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I just spent the whole weekend between home and visits to a couple of veterinarians. Seems like Mokka found some kind of fun in eating the backyard’s grass, but in insane amounts and to the point of vomiting big amounts of it until her stomach bled

There’s the possibility that a few days ago she ate some insect or thing and her natural reaction to stomach discomfort was to induce vomit by ingesting grass. So far it seems like it didn’t cease because she didn’t stop eating/vomiting it.

The veterinarian prescribed some medicines to alleviate the stomach bleeding/wounds and a soft diet to ease the digestion for a few days. She has lost some weight but, fortunately, never seemed to be sad/ill during the whole thing. I guess she’s some kind of crazy strong dog, I wonder why…

Training has been going well lately. I’ve been following close advise to doctor’s orders and I haven’t had any allergy issues. I’m slowly catching up on building a base for my next objective which will be the Travesía en las Sierras 100 miler. I’m only hoping the conditions on day race (and during trainings) cooperate…

Last night, a good part of the Mexican climbing community got together to attend Alex Huber‘s The Fifth Dimension talk. The conference took place at the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, with a full auditorium.

Huber gave a superb presentation in which he covered some history of alpinism and moved towards his own personal evolution, from classic climbs to speed ascents to expeditions to free soloing. He’s a very enjoyable speaker who takes good time to describe his amazing achievements with great passion and without any form of protagonism.

We also had the chance to briefly chat with him and get some signed copies of his book The Mountain Within. It was great to meet him in person, a very down-to-earth person with the focus and determination of a world-class alpinist.

Taking my blood test results to the pulmonologist confirmed the preliminary diagnose: allergic reaction due to high amounts of Immunoglobulin E. This seems to be a lifetime genetic condition but it had always kept silently as plain rhinitis until the bad episode from a few weeks ago.

He recommended immunologic treatment for some weeks as well as keeping the use of a nebuliser before exercising and in case of emergency. He advised that once the rainy season begins things will go back to normal due to humidity. On the bright side, I’ve been feeling really well and haven’t had any allergic episodes at all.

Last night friends and I went to Cineteca Nacional to enjoy 2 great documentaries by Werner Herzog: Die große Ekstase des Bildschnitzers Steiner and Gasherbrum – Der leuchtende Berg. The latter is about an expedition made by Reinhold Messner and Hans Kammerlander to climb Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I in a single alpine-style push without returning to base camp. The film is not so much concerned with showing the climb itself or giving guidelines on mountaineering, but seeks to reveal the inner motivation of the climbers. Really great stuff!

So I went to the pulmonologist and the preliminary diagnose for my breathing problem at last week’s race is that I probably had an allergic reaction caused by one (or more) kind of particles in dust, as well as a transitory imbalance in my breathing mechanics. A blood test will verify the former, while some breathing exercises while training will fix the latter.

The doctor prescribed a couple of medications to help fix my runny nose and a nebuliser for use before exercising and in case of emergency. He also recommended to continue my regular activities as long as I am extra careful with dust and my breathing rhythm.

For the weekend, Serch and I planned to do some relaxed hiking with the dogs at Nevado the Toluca. Overall, it was a great day as usual, but I had to be extra conscious with my body and monitor how it reacted to the moderate altitude and particularly dry & dusty air nowadays. We managed a circumnavigation of the volcano’s crater in a decent time and also a great workout for the dogs, which ended up the day sleeping like little puppies.

I will continue my training in the following days and then go back to the doctor to get the definitive diagnose once he sees the blood test results. Hopefully I’ll be fully back on track in no time…

Rest of the photos are here or in the slideshow below: