Officially Approved Today

Today I called Hop and she said i was approved by the insurance company. I find out tomorrow how much it will cost.??!?

The Journey of all Journey's 2011

8/2/11- Started ribavarin yesterday with hopes of starting triple therapy on Friday. Been feeling extra tired this year and my viral load is up to 11 million and change. The new drug Incivek came out in June and people have been getting good results so far.

I'm 57 yrs. old and in good health so I feel this is the time to fight this battle. I will have to fight it at some time so it might as well be now.

I've had Hep C for a long time probably over 30 yrs. I was diagnosed about 25 yrs ago after a blood test for an insurance policy. I've worked hard and played hard and have had 3 beautiful healthy kids since then and I have had a great life with my best person in the world Diana. She is my better half for sure. I know she will be my "nurse Betty" during this treatment. I couldn't imagine doing something like this without her helping and encouraging me. We've been through a lot together. This is one more thing to add to our list.

My doctor is Donna Finelli. The best way to describe her is that she is a giver. I trust her 100% and I consider myself lucky to have her treating me. She also treats my friend Greg and he is doing well under her care.

The only possible snag might be my insurance coverage. The drugs are very expensive and they don't cover most of it. I will find out more tomorrow.

My mental outlook is generally good and positive. Although yesterday i had a queasy stoomach all day after taking the riba. Maybe it was just a coinkudink. We'll find out today. I'm taking the first batch for today right after I type this.

I'm going to try and document this whole deal on here. Let's see how it goes.

College Daze

Went to Fordham with Carly Sunday.

Ironman Cozumel 2009

Race Report for Jim Eggie

Ironman Cozumel November 29, 2009

The inaugural Ironman on the island of Cozumel was too much too pass up last year when I was on a triathlon web site and I saw a “secret link” that could get you into the race registration a few days before the official site opened up. I mumbled something to my wife about going to Cozumel next Thanksgiving and she said it sounded good to her so I followed the link and before you know it I was in. No small feat when trying to get into an Ironman these days. I was already signed up for Lake Placid but that was in July, plenty of time to recover and get ready again. No problem. Right……wrong.

Lake Placid went well but I had some cramping issues on the bike and run due to, I think, lack of training and trying a new gel in a bottle instead of my usual power gels. I got a little dehydrated but I got through it and had fun in the end as I always do. My family was there and even my nieces from California came and loved it. They may even volunteer for next year. It was a great experience and a lot of fun.

As I recovered from LP work got very busy and I never really got back into a regular training. I did the Iroquois Trail 100 mile Relay with my friends Mike and Dave, in September, but other than a lot of trail running in preparation for that, there was not a lot of other training going on. No problem, I’ll just do as much as I can and go for it.

My wife was supposed to come with me to Cozumel but as the race approached her mom was put in the hospital and she was not able to go.

All of my kids volunteered to come along in her place but there was a little thing called school that got in the way of me and their mother letting them come. So I was going solo. No problem.

It was right before I left for the race that I made a terrible mistake and sealed my fate for breaking any pr’s. One that I know better than to do and if anybody asked me if they should do it, I would say no way. I bought a new pair of shoes and I never ran in them before the race. I walked in them a lot but I never ran in them. Big mistake. Very big mistake. Pictures to follow……..

Getting to Cancun from Newark was no problem and taking the bus to Playa Del Carmen was about an hour ride and cost $9. The ferry to Cozumel was another 45mins ( $11 ) followed by a 15 min. taxi to my hotel. ( $15 ) The shorter my ride the more expensive it got!

Cozumel is beautiful and the temperature was low 80’s the day I arrived.

The next morning I rode my bike down to the swim. The water was great but it was pretty choppy and there was a good current coming at me as I swam away from the dock. I made it almost to the first turn and turned around. It took me 30 mins. on the way out and 15 mins back. Fast current. The next day ( Friday ) the practice swim was cancelled due to waves and wind. Not a good sign for Sunday. A lot of the first timers were freaking out. I figured that however bad it was, it was the same for everyone, and there was nothing I could do about it. No worries here. We did get in a short swim on Saturday and the conditions were improving.

RR:

The race-

I left the hotel on the bus around 5:30am. 10min. ride to the start.

I got my tires topped off and checked everything on my bike. We started in the water and everyone had to jump or climb down the stairs from the dock. It was a mob scene trying to get everyone in the water by 7am so I waited until the end and then jumped from the dock about 3 mins before the start. I never heard the starting horn because the helicopter was right above us and I did see a few people take off early.

