HIV+ Triathlete: Til I Drop

My buddies on Team4HIVHope are rockin' the road as they race across America on their bikes! Spare a thought for them as they battle saddle sores, the elements served up by Mother Nature, and the lack of sleep inherent in racing non-stop across the continent.

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First Ironman: Wisconsin 2004. Sick heading into the race. Couldn't consume calories or fluids during. Woke up in the back of an ambulance after I passed out half way through the bike. Later diagnosed with parasitic infection.

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It has been a whirlwind of racing the past few weeks. I had two races in one of the local race series and had a much improved bike segment and finished fourth in my age group in each race so was feeling a little more confident in my chances of getting onto the podium at the Gay Games.

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There, I said it. Admitting it is half the battle, right?

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For those not in the know, this is 4 races in 3 days and totals just slightly more than the ironman distance. Many folks use it as a training weekend for their ironman race this summer. Some are racing in the team division, but like most, I'm doing the solo version.

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So went the beginning of my most recent doctor's appointment. He went on to say that no tumour was found -- whew! -- and that although I have thickening of my left adrenal gland wall, it is not indicative of a medical condition. Since its been 5 weeks since I've experienced any symptoms associated with the 5 weeks of illness and I've returned to full-on training -- and recovering from hard days very well, better in fact then I was recovering pre-illness -- meant that mentally I had pretty much put the illness in the past. I told him that I was just back to the med induced nausea and all other symptoms had ceased.

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I was hoping to give this blog entry a title with a super positive spin -- something like "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands" -- because I hadn't had any 'anxiety' attack episodes for an entire week, only bouts of nausea -- and they seemed to be lessening as the days passed -- and mild abdominal pain that failed to recur mid-week. Sunny skies.

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When all this started 5+ weeks ago, the most severe symptoms were profound fatigue and feeling very crappy all the time (much to my chagrin, I don't have a better word then crappy). But not nauseous, as I never felt like I was going to vomit and the crappy feeling didn't seem to emanate from my stomach. As the fatigue and crappy feeling started to lift in the last couple of weeks, I was able to be more functional.

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Well, not really -- I was never on the bike enough to get saddle sores, nor immobile long enough to get bed sores, but I have been battling something that I was attributing to the flu. And if I don't get better soon, getting to the start line of Ironman Louisville is in serious jeopardy.

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I fell again this week while running. Actually I was almost at a standstill when I went down and somehow landed very hard on my right calf. I have been very wisely avoiding my usual ravine route because its ice covered and have been sticking to the dreaded asphalt streets. However, a full bladder necessitated a visit to the wooded ravine and I very slowly and gingerly made my way a few metres over the ice path toward a tree when my feet went out from under me.

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