My Kona Dream

I had a few minutes of spare time this morning, so I got on the Ironman website and started looking around. I started out by looking at the 70.3 series and then ventured to the Ironman National Championship website.

Ideally, I would LOVE to qualify for Kona one day. I think that is every triathletes dream. But, realistically, I don’t know if that will ever happen. I could always enter the lottery to race over in Kona, but as I was reading the information about the lottery, only approximately 100 spots are open for the lottery and over 70,000 people enter the lottery. Chances are slim to none that I would get in on the lottery.

So, if I can’t race over in Kona, I want to volunteer or I’d be happy spectating the race. How awesome would that be?

So, my plan is to go over there in 2015 and either volunteer or spectate. Why 2015 you ask? Because that year the Ironman National Championships is being held on my birthday! What an awesome birthday present to myself that would be!

In the meantime, I’ve decided I want to do the Ironman St. George 70.3 next year and do the Ironman Cour d’Alene in 2014.

Bring on the Taper!

Usually tapering and I don’t get along. Tapering is tough on my mind. You have to not workout so that you’re feeling good and strong for race day. But…this taper, I am SO ready for.

Yesterday was my last long run before my first full marathon. I had to run 20 miles yesterday. My coach wanted me to run 10 miles in the morning and 10 miles at night, but it’s easier on my mind to just do it all at once.

13 days & counting…

I wanted to get up early yesterday & set out on my run about 6:30 a.m. because I knew it would take me at least 3 1/2 hours to finish it and I wanted to get it done early. Well, that didn’t happen. My bed was TOO comfortable. Plus, in order to hit one major water stop (my brother’s house), I needed to go a little later so that he and his family would be awake.

I ended up heading out on my run about 9:00 a.m. I knew this was going to be a decent run. I knew it wasn’t going to be as mentally tough as the dreaded 18 miles.

At mile 1 I looked at my watch and knew I was running slow. Surprisingly this didn’t bother me. I just knew I had to run 20 miles and it didn’t matter how slow I was, as long as I got it done.

Mile 2 was my first water stop at a local park. I tend to drink ALOT of water while running. I figure that’s a good thing. As I was approaching mile 2, I noticed there were ALOT of people running down the street. It’s because I came upon a family 5k. At first I thought, oh to be able to only have to run 3 miles. It made me kind of wonder if the participants of the 5k wondered how far I was running today.

At mile 3.1 there’s a pretty steep hill I have to climb. It is tough to climb. In the past, during this training, I’ve usually ended up walking it, but I pushed myself and ran up the hill. Good thing at the top, it was flat with a ever so slight downhill after that.

Mile 4 came and I stopped at another park and got some more water and ate my first gel. It was Kona punch flavored Powerbar Energy gel.

This is the only brand of energy gel I can handle.

By this point, my legs were starting to feel tired. I knew I had one more BIG hill to climb in the near future, but I knew there were some downhills waiting for me too. I was still kind of bummed at how slow I was going, but I just kept at it. I know I still had a LONG ways to go.

At mile 5.5 I got to stop at my brother’s house & get some ice cold water. I LOVE that his house is right along all of my running routes. Once I left his house, I think I started to pick up some speed. The only bad thing is, is from my brother’s house, there is NO WHERE to get water for a while. So, about 2 miles later, I put a call in to my dad to come bring me some water and he dutifully brought me some ice cold water at about mile 8 and I ate another gel. This time I ate the latte flavored gel. One word…DISGUSTING! I took this opportunity to also pull out my phone again and check on my friends doing the Ironman in St. George.

It seemed like about every 2 miles is when I needed more water, and I tried to eat a gel about every 4 miles. My next stop was at a grocery store to use the restroom and fill up on water again. This was pure torture. I walked in to the grocery store and the bathrooms are located right by the bakery and deli. I was hungry and the smells coming from the store weren’t helping. I just made my stop quick. I actually forgot to fill up on water.

Up until about mile 13, it was flat or downhill. I think I picked up speed at this point. At mile 13, I stopped at a convenience store to buy some water. I bought a BIG bottle so I could fill my water bottle and then pour the rest of it over my head. It was starting to get quite warm outside.

