Friday, February 5, 2010

Well that's a new one

My knees have been killing me. That's not the new part.  The unusual bit is that I don't think it is actually running related.  Shocking!  They started hurting almost two weeks ago and naturally I just chalked it up to "just another injury" and went about my business.

Saturday the pain led to a rather unusual situation and after Monday's run I decided to take a couple of days off to heal.  So Wednesday night on the way home from work I had some time to contemplate what was going on.  I spent all day in pain and was seriously starting to get annoyed by it all.  I hadn't run in over two days and the pain was worse than ever.  How could that be?

Suddenly it dawned on me, this wasn't a symptom of running at all, this was because of a freakin' virus!  Both a colleague at work and my daughter had contracted the parvovirus B19 known as "Fifth Disease".  Symptoms include a mild cold, a rash, and swelling of the joints.

I did a mental checklist.  Had I had a cold?  Yes, very minor and short lived.  Rash?  My skin was definitely a bit pinker than normal and my cheeks were red.  Joint pain?  Hell yeah.  Yup, I got it too.

So here I was lamenting another injury and the whole time it wasn't my fault.  I instantly felt better about my situation and got back out there for another run today knowing that it wasn't me that was causing the problem, it was millions of little parasites.  My knees still hurt but too bad for them.

3 comments:

  1. Interesting.
    I wonder if that's what Lara has. She has a little rash on her chest.
    hmmm.

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  2. Firth Disease, that's what Maureen had last year when she ran the Boston Marathon. Swelling of the Lymph Nodes!! That shit sounds scary.

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  3. I had the fifth disease too (last year, in June). It was definitely not fun. I hope you both (your daughter and you) get well soon!

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