Sunday, September 19, 2010

Disneyland Half Marathon Follow-up

I finished the race....a little slower than I had hoped, but not terrible (yes, I am slightly disappointed with myself).  My time was 2:05:03.  I had hoped to finish it in under 2:00 hrs, but it wasn't my day..... 
We flew into LA on Friday, and my ear was bugging me after landing.  About 4 hours after landing, it finally equalized.  On Saturday, I woke up with a headache, and I couldn't get rid of it through out the day--even after drinking lots of water, and resorting to taking Tylenol.  I went to bed early that night, as we had to be up at 3:15 am, to get to the starting area by 4:15 am.  Needless to say, I didn't feel great that morning, but thought it was due to the early start (and maybe that was all it was).
I ran a pretty decent 10 km (about 55:40), but then I started to feel pretty yuck!!!  I finished the race, thinking maybe it was just an off running day.  After the race, we went for a quick massage, and then had a nap.  I hadn't eaten much of anything all day, but didn't feel up for it either.  Woke up from my nap, and my ear was blocked again (just as though I had been flying, and it hadn't equalized).  I thought nothing of it, and carried on.  We went out for supper, and my ear really started to bug me.  I headed back to the hotel early, and the pain only got worse.... I suffered through one of my worst nights ever.  I would rather have been in labour.....
In the morning, around 6 am, I finally asked my roomate to go find out where the nearest hospital was (there was a small amount of fluid on my pillow from my ear, and I didn't think that was good!!!).  She came back up to say a doctor was available to come to the the hotel.  Just before he arrived, my ear drum burst ( a tiny microscopic hole), and the pressure was relieved. I have never felt such relief!!!!  Anyways, he looked in my ear, declared it "Nasty", and prescribed antibiotics and pain killers.  I also wasn't allowed to fly home that day, and ended up staying until Wednesday.  Once the ear drum burst, I was feeling pretty good, but couldn't hear great, and had a Kleenex to my ear constantly.  On Tuesday morning, I awoke early again, due to my lip feeling funny.  I looked in the mirror, and saw that it was quite swollen.  I took some Benadryl, and hoped that would help.  In the next hour though, the swelling spread to the left side of my face.  I would post a picture here, but that is not one that I want spreaded around the internet.  Yes, it was that bad, and worse!!!!  I put ice on it, and the swelling finally went down to something manageable by noon (I just looked a little puffy then!).  Anyways, I was allergic to the pain killers.
All in all, 2 weeks later, I am relatively healed.  I still have minimal pain in my ear occasionally, and I can't hear great out of my ear either.  I am told it can take 2-3 months before I can normally again.  My doctor here did say it was healing beautifully, and I shouldn't have any problems.  Of course, since the kids are back to school, I now have a cold on top of all this!!! 
I am looking forward to my Disneyworld Half Marathon, January 8, 2011.  Maybe I can break 2 hours then!!!  I will hopefully do a 10km in October. 

1 comment:

  1. WOW, you ran a half marathon while being that sick - you are AMAZING!!!

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