I  loved the slip ‘n’ slide every summer in our yard.  We couldn’t use it a lot because we lived in the country with our own well water and it was an old well.  My dad was very water conscious and was constantly worried the poor old well would run dry.  Which it did but that was many years later.  The past 2 weeks I feel like I’ve been slipping and sliding down a hill of exhaustion and couldn’t figure out why really.

May 27 I had this perfect 10 mile run.  A bit humid and warm but nothing excessive and I felt great the whole way through.  The bugs hatched in the woods so I opted out of the deep woods trails and ran on a paved user trail near my house that leads to the beautiful Hartwick Pines State Park in northern lower Michigan.  After the run my lower back hurt but when you have a disc that has a mild herniation this ache is nothing new.  The ache stuck around and I had some sciatica pain, nothing new there either.  Then 7 days ago I thought I had a poison ivy rash along my waist band or the label on my capris chaffed me a bit.  Add to this, for the past 7 days I have had a level of exhaustion that I’ve been passing off as not enough quality sleep, more stress than usual at work, etc. etc.  Anyone see where this is going… SHINGLES??  Can’t be.  No way.

This morning I hauled myself out the door before 7 am and slogged my way through 3.1 miles and could have laid down on the trail at any given moment and taken a long nap in the middle of the run.  On a bad hunch I called and got into my doctor at 9:15 am this morning and she confirmed that I have shingles. Classic case and glad I picked up on it early so I could start treatment. NOOOOOOOOOOOO!  I had a minor melt down at the doctor’s office.  She’s a cool lady, I like her.  Russian and very matter of fact which I need and appreciate.  She called in an Rx for a drug they use for shingles and chicken pox and sent me on my way with strict instructions to rest, take my meds every 5 hours (even through the night), and call if the pain increases.

Tomorrow I was set to leave to visit my BFF in Chicago.  I haven’t seen her in 3 years (life, work, kids, etc.) and we were going to celebrate her last chemo treatment for breast cancer and visit the botanical gardens and do “girl stuff”.  I texted her and let her know the doctor confirmed my diagnosis.  Cancelled my trip to visit because she has no immune system right now and she’s never had chicken pox.  From her house I was scheduled to attend a pretty cool conference for a week in Madison, Wisconsin.  The doctor urged me to cancel that because of the odds that my symptoms can get worse and being in a hotel 8 hours from home isn’t what anyone wants.  So instead of finally seeing my BFF I’m sitting on my porch feeling disappointed, angry, and frustrated.  At least I have a pretty porch and it’s perfect for sipping lemonade while I rest.

I’m not in pain but more discomfort at the moment and my blister area is about the size of a silver dollar.  My mom used to make me silver dollar pancakes when I was sick as a kid… mmmmm… pancakes.  I love pancakes.  I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches too. Reese’s peanut butter cups are awesome.  Nutter butter cookies… yum.  Eating healthy while not running or lifting is going to be a big challenge.

I need more swear words for times like this.  Hopefully in a week or less I’ll gain some energy back and will be able to continue running and strength training.  Funny thing is that tomorrow was my official start of training for my first 50K.  It never fails does it?  You can never plan on much except that things won’t go according to plan!