sick

Over the past two weeks I have been fighting a cough and, possibly, a cold. Mainly I've been fighting a nagging cough. On Thursday and Friday I was stuck indoors for two main reasons. The first was that I wanted to give my body time to recover. The second was that I was actually fearful of going outside. Yes, fearful.

This past Sunday I decided that it would be a good idea for me to start surfing again. The last time I was on a surfboard was sometime around May and I have been dying to get back on a board since. We hit short sands beach around noon just in time for high tide to roll in. At short sands high tide is the greatest time to surf but the swells were coming in at 11ft at 13 seconds, which basically translates into a good time, so high tide was not affecting the waves much. I climbed into my wetsuit, put my booties on, stretched the gloves over my hands and shoved my head through a neoprene hood. I was ready to go surfing in the frigid waters of the Oregon coast.

I grabbed my board, strapped on the leash and headed for the water. The lineup was in its usual place several hundred feet offshore and my battles with the waves began about 40 feet offshore, about the place where the water drops down to a depth greater than 6 ft. It felt good to duck dive beneath the waves and my paddling was almost as strong as it was before I left for the summer. I was quickly making my way to the lineup when...

I started coughing. Uggh, the sinus infection that I have had for the past several weeks is still with me. The problem is not just a cough it is that when I cough I can't stop coughing. The intense coughing causes me to exhale all of the air in my lungs?and eventually I get to a point where I am gasping for air. This is not a good thing when you have an eight foot wave about to crash down on you forcing you underwater for a good 20 to 30 seconds. Salt water tastes great but I don't want it in my lungs.

Still coughing I reluctantly turned around and grabbed the first soupy wave back to shore. It took a few waves but I eventually made it safely back to shore and sat there, still coughing, pissed off that I can't breath.

Well I went back to see the doctor again today. I still have not gotten rid of this horrible cough that I have. After running some checks, looking in my ears, nose and down my throat, and listening to my breathing he concluded that I have a sinus infection. Apparently a sinus infection can irritate your throat, especially during the evening, and causes one to have dry coughes. Oh and do dry cough hurt ever so bad. He prescribed some antibiotics and said that I should start feeling better within a matter of days.

The good news is that during my checkup he asked if I ran often. I, of course, responded "Heck Ya, boy!" (alright, I?only said?"yes"). I apparently have a very low rate heart which is common for?runners.

This morning I woke up around 8:30 am and I sprung out of bed with quite a bit of energy. I spent the first twenty to thirty minutes, after getting out of bed, checking email, making breakfast, and generally organizing items. BUT.... I did not cough. Yes 30 whole minutes without coughing.

For me this is a 2 week olympic record worthy of a gold medal in the event of Jacob-anti-coughing.

Although the sickness has not completely passed I am definitely on the last legs of it and by Monday I should be able to go running again. I am dying to go for a run although I may die if I go on a run.

In other news...

I uploaded a few pictures from?some of the concerts that I attended in Salamanca. You can check them out here. ?

I love doctors. When you are sick they are like legal drug dealers. Last night I slept good due to my new bottle of codeine infused cough syrup.