One day last week, according to my coach via TrainingPeaks, I was supposed to get in some sneaker time. I haven't been running yet but have been doing all of these time based workouts walking. On tap was 50 minutes, potentially with hand weights.
Life post Sandy on Long Island is a bit different than before. While the lights are coming back on slowly but surely, this night had miserable weather and no dread mill available for me (due to the lack of power not the hate of the evil hamster wheel). I couldn't walk inside, I couldn't walk outside, so where should I go?
The mall.
I knew there is an army of old people who walk the mall every day. While most of them are there in the early morning, I went at night. I started doing a lap at a decent pace, zigging and zagging to avoid the shoppers, happy with myself being a genius on how to get this training in. I thought I was doing good when it appeared that a pace line of 80 year olds were almost sprinting in front of the Apple store. They dropped me like a bad habit with them not even breaking their conversation while they were wearing their vintage Member's Only jackets. Have you ever seen an old person sweat. I don't think they do.
Each lap took me about 13 minutes and I ultimately got my workout in. A few of the old folks passed me and I passed a few back. I was determines to not get geezered in the mall, let alone during races. I felt I was getting my game face one.
I forgot that this was their turf. They had home field advantage. They deftly knew which stores would have a lot of traffic in and out (for example, the teen emporium of Abercrombie) vs. which stores where a few months from closing (for example, the 2013 calendar store with the clerk trying to stay awake). They may not know how to use a cell phone without yelling at it but they can adapt to the weaving and sudden stops a teen texting up a storm. I tried to draft off the fogies for a while and then I realized that I was out of my league.
Christmas shopping is starting soon. This may be the mall walker Olympic season. I think I can try the mall again only in January and start at the bottom. Maybe in about 40 years I will have enough experience to compete with them.
Then again, maybe not.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Butt Crack Cycling
Before spin class last weekend everyone seemed to be celebrating getting power restored (we got ours finally back late Thursday). If you don't have electricity nor heat, contemplating going to the spin asylum to warm up a little starts looking attractive. Note that the hot yoga place was also trying to attract people to swing by to charge up their electronic devices while sweating with the gumby barbies but I wasn't that desperate. I considered it but felt spinning felt a more attractive choice.
That was about to change.
Once the class started in earnest the instructor had everyone out of the saddle and I felt a breeze where one should never feel a breeze. Since the wash was still backed up due to no washing machine I was reaching to the bottom of the cycling short bin for shorts that haven't been worn in quite some time. Apparently, these shorts were carriers of the disease of butt crack cycling.
Every time I was out of the saddle I could tell this would be an issue. Luckily the class was not full but the rows behind me were full. I now had a choice to make: be oblivious to the butt crack on display or try to hike the shorts up repeatedly. I chose the hiking method.
This proved difficult over the course of the hour long class. It did distract me so the class went faster than usual. When it was time to leave, I didn't look the people behind me in the eye and wanted to get out as quickly as possible.
Wonder if I'll get stink eye the next time I go to a class. Even so, I'll probably wear a different pair of shorts. I expect to use the oblivious play then.
That will be a much more attractive choice.
That was about to change.
Once the class started in earnest the instructor had everyone out of the saddle and I felt a breeze where one should never feel a breeze. Since the wash was still backed up due to no washing machine I was reaching to the bottom of the cycling short bin for shorts that haven't been worn in quite some time. Apparently, these shorts were carriers of the disease of butt crack cycling.
Every time I was out of the saddle I could tell this would be an issue. Luckily the class was not full but the rows behind me were full. I now had a choice to make: be oblivious to the butt crack on display or try to hike the shorts up repeatedly. I chose the hiking method.
This proved difficult over the course of the hour long class. It did distract me so the class went faster than usual. When it was time to leave, I didn't look the people behind me in the eye and wanted to get out as quickly as possible.
Wonder if I'll get stink eye the next time I go to a class. Even so, I'll probably wear a different pair of shorts. I expect to use the oblivious play then.
