ms Monday

I have written so much about running in this blog that I often forget about the ms part. Not a bad thing I am sure! So today I did my rebif injection in my right thigh ending a string of my four favorite injection sites (LR stomach, LR thigh). Seems sort of funny to have favorite injection sites, but that's how it goes. For the first year and a half or so that I was taking rebif (going on year two now) I followed Serono's advice of taking it before bed to mitigate the side effects - flu-like symptoms. Those have seemed to tapered off (though I still take a single acetaminophen and a single ibuprofen). I also started to notice that I was having some trouble sleeping at nights I took it. So with occasionally running in the evenings, I often wouldn't take it until around 9AM which was getting too late for me. So I started experimenting with taking it in the afternoon. This has worked out fine even on nights where I was running afterward or even going out for a beer or two. The only change I have made to my routine with these afternoon shots has been to also take an additional Ibuprofen at night. I probably should be very consistent with the times I shoot the rebif, but life gets in the way and sometimes I think my schedule will only allow me to get the three shots in with 44-52 hours between injections. As long as I get my three shots in a week then I feel like I am doing myself good and taking care of this stupid ole ms. But this is not medical advice, just reality advice. Just another ms Monday, wish it were Sunday.

Long run in the rain

Friday (yeah I have been procrastinating writing) I went out for what I was alternately thinking would either be a short run or a base run. Once I passed through the park (left for short, right for base) I knew it was going to be a base run. As I was heading down through the falling leaves of 37th I started to think about a long run. I have done two base runs since I was back from Europe and in the preceding three weeks I had run four times of less than five miles apiece. Was I ready for a long run? Well I was pretty rested (in general, though I had done 13 miles in the last three days but I hadn't run yesterday.) But was I ready for a long run? I doubt it, but that didn't stop me. Left for the long run and right for the base run. Left it was.

I was glad to find out that the sewer work that closed Springwater was occurring in the other direction which served as a traffic block that gave me the trail all to myself (not that there would be a lot of people in the rain.) At the end of the trail I had another choice, Left for the neighborhood of mystery (I have never been able to figure out what it is called) for a really long run or right for just a plain ole ordinary long run. Left to mystery I say! The neighborhood of mystery is anything but mysterious, but I enjoy running there none the less. Out of NoM and into Sellwood. After several blocks I turn east so I can run through the park along the golf course and wham, I roll my ankle. Crap, five miles from home and no cell phone (not that I wouldn't have run through it anyway as it didn't seem that bad. Though I had no doubt that I wasn't going to be doing it any good either...) I walked for a bit and decided it was ok enough to keep running and on I went.

Across the bridge, through W. Moreland, around Reed and up across the two bridges that span the canyon, through campus, over to Woodstock, then home. 10.72 miles in all, here is my run. Other than the ankle it was a really nice run in a gentle rain. I am really not sure what happened with rolling my ankle. I didn't hit anything in the path or slip on wet leaves. It just happened. I suppose the barefoot runners would say it was due to my shoes and perhaps they are right. Certainly came out of nowhere.

Today I am still nursing the ankle though I am sure I could go ahead and run on it as long as it was an easy run. Yesterday I woke up out of bad with a kink in my back that is really causing me grief. I suspect it had a little to do with hobbling around as again no event preceded it. Perhaps I am just falling apart. nah.

I injected my rebif on Friday and thought I haven't written about taking the medication in a long time. It has been 18 months or so that I have been on it, 234 injections. Does that qualify me for expert status? Probably not. I haven't seen a relapse of any ms symptoms, at least in a major way. I have noticed what they call pseudo symptoms where I get slight reoccurances of the seizure symptoms. It usually only happens when I am really hot and or tired, for example after I run on a warm day. It happens ever so often, say maybe once or twice a month. I can't remember the last time it happened so it has probably been at least a couple months. I had nothing during my trip the Europe, where I was a little worried the stress of the trip might cause things to act up. But nothing. Side effects for me have been minimal, I have the red spots on the injection sites on my stomach and back, but not my arms or legs. I still take a single Ibuprofen and a single Acetaminophen before I inject, for the most part I no longer get the flu like symptoms. I have noticed a bit of insomnia when I inject, but it doesn't always happen or seem that bad. No depression at all from what I can tell. Lately I have been experimenting with injecting earlier in the day to see if that helps with the insomnia and it appears to do so. I have even injected and then gone out with no ill effects or grogginess. It seems I am nearing some sort of expert status after all!

