2022 PORTLAND MARATHON RACE RECAP

At the start line before the race, when there was still light in my eyes and life in my body.

As the week approached I wasn't dreading the race very much this year. I had "home bed advantage," the weather looked dry, I had no pressure on my performance, and I felt confident I could do the distance without issue. So it was pretty nice that week leading up to the race, I was tapering, I didn't have to fly anywhere... it was very low key. Usually during race week I am nervous, this time, not so much. It was just kind of something I had to do on Sunday.

Okay, as I went to the expo on Saturday and picked up my bib, it became a little more real. Maybe a twinge of anxiety in the chest. This was definitely the least I planned ahead of time though, as I started thinking about what to eat for breakfast and my morning plan only hours before going to bed. I ran to the store to get bagels and cream cheese, my normal marathon morning breakfast, then set the alarm for 5:45am. The race started at 7:10am, so I was shooting to get there about 6:45. No reason in my mind to be there any earlier. Especially with such mild weather and no need to check any clothes for post-race.

THE MORNING OF

So let's talk about the weather. My main hope with every marathon is that it is dry. And thankfully, as the ten day forecast filled in, it looked certain to be dry. The issue would be the heat, as the high for that day started creeping from 78 up and up to the point on race day it was predicted to be 86 degrees. Now, if anybody knows me, they know I don't mind the heat all too much and that I'd rather run in 90 degrees than 45. So while I didn't mind that it would be a bit warmer, I wasn't so naive to think that it wouldn't slow me down a tad. You can't run as fast in 75 as you can in 55. Would I even be running fast enough for it to be an issue though?

My morning wake up plan worked perfectly, I was fed and downtown looking to park about 6:40am. Issue though... the parking garage I was planning on using was coned off. It looks like they put a few block buffer around the race from traffic, which meant I couldn't get into that lot. It was even listed on the Portland Marathon website as a parking option for that morning! Luckily, I had noticed another lot a few blocks before, so I just circled back and went in there instead. Plenty of other runners had the same idea, so I walked with a small pack toward the start line.

The Portland Marathon is a really easy race to attend because it's still small enough the start line isn't a giant fiasco. They have finish time arches and you self seed. Unlike Shamrock, they don't have metal fencing surrounding the road, so it was very easy to just wander to the right spot along the sidewalk and then pop onto the road. I lined up just behind the 4:40 finish time arch, which seemed to be a popular time. The density of the crowd definitely seemed highest between those 4:00 and 5:00 finish times.

In the chute with my fellow 4:40 homies.

MILES 1-7: THE NORTHERN LOOP (10:42, 10:57, 10:47, 10:05, 10:05, 10:29, 10:27)

Another thing I like about the Portland Marathon is they keep the half and the full completely separate. They line up in a different chute and, although we technically cross the start line together, they immediately turn and go their own way. This keeps the crowds down for the marathoners so there was no congestion of any sort that slowed me down at the beginning.

The goal this year was to try and replicate last year in New York. I wasn't confident I could completely match it again - last year felt so effortless and easy it was really baffling. But the thought was just to lock into what felt like my long run pace and try to run that out. And it felt very similar at the beginning, I was running what felt like my normal long run pace, it felt relatively easy, and it was just a touch quicker than training due to the race day "magic." So everything was lining up as it should.

One issue I was having though was my heart rate. It instantly went into the mid to high 160s, instead of the high 150s/low 160s of last year. So my average heart rate over these miles was 166 instead of the 159 of last year. It couldn't have been the weather yet; when the race started it was a perfectly reasonable 58 or so. Maybe my watch was just off, these things aren't super accurate to begin with. Basically, since I felt okay, I just went with it. I wasn't going to throttle myself to a 12:00/mile because an unreliable piece of technology was spitting a number at me.

