One of my dad's cancer-fighting drugs - nitrogen mustard - was featured on the front page of Sunday's New York Times (woohoo! cancer is famous!)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/business/12price.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Unfortunately, it was being profiled because of an exorbitant rise in price due to lack of use and circulation. How exorbitant? This lady was used to getting the drug for $77 a prescription. Last time she went to get it refilled, it had risen to $555. I'm not too much of a mathematician these days, but I think that's about a 700% increase. (I think...really, it's times like these when I think all that algebra might have been useful after all. But I digress.) Less than 5,000 people a year use the drug (how's that for rare), but for those 5,000, the drug is the closest they have to a cure. It's not been pinpointed that this is the drug that "cured" my dad, but he used it when he was first diagnosed in '81, and again when he relapsed in '96....so at the very least I'd say it was very important to our family.
And as for this Sunday paper business? Yeah, I opened it at about 3:30 p.m. When I was home from the workout that began at EIGHT A.M. I got up at 6, mixed all my perpetuem, and hauled my bike, etc out to the car. Got to Sports Basement, where I set up the trainer - we rode for an hour. This felt pretty good. Then we got off and ran for ten minutes - first run since the marathon. And for good measure, it had started raining. Run/shuffle felt great.
Back to SB, where I switched out my trainer wheel for the road wheel, and got ready for the ride. Regrettably, Coach Wayne tapped me to lead the first loop of the ride (three loops of a hilly circuit in the Presidio), specifically because I was "Marathon Mo" and had not been on my bike in three weeks - he knew I'd keep it slow and aerobic, which is what he wanted. The first loop was fine. Two and three, a little tougher (made more tough by 1) the now pouring rain and 2) the knowledge that we had to do this again in two more hours).
Back to SB, out for a ten minute run. Switched the wheel out again, and back on the trainer. The trainer is great, because we had music, were under an overhang, and Alex brought warm chicken broth that she passed out. Yum. I also discovered an extra pair of socks in my car, so I was able to switch to dry socks for the second half of the workout.
So, all of the above? Repeat. Add more pouring rain, and freezing wind (basically, Napa Marathon on a bicycle)
Total time working out: 5:30. Total bike miles: 60, Total run miles: about 4 1/2. I stopped drinking Perpetuem during the last bike circuits, as I was freezing cold and couldn't stomach the thought of it. Not so good for the caloric intake. After getting back home, I stood in the hot shower for 20 minutes to warm up, and then....yes, at 3 pm....began my Sunday!
Fortunately, my good friends Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin were broadcasting the Paris-Nice race on OLN, so I got to watch some warm cycling, and wonder how on earth I was going to get out of bed on Monday morning. My legs were trashed!
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