The next 3 – 4 miles were going to be tough. I’ve rode this stretch on my bike and it’s a gradual hill. Ugh. But, I told myself that the only time I could take a break was if I hit a red light. Thank God for red lights. I had one last BIG hill to climb. I REALLY wanted to run the entire hill, but my legs just weren’t going to let me. So, I would run as much as I could and then take a break and walk for 50 or so paces and then run again.

Right before this big hill, I called my dad and told him to meet me at the cemetery with some water. I was definitely going to need more water. I made it to the cemetery and started weaving through the cemetery. I was on the opposite side of the cemetery when I saw my dad, but he didn’t see me, so I had to hike across the cemeter to get my water (my parents don’t have a cell phone). I made my dad drive me back to where I left off on my run. I love running through the cemetery. It’s such an old cemetery with lots of history in it. While I was running through the cemetery, I saw in the distance that there was a graveside service going on. Out of respect for the family, when it came time to run past, I decided to walk instead.

When I finished at the cemetery, I knew I only had about 5 miles left to go. I had 2 gels left. I ate one more gel, the vanilla flavor (worse than the latte flavor). I thought I was going to barf it was SO sweet. I knew my next stop would be a gas station to get more water.

It felt like in no time I was at that gas station. As I was getting closer to the gas station, I knew I needed to buy something to eat while I was there. The gels were no longer cutting it. I was burning calories so fast that it just wasn’t cutting it. So, as I approached the gas station, outside, one of the girls that works there was grilling HUGE hot dogs!!! Man did it smell good. I headed inside, bought a bottle of water and then bought an actual peanut butter & chocolate energy bar. It wasn’t the best, but I knew I needed something solid and with more calories than one of my gels. At first I thought about buying a donut because it would have calories and sugar, but then I thought that might be too sweet and my stomach wouldn’t like that, so I opted for the energy bar. I hurried and ate the energy bar, and I was off for my last 2 – 3 miles.

The energy bar did good for about 5 minutes, but because I was burning calories so fast, it worked for only a short period of time. Rats! By the last 1 1/2 miles, I consumed my last gel. I was still feeling pretty good, but my legs were just tired. They were almost ready to be done. Alot of self talk started happening.

I finally made it home in 3:33:34. That’s a 10:30 pace. I’ll take it! I’m SO ready for this taper and ready for my legs to relax, but not too much, before the big day. I know physically I’m ready to run 26.2 miles, the biggest thing I’m worried about is the mental portion of the race. I hope for the most part, it’s mentally easy. I’ve got some friends running the race with me, so hopefully that’ll help too.

One thing I learned on this long run is instead of food and gels as calories, maybe I need to try and take in some liquid calories as well. I think during the marathon when they offer water AND gatorade at the aid stations, I’ll take both. My coach is going to be teaching a sports nutrition clinic in the near future, so I think I’ll go to that before the race too.

So, bring on the taper and bring on the 26.2!!!

Ironman St. George

This might seem weird, but I’ve always taken pride in having a full Ironman in my home state (and only 4 hours away from me). Yesterday was the last full Ironman that will take place in St. George, UT.

This course was known as the hardest course in the nation. One day I wanted to be able to say that I completed the Ironman St. George (IMSG), but they are demoting it to a 1/2 Ironman. They couldn’t get enough participants to keep a full Ironman in Utah. So, next year, I hope to do the 1/2 Ironman.

I track the Ironman every year. My coach does IMSG every year and this year I had a couple of friends from Twitter that did it this year. I was on pins and needles last night tracking all the athletes.