One side note, plane travel was surprisingly easy. I had a note from my doctor saying that I would need to carry it with me. I also had the box that it comes in so I could show any prescription info. I had the needles in a zip lock bag that I could easily grab and hand to security. On the way back I had filled up my little travel sharps container, so I stuck the used needles (with needle bent over and the cap reinserted over it) in a bag as well. I was nervous as I approached security and both coming and going told them about the needles. Neither of them wanted to see them and asked that I just send my back through x-ray without pulling them out. Very easy! Of course they still think I am carrying explosives in my sneakers!

More new shoes?

I have had a pair of Asics Gel Kayano running shoes sitting on the shelf in my garage for over a year. I got them at a really good price after the model was discontinued ($60 off). Right after I got them I went to an orthopedic specialist to talk to him about my feet and the discomfort and numbness I was experiencing. His thought was that my motion control shoes might be causing trouble because of the stiffness on the outer sole causing too much pressure on a nerve in my foot. He suggested custom inserts which I really wanted due to my shorter right leg and if they solved the issues I was having with my feet then great. So this meant I would need to go to a neutral shoe to see if the motion control shoes were the problem. Well, turned out it was our friend ms that was (and is still to a degree) causing issues with my feet.

One of the things the doc suggested was switching back and forth between my neutral shoes with the inserts and the motion control model. I haven't done it too much as the neutral shoes felt a lot better, but on occasion I would put the old mc model on. They were quite a bit lighter than the heavier Mizuno model (and plus the inserts, which aren't light) and I found myself running faster in them. I ran on an older pair as I felt I still had miles left on them. Recently I have noticed that they really felt like they were worn out despite having only 400 miles (I was thinking I could get 500 or more out of them.) So today I decided, what the heck lets pull out the new pair and give them a whorl. They felt great! I think I will run in them one more time before Saturday and wear them for the race. The Gel Kayano is a really good shoe, probably my favorite I have ever run with.

I found out yesterday that MS Lifelines will not (as expected) offer me any further assistance with the rebif. Though if I go off of it for three months, then I can restart for a free year. Weird? So I am going to use my current insurance to max out what they will pay for rebif (2 months) and then apply for Oregon Medical Insurance Pool in a month or so as they have no cap on rebif. Seems like the best option I have.

Run arround with ms

Today I did two runs with ms. The first one was much more enjoyable despite teh chilly morning and having drank something called Bad Road at a local restaurant. Piece of advice when drinking a Bad Road, when they ask if you want 10 mile or 5 miles, don't respond with "10". So the run went pretty well, a base run of 5.75 miles. It was sunny out as it usually is when it is that cold in Portland and that kept me going strong.

One thing that I found interesting from a radio station I was listening to: Portland was named the #1 most unhappy city in the US by Business Week. I think it is really funny as I know Portlanders are going to get all "unhappy" about it. To me it is good news as it means fewer people will be coming here and clogging up our roads. Won't do much for my clients that rely on tourism though. In truth Portland is a pretty optimistic place if not overly so. They don't call us the city of rose(colored glasses)s for nothing.

So my second run(around) with ms happened later this afternoon. I am ending my one year of free rebif from Serano and MS Lifelines. Thanks for the free drugs, I'm sure they have been a help to my situation. The down side to having hope with ms, is that to continue having hope I will have to shell out over $2000 a month for the rest of my life. Turns out the medical assistance program they offer after the first year has very low income requirements which I don't fall under. I make too much to get assistance, but not enough to be able to afford it.