That will be a much more attractive choice.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
One future of politics
With the impact of Hurricane Sandy (which seems to be going through a name change to "Superstorm" Sandy) still being battled here on Long Island, my view of the various elections was somewhat different than in past years. I'm not going to go into party affiliations or beliefs during this post but more observations of being unplugged in. I have no TV or internet (or power) at home but most of the TV coverage I did see had to do with recovery from the hurricane anyway. I did listen to some radio but the same political ads played over and over in between the hurricane coverage. Social media seems to have a tendency to ignite passion within people but I understand that can be passionate for what you believe in as likely as being passionate about something that you think is evil.
With that context, it seems that several candidates and/or parties believe that the road to being elected has nothing to do with the issues. Vision is not important. The ability to realize that vision isn't relevant and should only be thought of after the election results are in. What is most important these days? Fund Raising and Negative Advertising. This is one future. We can let this happen or steer it in another direction.
Do you want to elect the best fundraiser or the best leader? Do you want to elect the person who hires the best marketing team or the person who can put together the best team to govern? The irony is that it may be the same person but we may never know that.
Another future could be for more getting more involved earlier. Separate the facts (which are always interpretations anyway) from the rhetoric. Be closer to the issues and constructively help solve problems.
Tip O'Neill was one of the earliest to say "All politics is local." Fixing politics is local too. If your candidate lost it might be time to get more involved. Same if your candidate won.
PS: We'll return to our regularly scheduled triathlon and training rants shortly. This weather is making training a challenge for me.
With that context, it seems that several candidates and/or parties believe that the road to being elected has nothing to do with the issues. Vision is not important. The ability to realize that vision isn't relevant and should only be thought of after the election results are in. What is most important these days? Fund Raising and Negative Advertising. This is one future. We can let this happen or steer it in another direction.
Do you want to elect the best fundraiser or the best leader? Do you want to elect the person who hires the best marketing team or the person who can put together the best team to govern? The irony is that it may be the same person but we may never know that.
Another future could be for more getting more involved earlier. Separate the facts (which are always interpretations anyway) from the rhetoric. Be closer to the issues and constructively help solve problems.
Tip O'Neill was one of the earliest to say "All politics is local." Fixing politics is local too. If your candidate lost it might be time to get more involved. Same if your candidate won.
PS: We'll return to our regularly scheduled triathlon and training rants shortly. This weather is making training a challenge for me.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Thoughts and questions around the NYC Marathon
First, a little level setting and apologies in advance for the venting.
I was scheduled to run the NYC Marathon in 2012. I deferred my entry a few months ago as my training wasn't what it needed to be. In fact, my training was nonexistent. I deferred at that time so that I would have the option to register for the marathon in 2013. I understood that I would have to pony up the funds again but that was the deal (at that time). I haven't determined if the marathon will be on my calendar for next year yet. I thought I had time to make that decision.
I completely agree that the Marathon should not have been held. I think the communication around the initial non-canceling and subsequent canceling was horrific. I also think that there was no consistency with sporting events in the city. Yes, opening day between the Knicks and Nets was cancelled but the Knicks played a game in the Garden, the Nets played a game in the Barclay, and the Giants hosted a game last weekend. I believe that these activities diverted critical staff (police, etc) from the recovery efforts even though the claim is not. There is, of course, a public relations aspect to it as to convince people that NYC is open for business but it is not fully there as there are areas of the city still in crisis. I have yet to go into the city as trains are still limited, lack of gas is preventing driving in, tunnels are still closed, and other stuff. My office in lower Manhattan doesn't have heat with suspect electricity even today. Other buildings won't be inhabitable for a while. Portions of Staten Island, Brooklyn, Long Island, and New Jersey are much worse. There is a nor'easter expected this week to pile on.
Back to the marathon though. When I deferred the deal was that I would get the option to register without going through the lottery again. Will there even be a lottery for 2013? Will they give any credit for the people who paid full freight in 2012 in 2013? Typically they say no refunds mean no refunds and I can understand that some of the entry fees were already spent. A local tri which was cancelled in 2011 due to Hurricane Irene gave the option for 2011 registrants to enter at a reduced fee prior to opening up general registration in 2012. This worked well but NYC marathon is a much bigger scale.
