Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

March 28, 2024

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Location:

Fort Collins,CO,

Member Since:

May 15, 2003

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

Unaided PR's:
5K: 14:48 (Track - 2001)
10K: 30:45 (Track - 2001)
10K: 31:32 (Bolder Boulder - 2013)
Half Marathon: 1:06:09 (Duluth - 2013)
Marathon: 2:17:54 (Grandma's) - 2014)
Marathon: 2:19:47 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2013)
Marathon: 2:19:49 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2010)

Aided PR's:
10K: 29:38 (Des News - 2011)
Half Marathon: 1:05:30 (TOU Half - 2011)
Marathon: 2:18:09 (St George - 2007)
Marathon: 2:17:35 (Boston - 2011)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis in June of 2008. Started taking Enbrel in March, 2009.

Run as much as I can, and race as well as I can. Make the most of however much time I have left as an able-bodied runner.

Training for the 2018 Colorado Marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

  Run until I'm old, and then run some more. Stand tall.

Personal:

1 wife, 2 kids. 1 cat. Work as a GIS Specialist/Map Geek

Endure and persist; this pain will turn to your good. - Ovid

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. - Romans 5:1-5

 

 

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Saucony Trail Shoe Lifetime Miles: 247.50
Hoka Clifton Lifetime Miles: 491.50
Saucony Type A6 Lifetime Miles: 186.50
Saucony Zealot Lifetime Miles: 478.75
Saucony Kinvara 6 Lifetime Miles: 433.50
Saucony Kinvara 6-2 Lifetime Miles: 358.75
Brooks Pure Connect Blue Lifetime Miles: 337.25
New Balance Trainers Lifetime Miles: 314.50
New Balance 1400 Racers Lifetime Miles: 65.00
Brook Pureflow Lifetime Miles: 99.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
4.000.000.000.000.004.00

I realized I had way too many miles this week, so just did 4 miles with Seth today.

My insurance, blood tests, x-rays, and everything else came through, so I started Enbrel today. I gave myself the first injection (which was surprisingly painless and easy), so now it's wait and see what happens. For most people, it doesn't kick in for a week or two, but others have instant improvement. On this blog I don't often mention all my specific body parts that hurt (seems kind of pointless), but right now it's my entire left foot (around the toe joints), the big toe on my right foot (can barely bend it), my left hip, my lower back (stiffness mostly), the tendons at the top of the both hamstrings, and occasionally my neck (althought that's been almost 100% lately). In additional my left lower shin has been swollen for several months, but has not actually hurt since the Moab race. Umm...I think that's it. I hope the Enbrel helps all those things, but even if it helps half of them, I will be better off.

Brooks Adrenaline 8, #2 Miles: 4.00Jogging Stroller Miles: 4.00
Comments
From wheakory on Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 22:50:06 from 134.50.223.250

Wow Paul I will definitely pray for you that God heals everything on your body.

I have one injury and thought that was bad with a limp. Question what Podiatrist have you gone to that's really good? I'm seeing a Podiatrist Monday with my problem here locally (Pocatello, Idaho), but I would really like to see one that's a runner. I might need a second opinion if I have an issue and I would be willing to go anywhere for a second opinion. I'm trying to make sure that I know what would be the best step next if I don't care for the Podiatrist here.

Thanks in Advance.

From paul on Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 08:20:10 from 75.162.221.204

The only podiatrist I have seen in Logan I really don't like, so I can't help you there. Best of luck.

From Adam RW on Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 10:13:09 from 155.101.152.103

Paul, I really hope this does the trick for you. Have a good weekend.

From Jon on Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 12:49:54 from 138.64.2.78

Glad to hear your insurance is pony-ing up. Hope it all works so you can get back to kicking our butts pain-free.

From paul on Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 13:06:23 from 65.103.252.214

Thanks. I'm not really concerned with kicking anyone's butt anymore. Mostly I just want to make sure I can lift my kid over my head, play catch, wrestle around, and avoid disability over the 10 years. Hard to do all that with my neck fused into my chest or with a fake hip. Running is just gravy.

From Jon on Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 15:40:14 from 138.64.2.78

Yes, but if you can run then it means everything else must be pretty good, too. So I hope you can run, on top of everything else improving.

From josse on Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 20:25:52 from 75.216.148.170

I hope it helps so you can enjoy life:) Keep us posted.

From redrooster on Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 22:50:26 from 71.219.142.244

Paul, my sister injected enbrel for her psoriatic arthritis for a couple years, it worked miracles. And like I mentioned, her arthritis just disappeared one day, and she has been symptom free for years now not taking any medication. A real miracle, and I am hoping the same for you. Keep taking that cod liver oil!!