So I know all of you are asking, come on Marco, you have ms, don't you have insurance? Well yes I do. Turned out the plan that I originally purchased and read to cover prescriptions doesn't cover "specialty" medications such as rebif. No soup for you! Healthnet actually will cover up to $4K of "specialty" meds which almost takes me through February every year. Nice job Healthnet, you got me covered! The day I found out about this I just about pooped myself. After several phone calls I found out about the MS Lifelines Access Made Simple program which provides ms patients with free (or nearly free) rebif for a year and then offers assistance after the first year. I was so relieved. Well, it turned out I just put off the pooping a year. As I said earlier, I don't qualify for further help.

So what to do now? And let the run around begin! I have always gotten really good help from MS Lifelines. Their call center was always helpful and easy to understand. Well, that is until you get transferred out to fulfillment or in today's case Assistance Program. Seems like a change of company or at the very least pay scale as the service level drops off significantly. Part of me has to wonder if Serano wouldn't do more for me if I just got to speak to someone else.

My first thought is to get on Ruthann's insurance, which would "only" run me $800+ a month Good insurance though, eye, ear throat, the whole deal. Well at least that would be my final option. But still not a concretely solution.

So cut adrift I look into the Oregon Prescription Drug Program, a program to lower the cost of prescription drugs. When I first found out about the cost of rebif it was $1800 a month. With OPDP teh cost was lowered to $2300 a month. Oh wait, that is more? Has their been a huge increase in the cost of rebif in a year? Not out of the realm of possibility. I ask if there are other programs that I could try and after some searching she replied, Oh yes there is "the MSLifelines program that will..." Grrrrr. So I call Partner for Prescription Assistance, they also tell me of the low. low price of $2300 a month AND if I order by mail I can get it for only $2000 a month. In addition there is this program called "MSLifelines that will..." Next I try RX Assist and Needy Meds which both tell me of a program called "MSLifelines that will...". Needy Meds does tell me of several drug card programs that are available: Drug Card America, Patient Card (or something like that), Free Drug Card, PS Card and True RX Services. All of which had websites that looked as if I was going to be ordering a set of knives or Obama coin sets. Id did appear that I could get some sort of discount through them. So now I am down to about $1500 a month.

Not to be discouraged I call on my last hope the Oregon Medical Insurance Pool. This group covers individuals as if they were a group. But, because I have MS, my costs would be pretty high. The woman (Mary) I talked with was very honest about this. In fact if I got the $500 deductible plan, my meds might cost me as much as $40 a month and the plan itself could be as much as $436 a month. She paused for the shock of the high cost to ease from my shoulders. I think I totally surprised her when I said, "Wow that's great!" Great? she replied. When I told her the cost of my meds I think it made her feel really good to have been such a help. My next question was a doozy though, did OMIP consider rebif a specialty drug and were there any constraints associated with it. After being on hold four separate times she came back to say she wasn't positive, but it appeared there weren't. I was just relieved I could afford that, best news I had gotten all day. She promised to send me info on the plan. I think I have a winner.

I'm sick, can't run

And no it is not a hangover from the Super Bowl. Even though I did watch my favorite team win, I did it from bed. No beer, but I did manage to eat some junk food and a pizza!

Oddly all of a sudden on Saturday I was just hit out of the blue with nasty flu like symptoms. I think I may have graduated from just symptoms to a full on case of the flu. Good news is I feel better today, but it is certainly still hanging all over me. I have noticed that this year (my first rebif year) that I have gotten sick more times than not. My neurologist insisted that it affects/suppresses a different part of the immune system, but as my GP says it doesn't truly matter how you are supposed to react to a drug and instead it is the clinical reality that shows the real truth. In other words medicines perform differently on different people. Of course affecting immune systems seems like a pretty major thing to be willy-nilly affecting, so maybe she is right. But I have been exposed to less people (which could also be the problem) this year, I've gotten better sleep and had less stress in my life. I still think it is the rebif. Plus why was it recommended by a blogger (ok yeah, what do we know, seriously?) that as a ms person needs to get a flu shot. I have never gotten one in the past, then again I am getting older...