Anyways, for this section, I felt pretty good! It definitely dragged by longer than the first time I ran it. Every mile felt like a mile. This wasn't the case last year in New York and usually isn't a sign of a good race. However, maybe it was just my familiarity with Portland. I mean, how many times can you run on Naito and around the Rose Quarter? As long as I was hitting my pace and felt good, then everything should align as needed. Those two faster miles were a result of a gradual downhill after climbing Broadway in mile three. I don't know why my third mile isn't slower, it was noticeably slower than the first two in 2019, so I may have accidentally ran that too fast.

MILES 8-13: HANGING ON INTO SELLWOOD (10:31, 10:56, 10:24, 10:40, 10:50, 10:58)

I kept chugging along, putting one foot in front of the other. The crowds in Portland were fine but nothing to match the energy of New York, which may have been one of the reasons the race felt like it was dragging on already. At some point during mile 8 or 9 you pass the start line again and have to run in the southbound lane while watching half marathoners finish in the northbound lane right next to you. It's a bit of a kick in the nuts seeing them done and knowing you are only "half" done. And I put half in quotes because every marathoner knows the first twenty miles is truly the first half.

Aside from that mental downer, I still felt okay. Not practically floating on air like the year before, but fine. My heart rate was climbing though and the high 160s quickly became the low 170s. And I'm sorry, but the low 170s is just an insane heart rate to have during a marathon. Again, this was if my watch was accurate. I still felt fine, but I had a feeling it was more accurate than I would have liked. I had a slower 10:56 mile during the uphill to Macadam Avenue, but my times rebounded back to what I wanted quickly after. I hadn't hit true adversity yet.

Mile thirteen was really where the shit hit the fan. Ironically enough, this was the spot I ate the ill-fated KitKat back in 2019 and derailed my race too. Damn you Sellwood Park, you are a bad omen. Anyways, the trip over the Sellwood Bridge seemed to sap any last "pep" that was in my step. As I approached the thirteenth mile marker my heart rate escalated into the high 170s. All of a sudden that "easy long run pace" was starting to feel like a tempo pace. My watch WAS right because I could feel my heart pounding through my chest. What was going on?

MILES 14-20: INITIATE TACTICAL ADJUSTMENT (10:39, 10:50, 11:23, 11:40, 11:35, 11:42. 11:26)

Something that has always been true in marathons for me is how I'm feeling at the halfway point. And it's pretty obvious, if you reach the halfway point already spent wanting to be done... you are in for a rough time. If you reach it feeling fresh thinking "halfway already?" you are probably in for a good race. I reached the halfway point this year feeling like a husk of a human completely regretting all his life choices. It was a little bit frustrating to train all summer and then have a performance like I was having. Why was my heart rate 178?! It NEVER got that high during summer long run training, even when it was hot. I'm only 14 miles in! What the fuck!

I tried to ignore it for a bit but reality was catching up to me. The hill up Bybee Boulevard over Macadam Avenue was the last straw in trying to pretend I could somehow gut this one out at my long run pace. I was DONE. My legs felt like they had already run a marathon, my heart rate was spiking into the low 180s... if I tried to keep this up I'd end up in the Good Samaritan emergency room. Might have been kind of a nice life loop, begin and end my life at Good Sam in the heart of Portland.

Joking aside, I knew I had to make an adjustment. Trying to keep my goal pace wasn't going to happen, so two options were available. Either I could run/walk it in and still run at my desired speed or I could dial back the pace and try to "run" it in. For me, slowing my pace by a minute was preferable. If I couldn't get the time I was hoping for, maybe I could at least have the accomplishment of running the damn thing in. So a decision was made. I was going to throttle my speed to something that felt like I could survive and try to not to walk. It's a stupid point of pride, I had my best times when I walked a little, but whatever. When you are this far off your glory days you take what you can get.

Reed College sucked. It was pretty but I felt like death and there were a lot of hills. Good crowds though. Thanks for coming out to cheer guys. Sorry I liked like death.

