END OF 2021 RECAP

In case you missed it, I finally got around to posting my race recap for the New York City Marathon. I backdated it to the actual month it took place, so I don't know if that causes it not to show up in an RSS feed or Reader list or whatever. Anyways, not that anyone reads this blog anyways, but there it is.

2021 was sort of a down year of running for me. Not as bad as 2017 I suppose, but I started off the year in a huge arthritis flare due to the absolute failure of Humira. Any progress I had made running was completely wiped away and I had to start fresh. Simponi was able to get me back to running and feeling mostly normal, but it really only gets me back to 70% of where I used to be. Any sort of speed or large mileage is still hard on my body, but I discovered if I take it easy and just go with the flow, I can get back to regular running without issue.

Most of the rest of the year was spent trying to build toward the New York City Marathon without my body rejecting the miles. And it worked! Maybe my "fast" days are behind me, but if I can still train for and run a marathon, I don't have much to complain about. I am very slow however, which means the training runs in the summer really drag on and I'm now too slow for my old long run training groups. So we'll see in 2022. I didn't get into the Chicago Marathon, which means I'll probably be doing Portland again.

My goals for 2022 are to continue to run pain free. We'll see how out of shape I get... I've been pretty bad since the New York City Marathon. First of all, I was horribly sick for almost the entire month of December. I got a couple runs in, but man they sucked. According to an at-home test it wasn't breakthrough COVID, but who knows. If not, it was the WORST cold of my life. And then, even when healthy, it is so hard to motivate myself to get out there when it is cold, dark, and wet. Same old dance every year. If I can somehow get my ass out there twice a week I'll call it good. That's the minimum hopefully. Still shooting for three, but man I fucking hate the winter.

Anyways, that's about it. Not sure what my next race will be. Don't know if Omicron is going to cancel anything. I might think about the Zena Road Runs, but if not that, then probably the Shamrock Run will be the next race. Other than that, just getting outside for a few miles will be a triumph.

2021 NEW YORK CITY MARATHON RACE REPORT

Lined up with my corral about to start and run over the Verranazzo Narrows Bridge.

I'll start off by saying that the New York City Marathon is hands down my favorite marathon experience to date. It really blows the other marathons I have done out of the water. If you want "big city spectacle," look no further! I was also lucky that the weather was absolutely perfect and I had a good race experience. Overall though, if you enjoy completing a marathon, New York has to be on your bucket list!

I left for New York on Thursday morning. My flight out was at 7am, meaning a 4:45am wake up call. I didn't do the work I should have to adjust to east coast time before then, so I went into that flight with about three hours of sleep. However, it all worked out because at midnight New York time that night I was wanting to go to bed. So I was able to slip right into an east coast sleep schedule after that first day.

In the days before the race I tried to not be on my feet all the time to varying success. New York is such a cool city and I need to go back there without a marathon looming over my head. So many sights to see, good food to eat, and people to watch! I enjoy a big spectacle race, but I also enjoy a big spectacle city. I need to get myself to Hong Kong and Tokyo at some point. I love just the mass of humanity and sheer unfathomable amount of things to do and see. Really makes Portland look like a podunk shanty town.

Anyways, onto the race!

THE MORNING OF

So, despite my best intention and being tired at midnight the night of the race, I got ZERO MINUTES of sleep before the marathon. That's right, not a wink. It was really frustrating. My mind was just racing and I was really nervous about the race. I think the uncertainty of my training this year was the main culprit... could I really comfortably run the marathon on two four mile runs and a long run each week? Would my legs hold up? Was I in for a completely miserable experience? I just could not get my mind to stop worrying. The room I was in was also a bit on the warm side, which I don't think helped. I just could not get comfortable.

On the bus after the ferry.

Anyways, I got good sleep the night before so I just hoped laying there with my eyes shut for seven hours would help. My alarm finally ended my torment so I was able to get some breakfast (leftover pizza) and coffee into my system. By the time I left for the subway, I was feeling decently awake and ready to confront whatever the marathon would present. I almost felt as if I had slept, so that gave me a little bit of confidence I could avoid a major fiasco.

I took two subway lines (transferred halfway) to the Staten Island Ferry. I then took the ferry and got on a race provided bus to shuttle to the start. I finally arrived just before 9am... about an hour and a half before my start. The starting village was huge and divided into three different colors. Each color had their own sea of portable toilets, food station, coffee/water station, clothes donation, etc. I grabbed a bagel and munched on it and also drank a couple cups of water. I also was able to do my "business" real quick which was a big shot of confidence.

Mostly though, I just sat around and waited for my starting time. Luckily the weather was clear, hardly a cloud in sight, and there was little wind to speak of as well. So I was able to find multiple curbs and sit on them to pass the time. I would sit for about fifteen minutes, then go do something. Then sit again for fifteen minutes. Eventually they asked my starting wave to get ready in the corrals. I backed into the slowest corral I could, but that took the pacer near me from 4:00 to 4:05. I just wanted to start near the very back so I wasn't in people's way as I targeted my slower pace.

