Less Than One Week!

One of the more illuminating aspects of doing something totally out of your normal lifestyle (like, say, training for a marathon) is you start finding out all kinds of things about your body's weak points.

For a couple of weeks I've been getting headaches after running for a while. I assumed it was something to do with the cold, but they've been getting worse. My worst one was on Saturday. I was supposed to do an easy 6-mile run and quit before I'd finished 5 because my head was hurting so much it was making my teeth ache. It was 75 degrees. I was a little suspicious of the headaches because they're always concentrated in one part of my head, more or less where there are sinus cavities on the right side. I was also getting worried that after all this work, I wouldn't be able to finish the race because of some random headache that appeared out of nowhere.

I finally did a little research and discovered that sinus headaches sometimes manifest as dental pain because there is a sinus cavity underneath your eye that reaches almost to your teeth. To make matters more fun, that particular sinus has to drain upward, meaning that it's very difficult to drain while standing up. I hadn't been feeling congested, so I didn't think sinus problems could be wreaking that much havoc on my head, but when I saw the location and the possibilities for pain it made sense. I have a long history of sinus problems, so I immediately attacked it with a combination of claritin, sudafed, and use of a neti pot. Yesterday I ran 4 miles and not only did I not get a headache, but I could tell that my breathing was much more effective so I wasn't nearly as tired as I'd been during my recent runs. Fingers crossed. I'll pack a lot of medication and hope it continues to work.

I have three more runs before race day: Tuesday, Thursday, and a 20-min run with the team Saturday morning. Homestretch!