The ocean had calmed down and the swim was great. I pr’d by 9 minutes and so did everyone else. They moved the whole course in closer to the shoreline and the long stretch with the current did the trick. I got out of the water fine and headed for T1. A quick rinse to get the salt off and get some sunscreen and I was rolling. I was surprised when I saw how long that took me. It felt much faster. The bike was along the road that goes around the entire island and on the west side it runs right along the beach. It was a beautiful ride and I was averaging almost 20 mph until the second leg which takes you along the ocean on the west side of the island. It was pretty windy over there but after about 11 miles we turned to the east and had a nice tailwind for about 7 miles. As I got into town the crowds were building and the support from them was great. A few turns through the middle of town and past the finish line, and I was out of town again on the main road to do another loop. This is where it started to get hot and windy. Still not too bad and I had plenty of energy left. At mile 75 I started to get a few cramps in my inner thighs on both legs so I started to take more salt tabs. I was drinking Gatorade, water, and my Infinite mix.

By the third loop the wind had picked up and on the ocean leg someone said there were 25 mph gusts. I was down to 13 mph in some spots. Not exactly an easy ride. On the last leg into town the crowds carried us into T2 and off on the run. The people where great and even though I’m sure many of them had never seen or even heard of a triathlon before, they cheered like crazy and it made the race so much better because they did. It was pretty hot and humid to start the run but some clouds rolled in and there even was a sprinkle of rain for a few minutes. Alos, while I was finishing my last loop on the bike the balls of my feet were getting hot. This is common for me so I didn’t think twice about it. I put a couple of band aids on the spots in T2 and I was off on the run. I got about 3 miles and me feet were killing me. I proceeded to run/walk the rest of the marathon. My stomach also was taking a turn for the worse and I can usually get through that but on this day it never really felt good. I looked for some chicken broth but there was none in site. I went from looking at a sub 14 no problem to struggling to keep it under 15.

I was on pace for a PR but that thought was soon gone and I just wanted to break 15 hrs. I hooked up with another fellow sufferer ( feet also ) and we stayed together until the end. 14:57. The marathon should have taken me around 5 hrs. I think my time was around 6:25.

For a first time event I thought it went well. The crowds were great and the course was beautiful. The 3 loop run was a little boring by the last loop but I don’t think they had any place else to do it without shutting down the whole island. The concept of special needs was not explained to the helpers very well and it was a hassle getting my bags. ( some people did not ) The aid stations were not stocked with anything extra and after mile 10 on the run the thought of another gel or power bar was not welcomed. I forced some Gatorade once in a while only because I knew I couldn’t finish without it.

Coming into the finish line was great and there was a band playing some Mexican songs and the crowd was still there going nuts. It wasn’t Mike Reilly, but someone announced, Jim Eggie, you, are, an Ironman!!!!! Wow, I am. I made it again. This was the toughest one yet and doing it without my family there was not the same. I also proved what a lack of training and some new shoes can do to your best laid plans. Still it was an Ironman and I got the medal and the coolest finishers shirt ever to prove it. I’ll be back to try for that pr but not next year, maybe in 2011. Who knows. It’s hard to let go of this stuff.

Nutrition- up at 3:30am- I had 3 Ensures, a banana, one Gatorade, ½ cup of coffee, a plain roll, one salt tab, and a gel 15 mins before the start of the swim.

On the bike I had 1000 cals of Infinite extra sodium, 6 gels, 2 powerbars, 1 banana, 4 bottles of Gatorade, and water in between.

And a salt tab every hour. ( 5 the last 2 hours )

On the run I had only stuff from the course.

What I would do different next time-

I would run in my new shoes before the race!

Sorry for length of this.

P.S. None of this would be possible without my family’s and friends constant love, support, and encouragement. You guys are great!

Thanks! See you in LP!

Pictures of my feet the day after the race are below. Don’t look if you are squeamish, they were pretty bad.

Iroquois Trail 100 Relay RR 9/19/09

I was preparing for my first sort of "Ultra" all week. The Iroquois Trail 100 Relay. Not one to get things done ahead of time I was rushing around all day Thursday, as usual, trying to get work tied up so I could relax a little on Thursday night before the big race. Yea, right! That didn't work out to well. But, I did get some sleep and headed out of TF with my main psycho training buddy ( and fellow Ironman....lol...I had to get that in somewhere right kids? ), Dave Matthew, around 10ish on Friday morning. We made a few stops and finally went down good old Maple St. in Kearny to pick up another psycho.....my Maple St. brother...... Mike Flynn. ( we grew up in the same 4 family house at 242 Maple St. ) It was great getting Mike in on this adventure. Back in April when I was thinking of some nut jobs who might do this race with me, his name popped right up as a candidate. I called him and he said yes right away, even though he had not been training much. I had originally thought 5 people but as we got into the summer I could tell it was only gonna be the 3 of us. No problem. Even though we had never raced any kind of trail run before we thought that through sheer determination and stupidity, we could get through it. ( "You are correct sir." )