MILES 1-7: START AND THE FIRST SEVEN (11:02, 10:13, 10:49, 10:39, 10:52, 10:50, 10:44)

I had bought "throwaways" at Goodwill before leaving on the trip, knowing I would be hanging out in the corral for hours beforehand. Luckily, they had donation bins right in the corrals themselves, so I was able to keep them on until the very last second. Eventually they moved our corrals forward toward the start line. This walk wasn't too bad, maybe a quarter mile at most? Eventually we were all lined up at the start near the base of the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. They did the national anthem, the countdown, then we are off!

If you've seen pictures of the New York City Marathon, you've probably seen one of the start on this bridge, packed to the gills with people. It did not look like that this year. I think they opted for smaller, more frequent corrals due to COVID. Don't get me wrong, there were a ton of people and it was busy, but it wasn't the shoulder to shoulder affair like I was imaging. Also, I was able to settle into my pace at the back and there seemed to be a lot of people right there with me at that pace. So between those two factors I didn't feel like I was getting in many runners way, which was nice.

The hill up the bridge is definitely a long and gradual one. I could see this being a real problem for someone who wasn't used to hills. Luckily, running where I do, it was no issue. It crested about a mile in and then we got a nice extended downhill as we cruised toward Brooklyn. My pace up the hill was right around 11:00/mi and my pace down the hill was right around 10:00/mi, so I was curious what it would be once I settled into flatter territory. Eventually that question was answered and "Thomas The Human Metronome" settled into a very consistent 10:49ish pace. That was slightly quicker than my usual long run pace but it felt easy like my long run pace. My heart rate was also right where I wanted it. Things were looking good!

After the brief start in Staten Island before the bridge, the remaining distance of the first thirteen miles takes place in the borough of Brooklyn. The crowds were fantastic! Seriously, they were lining the entire course and being very loud. Whenever you ran past a series of bars it was basically like a party in the street. There were a lot of people hitting the sauce early to cheer us on! Pretty fun. This part of the race was also pretty flat, so I was able to churn out some consistent miles and get into a nice groove. At times you could see the race stretching before you for miles and the mass of humanity moving in the distance like a wave. It was pretty cool but also a grim reminder of just how long this frickin' thing was!

MILES 8-13: METRONOMING IN BROOKLYN (10:54, 10:51, 10:49, 11:00, 10:40, 11:02)

The race continued on in the relatively flat Brooklyn. I really settled into a groove here, the pace felt good and I was able to enjoy the sights around me. The New York City Marathon doesn't have a lot of bends and turns, so you could often see quite far ahead. I was trying to run the tangents where I could, but honestly, there weren't a ton of tangents to begin with! Luckily, they did mark them down on the road with a light blue line for the elites, so I just used that as my cheat code. My friend Jon was there to cheer me on about mile eight and I was happy to spot him in the large crowd.

Mile 8

Not a lot I can say about this part of the race that hasn't already been said. Amazing crowd support, cool sights from different neighborhoods in Brooklyn, relatively flat course... hmm. I guess I can talk about my fueling strategy! Like most marathons, I stopped at every aid station had tried to get one electrolyte drink and one water. One thing I did not want to happen was dehydration. Except for a few instances, I was able to get both cups at the aid stations. New York had a lot of aid stations, as one would suspect, so I was never wanting for fluid. In addition to that drinking, I ate 180 calories of gummies every six miles. So a big handful of gummies at 6, 12, 18 and 24. That worked out well and I really liked the Gatorade branded ones I bought at the expo. They weren't super chewy and went down very easy.

All those fluids did cause me to pee twice during the race. Luckily, in each instance, I was able to duck directly in to the bathroom without waiting. While I might have lost thirty seconds in there, I usually ran a bit quicker once back on the course before settling back into my normal groove. So while I definitely lost some time, I think overall for the race it was well short of a minute. All told, I think my drinking/eating strategy is a pretty good one. It's basically the same one I have used since my first few marathons.

MILES 14-20: QUEENS, MANHATTAN, AND THE BROX (10:45, 11:11, 12:02, 10:36, 10:36, 10:43, 10:48)

The half marathon mark was actually on one of the few places without hordes of cheering people... a bridge. These bridges were probably the toughest part of the race because not only were they uphill (for half at least), there wasn't the usual cacophony of sound to encourage you onward. At this point though, I didn't need it, as I was still feeling pretty good and motivated. You can tell a lot about your marathon by the halfway point... if you are tired and wanting it to be over, you are in for a rough time. If you still feel kind of fresh and like you haven't exerted yourself too terribly... you have a chance.

Mile 17ish.

Unlike normal, I didn't really study the course to death before running this race. I did know that we would touch all five boroughs and that there was an uphill about mile 23ish that was "killer" but for the most part I went in blind. It was honestly fun to be totally surprised, it felt like kind of an adventure. It was kind of funny, however, when we crossed the Pulaski Bridge into Queens. After the long time spent in Brooklyn, I had to figure we would be in Queens for a good five miles or so. So I was pretty surprised when after less than two miles we were routed onto a bridge over to Manhattan. You were fun while you lasted, Queens (seriously, the crowd support there was awesome!).