From paul on Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 10:39:06 from 75.162.221.204

Red - that's the story I hear from most people, usually "Enbrel/Remicade/Humira is a miracle drug and gave me my life back" or something like that. That's great your sister is having a med-free remission. Unfortunately, all studies show that A.S. patients have symptoms return after discontinuing a biologic, virtually every time. But I will take a medical remission at this point as well.

Do autoimmune diseases run in your family? Just asking, since you mentioned your sister. My grandfather had rheumatoid, and I recently found out that one of his cousins has a spondylitis of some sort. It would crush me if I passed something down to my kid. But there's lots of exciting research and developments with stem cells right now, so perhaps there's good things to come.

From ArmyRunner on Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 14:43:14 from 66.7.118.166

Paul,

When is see what you are going through it truly makes my recovery from knee surgery a minor thing. I am just happy to be running again. Hopefully your latest treatment really makes a difference for you. I hope to see you at some races later this year. Thanks for the words of encouragement as well.

From wheakory on Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 21:00:16 from 134.50.89.55

Paul, If you don't mind I going to mention you in our prayer request at Church if you don't mind? Your a wonderful person and that's extremely more important than running.

Question Jon mentioned me to ask you about Dr. Lyons. Jon said he's a runner and a general doctor, would he be sometime I could reference to take a look at my foot?

From redrooster on Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 21:55:56 from 71.219.142.244

Paul, yes, there is a history of autoimmune problems in my family. My father has severe psoriasis, my sister got psoriatic arthritis, my mother had severe asthma, and I got this great sudden sensorineural hearing loss, which is probably autoimmune and related as well. But I have no signs of arthritis.

But, you'll probably find similar instances in every single family, autoimmune things are so common, and the genetic links are hard to pin down. And like I mentioned before, I think that there is a strong dietary/environmental link to these things, including vitamin D, sunshine, and environmental toxins/pollutants. So I doubt your kids will be any more predisposed to AI disorders than any one else so I wouldn't worry about that in the least. Make sure they get plenty of vitamin D though.

From paul on Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 21:58:26 from 75.162.221.204

Ted - I hope to see you at many races this year as well! The thought makes me smile.

Kory - sure, I certainly appreciate all prayers. Regarding Dr. Lyons, yes he is a good sports doctor and probably has a good knowledge base for feet. He'll probably see a more holistic solutation than a pod dr. He's not a podiatrist by specialty, but he's probably better than the pod they have on staff there. Cody saw a podiatrist in Logan that he seemed to like. I don't remember his name though, so you may want to ask him.

From paul on Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 22:06:28 from 75.162.221.204

Red - in my case, it's the genetic marker HLA-B27. 90% of people with A.S. have this gene, although only about 10% of people with the gene get A.S., so indeed the environmental trigger is a big deal. I think HLA-B27 is also a marker for Chron's and PsA, which is why many people with A.S. get these other diseases too. New studies have also recently pinned IL-12/23 as other genetic indicator, and new medications will work to suppress these. I don't understand all this stuff, but it's good to see new discoveries.

I think I will look into another Vitamin D supplement, as well as calcium. People with A.S. are more prone to osteoporosis (for whatever reason, maybe the fusion issue), so I should really get my act together for this, especially since I don't eat dairy.

From redrooster on Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 22:16:50 from 71.219.142.244

Paul, I don't know anything about the genetic markers, I should look into this. The only thing my father's psoriasis responds to is UV light and vitamin D based ointments, reinforcing my views on vitamin D. Strangely, I started to develop psoriasis as a teenager, then at age 18 it went away and never reappeared, ever. Then the deal with my sister and the PA. But then I lost all my hearing in what is probably a link according to the doctors. Strange stuff. Sounds like the enbrel is already doing it's magic for you. I remember my sister hated the injections, but got used to it. I remember before she took it she could barely move her hands her arthritis was so bad.

From Adam RW on Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 23:19:37 from 98.202.223.65

Paul, Out of curiosity I searched HLA-B27 on PubMed which is the on-line database of all medical publications. Anyway there were 3758 papers published on that marker. So there are a number of doctors and researchers obviously very interested in figuring this out. I hope it is sooner than later. In fact there was a review right at the end of '08 highlighting that additional markers have been identified. These other markers are directly involved in inflammation and will help bring a whole new dimension to how treatments may be combined. Specifically, I copied this sentence out of the summary.

"...; evidence of a pivotal role for several proinflammatory cytokines including interleukins 23 and 17; and the recognition that inflammation and structural progression proceed separately from each other." This may mean that new and/or combined treatments are close on the horizon.

From paul on Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 14:27:57 from 75.162.221.204

Red - fortunately, the injection didn't really hurt at all. I'm already looking forward to the next one.

Adam - yeah, lots of HLA-B27 stuff out there. The IL-17/23 discovery is quite new, and together with the HLA-B27 can explain a very large percentage of A.S. There are several drugs in trial phase that address IL-17/23, and I think one has been approved in Canada.

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