There is the question of appearance fees for the pro runners but I'll let them work that out them work that out.
In essence, though, everyone deferred for the NYC marathon in 2013. Do they set up different classes of deferrals based on when they deferred? If everyone eligible for 2013 reregistered, would there be any slots left? I think there would be but how many of them would be filled with the 9+1 guaranteed entry program. Would that program even still get someone in or will they cancel it even though some people already did the 9 races with one volunteer.
NYC marathon is a bucket list event for many. Coming in from out of state can get expensive. People spent a lot of money to not race in 2012 that may not be able to pay that price again. Training for a marathon means investing a lot of time that may not be possible next year for some participants as well.
Canceling wasn't an easy decision. I'm sure there will be more hard decisions for the 2013 Marathon. This crisis has realized that communication is paramount to manage expectations. Hope this lesson is learned by all and we'll hear the policy and procedure decisions as quickly as possible without impacting the recovery.
I was scheduled to run the NYC Marathon in 2012. I deferred my entry a few months ago as my training wasn't what it needed to be. In fact, my training was nonexistent. I deferred at that time so that I would have the option to register for the marathon in 2013. I understood that I would have to pony up the funds again but that was the deal (at that time). I haven't determined if the marathon will be on my calendar for next year yet. I thought I had time to make that decision.
I completely agree that the Marathon should not have been held. I think the communication around the initial non-canceling and subsequent canceling was horrific. I also think that there was no consistency with sporting events in the city. Yes, opening day between the Knicks and Nets was cancelled but the Knicks played a game in the Garden, the Nets played a game in the Barclay, and the Giants hosted a game last weekend. I believe that these activities diverted critical staff (police, etc) from the recovery efforts even though the claim is not. There is, of course, a public relations aspect to it as to convince people that NYC is open for business but it is not fully there as there are areas of the city still in crisis. I have yet to go into the city as trains are still limited, lack of gas is preventing driving in, tunnels are still closed, and other stuff. My office in lower Manhattan doesn't have heat with suspect electricity even today. Other buildings won't be inhabitable for a while. Portions of Staten Island, Brooklyn, Long Island, and New Jersey are much worse. There is a nor'easter expected this week to pile on.
Back to the marathon though. When I deferred the deal was that I would get the option to register without going through the lottery again. Will there even be a lottery for 2013? Will they give any credit for the people who paid full freight in 2012 in 2013? Typically they say no refunds mean no refunds and I can understand that some of the entry fees were already spent. A local tri which was cancelled in 2011 due to Hurricane Irene gave the option for 2011 registrants to enter at a reduced fee prior to opening up general registration in 2012. This worked well but NYC marathon is a much bigger scale.
There is the question of appearance fees for the pro runners but I'll let them work that out them work that out.
In essence, though, everyone deferred for the NYC marathon in 2013. Do they set up different classes of deferrals based on when they deferred? If everyone eligible for 2013 reregistered, would there be any slots left? I think there would be but how many of them would be filled with the 9+1 guaranteed entry program. Would that program even still get someone in or will they cancel it even though some people already did the 9 races with one volunteer.
NYC marathon is a bucket list event for many. Coming in from out of state can get expensive. People spent a lot of money to not race in 2012 that may not be able to pay that price again. Training for a marathon means investing a lot of time that may not be possible next year for some participants as well.
Canceling wasn't an easy decision. I'm sure there will be more hard decisions for the 2013 Marathon. This crisis has realized that communication is paramount to manage expectations. Hope this lesson is learned by all and we'll hear the policy and procedure decisions as quickly as possible without impacting the recovery.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Overly Optimistic
In my post the other day reviewing the direct impact of Sandy on me (after all it always is all about me), I painted a relatively upbeat picture. Since then, though, some things have changed.
My daughter is a junior in high school and was scheduled to take the SAT on Saturday. Most of the schools where they were offering the test still had no power. We got an email on Thursday that explained that she would be unable to take the test that day and they'll let us know when and if it would be rescheduled. This was disappointing as I think my kid was ready to crush this test.