The twelve minute mile is because of said bridge. To me, this was the hardest part of the race. It seemed like an incline that was going on forever, every time I thought the Queensboro Bridge was cresting it just kept going up. I knew my mile time on that part wasn't great, but I just reminded myself to keep an even effort. I was not going for time, and trying to push it up the bridge would ruin the rest of my race. So I just kept chugging upward. Again, there is no crowd here and it is mile 16, so this was the first time any sort of doubt creeped into my mind. I was tired from the uphill and there was still ten miles to go. Would my legs be gone after this incline?

Luckily, once over the hump, my legs came back just fine. Whatever doubts I had were mostly relieved as I continued to be able to hit my pace without issue. I wasn't even hawking my watch at all, I just ran by feel and each time my watch beeped it threw back a number right where I wanted to be. The stretch in Manhattan was multiple miles of a literal straight road (1st Ave)... again, you could see the wave of humanity in the distance as far as the eye could see, which was awe inspiring in one respect but also depressing in another. Really reminded you how far you had to go!

MILES 21-26: BRONX POP BY AND THE PARK FINISH (10:41, 10:33, 10:45, 10:49, 10:16, 9:50)

Right at about mile twenty you cross over the Willis Ave Bridge and end up in the Bronx. If I thought the stopover in Queens was short, the stopover in The Bronx was even quicker. You cross the bridge, run about a mile there, then take the final (thank goodness) bridge back into Manhattan. Compared to the Queensboro Bridge though, these ones were a piece of cake. Short little bumps if anything. As expected, the crowd support there was great as the residents of The Bronx wanted to make sure you appreciated your brief time in their borough!

Mile 23 hill... feeling spry!

Once back in Manhattan there more long, straight stretches. These totally work in New York though because there is so much to see! I probably looked like such a tourist at times, my head craned to the sky admiring all the super tall buildings. The craziest part here was my body still felt good. I was a little tired and it had been four hours, sure, but overall this was definitely the best I had felt at this point in a marathon. Thank goodness too, because I was about to encounter the feared uphill at mile 23 that swallowed runners alive. This was where marathons went to die.

It was no biggie. Try to pick out my uphill time in those series of mile times, I dare you. It was the 10:49. It was about 100 feet over the course of a mile, so really nothing too terrible. I can see how it would have totally kicked my ass in some of my previous marathons, but since I was taking this one easier and just doing my long run pace... it was fine. I mean, I would have rather it had not been there, but it was fine. I honestly sped up a little because doing so used a slightly different set of muscles and I actually felt pretty fresh.

By the time I crested the hill, I was ready to push for the finish and push I did. You can see by my declining mile times, I was feeling pretty good. Honestly, I couldn't believe how much energy and how good I felt for being the final two miles of a marathon. I was really worried about this one between my legs and subpar training, but my commitment to stick to my pace really paid off. I wove through those final two miles in Central Park like nobody's business. It felt awesome to be zipping along as so many people were in zombie mode. Now, my time sucked, I know, but still... to finish a marathon feeling like that... amazing! This was the first, and likely last, marathon I had a negative split on.

THE FINISH AND THE AFTERMATH

I crossed the finish line and was able to stop and walk around no problem. I think that's another first. Usually my legs feel some sort of trashed and I have a little limping session. Sure, they were tired as hell, but I was able to walk around and I didn't have the urge to sit down and cry in pain like usual. So that's progress I guess. Like always, however, the chute seemed to go ON AND ON AND ON. The thing never ended! Finally I was able to exit into the masses. It took a bit but I was able to find Jon and then demanded to go to a restaurant with a cheeseburger. I'm typically not hungry after a race, but usually I feel way more trashed and exhausted.

Anyways, I got my cheeseburger and fries and then took the subway back to Brooklyn. For running a marathon on no sleep, I was feeling pretty okay. My legs were very tired but I was able to get up the three flights of stairs to the room no problem (a real worry earlier in the week). I even stayed up until 11pm watching Sunday Night Football before calling it an evening.

In all, it was such an unexpectedly amazing marathon experience. I went to New York knowing it could be an absolute shit show... or it could go okay. I honestly didn't expect to have one of my best marathon experiences ever. Yes, it was a PW by miles, but who cares. I loved the whole experience and didn't suffer through it. A definite win in my eyes.

Official Chip Time: 4:43:22, 10:49/mi. 14,582/24,949 overall, 9,100/13,584 male, 1574/2166 M35-39.

ALMOST THERE

Over the weekend I ran my third and final 20 mile training run. Every marathon training cycle I try to run at least three of them, and this one was no different. They are definitely harder this time around versus in 2019 when my psoriatic arthritis was in remission. Towards the end of my 20 milers these days my pace drops, my heart rate elevates, and my knees throb. However, they are still "doable," so I do them. This last one was a little harder than it should have been because I ran both Wednesday and Thursday and on Thursday I pushed the pace at the group run. So on Saturday morning I wasn't feeling particularly fresh. Self-inflicted wound.