MILES 21-26.2: SLOWLY SHUFFLING TO THE FINISH (11:46, 11:21, 11:54, 11:41, 11:52, 11:27)

Fortunately, the change in pace did help me a bit. I went from feeling like I was going to die to feeling like maybe, just maybe, I could finish this thing. It was going to suck, but I could envision myself stumbling through the finish line, which was a big improvement in outlook from the halfway point. After the adjustment my heart rate did dip down to the low 170s for a few miles, which was a bit reassuring in terms of not having my heart explode. I've heard that's important to not have happen. It did creep back up though and by the last few miles it was pretty much pegged at 179. Oh well, it wasn't zero.

I was really worried about "the hill" that comes shortly after the Reed College bit. If you've down the Portland Marathon, you know which hill I'm talking about. Around mile 22.5 there is a killer uphill in the neighborhoods that dumps you onto McLoughlin Boulevard. Its only two or three blocks long but it's painfully uphill. The kind of uphill that sucks even if you are super fresh and prepared to run hills. If anything was going to break my "running" streak it was this hill. And I have to say, just about everyone around me walked it. It's the sane thing to do if you are running a five hour marathon. I was the only person I saw running it. I wasn't moving much faster than anyone else (about a 14:00/mile pace) but I was shuffling up it dammit. It felt like my calves were going to explode. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it. I let out noises. I limped. But I climbed that fucking hill without walking a step.

Running that hill was probably a stupid point of pride that could have derailed my entire race, but you know what? I got away with it. After that point I was able to resume a death march like shuffle. I was pretty confident I could finish. It was just taking FOREVER. I cannot emphasize enough how much longer this race took than any other race I had ever run. Yes, it was my slowest time, but not by much. The year before in New York felt just like all the other marathons I had run in the 3:30-3:50 range. This year, which was less than ten minutes slower, felt like eight hours. It was torture. I had no idea why I was there and did this to myself. But whatever, I was in it, might as well finish.

The final hills and bridges were pretty painful. My legs were gone at this point and it felt like at any moment my muscles would tear or explode. I was happy that I would finish under five hours. Once any 4:40ish hope was out the window, that was the next goal. Just try to keep it in the fours. So I kept shuffling. Crossing the finish line didn't even feel triumphant though. I just dead, inside and out. I did my best to take a good picture though and I have to admit, I think I fooled the cameras.

THE AFTERMATH

Honestly, I didn't feel too bad in the chute. Definitely not as good as New York, but I wasn't in any major pain or anything. I was just drained beyond belief. I grabbed some food and actually ate a decent amount, which is unusual for me after a race. Although to be fair, I did almost instantly demand a cheeseburger last year after the race, so I'm thinking these hobby jogger marathon times might actually mean I'm hungry after races now.

Anyways, I did know quite a few people that ran the race, but they all ran it in 3:30 or so, which meant they were long gone from the "after party" which I've never quite understood. The last thing I want to do after running twenty six miles is stand up and have loud music pumped into my ears. Who are these people? Anyways, my parents were also out of town so long story short, I took my sad, lonely ass home (after wolfing down my free ice cream, donut, and beer). My afternoon was spent in a hot bath and then taking a nap. All told, my muscles weird too bad, just very, very tried and drained.

Overall, I am really proud of my race. Nothing went right. I have no idea why my heart rate was spiking like that. All summer that pace was in the high 150s or low 160s. Why, on race day, is it suddenly in the 170s? It felt a bit unfair, but oh well, what can you do? Frankly, the fact I struggled that hard and still finished within spitting distance of last year is pretty awesome. That was a five hour GRIND and I bucked up and did it. Yay me.

OFFICIAL CHIP TIME: 4:51:47, 11:08/mi. 996/1745 male, 178/291 M35-39.

2022 PORTLAND MARATHON RACE PREVIEW

From 2019, the last time I did the Portland Marathon. I was much faster back then!