She then came to the realization that since school was out, we had no internet, we had no TV, and most of the town was off the air, and since her parents have been nagging her about college thoughts, this might be a good time for a road trip to check out some schools. She originally wanted to head south towards Washington DC, Baltimore or Philly but I explained that travel through NYC wasn't good. There is a ferry to Connecticut that seemed to be running. Although I couldn't go due to work, I said if the ferry was running to go for it and figure it out on the way. They hit the road.
My wife invited one of her friends and family over to watch a DVD and recharge their phones. I didn't care as I was going to break the ice with a workout on the trainer. As soon as they came over, wham, the power went out. Everyone left. I saw lights flashing at the end of the block and walked down to see what the deal was.
I asked if the power went out or if they took it down. The power guy said they took it down. I thought that good but asked where the crew was to fix the tree, etc. and he said they weren't there yet. I thought it odd that he had police escort and he commented that he knew it sucked that we had power and only then lost it. He gave no ETA but I thought it a short time that I would be out of power.
I couldn't do my workout since I was planning on using the Computrainer (that needs electricity). I broke my freestanding bike trainer last year and never got around to replacing it. Blunder. I went to bed early but woke up to no one working our issue.
Friday I went to work. No power at home.
Saturday I bought an old school fluid trainer, did my workout, and lamented how out of shape I am. It was hard to follow IMFL with the spotty cell service and no internet. Congrats to all who got it done. I heard it was a hard year. Still no power.
Now it is Sunday. I still have no power. The family had a great time in Boston looking a schools, visiting friends and my daughter even went to a concert. I woke up to 57 degrees in the house, no hot water, and 36 degrees outside. I went into my local office (which has power) to charge my phone and laptop. Don't want to drive too much because of the lack of gas. Rumor has it we may get power restored by Wednesday. Maybe.
Still, we're better than most. The estimate is that 100,000 homes are uninhabitable. People have lost everything. Many are lucky. I count myself in that group.
PS: I thought about signing up for IMFL2013 but then decided to stay with the plan. Luckily internet isn't that available since if it was, I could see myself accidentally signing up. Doubt my wife would think it an accident though.
My daughter is a junior in high school and was scheduled to take the SAT on Saturday. Most of the schools where they were offering the test still had no power. We got an email on Thursday that explained that she would be unable to take the test that day and they'll let us know when and if it would be rescheduled. This was disappointing as I think my kid was ready to crush this test.
She then came to the realization that since school was out, we had no internet, we had no TV, and most of the town was off the air, and since her parents have been nagging her about college thoughts, this might be a good time for a road trip to check out some schools. She originally wanted to head south towards Washington DC, Baltimore or Philly but I explained that travel through NYC wasn't good. There is a ferry to Connecticut that seemed to be running. Although I couldn't go due to work, I said if the ferry was running to go for it and figure it out on the way. They hit the road.
My wife invited one of her friends and family over to watch a DVD and recharge their phones. I didn't care as I was going to break the ice with a workout on the trainer. As soon as they came over, wham, the power went out. Everyone left. I saw lights flashing at the end of the block and walked down to see what the deal was.
I asked if the power went out or if they took it down. The power guy said they took it down. I thought that good but asked where the crew was to fix the tree, etc. and he said they weren't there yet. I thought it odd that he had police escort and he commented that he knew it sucked that we had power and only then lost it. He gave no ETA but I thought it a short time that I would be out of power.
I couldn't do my workout since I was planning on using the Computrainer (that needs electricity). I broke my freestanding bike trainer last year and never got around to replacing it. Blunder. I went to bed early but woke up to no one working our issue.
Friday I went to work. No power at home.
Saturday I bought an old school fluid trainer, did my workout, and lamented how out of shape I am. It was hard to follow IMFL with the spotty cell service and no internet. Congrats to all who got it done. I heard it was a hard year. Still no power.
