Well, I certainly didn't keep up on my blog entries the way I wanted to, but in light of some new developments, I thought it might be time to update everyone.  About 5 weeks ago, just before the Musselman Triathlon Festival, I started to get a sore throat and I was really tired.  I knew this meant I was either catching a cold or possibly having some issues with my Lupus.  I decided to back down on my training at that point.  I had friends cover my running club coaching for me and teach my spin classes so I could sleep in a little longer.  I went into Musselman feeling unprepared, tired and just not ready to race.  Regardless, I went out and did what I could.  Day one, the Mini-Mussel, I ended up beating my time from the previous year.  I was happy about that.  I ended up 3rd in my age group out of about 60 women.  That was also a good thing and I got to see my husband and team mates finish the race that day.  Everything was good on Day 1. 
Day 2, the Half Ironman.  Woke up, I was tired.  Still had a sore throat, but I ceratinly wasn't going to not race.

I felt good on the swim and ok on the bike.  I do recall a few times on the bike thinking I could fall a sleep while riding.  I hadn't felt that way in a race in a long time.  It was a very hot day, I thought that may have contributed to my feelings of fatigue.  Off the bike, it was already in the 90's.  I already knew I would have to slow down the run.  I was ok with that.  This was a training race and I knew getting a PR wasn't an option, so I plugged along.  Despite the hot weather, having to walk a few times and just not feeling well, I still broke 6 hours.  I finished in 5:53.  By far my slowest Musselman Race, I was 12th in my age group.  Not where I'd like to be, but in the end, I was ok with my choice to slow down and just finish.

I ended up in the medic tent afterwards.  I had lost 10 lbs from my pre-race weigh in.  Not a good thing.  Luckily, they didn't send me to the hospital.  Of course, now that I think of it, I probably should have gone.  An IV may have helped a lot.

I got home late that night and quickly had to prepare for a week long Youth Triathlon Camp.  Lucky us.  Tri Camp during the hottest week of the summer.  Each day it was 90 degrees or higher.  I don't think I was hydrated properly all week.  I was in the sun way too much and actually just worn out.  I tried to rest when I could.  Drink as much water as possible and stay cool when I could as well.  Nothing was working.  That weekend, I got some decent training in.  Not what I wanted, but it was ok.  The following week, I had one of my best weeks of running I've had in a long time.  Little did I know it was the beginning of the end.  After that amazing week of running, I crashed.  Saturday I ran 13.5 miles.  Coached 23 kids at the Youth Triathlon in Zelienople and went home and didn't move for about 36 hours.  I was officially wiped out. 
Monday I headed to the Lab to get bloodwork done.  Something was going on.  Bloodwork came back a few days later.  C-Reactive Protein levels were high.  My body had inflamation.  My joints were swelled.  My body was in pain and of course, I still had a sore throat. 
I talked to my Rheumatologist, DR. Manzi.  She said I was probably flaring up.  Something was going on for sure.  I was back on Prednisone.  Two days ago, August 9, 2011 I started on 15 mg of Prednisone for 5 days, on the 14th, I would drop to 10 mg, on the 19th, 7.5 mg and on the 24th, 5 mg.  I the meantime, watch my training, cut back, don't over do it.  That's tough to tell someone who is training for Long Course World Championships in less than 3 months.  On top of that, she mentioned a mono test.  That's all I needed.  Mono on top of it all.  I got tested right away and luckily today I found out the results were negative.  I did not have mono.

Any how, I'm cutting back.  Pretty much just swimming this week.  I'm ok with that.  I haven't spent much time in the pool and it's actually nice to be swimming again.  This weekend, under the watchful eye of my husband, I will attemp to run about 5 miles and see if I can get a longer bike ride in.  Maybe 2 or 3 hours on Sunday depending on how I feel.  I need to keep my base up and not go too hard so I get too tired.  That's the key.  Maintain without overdoing it.

Anyhow, today I've managed to swim 4000 yards in the morning.  I aquajogged a little and I swam another 1600 yards at lunch with Becky and Traci.  My hands hurt a bit, but overall, I don't feel too bad.  I certainly didn't swim too hard, but it was nice to get some yards in.

I do plan to update things as I continue to train through this flare up.  I hope it goes away quickly so I can get back to training how I need to for Worlds.  Until then, I'll do what I can.

Thanks for reading everyone.

Joella