Well, I hope to be back running soon, but maybe not this week. Course I will get itching to go and I will end up running before I am healthy enough. I know I will. We'll see.

Hard time getting back into the swing of things

Since being sick basically put me out of commission for a couple of weeks I have been having a terribly hard time getting back into it. I think the biggest challenge has been having to run in the dark in the mornings. I'm not a big fan of that at all. I have a green blinking light that I wear on the back of my hat and an orange reflective running jacket. But it still feels sketchy, plus I worry about uneven sidewalks and all sorts of things not easily seen in the dark. Monday I couldn't get out of bed, just wanted to lay there. Yesterday I decided at 3:00 to not get up. The rebif had caused a monster fever that plagued me all night. Right after going to bed I had the worst chills. It was incredible, I just could not warm up. Later, my cough came back a bit and every time I would succumb my fever would explode. The fever issue with rebif is odd, sometimes I don't feel a thing, and others I do. I don't understand the inconsistency. I'll have to look for things in my diet that might be causing it.

I am just about ready to commit to the Seattle half-marathon on Nov 30th. I am pretty sure that in five weeks I can get back to where I was cardio-wise. My buddy in Seattle who I would stay with wants to go to a show the night before. I think I could do the half with limited sleep as long as I didn't drink the might before. I am still torn though. Paul really wants to go to the show (and so do I - Sea and Cake - but a big part says it is foolish to try. But maybe not.

Sick as a dog

Yuck, I feel like garbage and have for a few days now. I ran On Sunday and Monday and my breathing was really heavy both days, by Monday night I was down for the count. I think it might be a flu since I have flu-like symptoms. Oh wait, that's right, rebif gives me flu-like symptoms, great... Coughing all night (I need to get some cough suppressant or something), constant runny nose, fever (oh wait, the rebif again), sweats (uh, thanks rebif) and sneezing (a little). I know I am supposed to keep taking the rebif even when I am sick, but it is really tempting to skip it until I am better. I am sure that screws up the way it works, so I'll keep at it.

On a positive note, I have been trying a different strategy for reducing the pain of my injections. I had been icing the area beforehand. Sometimes this would work fine, sometimes not. I got a call from msLifelines and talked to them about my issue and she recommended using a warm compress instead. I had heard this, but the ice was just easier, so I kept at it. Well, so far I am a convert. The warmth works much better. I heat up a washcloth with hot water and apply it to the area. I do this twice before my alcohol swab, hand washing and injection. Apparently it is the rebif that actually causes the pain, not the shot. The warmth allows it to be dispersed better. Well I'll be. Lastly I massage the area to aide in dispersion.

I am not sure when I will run again, right now it feels like January. But I am sure I will get through this and feel better soon. Because it is so lung focused I am a bit concerned about running again. I think I'll start out with some short runs to get back into it (haven't we heard that before!)

Non-run day

I have to say, as much as I love running and the feeling I get afterwards, you just can't beat a non-run day sometimes. It was really nice to not have to worry about getting up early. And it is a lot easier to get out of bed when you aren't confronted with having to lace up your shoes and hit the road. So here I sit today reading the web, drinking tons of coffee and thinking about doing some yard work. Nothing too big, but a little of that is on my horizon.

So yesterday I did my rebif in the late morning after I had forgotten it on Wednesday eve. Boy, there is definitely a reason for me taking this stuff at night. I was in a fog all day, sort of a muddles feeling (if that means anything). The ibuprofen took care of most of it, but I still felt sluggish and sort of out of it all day.

On a related note, I have noticed that many medicines these days have "flu-like" symptoms associated with them. I wonder why that is? I also wonder if the symptoms are similar across meds. Maybe the pharmaceuticals are preparing the world for their new "flu-like" symptom med. Hmmm.

