Marathon RX

I would really like to get a vaccination against the H1N1 influenza.

Before you think I'm an alarmist, consider these things: while many people get mild cases of H1N1 and recover with no problem, 41 states are reporting "widespread flu activity" and the Centers for Disease Control website says, "This many reports of widespread activity are unprecedented during seasonal flu." You can check out the CDC's flu situation update here - http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm

This strain of H1N1 has claimed lives, as influenza does every year, but the World Health Organization says the 2009 swine flu hits healthy young adults hard, sometimes causing a severe viral pneumonia. It's also killed 43 children in the U.S., 11 this past week. We have a two year old, who has an appointment to get her first dose of the nasal spray this week, for her protection.

And then there's the fact of marathon training. Several studies have been done, confirming a suppression of the immune system in the hours after a hard distance training session - like the long runs we're doing every week that leave us feeling drained afterward (at least we get a good night's sleep out of it!) The studies all say a distance runner's immune system bounces back within a day, but I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of hours of immune system suppression every week. On purpose. After the World Health Organization declared a global H1N1 flu pandemic.

I'm not going to quit training for the marathon, so the vaccine looks like my best bet.

I've had the flu - in 1990 and again in 1998, and I hated the viral equivalent of getting run over by a tractor-trailer. I had severe bronchitis in late 2002 - not quite pneumonia - but breathing was so difficult that I don't want to find out what pneumonia feels like. I got colds during training for both of my previous marathons, and it throws a monkey wrench into training, not to mention life in general.

John and I both got our seasonal flu shots, and now we're waiting on the H1N1 vaccine to become more readily available. The Associated Press reports that while the federal government says supplies may run short this month because of manufacturer delays, there will be enough of the H1N1 influenza vaccine to go around later. And in reality, the runs that are so long they suppress our immune systems temporarily don't start until late November-early December.

Until then, our daughter gets her nasal spray and we all will take care to eat right, sleep well and wash our hands a lot.