Well, I was able to hit that twenty mile run without too much issue after the last post. It was long and hard (heh) but I was able to get it done. The weather that day was overcast and smoky, some people at Sunstone actually cut the run short because of the smoke. I did NOT have that option. I'm sure it was the equivalent of smoking a few packs, but it was doable. The weather definitely helped as well, after so many runs in the heat and sun, overcast in the low 70s was downright dreamy.

That run felt good enough that I didn't feel the need to do an "emergency" third 20 mile run the next weekend. I decided to do my usual wind down to 16 and then 10 the last weekend before the race. The sixteen was ran at a quicker pace (10:20) due to an old friend showing up, so it was a hell of a workout. I was definitely sore for a couple days after that. Anyways, despite the August lull discussed in the last post, I do feel about ready as I can be for the race on Sunday.

So what are my plans/goals for Sunday? Not much. Basically I want to finish. I do NOT have any time goals. With my fitness being where it is, there is no sense in pushing my pace at all. If I tried to push the pace and get 4:38... who cares. I could run it comfortably and finish in 4:53. To everyone but myself 4:38 and 4:53 are the same thing. Not very fast. Nobody gives a shit. So basically my goal is to run it comfortably and don't get wrapped into a race day "challenging" of myself.

I feel I'm about in the same shape as last year, maybe slightly less in shape if anything. I'm a year older and I had that huge hole in my August training. So I'm definitely not in better shape. However, I'm in the ballpark of last year, which I think means if I just go out and do my normal long run pace, I should be able to finish without too much issue. Hopefully, knock on wood.

Last year I ran a 4:43 and I felt suspiciously amazing. I've never felt like that during a marathon before. Even if I felt that way again, Portland is a harder course and naturally I would probably be about five minutes slower due to all the hills. So my time, best case, is going to clock in around 4:50. Talk about getting your money's worth! I'm not going to be finishing this thing until after noon (7:10am gun time). Fuck.

There you have it. My biggest goal is to run it at a comfortable pace and hopefully not walk. If I can run the whole thing, that would be great. If I have to take little walk breaks towards the end, then whatever, I still did a marathon. Basically I'll just go out for a little jog and by the time it hurts, hopefully I have less than an hour left. Then I'll just mindfuck my way to the finish line. Runners know what I mean.

Anyways, if you want to stalk me on Sunday, here is the link: LIVE RUNNER TRACKING

SUMMER TRAINING RECAP

One of dozens of Sunstone weekday runs this summer.

Oops, I did not mean to go that long between posting. Broken record, I know.

Let's recap summer training for the Portland Marathon though! It was basically a repeat of last summer. I was able to slowly work my way up and hit my first 20 mile run in early August. What seemed impossible just a few months prior was indeed very possible. After that milestone I felt confident enough to actually sign up for the Portland Marathon (when you do your hometown race you have the privilege of pretending you don't have to do it).

The runs were a lot like last year. Mostly alone and slow. The twenty mile run took over four hours with my pit stops. However, I did nut up and wake up early enough to hit some 8am Sunstone runs, which was a major accomplishment. The problem there is, even though I'm going to a group run, nobody is really running an 11:00/mile. So I end up running by myself anyways. At least it is a different course and there is the novelty of seeing people and waving 'hi' along the way. One run I even had a companion for most of it. However, for the most part, the long runs are slow, independent affairs.

It was all going smooth until this last week. I had a couple of weekends packed with stuff where it was going to be hard to do the long runs. However, this came right after a long ramp up to twenty miles, so a brief lull in training to recharge made sense and actually might have been beneficial. I squeezed in a 14 mile run (deathmarch in heat, so it was a great workout) and then was all set to hit my second 20 on that third weekend. Well, I got horribly ill. A really bad stomach flu of some sort. I was up all night throwing up (on my birthday!) and then the next few days I just felt terrible. On the day I was supposed to do my long run I went out and tried to do four miles and almost passed out after three. Still sick!