Third day in a row again

Today I did another round of third run in a row. I decided to sort of cut it short by a couple miles, as that was what my body was saying to me. Perhaps my body was wanting its rebif which I had forgotten to take last night (first time I have missed it since starting) but I seriously doubt that. So my revised rebif schedule was late this morning and I think I will do the next injection either Saturday or I may just stay on schedule and do it Friday night, we'll see.

So the run today went very well despite me cutting a couple of miles off of it. I didn't keep a very fast pace, but I am ok with that. The morning was cool, but warmer than the last couple of days. The other day I even needed to start out with the traditional Portland layered approach for the start (I think that was my half-marathon run.) Fall isn't here yet! I tried another little add-on that I am going to start doing. Reed has been building a new bridge across the canyon from their new dorms (that they destroyed a beautiful community garden bu building atop it, grrr. Then again it is their land) to the main campus. So I crossed the canyon on the old bridge so I could recross on the new one. They did a really nice job with it curving it around old growth trees. I saw one of the constructions workers by the entrance to the bridge and told him so. So Even with that add-on I still managed to cut miles off my run.

And down the side of the canyon I went...

I had a great run today with one exception. As I was heading down the path on the North Canyon, I came upon a turn that was obscured by foliage. As I continued down the narrow path, the sun blinded my vision into a white blur. As I neared the turn, all of a sudden their was another runner coming right at me. It was a guy I have seen several times and said hello to. I quickly tried to side-step out of the way, but with the narrow path and eight miles of running blurring my senses, I found myself stepping into air and rolling down the canyon wall (sounds a lot scarier than it is!) My friend turned in terror and came down the canyon face to pull me up. I took his hand and made it back upright. I told him I was fine, we smiled and headed off in our seperate directions. I look forward to seeing him again on teh trail so I can push him off!

Today I listened to sports radio as I ran and they talked about the folks who have been booted out of the Olympics for doping. It got me thinking about rebif and how I usually feel more energized on my runs the day after I inject. Would it be considered doping? I guess I don't have anything to worry about, as my general slowness make sup for any benefit I would attain. But I wonder about an ms Olympic athlete?

Injection bruise

I am taking rebif for my ms. So far so good, I am just into my second month of full doses. The injections kind of freaked me out at first, as I am sure they do most folks. However I found them to not me too bad. I usually ice the area I am going to inject into beforehand and that seems to make it much less bothersome. I use the very ice paks they shipped the rebif to me with, at least part of that packaging is getting reused.

So I have had very few site reactions with the injections. I use the auto injector to take my shots and I find it to be very easy to use. About two weeks ago I had my first site reaction. I got this hard lump that hurt a little. It lasted for about two hours, then went away. I asked my sister about it who is a nurse and she said it can be the result of many things. I could have not prepared my injection area as well as I should have, possibly picking something up from my hands. My angle of injection may have been off. She also said that needles sometimes get spurs in them that pull on the skin upon removal or injection. So all things to keep in mind (not much to do about the spurs I suppose.)

It is recommended that you rotate your injection area around so as to do as little damage to the areas I suppose. Their are eight spots, actually four pairs: back of the arms, above the buttocks on the back legs, stomach and front of the legs in pairs of left and right sides. I keep a little injection journal to keep track of where I am. So as a runner, my legs are somewhat muscular and have less fat to inject the rebif into (fortunately for me (or not!) even though I run I have enough fat in the other areas to where it is no problem.) But the fronts on my thighs seem to be a real problem. I now have really nasty bruises on both legs and enough pain in my left thigh that I earlier thought it was an abductor injury. So I think I am going to have to skip that area. My sister does not think this is a big deal, if one area gives you trouble, then skip it. I think I might call mslifelines and ask them about it, see if they have alternative areas for injection or if I don't need to worry about it.

