About my body. About my diabetes. About myself.
Here are some of the things I've learned about my body over the last few Saturday long runs.
My ears plus up when I run for a long time.
It starts after a few hours. The first 25k are ok and then, suddenly, my ears slowly start plugging up. It doesn't hurt at all, it just feels like I'm slowly being submerged in water. By about 28k, they're plugged right up and I have trouble hearing. Nothing I try (walking, swallowing hard, drinking, deep breathing) seems to help.
I run with one earbud in and yet both ears plug at the same rate.
Once the run is over, it clears up within about ten minutes.
I've googled it but have found nothing particularly helpful other than I'm not the only person out there who experiences this.
It is annoying and, if I'm almost deaf by 30k, I'm not sure how things will be feeling by 42k.
Anyone else out there dealing with this?
Also, over the last few long runs, I've had trouble breathing when I finish the run. Things are going fine and then, when I stop running, I find myself gasping for breath. I breathe slowly and deeply for a few minutes and things seem to settle down but, if I try to talk or stop the slow breathing, the gasping starts over again. So lately after longs runs I find myself walking around, breathing deeply and drinking water waiting for my breath to slow and my ears to unplug.
Very weird. Mildly annoying. And kinda worrisome.
Are the two related? Not sure but they don't always happen at the same time so perhaps not.
Finally, what the heck is up with all the chaffing?!? I have taken to slathering on the body glide before every long run. I mean, really slathering. Some weeks it works fine. Others (like the last two), it doesn't. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, it's really really painful. Multiple aloe vera applications and a rather funny duck-like walk are now a regular part of my Saturday afternoons...once I stop hyperventilating and have regained my hearing.
Sheesh!
Well, that's my little rant about things I discovered since passing the 25k mark.
Not sure what I'll discover next on my running journey but I'm quite confident that it will be equally painful and embarrassing.
I'm not sure if this is actually helpful but when I was pregnant with Christina my blood pressure would drop if I stood or walked too long. When that would happen I would get dizzy but my ears would also plug to the point that I couldn't hear properly. I have no idea if your blood pressure can really drop that much when running that long but it's the first thing I thought of when I read this post.
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