I'm back healthy now, but the fact I haven't done any distance in three and a half weeks, other than the one 14 miler, is not great. I'm unsure how much fitness I have lost. So I don't know if I can do 20 this weekend, or if I should try for 16 and hopefully hit 20 the next week. That would be two weeks before the marathon, one week later on the final 20 than usual, but I've done that before and it worked out fine. At this point tapering to give my body rest is not an issue. So we'll see. I couldn't have gotten that out of shape in a few weeks, right?

As for my body, Cosentyx seems to be working pretty well! I think it is a definite upgrade over Simponi. So that's been encouraging. Like before, I'm not completely cured, but most of the time my psoriatic arthritis feels like an afterthought. Overall, I am pleased with the medication change.

This winter I may think about working on speed a little bit. Maybe that's optimistic, just getting outside to run in the winter is a challenge, but I think my body might be in the spot to increase my speed. If I could be doing long runs at 10:00/mile next year instead of 11:00, that would be huge. Not only do they get done quicker, but I might actually have some people to run with.

Anyways, that's the update. The Portland Marathon is just a few weekends away and at the moment I'm not feeling so confident, but hopefully the next two weekends will restore that belief.

TRAINING BEGINS & COSENTYX UPDATE

Hello again! Just thought I would pop by and give a quick update on how my training is going and how my new drug is working.

Let's start with the training. It always starts so much earlier than I think! I started my training long runs off at ten miles, so most of the spring I was working my long runs back up to that point. At one point five miles was a "long" run that kicked my ass, so getting back to a ten mile run to start the training cycle took some work. It's insane how quickly I've got out of shape after New York.

Happy to report I was able to hit the 10 mile training run no problem. And then a few days ago I was able to do 11 miles no problem. Now, when I say no problem, it means I was able to complete them injury and pain free. It does not mean I didn't feel completely wiped afterward and sore for days. They are definitely a challenge. I have no idea how I am going to run 20 miles, let alone 26.2. But it's normal to feel that, I've felt that before. You just slowly creep your miles up and eventually you get there.

So that's the plan. I'm just going to keep slowly increasing my mileage. As usual, I am hoping to hit three 20 mile training runs. I really think that helped for New York last year. It's tempting to follow the beginner plans that only have one, but I think three is really the key. It just really, really sucks when you are as slow as I am, because it takes over four hours! On Sunday for my 11 mile run I tried to keep it to an easy, "conversational" long run pace and averaged 11:20/mi. So I am not any faster this year. Some death marches on the horizon for ol' Thomas.

As for Cosentyx... the jury is still out. Right now it seems to be about on par with Simponi... After a few weeks I was thinking it wasn't going to work because my body seemed to be more arthritic and the further away my last Simponi shot was, the worse I felt. However, after all the loading doses and my first monthly dose, I do seem to be picking up some relief again... right now it feels about even with Simponi in that I'm not flaring and I can run and stuff, but there are times were I definitely still feel old and creaky.  So we'll see how it works out in the long run. Anything is still possible... Humira seemed to be working at first and then it flopped miserably. So I could still be in for that. Or we could have Simponi clone. And maybe, just maybe, it'll end up being better than Simponi. We'll see.

I am noticing one thing different, and that's that Cosentyx is actually working on my skin psoriasis. NONE of the treatments I used before did jack shit in that regard. I don't have much skin psoriasis, but what's there seems to be slowly disappearing without the use of any ointments or creams or whatever. Normally I have to use those to keep it from flaking and being gross, but I haven't touched a drop of the stuff in the last month and they all seem to be fading. The skin is still a little red but it's not being scaly and flakey. So that's a minor win. Even if the arthritis relief is just on par with Simponi, having my skin clear up without using anything is a definite plus.

Why do all the DALL-E creations look insanely more athletic than me? Sigh.

ATTEMPTING DRUG NUMBER.... I'VE LOST COUNT

Hello beautiful people. How are you? And the kids? Good to hear.