On marathon day, I'm feeling pretty confident I'll be able to finish without much issue. My long runs have been on par with any other marathon training cycle I've done. So I'm pretty confident on fresh legs I can get to 20 without issue. Every other marathon I would speed up on race day and run about 1:30/mi or so faster than my long run pace. That won't be the case this time around. I'll just be doing my normal long run pace. However, that doesn't mean the run will be any easier, because I've greatly neglected the weekday runs. Previously I would average 20 miles a week on three weekday runs, this time around I've averaging 8 miles on two weekday runs. Not that I'm slacking, that's about all my body can take when coupled with the long runs.

Last weekend's 20 miler. Four 5 mile spokes!

So anyways, I think the slower pace but lack of miles will largely balance out. It will probably be like a normal marathon where I can get to 20 okay and then the last 10k is an epic slog. I'm just hoping my legs don't give out in some fashion or I'm not in a ton of pain at the end. By the end of the 20 mile training runs I'm definitely in some moderate overall pain, so hopefully another 6 miles doesn't send me over the edge in. I don't think it will. Also, I can just walk. Who cares, this is a PW anyways and completing the marathon will be a triumph regardless of time. It's all gravy baby.

The taper has officially begun! I am just ready for the race to be here and over. I'll post a race preview at some point but mostly I am just worried about the weather. I need it to be dry if at all possible. I can handle cold, I can handle hot... I don't want to handle wet. You have to queue up in the start village like three hours before the race, so standing there for that amount of time in the pouring rain would be absolutely miserable. 

A PATTERN HAS BEEN DETECTED

Gonna miss the blue skies.

So, as I was kind of suspecting in my last post, the Simponi starts wearing off toward the end of the month and I have more symptoms the closer I get to my next shot. For example, the last few days I've been feeling more creaky and arthritic than I have for some time and surprise, surprise, my next shot is in two days. At this point I can pretty confidently say the Simponi is providing somewhat decent relief that wanes in the last week or so of the treatment cycle. I was hoping to get to the point where the relief would build for the whole cycle, but I don't think it is going to get me there.

Usually a few days after the shot I start feeling pretty spunky again. I never get back to that 100% relief like I did with leflunomide though. The last runs this training cycle have made that pretty clear. My legs/knees definitely hurt toward the end of these longer runs and it is definitely tied to the remaining inflammation in my knees. I remember how glorious my twenty mile runs on leflunomide where, I had seriously never felt better after a run that long, even before my psoriatic arthritis really reared its head.

I should be able to finish this training cycle and run the marathon. I'll be very slow this year, probably 4:45ish, but that's okay. Just being able to run a marathon is cool. My training volume is much lower this year and I can't really do speedwork very comfortably while also pushing my mileage. My knees just aren't in condition to be back to 3:40s Thomas. Maybe they never will be again. Who knows? However, I can still train for and complete a marathon, so that's what I'm going to do.

My first twenty mile run went alright. It definitely hurt more than any twenty mile run I have done since maybe the first one. Cardio wise I felt okay but my legs were wiped out and the last few miles were definitely a struggle. Also, doing all these runs at like 11:15/mile or so... they take FOREVER. The twenty mile run was over four hours when you include the short pitstops for fluid and stoplights. I was seriously out there all afternoon. And since I'm too slow for my normal training group, these are all by myself. And so far they are all the same course. It's getting OLD. But, like, it's all over in six more weeks. So I can just power through.

Hopefully by next year I'll have more more relief and be able to get back to my normal routine. Part of me is hesitant to switch from Simponi because it is sort of working and it allows me to mostly feel human and do stuff most of the time. But it's far from perfect, and what if switching to Embrel gave me the leflunomide type relief? I'd be missing out! However, what if it fails horribly like Humira? Can I stomach another dark, rainy winter being in a fetal pain ball on the couch? Ugh!

I actually have an appointment with my rheumatologist like 11 days after the marathon. So, we'll see what she says. I won't be seriously training for anything at that time, so it's actually probably a good time to try a new medicine if we feel like that could help. If it takes me out of commission for a few months, who cares? I just can't quite believe none of these $80,000/year medications work as good as a pill for a fraction of that.

Anyways, the New York Marathon is on November 7th, which is actually PERFECT time wise. That's a week and a half after my shot, which is about when the relief seems to peak. So, in terms of feeling my best for race day, I should be good there. If the race was on the 24th of the month I would be screwed.

SIXTY? NINETY? HARD TO TELL

Weeknight four mile run with Sunstone

Ahoy! Mid-August update coming fast and hot. Make sure you are strapped in, because this is going to be some Earth shattering shit. Okay, not really.

Training for the New York Marathon is going fairly well. I made a "training plan" around the beginning of July because at that point it was four months until race day and I needed some kind of structure or something to keep me accountable. By that point I had worked up to a half marathon distance (as evidenced by the last post), so it was really just a matter of getting my way back up to 20 miles in a way I think my body could handle. And then hopefully get the normal three 20 miles runs in.

So far, so good! I have been able to hit each long run. So that's encouraging. My 16 last weekend went pretty darn well, all things told. Not quite as "easy peasy" as previous years, but it wasn't painful or anything. I'm starting to feel confident on my ability to work up to that 20 mile mark. That wasn't something I would have been confident about just a couple of months ago. If I can keep hitting these long runs as scheduled, I'll essentially do my normal long runs for a marathon training cycle.

