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.