Shingles is a nasty, painful virus that any one who has had it will tell you, they will also inadvertently touch the point on their body where the rash appeared declaring themselves as a fellow sufferer and reinforcing how awful shingles is.

An intriguing virus that only appears on one half of the body, medical experts around the world can’t agree what activates the dormant chickenpox virus in our bodies. My description is a cross between being electrocuted and scalded at the same time.

I was ‘lucky’ in that I got a course of antivirals within 12 hours of the rash appearing. I took these grape sized tablets 5 times  a day every for a week. They worked in knocking me out so my hubby set an alarm to take them, but contained the rash and reduced my time off. I returned to work 10 days later although completely exhausted, going home, eating and asleep by 7:30pm, didn’t walk the dog for 3 weeks as had no energy. It took me

Its fair to say shingles has derailed my 2019 triathlon season. I have managed to defer a few races, dropped  distances (from middle), swopped solo entries into team relays and had a couple of DNS against my name as well as a DNF – two firsts I’m not chuffed with!

This has lead me to do my own deconstructed Middle Distance 2019, first I have doen the swim leg at Cotswold 113, the bike leg at Lakesman (albeit a timed out DNF) and am following a beginners plan for Swindon half marathon in September. So not all is lost this year unlike my fitness, Training Peaks does like to show me my ever decreasing fitness score !

14 weeks after the rash appeared I am going back to triathlon basics – I have my first pool and sprint triathlon since 2013 when I started my multisport adventures. It will be at Portishead in a 33m outdoor pool, then cycle & run along the coast roads where I worked for many years.

Hopefully Portishead sprint tri and Swindon half will be the start of my shingles comeback. I seriously need to lose some weight as the inactivity has seen many trousers strain and Lycra can only be so stretchy before you look like an over stuffed string of sausages.

Looking to go long distance triathlon again next year with the pirates, so I have 12 months to get back on track after this derailment.