Now it is Sunday. I still have no power. The family had a great time in Boston looking a schools, visiting friends and my daughter even went to a concert. I woke up to 57 degrees in the house, no hot water, and 36 degrees outside. I went into my local office (which has power) to charge my phone and laptop. Don't want to drive too much because of the lack of gas. Rumor has it we may get power restored by Wednesday. Maybe.
Still, we're better than most. The estimate is that 100,000 homes are uninhabitable. People have lost everything. Many are lucky. I count myself in that group.
PS: I thought about signing up for IMFL2013 but then decided to stay with the plan. Luckily internet isn't that available since if it was, I could see myself accidentally signing up. Doubt my wife would think it an accident though.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Sandy Review
We did better than most. Everyone is safe. Even though there are many trees down in the neighborhood, none of ours fell. We had some friends (aka refugees) stay over as they were evacuated from their home south of us. Their home is still standing without water damage (it stopped a few feet in front of their house) while others in their neighborhood are not so lucky.
We are in the minority as we never lost power. We had some flickering and a period of brown outs but all is good. Reports say 90% of homes on Long Island are dark. There is a massive tree down at the end of my block that took out two poles but the current is still running. The power folks say that in order to fix the wires on the ground they will need to take down our power. I would expect that to be a short time hopefully.
Driving is still hazardous due to trees across the road and more traffic lights are not working than are working. Cell phones don't really work, our land lines are hard down, no internet and no cable is available. My daughter said she had to do her current events homework "old school." I asked what that meant and she said she did it by reading the newspaper. Imagine that.
I can't make it into NYC as transit is still down. I was able to get to my alternate office so starting to be back to routine. Everyone I've checked with so far is safe. Schools are closed but no guidance available on when they will open again.
Prayers for the victims. Be safe and be well.
We are in the minority as we never lost power. We had some flickering and a period of brown outs but all is good. Reports say 90% of homes on Long Island are dark. There is a massive tree down at the end of my block that took out two poles but the current is still running. The power folks say that in order to fix the wires on the ground they will need to take down our power. I would expect that to be a short time hopefully.
Driving is still hazardous due to trees across the road and more traffic lights are not working than are working. Cell phones don't really work, our land lines are hard down, no internet and no cable is available. My daughter said she had to do her current events homework "old school." I asked what that meant and she said she did it by reading the newspaper. Imagine that.
I can't make it into NYC as transit is still down. I was able to get to my alternate office so starting to be back to routine. Everyone I've checked with so far is safe. Schools are closed but no guidance available on when they will open again.
Prayers for the victims. Be safe and be well.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Noah is my hero
I was recently reading a bunch of articles on how to race an Ironman. One of the most interesting sound bites that resonated with me came from Endurance Nation. To paraphrase, there is a difference between building a vessel and operating a vessel. Race day is about operating the vessel, not building the vessel.
Training time, in contrast, should focus on building the vessel. Right now I have no vessel but need to build one with the raw materials (me) that I have. While they aren't the highest quality materials I do have some time. I realized that the StA triathlon is six months away so the time is about right to start.
Noah didn't start building the ark when the rain started, he started it way before so it would be ready when he needed it. I need to start training now to be successful next year. So the offseason is officially over, the coach has been called, Training Peaks is set up to start pestering me with the workouts, and I need to figure out an eating plan. Eating everything and a lot of it doesn't seem to be working so well for me.
The rain for Hurricane Sandy has already started here. This storm is real annoying as I couldn't even watch/record the IM Kona special since the TV kept breaking away to the politician's news conference that kept saying the same thing over and over. They didn't break into the football games as they used the split screen approach. Even so I believe that the Kona special is more impactful to me after I've completed an Ironman as compared to before.
Don't think I need an ark for Sandy but I need to build a vessel for the 2013 triathlon season. Time to start building.
Training time, in contrast, should focus on building the vessel. Right now I have no vessel but need to build one with the raw materials (me) that I have. While they aren't the highest quality materials I do have some time. I realized that the StA triathlon is six months away so the time is about right to start.