Well, nothing much to report. I want to try to update the blog once a month, but I often fail at that, as you can see. Anyways, two things to discuss, starting (another) new drug and my plans for a marathon this fall.

First, the drug. Simponi, the medication I am currently on, is working alright. If nothing else works and this was as good as it gets, I could live with it. It's not ideal and I appear to flare in the winters, but all told, I can be active and feel like a human most of the time. It is still a far cry from the near complete remission with leflunomide though. Oh leflunomide, you sweet, sweet mistress. You and your liver ripping tendencies.

So, while I have recovered from my winter flare with Simponi and seem to be back to the save level I was able to train for New York at, things could be improved. I went into the doctor in February, feeling like the picture on the right, and agreed to try a new med. We can always fall back on Simponi if we need to. But maybe one of these will really work well! So I've started Consentyx. We'll see how that goes. I have four loading doses (one per week for a month) and then it is a monthly shot like Simponi. Just hoping it doesn't completely fail and send me into horrible summer pain.

I was thinking about how many drugs I've been on and figured I should probably start writing them down before I forget. So here they are, in order: methotrexate tablets, injectable methotrexate, leflunomide, Humira, Simponi, Consentyx. So I guess this is attempt #6 to answer my title question. I'll report back on how well it is working. Cross your fingers for me!

As for this fall, I've decided to do the Portland Marathon again. I failed to get into both Chicago and New York, so I'll just stay close to home. Makes things easy with the lack of travel and time zone change. Assuming I do another marathon in 2023, I'll try for New York and Chicago again. Hopefully I can get into Chicago. I mean, come on. Otherwise, I could also look at other fall marathons. Anyways, that's a long ways off. I'm pretty set and excited for Portland this year.

Unfortunately, I did the math and it looks like I have to start training for Portland the first weekend in June. So, pretty much in two weeks. Yeah. Fear not though, I've been ramping up my run long in preparation. Last weekend I did 7 miles and this weekend I'll do 8. It's really sad how quickly my fitness dropped after NYC. Anyways, incrementing a mile at a time, I'll be ready for 10 miles that first training weekend. And then I'll slowly increase mileage throughout the summer again. Not looking forward to those four hours runs in August. Ugh. I just really, really need to re-regulate my sleep schedule so I can do a group run for at least part of them.

2022 SHAMROCK RUN 8K RACE RECAP

My first race since the New York Marathon! I like traditions, because they force me to do things I wouldn't otherwise do. If I didn't have a streak of Shamrock Runs going back to 2012, I definitely would not have been doing a race. I had to keep my streak alive though, so even though I was having a rough winter and was in really horrible shape, I signed up for the 8k. My recent runs had been as much as 4.4 miles at Sunstone, so what was another half mile at that point?

I last did the 8k in 2017 with Brandon. The route remains exactly the same, just a giant out and back along the not so exciting part of Naito. This is not a run I would recommend to anybody from out of town or looking to have beautiful distractions on the run. If you're just showing up so you can keep your Shamrock streak alive though... it works.

Mercifully, the 8k is the last race to go off (other than the family walk), so I didn't have to get downtown until 9:45am or so. The race kicks off at 10:10am, so I planned to be strolling up to the starting line minutes before. The weather this year wasn't great, it was kind of spritzing rain. Nothing too horrible though, I think the weather during 2016 takes the cake. Since the 5k goes off at 8am, just about everybody from that race was already cleared out before I even got there. This includes the close by parking spaces in the parking garage. So I was able to stick my car in a SmartPark a few blocks from the start no problem. Couldn't ask for a much better start time and parking situation for a major race downtown.

THE RACE

While I was able to find my way into the corral, it wasn't signed very well. A bunch of us 8kers could clearly see the corral with people lining up, but we had no idea how to actually get into it. Eventually someone found a gap in the fencing so we were able to slip in that way. I lined up a bit behind the 10:00/mile sign. I didn't know how fast I was going to go, but I figured that would be about right. It wasn't long before they sang the anthem and then started the race. They did "waves" of people to help crowding and I wasn't released until the third wave, so it did take a while before I was finally running. Luckily I dressed warm enough to stand around and never really got cold even with the the light rain shower.

