Woe(fully unprepared) is me, and when is a kidney stone not a kidney stone?

Some quick thoughts before bed -- yes, bed at 7:30 on a Friday night. More on that in a moment.

First, the latest and greatest members of the FRED'S TEAM HONOR ROLL!

Let's hear it for

LEE SOLOMON
EMMA KERINS
and
JANE LATMAN

(all of whom I went to Camp Ballibay with!! Read my previous post for more on our amazing reunion)

bringing the total going to the Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research in honor of Liam Witt to

$725

Woo-hoo!!

Please join the Honor Roll and help me celebrate the life of a very special little boy, by donating to my fourth -- yes, fourth -- NYC Marathon effort as a member of Fred's Team. All you have to do is click here, or on the links at the side or bottom of the page!

This weekend I am running two races, and thanks to my mystery condition, which is no longer a mystery, I am not entirey prepared. Tomorrow, at 8am, I'm running the Brooklyn Half Marathon, which I'm super-psyched about, because it was my very first half mary five years ago. This will be the first time I've been able to run it since. Of course I've barely put any miles in this past week. I guess I can call it a taper, but it'll be interesting. I'm not running for speed, and I've already got one half under my belt this season, so I'll be okay. The hardest thing about this race, however, is going to be getting there. Public transportation on a Saturday morning before 8am? Ugh. And once I get down to Prospect Park, it'll probably be about a mile's hike to get to the start line. Good warm-up!

The next morning is the Japan Day run, a four-miler. I don't need this race, I've already got the races I need for the 2010 NYC Marathon (including my volunteer race) but I like the race. There's a neat festival that takes place at the finish line, and -- I'll say it, they have good swag. Since the event also promotes the Tokyo Marathon, there's a lot of little giveaways for the runners -- folders, pens, foot lotion, stuff like that. Last year there was even a nice canvas bag. This year, however, the swag was basically limited to a bottle of Amino Vital and, oddly enough, a box of chow mein noodles. What the...? Just because they're teriyaki flavored doesn't make them reminiscent of Japan. Although the chopsticks do say "Japan Day" on the wrapper...

So, the medical mystery...last time I told you that I was suffering from what I thought was a kidney infection. I did just enough research on the internet to convince myself I had a kidney stone (and went no further, so as not to freak myself out.) I emailed my doctor, who told me to push the cranberry juice and see her on Tuesday. I did both -- and let me just say how much I now loathe unsweetened cranberry juice -- and I even had a CAT scan. It felt like a kidney stone, it hurt like a kidney stone, it had all the symptoms of a kidney stone, but lo and behold -- no kidney stone. What the doctor thinks it's just left over from the bladder infection, which I apparently still have, penicillin and Cipro be damned. I'm waiting to get some new and improved medication.

In the meantime, this will make for an amusing post-Brooklyn half quick-change, as I don't want to take chances wearing drippy drawers all the way home. So if you're at Coney Island Saturday morning, look for me -- I'll be the one wearing a long skirt!