I knew the weather conditions were rough when I checked my coach’s swim stat’s and it took him 58:38 to swim 2.4 miles. In previous years it has only taken him 50 minutes or so to swim. The dude can swim 100 yards in 1 min (now compare that to my 2 min 100 yds). After I saw his swim stats I got on Twitter and there were pictures of Sand Hollow Reservoir and buzz about how bad the conditions were in St. George. The water was white capped and at one point, Ironman had tweeted that 45 mph winds had knocked out their camera at transition 1, they would have it back up asap! HOLY SHIT!!! 45 mph winds? I can’t imagine swimming in that? I can only imagine how choppy the waters were. The news said that kayaks were capsizing and they were plucking people out of the water who couldn’t finish the swim. I was worried for my friends. I was glad to finally see Greg, Iain and Jeff come out of the water.

Off to the bike everyone went. I knew this would be difficult for them. I know there’s one crazy hairpin turn up Snow Canyon that they have to climb on their bike and it’s a two loop course. Most triathletes, if you can afford to do an Ironman, by now, you can afford to have disc wheels on your bike. If you’ve got disc wheels on your bike and there’s wind…oh boy!!! It’s just tough, you can be blown all over the place. I was worried. But at the same time I knew they could do it. If they could make it through the swim, I knew they could make it through the bike and run. They are TOUGH!!!! My coach finished cycling 112 miles in 5:59:28. Even with the wind, he had an average speed between 18 – 19 mph! I am impressed because Lord knows I wouldn’t. I’ll let Greg, Iain and Jeff recap and tell their times on their website’s. But I’m just as impressed with them as I was with my coach. But, I know the wind started to die down later in to the night, so that helped the athletes out on the course.

I was just looking at my coach’s running times and I honestly don’t know how he does it. He must have some super powers hidden in there or something. After swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, my coach ran 26.2 miles in 3:06:42! That’s a 7:07/mile!!! I’m sure it helps that he has legs as long as a giraffe (he’s 6’7″). I was looking at his stats and at one point, he ran 4 miles at a 4:45/mile pace! Good Lord!!! The closer my coach got to the finish, everybody was constantly checking his Facebook, and the Ironman website to see when he’d finish. The closer he got to the finish, he was 1st place in his division, so we were all anxiously waiting to hear how he did.

My coach finished in 10:09:23!!! He finished 14th overall and 1st place in his division! Once again, he is Kona bound!!!!

Even though my coach had finished the Ironman, I was still constantly checking the website for updates on Greg, Iain and Jeff. I was thrilled to see when they finished and even though they couldn’t see them, I was sending them tweets throughout the day giving them as much encouragement as I could.

Finally, around the midnight hour (the race starts at 7:00 a.m. and they give you 17 hours to finish it), my friend Chris tweeted that they had 1000 athletes come in, and there were approximately still 450 athletes out on the course. My heart broke.

I can’t imagine spending all of the money to register for the Ironman, the hotel stay, flight, etc. all the training you put in, and then because of weather conditions, you’re not able to finish. But honestly…to me, they are ALL still Ironman’s. I’m still proud of everyone of those athletes whether they were able to finish the race or not, they were out there giving it their best and putting 150% of their effort in to the race. I hope the ones that finished and the ones who didn’t are proud of themselves for getting out there! Congratulations athletes!!!

One day I hope to join the ranks of becoming an Ironman. But until then, I will have to be satisfied with hearing it on Twitter, reading the athletes race recaps and watching the Ironman National Championships for Kona, HI on television this fall.

New Gym

I’ve started going to a new gym and so far…I LOVE it!!!

I used to go to the county recreation center up the street from my house (literally), but certain things that have happened at the gym really disappointed me and I decided to switch gyms. Now, I’m sure you’re wondering what disappointing things happened. Well…let me tell you.

• They don’t seem to maintain their equipment too well. There’s always something wrong with one of the spinning bikes, or their TV on the treadmills and bikes doesn’t work very well.
• The biggest thing that disappointed me though is the past couple of times I’ve gone to do my swim workout (and times before that too), even though I’m there during public swim time, I’ll get 1/2 way through my workout and someone will come up & tell me I have to get out or switch lanes because they need to hold a class. Usually there are no lanes to switch to because a bunch of people are already circle swimming, etc. The last time this happened, I was just done. I was SO mad.
• They don’t enforce the rules there either. They have an indoor track and there are big signs saying that children should not be left unattended up there, but kids go up & there and play all the time. During lap swimming, there are always kids horsing around in the lap swimming lanes when there are swimmers (not just me) trying to swim and the lifeguards do nothing. Plus, see my post about meatheads.