No run today, the polution from last nights fireworks (as well as the lack of sleep) kept me in bed this morning. Tomorrow I'll finish off the week with another 30+ week, three in a row now (or then).

Volcano run

This morning I left the house for my run at 7:15. It was already getting warm, so it was a good thing I got the early start. Since I got the early start and I was by myself (I never connected with my running partner) I decided to do my favorite run, Mt. Tabor. I usually do this by myself cause it is long. I also love it up there and the peacefulness of the solitude is wonderful. Mt Tabor is an inactive volcano, apparently the only volcano within the city limits of a major city, and is just over 2 miles from my house. Once I am at the park, I have a five mile trail I run, that winds around the caldera of the volcano (now capped with a basketball court), up the mountain to a 3/4 mile circle around the top, then down the back and around one of the several reservoirs on the mountain. I love it there, it is also very shady and cool on the trails which makes fr a great run any time of year (even during the wet seasons, the trails stay much pretty mud-free. The hardest part of the run is not the hill climbing (of which there is a lot) but the last 2+ miles home. Coming off the mountain it always seems extra hot and I haven't found a good shady route back. But it is totally worth it.

I ran over 34 miles this week, which was more than I really should have. This week I probably should have only done 30 (according to limiting increases rules) so I figure I'll shoot fpr that next week. Plus my watch seems to give me more miles than I actually run (I think my Tabor clocked at 8.5 last year on my Ipod, this time 9.3). But I can handle having the extra miles especially if I am not really running them!

BTW I took my rebif last night and seemed to only have a few shadow spells; one at the start and several during the last mile. I also didn't take any ibuprofen before I ran. My leg muscles did feel a little achey while running and that was probably some light flu-like symptoms, or it could very well be the result of the amount of running I have been doing. I also read a post about joint pain and rebif. I am trying to spot it, but also be highly aware that I am exercising. My right knee has been occasionally achey while running, I am doing some pain-free Chi-running visualization where all my pounding joints have cotton in them absorbing the beating.

Seizure free 8.6 mile run

This morning I struggled to get up. My alarm even had to wake me, usually I have been getting up before the 6 AM bell tolls, but no summer sunrise could do it this morning. I had to rely on FOX radio telling me the war is going great to do it (I have my radio on FOX cause Blazer games get broadcasted though it is way past time to change that this year.)

I had taken my rebif last night, no reactions and relatively pain free. I awoke with some flu-like symptoms and headed for the medicine cabinet for some ibuprofen. My mom planted the seed that I shouldn't take it without eating something. Even though I have neevr done this in the past, I am sure her advice is not only true, but would cause me to have troubles the first time I went against it. So I grabbed my coffee, a raspberry emergen-C and a cliff bar (for the ibuprofen and some energy).

My abductor on my right thigh wasn't bothering me at all. I don't know if it was the rest and ice I have been giving it over the last 6 days or if it was indeed a reaction to a rebif injection. Perhaps I stuck myself in a muscle instead of fat. Either way I will take the thigh feeling better.

I wasn't sure how far I would go, I thought I would see how my leg was doing. Turned out to be pain free for the entire run, so I decided I would do the full 8.6. Hopefully the ibuprofen wasn't making me falsely confident and pain free. I did notice so issue with my hamstrings on my left leg (the other side) as well as some slight pain around the left kneecap. When I started out I decided to focus on my footstrike. I follow Chi Running by Dan Dreyer for most of my running form. Well as often happens I get into a run and start thinking about other things, so I loose my focus. Many of the ideas behind Chi Running become second nature the more you follow them, but occasionally I have found a need to re-focus in order to reestablish good habits. This need often raises its hand after injury to get me back into proper stride. So, back to the knee. As soon as I felt the problem I refocused on my Chi footstrike and the pain went away. Many time good running form can be totally over-rated and you should instead do what comes naturally rather than try to force yourself into a new pattern. Chi running and Danny's concepts fit really well into my running, so I have adopted most of them. I also employ a leg style that incorporates a short leg lift in order to conserve energy as well as a forward lean for free speed. I can't remember where I read about that, but it worked for me.