Noah didn't start building the ark when the rain started, he started it way before so it would be ready when he needed it. I need to start training now to be successful next year. So the offseason is officially over, the coach has been called, Training Peaks is set up to start pestering me with the workouts, and I need to figure out an eating plan. Eating everything and a lot of it doesn't seem to be working so well for me.
The rain for Hurricane Sandy has already started here. This storm is real annoying as I couldn't even watch/record the IM Kona special since the TV kept breaking away to the politician's news conference that kept saying the same thing over and over. They didn't break into the football games as they used the split screen approach. Even so I believe that the Kona special is more impactful to me after I've completed an Ironman as compared to before.
Don't think I need an ark for Sandy but I need to build a vessel for the 2013 triathlon season. Time to start building.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
A question of Iron protocol
We decided to break away from a minivan, traded it in and ordered a new car. The new car just came in the other day. We are enjoying the new car smell and all seems good. I happened to be at the Runner's Edge today and a saw the emblem above for sale. I didn't buy it as there were two questions in my mind:
- Am I breaking any sort of protocol by putting this on a car that I didn't own when I actually finished my Ironman?
- As this will be my wife's primary car, should it even have the emblem on it?
So, do I buy the emblem, wait for Santa to bring it for Christmas, or move on?
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Spin Class Visualization
I've been becoming a regular in the Saturday morning Spin class at the local studio. During today's class my mind wandered a bit as it is wont to do during these classes. I found it interesting as to where my mind took me versus where it did not. Does this happen to you?
Most of the time during spin class my mind pictured me riding El Tour de Tucson. I've done this ride twice but the last time was in 2005 when I first started on this adult onset athletic disease. I started thinking I may need to swing by Tucson for a ride. This year seems out but maybe next year. I would then volunteer at IMAZ and sign up the next day. Could be a plan.
I also pictured myself doing hill repeats up Bear Mountain in upstate NY. I didn't ride Bear this year but am looking forward to doing it many times next year with my friends training for IMLP. I thought fleetingly about riding up there in the next few weeks if the weather cooperates but don't know if my fitness is up to the point where I can do effectively the 3.5 mile ascent that averages 5.1%.
I did not think of either IMLP or IMFL's bike courses and wondered why a little. It is coming up on my one year anniversary of IMFL so there will be some recollections going through my brain shortly but they weren't there today.
The final thought that bounced around my feeble brain this morning was that I may not be in as bad shape as I thought I was. I get through these classes without issue and really don't think that I have any concerns on being able to do any similar class. Daughter#2 has said that she would be interested in trying a cardio kick boxing class. She needs a chaperone so I may be giving that a shot soon. Part of me was thinking that maybe I raising my kids to be athletic but a different part of me was thinking that I would be so inept at cardio kick boxing that they might ban me forever. We'll see as I'm leaving it up to her to show some initiative.
I haven't done any training yet for the Disney Half in January as compared to my daughter#1 who ran an easy 8 this morning (she is racing Disney with me as her first half mary). Think I need to mix in a little sneaker time soon.
Bit by bit I'm on the road back.
Most of the time during spin class my mind pictured me riding El Tour de Tucson. I've done this ride twice but the last time was in 2005 when I first started on this adult onset athletic disease. I started thinking I may need to swing by Tucson for a ride. This year seems out but maybe next year. I would then volunteer at IMAZ and sign up the next day. Could be a plan.
I also pictured myself doing hill repeats up Bear Mountain in upstate NY. I didn't ride Bear this year but am looking forward to doing it many times next year with my friends training for IMLP. I thought fleetingly about riding up there in the next few weeks if the weather cooperates but don't know if my fitness is up to the point where I can do effectively the 3.5 mile ascent that averages 5.1%.
I did not think of either IMLP or IMFL's bike courses and wondered why a little. It is coming up on my one year anniversary of IMFL so there will be some recollections going through my brain shortly but they weren't there today.