The weekday runs are another story. Basically, I'm running twice a week and they are usually four miles a pop. Not exactly what I need to be doing for marathon training. However, in my mind, the weekend long runs are the most important to being able to shuffle painfully across the finish line, so I'm trying to make sure I can hit those without issue. Normally, I'd be running three times during the weekdays and total about 20 miles. I'm running twice totaling 8. That will be felt on race day.

I haven't let totally loose because I'm still not quite there with Simponi. If I were writing this post two weeks ago, I would have said it was working just barely enough to not immediately want to change to another medication. But the last ten days or so, I've felt fantastic! Not 100%, but the best I have felt on Simponi. I need to keep tabs on when I am feeling good and bad to see if there is any rhyme or reason to it. Maybe toward the end of the monthly "cycle" before my next shot it does wear out? That would square with my most recent "blah" period. And my most recent "wohoo" period started about a week after the shot when it had a chance to ramp up. Maybe. Or maybe not. I hadn't been paying attention closely enough in the previous months to know if that was a trend.

When I'm feeling crummy, it sucks. I have maybe 60% relief. Which, even that, I am grateful for. Because I know what 0% feels like and its miserable. So even when it's not working great, when it's enough to get me about my day and not be in a fetal pain ball, eh, I'll take it. But in terms of running or doing any sort of activity? It sucks. Right now? I feel like... 90% relief maybe? I mean, I feel pretty good. The arthritis is still there in a very mild fashion, but I feel like I can do active things and not get up from chairs like an old man. The problem right now is consistency. If it was consistently like when it's bad, I would have to try a new medication. If it was consistency like I have been feeling very recently, Simponi for life.

So yeah, that's the update. I will just ride these flares of good and bad all the way to the marathon. I plan to just run New York at my long run speed, 11:00/mi, and call it good. Running a marathon will be victory enough. Under five hours is like 11:20/mile or less, so I'll probably make that my informal goal.

In the meantime, hopefully the Simponi can continue to ramp. The 25th of August will be six months, when it is supposed to reach it's full efficacy. So technically I do owe it another two weeks. It's just frustrating when lefluonomide had it in 100% remission and I basically forgot I even had it.

2021 INDEPENDENCE DAY HALF MARATHON RACE RECAP

During the much more populated first loop of the race.

July 4th, 2021 marked my first in person race in nearly 17 months. Crazy to think about for someone that has been racing every few months since 2012. Since the pandemic hit, I've really been struggling with my psoriatic arthritis, so I guess the timing worked out in terms on not really missing out on anything. Races in Oregon have been doing in person events for a couple of months, but with the official "opening" of Oregon on June 30th, this one was particularly back to  normal. No wave starts, masks at the start/finish, nothing like that. Just a regular old race.

One thing that has happened with the pandemic is my sleep schedule getting really fucked up. It is painful to be awake by 9am. So with the race starting at 8am, a 6:45am wakeup call was in order. Couple that with not being able to sleep well the night before in anticipation of the early wakeup/race and it was particularly painful. I got, at best, three hours of sleep. I think it was more like two and a half. I tried to avoid looking at the clock. However, I've done Miami and other races plenty of times on that amount of sleep, so I knew I could do it.

Upon arriving at Champoeg State Park, I could almost immediately feel the energy of the race. It's crazy how much I missed that vibe. Any tiredness was immediately gone and I was starting to actually get pretty excited. It felt like there was electricity in the air. Damn, it was good to be back! I went and picked up my bib, put it on, and then went to the start line. In usual Thomas fashion, I didn't leave too much time to dally. By the time I had my bib on and my race shirt in the car, there was only 15 minutes until the gun went off.

THE FIRST LOOP (9:50, 10:19, 10:08, 10:16, 10:11, 10:00)

My plan going into this race was not to actually race it. While I am building mileage and feeling alright, if I were to actually race a half marathon at this point... it would probably take me out for a couple of weeks. Overall, it would just not be smart. My longest long run had been twelve miles and that was really tough, so I knew I had to take it easy. I figured I would just do my normal long run pace and make sure I didn't roped into anything faster. I needed to be smart and just enjoy an expensive, atmospheric long run.

Turns out my pace settled into about 10:10ish a mile, which was a little faster than I was expecting. I knew the race would motivate me a little bit, but I was expecting more of a 10:30. I didn't want to micromanage my pace though, and my heart race was right where it normally is for a long run, so I left it alone. I was very conscious to just stay within myself and do my thing. It felt great to be out there again! Even if I was seeing people I knew way ahead of me on the out and back, people I would normally beat, it was all gravy. I missed this so much, and the fact I wasn't suffering, like during a raced half marathon, was an extra bonus!

This first lap of 10k flew by pretty quick. I did have to go pee and skipped the first bathroom thinking I would hit it up later. The race director made a big deal of saying there were bathrooms all along the course at mile 2 and mile 4 or whatever. What he didn't mention was that was the same single port-a-potty at the one point the loop turns into an out-and-back So there was one bathroom at a highly trafficked portion of the course. Anyways, at mile 4 I was going to duck in but a dude just beat me to it, so I figured I'd hit it up again around mile eight. Aside from that, my race was going great. 

