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Back on Antibiotics 9 Days Pre-Marathon

Thought I had my bronchitis, sinus infection, et al beat. But still battling.

It was October 10th when I first felt the soreness in the throat, leading to coughing, sneezing, chest congestion, etc.  My usual course of action with sickness like this is to run right through them.

After 12 days my symptoms got worse, so I visited the doctor, who told me I had bronchitis, sinus infection and conjunctivitis to boot. So October 22nd saw me starting my 7 day Cipro treatment.

Even though the warnings on the label said Cipro users stood a chance of tendon rupture, I decided I needed to get one last long run in a few days into treatment. So I did a nice, slow 19 miler on October 24th. Felt like I was starting to get back to normal that week.

Fast forward to Thursday, November 4th, 10 days before the Malibu Marathon. Sinus pressure, still coughing, etc. I felt like I was getting sick again. The doc made room for me on Friday, I told him my marathon was just 9 days away, and he prescribed me another antibiotic, Azithromycin.

To boot, Friday morning, I woke up with pink eye again. WHAT'S GOING ON WITH ME!!??

The good thing is that this is just a 5 day treatment. The bad thing is it is starting to give me the "heartburn" feeling I tend to get from these types of antibiotics. But with just 3 more days of treatment, that should give me 4 days to recover prior to the marathon next Sunday.

Today I ran 42 minutes and felt like crapola. I've heard antibiotics dehydrate you. Not sure, but I certainly had a tough time finishing 6 miles, let along 26 miles.

Tonight I'm pondering what I'll do tomorrow. Normally one week prior to a marathon I might try to do 7 to 10 miles at marathon pace. That is my goal, but I won't push it too hard. My training at this point can hurt me more than it can help.

So for me at this point, I'm hoping my body magically recovers, feels good and I can have a fun (not competitive) marathon next Sunday. May not be in the cards, but I'm hoping for the best...

P.S. It is now Sunday morning. I got up at 6:20 a.m. (felt like 7:20 a.m. due to the time change) and ran 9.5 miles in 70 minutes. Felt o.k. Energy level was a little higher than yesterday and it was cooler outside, which helped. Nice final training run for the marathon next Sunday.