The final thought that bounced around my feeble brain this morning was that I may not be in as bad shape as I thought I was. I get through these classes without issue and really don't think that I have any concerns on being able to do any similar class. Daughter#2 has said that she would be interested in trying a cardio kick boxing class. She needs a chaperone so I may be giving that a shot soon. Part of me was thinking that maybe I raising my kids to be athletic but a different part of me was thinking that I would be so inept at cardio kick boxing that they might ban me forever. We'll see as I'm leaving it up to her to show some initiative.
I haven't done any training yet for the Disney Half in January as compared to my daughter#1 who ran an easy 8 this morning (she is racing Disney with me as her first half mary). Think I need to mix in a little sneaker time soon.
Bit by bit I'm on the road back.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Interesting case
It is never a good place to be when a doctor says you have an "interesting case."
This phrase appears to be code for "we have no idea what is going on so we're going to continue to look." Today was a visit to the ENT to determine if there was evidence of reflux. Apparently reflux is the third most common cause of a chronic cough and/or breathing issues. Who knew? Reflux causes inflammation and the cough is in response to that irritation. Of course when a doctor asks you if you have reflux and you don't, every subsequent meal seems to generate some level of heartburn. I was also advised to take some preventative antacids, just in case reflux was the cause.
The antacid didn't seem to do anything and when the ENT looked down my throat he found no evidence of reflux. Another dead end.
But with an interesting case, it cannot end there. He did find a few abnormalities. First, he saw I have nasal polyps. I've had them in the past and they come and go normally in response to some sort of allergy. When they were really bad in the past, I've had them surgically removed. I haven't had to have the surgery for over 20 years so I though I was good. I don't consider them really bad now since they do not obstruct my nasal airflow. The doctor recommended a CAT scan to see how extensive they are. He said this may be the cause of the cough and breathing as the polyps may be obstructing sinus draining causing irritation. He recommended more detailed, up to date, allergy testing. My sense is that when winter really kicks in I'll magically be cured. Of course, I don't want to repeat this next summer.
The strangest thing he found was that one of my vocal cords wasn't working right. Can't tell if this was a symptom, cause, or result of my breathing and coughing. Even so it wouldn't be a visit to the doctor if he didn't call for more tests.
In the meantime, I'm starting some training with the goal of really training November 1. My diet has remained poor so there is no surprise that I gained a little over a pound in the last month. I have to get back into the exercise mindset and found spin classes work. Next up is swimming. When I told my coach was I was doing he asked how I felt. I told him I felt out of shape.
That, he said, we can fix.
This phrase appears to be code for "we have no idea what is going on so we're going to continue to look." Today was a visit to the ENT to determine if there was evidence of reflux. Apparently reflux is the third most common cause of a chronic cough and/or breathing issues. Who knew? Reflux causes inflammation and the cough is in response to that irritation. Of course when a doctor asks you if you have reflux and you don't, every subsequent meal seems to generate some level of heartburn. I was also advised to take some preventative antacids, just in case reflux was the cause.
The antacid didn't seem to do anything and when the ENT looked down my throat he found no evidence of reflux. Another dead end.
But with an interesting case, it cannot end there. He did find a few abnormalities. First, he saw I have nasal polyps. I've had them in the past and they come and go normally in response to some sort of allergy. When they were really bad in the past, I've had them surgically removed. I haven't had to have the surgery for over 20 years so I though I was good. I don't consider them really bad now since they do not obstruct my nasal airflow. The doctor recommended a CAT scan to see how extensive they are. He said this may be the cause of the cough and breathing as the polyps may be obstructing sinus draining causing irritation. He recommended more detailed, up to date, allergy testing. My sense is that when winter really kicks in I'll magically be cured. Of course, I don't want to repeat this next summer.
The strangest thing he found was that one of my vocal cords wasn't working right. Can't tell if this was a symptom, cause, or result of my breathing and coughing. Even so it wouldn't be a visit to the doctor if he didn't call for more tests.
In the meantime, I'm starting some training with the goal of really training November 1. My diet has remained poor so there is no surprise that I gained a little over a pound in the last month. I have to get back into the exercise mindset and found spin classes work. Next up is swimming. When I told my coach was I was doing he asked how I felt. I told him I felt out of shape.
That, he said, we can fix.
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