THE SECOND LOOP (10:08, 10:47, 10:06, 10:26, 10:02, 9:49, 8:40)

The second loop of the course is basically a repeat of the first, there is just an extra (hilly) out and back for the final kilometer or so you need to hit the half marathon distance. I was feeling really good! That 10:47 was not me tiring out, that was me peeing. I missed the bathroom again as someone ducked in right before me a second time. I couldn't wait any longer. I really had to pee. And holding it seemed to be starting some activation in the number two department. Well, the race is largely in a forest setting, so I found a good spot and darted off the course. Ah, sweet relief. I felt SO much better. And any tummy rumblings were also gone. Onward.

Frankly, there is not much to say about the second loop. I was still feeling great! A lot less people this time around as the 10Kers were all done, obviously, and the half marathon was the smaller of the two events. So a lot of time just running on my own. Which was fine... I was enjoying myself! I had been delaying drinking anything because of the pee situation, so the next aid station after fixing that I tanked a couple of cups of fluid. The uphill "extra" section kind of sucked, but I was able to get it done without issue. That's that 10:26 mile.

Otherwise, as you can see, I was rolling. I was feeling good! By the time I hit mile eleven I still felt relatively fresh. The magic of a race, even if you aren't racing! I decided if I still felt good at mile twelve I would allow myself to kick it in. It looks like I started a little early, but not too bad. I was feeling good at 12, so I started to gear up in that final mile. Felt good all the way through the finish. For how much of a struggle 12 miles the previous week was, I was honestly surprised at how good I felt. That final mile kick also allowed me to squeak my overall pace just below 10:00/mile. So that was a mini accomplishment, even if I wasn't trying for speed on this run.

THE AFTER PARTY

I knew a few folks at the race so I said "hi" and ate my free food and beer. Most of the 5k and 10k racers were already gone by that point and I imagine the biggest party was about an hour after the race started. Eventually I meandered back to my car and checked to make sure I didn't make the podium (hey, you never know with a small race). I didn't, so I headed back towards home.

Honestly, I felt great the rest of the day. There was no delayed pain or anything. In the days afterward I felt normal too. A little sore but no DOMS or anything. So, I call this race a great success! I feels good to be back at a half marathon distance. Getting my long runs up to twenty this summer in preparation for New York is going to be a bitch, so I'll take my victories as they come. Plus, the photographer at the race offered photos for $1.99 each, so those are gracing this post. TAKE NOTES OTHER RACE PHOTOGRAPHERS. I will actually purchase your photos if they are reasonably priced.

Official Results: 2:10:52, 9:58/mi. 67/123 overall, 40/61 male, 5/7 M30-34.

FIFTH SHOT AND RACING AGAIN!

I took my fifth shot of Simponi a few nights ago. I accidentally forgot to take it on my normal day, so it was the 26th instead of the 25th. Guess that could be considered a sign of progress that I wasn't jonesin' to take my next shot like I was on the first few.

The relief level seems to be petering out... I would say I am like... 85% relieved. I am not sure if I am "better" than last month... maybe. Maybe I was more like 80% then. I don't know. I'm not getting the "full" relief like I did with lefluonomide. However, I am getting enough relief where I don't want to upset the apple cart. I'm hoping it'll slowly continue to get better, despite the marathon training. Hah.

When I'm running or doing activities, I usually feel more than fine. It really is only noticeable when I am laying around doing nothing. You know that phrase "sitting is the new smoking?" Well, yeah, I can totally see that. Because when I have a "rest" day and I slob around the house, I often feel like shit. I went on a vacation to Lake Tahoe over a long weekend and was doing active stuff the whole time and felt pretty good. Whenever I'm feeling like crap, it's usually because I've done nothing all day. So, I need to get better about doing stuff on my off days. Even a quick walk can make me feel a lot better.

Hopefully Simponi will continue to work and I won't have a Humira-like relapse. We'll see where I am after the New York training cycle and marathon in early November. For my training, I'm just continuing to slowly ramp up miles. I haven't tried to increase my running from three to four days a week yet... I think my body could probably handle it; but, I'm afraid if it couldn't, it would set me back multiple weeks. I do need to ramp my mileage though, so maybe I'll start that third weekday run at like two miles and see how it goes.

My long runs are up to twelve miles and on the Fourth of July I'll be doing a half marathon... an ACTUAL half marathon, with people and aid stations and whatnot. Oregon is "open" again, so it should just be like a normal, old school race. No need for a mask in the corral or a wave start of socially distant runners or whatever... back to a normal race. So I'm excited! I figured it would be a good way to celebrate (and motivate me along) the return to that distance. It will be one of my slowest half marathons ever as I plan to run it in the 10's. I cannot afford the gamble of "racing" it with the shape I am in and the uncertainty with how my body will react. It will be hard enough just as a normal long run.

Other than that, I ran in 112 degrees last weekend. That was fun. It was 108 when I started and 112 when I finished. I did not do a long run obviously. I just did laps around the shaded park and called it good at five miles. No need to be any more stupid than I was already being (no direct sun and 10 degrees color in the shade though). With the heat and whatnot, it was probably the equivalent of an eight mile run. I just stopped at my car every lap or two to refill my water and rewet my neck towel. It was actually surprisingly bearable with these adjustments.

