Create.

Stinky day.

I have not slept more than a handful of hours in three days. The antiobiotics have not seemed to help. I am experiencing the same thing that I experienced three years ago before the Park City Marathon. Same tooth and all. What started as a sinus infection has turned into a dental nightmare. Just got back from the endodontist who said that the tooth has already had two root canals and that the only thing that is left to do is to yank the dang thing out. I'm not happy but am in so much pain that I will do whatever. Headed to the oral surgeon at 3:00 today for my makeover. It's not going to be pretty. Luckily it is in the back.

This is the first day I have missed of PT school due to illness. I really hope I can go tomorrow.

Have no idea whether or not I will be running SGM.

BUT ... my face has hurt so badly that I haven't even noticed my calf!!! :) :) :)

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Evening:

I still have my miserable tooth. The ortho surgeon was concerned that I was not able to get numb due to the infection and so I need to be sedated. Couldn't do it then because I had juice 2 hours prior to the appointment. He switched my antibiotics, put me on Percocet and scheduled me for Friday. He said that SGM is not an option.

CRAZY day.

I am not used to taking Percocet. I thought I would be fine taking it though. Wrong! I took half of one pill and decided I was going to try and go to school. Dumb idea.

I showed up for my 7:00 a.m. lab and the first words out of one of my very candid classmate's mouth were: "Teena, you look like SH*@!!!" I knew I was going to be in trouble. My face was killing and I felt nauseated and light headed. After faking my way through class I almost passed out in the stairwell. Luckily a classmate was with me. (I hadn't been eating any solids for the past 3+ days and was operating on minimal sleep.)

I called Ry who drove me (since I had taken the Percocet) and had him come pick me up. On the way home I began to cry and I called the oral surgeon telling him that I was in dire need. He told me he would pull the tooth in 6 hours (because I had just had a small drink).

I went home and immediately got into bed. Shockingly I fell right asleep! This was something I wasn't able to do since Friday. I woke up a couple of hours later and felt that I was getting better. Was it just the sleep? I don't know. I went back to sleep and woke up another couple of hours later. Felt even a little better. :) :) :) I called the doc back and he said that we should give the antibiotics another couple of days!!! He was DEFINITELY right!!! :)

Pain was down to about a 7/10.

Woke up feeling even better! Slept at least 6 hours during the night. WOOT WOOT!!!

Felt good enough to go to the scariest day of PT school ... the dreaded pelvic floor lab!!! Yep, all kinds of muscles in there that can cause all kinds of havoc for A LOT of people (i.e., pelvic floor dysfunction, urinary incontinence, issues after labor and delivery, etc). Most people don't talk about it because it is such a sensitive area. BUT MAN ALIVE do I wish I would have known 16 years ago what I know now!! People should be far more educated about the pelvic floor. Seriously.

It definitely takes a special person to be a physical therapist that specializes in the pelvic floor. I do not believe I am that person but my hat is off to a couple of my classmates who are. I have already been sharing with family and friends the things that I have learned. It should be talked about more.

Face/head pain is down to a 5/10. Yahoo!!! :)

*** Ran 4 miles this evening. It wasn't pretty but it was actually nice to be somewhat moving. I was hoping for a miraculous calf recovery, but alas, no. But improving.

Face/head pain 4/10.

Ran a very slow 2 miles this morning. There is a part of me that thinks it may be worth trying to fake my way through a marathon on Saturday. I have zero expectations. I simply want to ride the bus up with Ry and run the first couple of miles with him. He is READY and has peaked beautifully for the race. :)

Have no idea what I will do. I'll pick up my packet tomorrow evening and make the decision then. I have already made peace with the fact that if I do run it that it will likely be one of my slowest marathons.

3:25:42, I will take it! Considering my last 6 weeks, and especially this past week, I am more than satisfied with this time!! :)

Due to bus shortages Ry, Nic (my brother) and I didn't arrive at Central until 6:38 (7 minutes prior to the race starting)!!!! Not much time for anything. I hurried to the wheelchaired athletes to see if my friend Richard decided to go through with the race. No Richard, bummer! But the other wheelchaired athletes looked AWESOME!

No time for the POPs. Barely enough time to throw off a layer of clothing and begin to run. CRAZY!!! I knew this was going to be a problem for me, but decided to go with the flow. It wasn't long until Ry, Nic and I became separated in the dark. I did not know how long it would last but I felt amazingly good the first 10K. It was during this time that I was able to run a little bit with Danny, an 11-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who was being pushed by his father. Danny was extremely cool! Those couple of minutes with him and seeing the wheelchair athletes off made me miss the neuro clinic tremendously. My spirit was buoyed. :)

Veyo and the hill miles that followed were tough on my calf. Unfortunately my head began pounding and my tummy began having issues as well (likely due to no POP stop before the race). For the very first time during a race since 2006 I had to stop and take care of business at mile 11. I lost about 1 minute and 45 seconds due to my being an amateur at potty stops during a race, but I was still pleased overall how things were going. :)

Miles 16-20: Loved the scenery. Somewhere in here I got a hug and kiss from a cute grandpa-looking fella on the sidelines that promised his offerings contained special running powers. :)

Miles 21+: Oh no ... calf cramping began. Only a little more than 5 miles to go. C'mon, Teena. Around mile 24 I was in bad bad shape. I'd cramp up really bad while running and so I was start to walk and that would make me cramp up even worse and so I would run/hobble again a bit and the cycle would repeat. I saw Tyler at this time. When he asked if I was okay I wanted to say "H to the no!" But I settled for a "barely." :)

Somehow I finished!!! :)

BEST part of the race: The volunteers wanted to take me to the med tent because of my severe cramping. I refused because I desperate wanted to see Ry run in. I went over to the side and worked out the most horrific cramps I have ever had. Then the body is a crazy thing. I heard my friend Andrew yell that Ryan was coming. My brain immediately swithced gears and with Andrew's help I was able to hobble over to the finish line and the volunteers allowed me to place the medal on Ry's neck!!! One of my favorite moments EVER!!! He did incredible running a 3:38:12!!! He has since said that he is never going to run again!!! I think time will fix that! Nic came in at 4:18:xx. :)

In a nutshell -- I am SUPER happy I ran this race! The weather was absolutely PERFECT!! A HUGE congrats to all my friends who were able to take advantage of it and nail their race plans!!! You all amaze me!!! And now I am very much looking forward to taking the time off I need to really get my right lower leg and left jaw/teeth/face taken care of. Life is good. :)