squeeze in some workouts. Katie and I both got some running in while we were in the Dells, and let me tell you, running in other regions of the country is a whole different experience. The hills that we ran in Wisconsin were extremely taxing. The worst part was that the worst hill was the last 200 yards of the run back up to the cabin. It was horrid. The hill was so steep, that I was nearly at a walking pace to get back up. Then when I finished, I still had to cool down on the tremendously steep grade!

I have missed a couple of other runs, including one of my long runs. I am not entirely sure that scheduling was the reason for missing them. I think a part of me was pretty tired from work, and the Bike MS ride. Another part of me began to question the wisdom of running a half marathon (Katie still thinks I am crazy for trying to run a half in August). But I have a new found resiliency for the act of running. I am not saying I enjoy every last minute. In fact, some of the time I am trying to convince myself not to quit, but I make it through and when I am done I have a pretty good sense of accomplishment. Every Saturday is a new personal record for distance for me. This last Saturday I ran 8 miles and this Saturday I have 9 miles. Each week I struggle with the idea of running those kind of distances and then when I am done, I couldn't feel better about running it. It is all very bipolar, but it has worked for me so far.


I did have another situation that has not cost me any of my runs, but it certainly threatened to, and if the doctors had their way (what do they know , anyway), I still wouldn't be running. After four days in Wisconsin, Katie and I went over to the neighbors for some drinks and conversation. At some point early in the evening, I came to the realization that my right testicle really hurt. I blew it off for awhile, but then my wincing was noticed by one of our friends. Since I was born born without humility, I told them the situation. Everybody chipped in with their diagnosis, and in the end I went home and put on my jockstrap that I got after my vasectomy and everything seemed to feel better. I got up the next morning, ran my eight miles (with the jockstrap on) and jump in the shower. It was at that time that I noticed a significant amount of swelling and pain in my right testicle. I suggested to Katie that maybe I should have somebody take a look at this. After several hours at the ER and a sonogram, I was diagnosed with an inflammation of the epididymus and a dilation of the blood vessels in that particular region. Normally, this kind of thing happens in men that are still whole (sans vasectomy), so near as they can tell I must have had some sort of injury to the area. Between running, biking, and waterslides, I figured that a nutshot or two was not out of the question. They gave me some pain killers and anti-inflammatory meds. I scheduled a follow up with the urologist, but the er docs ask me not to exercise for awhile. I went home and took the meds and immediately began to feel better the next morning. so by Tuesday I was running again, and I have felt fine. There is still some discomfort, but until I have any real pain, I think I can keep running (I am gonna stay away from biking for obvious reasons).

So in a nutshell (pun intended) that is how my last month has been going. How was yours?