I'll give a report back on the half marathon. It is the Independence Day Half at Champoeg Park I did in 2018 and 2019 as well. Last year it didn't take place (they may have had a virtual option) so we'll call this the third year in a row. Toodles.

Mmm, toasty.

MEMORIAL DAY MUSINGS

Well, I guess I have kind of settled into a once a month post rhythm. So welcome to your end of May Thomas update!

The monthly Simponi shot was effective even longer this time around. In fact, I got to the 25th of the month without feeling the need for it. My knees still felt A-OK on the 25th. So that was encouraging! I do think the relief is building in my system, so hopefully another two shots, six total, and I'll be at full effectiveness. If I am already getting month-long relief four shots in, that's probably a good sign.

I am not going to celebrate too early though. I thought Humira was working for a long time too. I was even able to get back up to 10 mile long runs (I think I even threw in a half marathon distance at one point). All of a sudden though everything went to shit. So right now I am still very much proceeding with a "wait and see" approach.

Last weekend I was finally able to get back up to 10 miles on my long run. I've been increasing it by one mile each week being very conservative and deliberate. It was really hard... I'm not going to lie, it was a huge effort to go ten miles and my body felt like I usually do after a twenty mile run. However, my knees felt 100% fine. I think I am just very out of shape. Ten miles is a LONG way for me right now. So I'm not too concerned over the fact I was pretty sore for two days after that. My knees were seemingly fine. Hopefully it is just the matter of getting my distance legs back underneath me.

The pressure is on though, because I got accepted into the New York Marathon for 2021. I was supposed to run it last year but it was cancelled due to the pandemic. So I deferred to this year (with 2022 as a second choice) and I got in for this year. Which... I'm not thrilled about. I was kind of rooting for 2022. I have to decide for sure in a couple weeks, so I'm going to continue to monitor my body. I have plenty of time to train, I just need to make sure my body is going to be up for it. And then I'll just need to run like a 4:45 or something. This will not be a fast marathon. I am so out of shape. If I can maintain a 10:30ish pace for 26.2 miles it will be a minor miracle.

So yeah, that's about it. Ready for summer to start!

APRIL SIMPONI UPDATE - SHOT THREE!

Well, the pattern seemed to continue this past month. The second Simponi shot had a bit more staying power than the first one, and I only really began to feel the need for the next shot about a week before I was able to take it. Down from two weeks the previous time. So maybe the "building efficacy" theory I proposed in my last post was on the right track!

I took my third shot on the 25th and again felt almost immediate relief. It takes about 24 hours or so to "kick" and then after a few days I feel like I have the full effect of the shot. I will say that it is similar to Humira in that I haven't felt "cured" at any point. So while I do feel much better and I'm able to do stuff, I do feel like a little creaky and old. I wouldn't expect full relief right away though, that is something that gradually built up through time with methotrexate/lefluonomide so if Simponi keeps working, maybe the back half of my first year on it I can get there.  It just needs to keep working and not faceplant like Humira.

As for running, I'm slowly getting back into shape. It is such a huge pain the ass to be back starting where I am again. It was kind of fun the first time around after getting treated to get back in shape ... now this is the third time I've had to crawl back from the clutches of "out of shape-ness" ... I'm over it. Running 11:00/mile is no longer cute. It is just annoying. Because I worked so hard to claw back to what I considered adequate... to have that taken away, AGAIN... ugh.

Anyways, I'm trying not to let that get me down. My mental game has to be on point! So I'm running by feel and just trying to ignore the numbers. My long runs should be at an easy pace, so if that means I'm running 11:30/mile, then that's the pace. If a 9:55 pace is tempo, then that's my tempo. If I am able to keep going then these numbers will come down. Patience is the key. As long as I ease back into it, listen to my body, and wait for the medication to kick in... hopefully by this summer I can be somewhat back to my normal self.

So yeah, that's about it. Nothing exciting to report other than Simponi continues to appear to be working, although I'll have to be patient and see if I can get the results I ultimately want. Oh, I did get both of my Pfizer COVID-19 shots this past month, so that was a very positive development!

SOMEWHAT SUCCINCT SECOND SIMPONI SHOT SUMMARY

I've never looked forward to getting shots so much in my life. Between the COVID-19 vaccine and my second Simponi shot, I've started to get hearts in my eyes whenever I see a needle.

Flashback to the weeks after my first shot... I felt almost immediate relief. I was very suspicious of some sort of placebo effect because relief that quickly off the first shot seemed suspect. The proof was in the pudding though, and I was able to go for some short runs and stuff without any sort of ill effects. I did feel much better across my whole body. While the worst of the flare had subsided before the shot, I still didn't feel great. After the shot, I almost felt normal. I still wasn't normal, but I was much closer.

Over the weeks it seemed like the effect slowly faded. I guess that makes sense when the shot is only once a month. I looked up the half-life of Simponi and it is two weeks. So if I'm doing my math right, that means at the month mark you are rocking about 25% of the original shot. There is the potential that I could start feeling arthritic a week or so before each shot, which would suck.

