Thank goodness I'm not a nail biter

It's taken two rounds of steroids, two tubes of Cortizone 10, two tubes of Zanfel, one bottle of Caladryl and 1/2 a package of Benadryl, but I think I'm finally over the hump with this poison ivy.

For a while, I was good about the scratching, and I resisted. Toward the end here, though, I gave in, especially to those late night, in bed, self-satisfying indulges.

A highlight was last Sunday, when I sat on the front stoop with my friend Claudia and David. While we sipped our Chianti, I discovered that the edge of the concrete stair was the perfect thing for scratching the back of my knees. Ahhh, heaven.

But now I'm done. And, except for the scabs, the bruising and the screwed up menstrual cycle (the last two I attribute to the steriods), I'm as good as new.

I can't help but wonder what's next.

No good deed

Okay, so this is bittersweet:



This is not:


I just called the doctor asking for a prescription of oral steroids. I'm itching in places I don't think I can treat topically.

I ain't no stinkin' horse

So, I've started running again. After two months of an absolutely sedentary existence, I put on my running shoes and all my running gear (which, btw, fits a bit tighter than I remember) and hit the road.

Friday I ran 2 miles at a pathetically slow pace. Today, I ran those same two miles at an only slightly less pathetic pace. But, pathetic or not, both runs felt pretty good. I've found that all the long-distance running I did for the 1/2 marathon this past spring has paid off. My body now seems to have some muscle memory for running, and it just goes. Not very fast, but at least without much drama.

Tomorrow morning, Wolfgang is going to run the 5k portion of the New Haven Road Race. At one point - before the pneumonia knocked me on my ass - I was planning to run the 20k, or 13 miles. It was going to be part of my training for the November 1 NYC marathon. Alas, the two-month battle with pneumonia caused me to abandon my plans to run the marathon. At this point, it would be a virtual impossibility for me to do the necessary training to survive 26.2 miles.

Still, Wolfgang was encouraging me to run the 5k tomorrow. Not really with him, since he'd finish in half the time, but just to enjoy the running experience.

I was all in. I could run 3 miles and not have a pneumonia relapse. I'd just go slow. It'd all be good.

Until I looked at the racing brochure and realized that, as a woman of over 150 pounds, I'd fall into the category of a "Clydesdale."

There's only so much that one woman can take.

I will NOT be racing tomorrow.

(I googled "woman running" to find a picture for this post, and here's what I found. They're easily over 150 pounds, and they don't look like clydesdales. So there.)