There was quite the bottleneck at the beginning of the race. And it wasn't just a "I'm running a bit slower than I want to" type bottleneck, it was a "come to a complete stop before slowly walking a bit" type bottleneck. I have no idea why it was so bad this year. The race did go down to just two lanes pretty quick, but it was at the same point it always does that, so who knows. Anyways, my first mile time of 9:24 reflects that, because I was definitely running faster once I was up to speed.

In regards to speed, I had been doing all my runs at a 10:30ish pace. That was basically my speed all last summer training for the marathon as well. So my expectations for this race were not high, I was planning to run just under 10/mile and finish at like 9:55 or something. If I had a goal, it was to be in a "single digit" pace. So that's what I went out there trying to do. I wasn't hawking my watch though, I just kind of settled into a "moderately aggressive" pace for my physical ability and would live with whatever time it was.

Turns out my mile times were 9:24, 8:54, 8:58, and 9:12. Tired a bit at the end. And if I completed a 5th mile (an 8k is over right before #5), it would have been 8:59. So overall just a touch over 9:00/mile, but TWO miles under 9, which was a total surprise. I didn't except to be quite that "fast" for lack of a better word. Honestly, it wasn't too much of a struggle either, I probably could have gone a bit faster if I wanted my best possible time, but I was worried about finishing the distance without completely crapping out. I was definitely ready to be done by the time it was over. Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

THE AFTERMATH

While I definitely knew some people who would be at the race, unless you are actually attending with them they are nearly impossible to find. Nobody I knew was doing the 8k either. Anyways, I kept my eye out for them but didn't see anyone. So I just meandered through the finish corral, grabbed some food, then went to the beer tent for my beer. The band playing was pretty good, I wish the weather was better so I could have stood around longer, but by this time I was wet and the 40-something degrees was starting to creep in. So I hoofed it back to the warmth of my car.

Another Shamrock in the books! I really would like to get back to the 15k next year, so hopefully my body can hold up better this winter than it has for the last few.

Official Results: 45:10, 9:05/mile. 486/2289 overall, 295/921 male, 41/123 M35-39.

RETURN OF THE M(B)ACK (PAIN)

Well my friends, 2022 isn't off to the greatest start. For the second straight winter, my body has seemed to decide an inflammation flare would be an awesome way to make me lose all faith in the upcoming year early on. Gets it out of the way early. Kinda nice really when you think about it.

It's a lot like last year, which I blamed solely on Humira. And yeah, that drug failed miserably. Here we are at year two though and this time Simponi is not up to the case. When leflunomide had my arthritis in retreat I never had any of this crap. As discussed on this blog, Simponi sorta works alright, so this year is maybe like half as bad. Last year got pretty desperate. I'm having to keep that in mind, because while I don't feel good, it could be a lot worse. So I'll just have to hope I'll come out of it again in the next few months.

I honestly think it is weather related... I can literally feel the weather in my bones when it gets cold. Old people just aren't making that up. I think it slowly builds over the months as the weather turns and then just kind of lets loose in January. I can't really think of anything else that changes this time of year. My sleep habits, work stress, diet... everything stays exactly the same. People that know me know I am pretty consistent. So to be the same exact person feeling pretty spunky in the summer to absolutely puny in January is quite the confusing thing.

So yeah. Just gotta hope it gets better as it gets warmer outside. I'm sure it will. Also, I just need to give in and take ibuprofen more often. I tend not to take it, I imagine it ripping up my liver for some reason... but that's stupid. Two of them every so often isn't going to make me a liver transplant patient. I don't know why I avoid it and then lay around in pain instead. So you know what, I'm going to go take some right now because I could certainly use it.