So my run was seizure free for the entire thing. It was also really cool out this morning, so that may have had something to do with things. Whatever, it was a great run. I hope to be able to get out tomorrow morning, but I know I need to be back early as Ruthann is taking one of our bedgies to the vet. Poor guy hasn't been feeling well.

Abductor injury

I haven't been running since Wednesday as I have a new (for me) running injury, at least I think it is a running injury. I appear to have pulled my abductor muscle on my right side. The abductor is the large muscle on the inside of your thigh. I say "appear" as this is the same area I had just done my injection in which hurt to do, so maybe I got it in the muscle? I have been resting it since last week and not running. I have also iced it a little. It feels a lot better, but if it is injection related, then maybe that is healing. Either way I think I will try running tomorrow. I should do a short run but I bet I will try to push it. We'll see.

I had a real site reaction on Friday where the injection site swelled up and hurt for about an hour. It wasn't that big of a deal. It seems a bit odd to me that so much attention is given to site reactions. I guess it is because it is weird and unexpected and might scare someone. The reality of it (at least for me) is that it wasn't a big deal.

Return of the Seizures

Could be a good name for a 50s horror movie or a late eighties punk band. But alas it is the title of today's blog entry. It is actually not as horrible as it sounds. I certainly didn't think I was cured or anything. A couple of days symptom free is better than nothing. And today wasn't all that bad either. The seizures were there occasionally but they were pretty mild.

I dosed rebif last night, did it in the front of my leg which seems to hurt a bit more than other places (thought two days ago I hardly felt anything, mayne I got a fatty spot then.) I went out on my morning run today and made it a half mile when I got my first seizure, string broken! I only had two more, so it wasn't bad at all. I added on a few extra blocks and totaled out at 8.4 miles. I was a little run down when I was done, which was a bit of a disappointment.

I got the results of my blood test and the dilantin levels were still a bit low, so I going up to 4 on even number days and 5 on odd numbered days. I am never going to remember this, but I will give it a shot. I could split the pills I supposed. I take the gelatin cap off anyway on my pills, trying to be a good vegetarian,. Oddly the pill is a solid tablet inside the gel cap. I think they must cap them cause the med tastes terrible. I couldn't find any other reason for not removing them in my internet search, Maybe someone out there knows something I don't about it.

I have a friend coming into town this weekend and I hope I can get another long run in. I won't be going out tomorrow either.

full dose rebif (44)

Last night I took my first full dose of rebif. The shot stung more than the others even though it is the same amount of liquid as the 22 dose (apparently they use some sort of filler for the lesser doses.) I laid down after taking it and felt a little dizzy, sort of like when I took my first quarter dose, (maybe it is in my head?) I woke up this morning feeling sort of out of it. Not really the flu-like symptoms (I took my ibuprofen) but more like sort of dizzy, almost like I was having a sinus attack or something. So I added a claratin to the cocktail and another couple of ibuprofen before I went on my run.

The run went really well this morning. I didn't have my usual seizure at the start, it didn't come until 1.5 miles into it. Then I only had two more, at 4 mi and 6 mi. Even my cool down was seizure free, although I did experience a couple of head rushes doing my side stretches (that has been normal since I have been doing them (since college when Danny Gonzalez told me I could lose my stomach if I just did side stretches. I didn't lose the stomach, but the stretches are good. More on them later.) Overall by 7.8 mi run was pretty fas too. On my long straight stretch near Reed there was a woman running in front of me about a block ahead. In the mile or so that I followed her, I caught up to her and edged her out (she had crossed to the other side of the street, so I didn't come up behind her or anything.)

The other nice thing about this morning is that I had a nice light rain, my favorite running weather. The canyon wasn't too muddy, although the foot bridges across the marsh were a little slippery despite them being non-skid. Actually it is the plant matter that falls on the bridges that gets slippery. Anyway, a great run.