Before the second shot I did feel much better than before the first shot though. So I was still getting some effect. What I'm hoping for is eventually, after a few doses, it will have tamped things down to the point where I don't start feeling stuff again before my next shot. Let's say a terrible flare is 100 on the "PsA scale." Before my first shot, I was at like a 50. And let's say each shot you can subtract 50 points. So I was at 0! I felt great! But slowly it crept back. But let's say every month I only gain 35 "inflammation points" back. So after my shot yesterday, I went from 35 to -15! And before my next shot I'll only be at a 20. So a few shots in, I'm suddenly not in the positive "I feel arthritic" territory.

That's my hope at least. That's what I going to tell myself will happen. I mean, I did feel immediate relief again after my second shot. So much better. Hopefully by the time my third shot rolls around, I'll feel better than before my second shot, even if I am feeling a little arthritic again. And then four or five shots in, maybe I'll have it back in remission status. That would be great. Because I'm having no bad side effects (that I know of) to Simponi and the fact that it is only once a month makes things really easy.

Anyways, that's the update. I'm getting out for runs twice a week. My long run right now is four miles. I'm completely out of shape again. Oh well!

I made a thing in MS Paint. Please clap.

NEW YEAR, NEW DRUG

I had my appointment with the rheumatologist and she agreed that Humira was definitely not working for me. Not completely unusual, sometimes a person might have to try 2 or 3 drugs before finding one that "clicks" for them. So she recommended I switch to Enbrel, to which I readily agreed.

It's funny, when she originally put me on Humira, she thought my insurance company would reject that and try to put me on Enbrel instead since it was slightly cheaper. Well, when she tried to get me onto Enbrel they rejected it! Fucking insurance companies. Seriously a worthless, needless, profit sucking extra layer of bureaucracy. ANYWAYS, they want me on Simponi first instead. Fine, whatever.

According to the doctor, these are all pretty much the same thing. Humira, Enbrel, Simponi... it's whatever. There's no way to tell which is going to work for one person and not work for another. If for whatever reason Enbrel didn't work, we would have tried Simponi next anyways. If for whatever reason Simponi doesn't work for me, then we should be able to get coverage on the Enbrel.

Simponi is an auto-injector pen just like Humira but the injection is only once a month. So maybe that will be a good thing. Less shots, although I don't really mind them. If I do end up doing Enbrel, that is once a week. I don't really care as long as long as it fricking works!

I did my first injection of Simponi last night and it was pretty unremarkable. I did "feel" this shot more than Humira though. Not sure if it has a bigger needle or the medicine just burns more for whatever reason, but it was definitely more noticeable than the Humira injection. Still though, in the grand scheme of shots, very minor and almost painless. And I'm done until March 25th! So that's good. Although, the numbers person in me wants clarity on this "once a month" thing. Because months have different days. Is it every four weeks? Or sometimes it is just 31 days between shots and other times it is 28?

So yeah! Like all of these drugs, it can take a couple of months before it really kicks in. Which kind of blows, because I've already felt like crap for a couple months. Silver lining though, if there was anytime in the recent history of the world to feel so crappy you just want to lay around in your house, it is right now.

HUMIRA IS AN EPIC FAILURE

On Italian train w/ non-Fed up knees.

So, shortly after that last post things got pretty bad. I went and played basketball and while I was able to do so without too much pain, it left me in a horrible inflammation spiral. I was literally limping around for four days and my whole body hurt. The basketball reaction was just a symptom of a larger problem though, my medication not working.

Even after things quieted down after the basketball fiasco, other things started to go wrong. I started getting arthritis in joints I hadn't felt since before being treated. It was back in full force. Honestly, Humira seemed to be doing nothing. I had never felt even close to that bad since I started treatment. Eating hurt. Typing hurt. Basically just existing hurt when it was really bad. Also, with a raging auto-immune condition, you get fatigue. And that has hit me hard too. I am tired all the time. I'll sleep for ten hours and then be ready for bed eight hours later.

So yeah! Needless to say, running has gone by the wayside. Luckily with COVID there are no races to fuck up, so it's whatever. I am managing to go out there once a week and run a 5k. That seems to be tolerated enough by my body and at least let's me feel like I'm doing something. But other than that it is a lot of sitting around on the couch. Even just walking around and doing stuff for any extended period of time can irritate my knees, so I'm laying pretty low.

I have an appointment with the rheumatologist on Tuesday, so I'll be reporting this all to her then. I have a feeling I'll be switching medications. Which, I'm all for. I am FOUR MONTHS into Humira treatment and I've never felt less relieved while being medicated for psoriatic arthritis. So Humira can go fuck itself. I mean, it's probably not the medication's fault. Whatever "pathway" or whatever it is called is being blocked is obviously not the main cause of my inflammation. Methotrexate and leflunomide basically just slow down your whole immune system, while Humira targets one part... I'm pretty sure it targets the wrong part for my specific cause. Which is why it works for like 2/3rds of people and the other third have to find something else.

Happy 2021 I guess.