The ride up was quick, with me and Mike telling war stories from Kearny, and Dave laughing at them and us. We made good time and arrived in Virgil, N.Y. around 3pm. We checked into the condo and went down to the race site but we were a little early so we decided to scout out Aid Station #6. AS#6 was the only aid station that could not be reached by car and it screwed up our plan of running 1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3, for the 20 legs of the race. We got lost a little and we had to transform Diana's Honda minivan into an off road 4 wheeler. Flying down the fire roads with not much of a reverse gear ( more on that later ) and not knowing if we would come to a dead end and not be able to turn around, certainly got our adrenalin flowing early.

We never did find the way to AS#6 until after dinner. In the dark. So we could now stick to our plan of running the whole race in order. Mike would start off, ( he got the steepest leg first because he wasn't there when me and Dave figured this stuff out ) Dave would go 2nd, and I would go 3rd. I'm the oldest so I pulled rank on the young guys. 7 legs each for Mike and Dave, 6 for me. I'm not that dumb.

Here my RR:

A beautiful clear cool morning in Virgil, N.Y. Mike, Dave and I got to the start around 5:45am to see the solo runners start. At 6am Ian, the race director, blew some kind of animal horn and everyone was off. We went back to our condo which was only a few minutes away and packed up some last minute stuff and put it all into the minivan, which would be our rolling recovery vehicle for the weekend.

Mike started at 7am and was soon wondering what he got himself into as he was walking up the ski slope to Greek Peak. ( It was too steep to run ) Dave started next and had the long climb up Carson Rd. right out of the box. I did leg #3, which started with a downhill but soon headed straight up the hill to the powerlines. All of the first four legs had tough hills. The 5th leg to the Rock pile was great and the 6th and 7th legs had a real hairy spot where you had to use ropes to pull yourself up or lower yourself down the slopes. It was bad enough during the day but at night it was a real challenge. Back through the Rock Pile and down the big hill from Greek Peak to the start and lap one was done. It was around 4pm and the next lap would be done mostly at night.

We had our trusty headlights and wondered how it would be running through the woods in the dark. It was really cool. And a little easier to follow the trail because the light reflected off the markers better at night than during the day. Dave started off, followed by me, then Mike did #3 and we were off and running our cycle again. During the first 4 legs if you were not the guy running the other 2 went back to the condo for a quick shower, bathroom break, and I even caught the beginning of the WVU game on ESPN during one of my rest legs. That all ended after #4 and it was back in the van for the rest of the night.

The feeling running alone in the woods at night was surreal and each of us shut off out lights at some point to take in the darkness and the stars. It was awesome. As each leg went by we got more and more tired but we never really slept much. We were too wound up I guess.

We were on target to break 22 hours and I had leg #8 for my last one. I started out thinking, no problem, it's only 6 miles, I'll just bang this out and I'll be done. Then Dave and Mike can finish it up and we can go to sleep. Well, I didn't bring all my nutrition with me, for some dumb reason, and after 2 miles I started to get dizzy. I stopped a couple of times and one of the 100 mile guys asked me of I was ok as he went by. I said I was dizzy and he stopped and gave me water and something to eat. And he left me a gel. He didn't have to do that and it took time off his race that but that's how most of the people were. Very cool.

I finally made it to the Rock Pile and Mike was wondering what happened to me. Dave had even started walking up the side trail from the road to see if I was OK or if I had stopped for a beer or something. Mike took off and Dave and I went back down to the car and I was done.

Mike finished his leg and Dave did the last one back to the Gatherings and we were the new Iroquois Trail 100 Relay 3 man world record holders. ( we were the only 3 man team but I'm not telling anybody that part ) 22 hours and 15 mins I think.

This race was one of the coolest things I have ever done and I think Mike an Dave feel the same. The boiled potatoes with salt and butter at AS#7, were the cats meow. The RD and all of the support people were great. Even Joe the "gong" guy at AS#7.

I will spread the word and hopefully be back next year.

We talked about doing the 50 mile version solo next year but I think we may have to defend out title and sign up for the relay again. Plus, if we do the relay we get to run at night again. I can't wait.

What the ...?

A blog? Man, I feel like I'm giving in to big brother. Well, I really created this so I could write an Iroquois Trail Race report. And other RR's too I guess.