I’ve done my share of sending emails and calling the recreation center and complaining in hopes that they would do something, but nothing was ever done, so I was done. My membership happened to be expiring too. So, in search of a new gym I went and I found an AWESOME one.

My coach had mentioned that a new pool had opened up in Rose Park, but I didn’t know where in Rose Park it was. I called my aunt to find out more info. She lives in that area and told me that it was right by the state fairgrounds.

The next day, I headed to the gym and asked for a tour. I wanted to see the facility before I decided if I really wanted to go to this gym or not.

My main reason for switching gyms was because of the pool. First off, I looked on their website and they have a 25 yd pool and the hours of lap swimming are AMAZING. The only time they have “limited lanes” is for 3 hours while I’m at work. When I took the tour, the guy was super nice and told me that they ALWAYS have 6 lanes available. SCORE!!! That sealed the deal right there.

The gym is right on my way to and from work. I decided to get a membership there. A 1 year membership only cost me $190! That’s $100 cheaper than my previous gym! Yay! I actually get my workout done earlier in the evening too because I get to the gym sooner than I would get home. It’s nice.

I’ve now gone to the gym twice and I LOVE it. My new gym is a little smaller than the previous gym, but I haven’t had a problem using the equipment. I went yesterday and ran (did speedwork) on the treadmill. My only complaint there is their treadmills don’t have headphone jacks so you can watch TV while you’re running, but they do have closed caption. HOWEVER…honestly, how often am I going to run on a treadmill? They give me shin splints, so I avoid them like the plague.

I went to the gym tonight to do 90 minutes of spinning because my bike is in the shop for a tune up. Their spinning bikes are a little old, but as long as they work, I’m happy. The only thing about the spinning bikes is, and I actually find it more humorous than anything, is you could get a sunburn while on the spinning bike. The 2 spinning bikes are right up against a window that faces West. When I’m there, the sun is getting ready to set (sun rises in the East and sets in the West). Needless to say, it gets kinda toasty on the bike. But, I just find it funny that you could get a sunburn from a spinning bike. I’ve got plenty of sunburns from riding outside, but not inside. Haha!

I haven’t used the pool at the gym yet. Tomorrow I will. If I can get my butt outta bed earlier enough, I’m going to be to the gym by 6:00 a.m. to go to my first Masters Swim class (not very likely). But, if I don’t make it to Masters, I’ll go right after work tomorrow.

I’m SO glad I switched gyms. I’m a happy camper.

Sunday Funday?

I hear alot of people say Sunday Funday, but for me, it’s no funday at all. I dread Sunday’s. Sunday’s are very anxiety inducing for me.

Sunday is obviously the last day of the weekend. If you’re not a fan of your job, then you’re going to dread heading to work on Monday morning.

Also, to combat my anxiety I have to stay a busy person. Idle time makes my mind wander and therefore anxiety kicks in because I start thinking of things I have absolutely NO control over. There are weekends, like this weekend, where I feel like I’ve done absolutely NOTHING this weekend.

Yes, I went for an 18 mile run yesterday. Yes, I went to Keys on Main last night. But, I didn’t have alot of social interaction with people. Keys on Main has become my home away from home, so going there isn’t like going out and doing something. It’s hard to explain. I go there to listen to the music and drink beer. I don’t have alot of social interaction while I’m there.

After my run yesterday, I went home and took a nap, then I went and ran errands and paid bills and bought new running shoes. I just don’t feel like I’ve done anything fun, or noteworthy or exciting this weekend, therefore, at 6:30 p.m. on a Sunday night, my anxiety comes on.

The rough thing is, my parents don’t understand this type of anxiety. They are perfectly content to sit home and do absolutely nothing. I can’t do that or I will go NUTS!!!

I’m just very frustrated tonight.

Summer Running

I LOVE summer running. Summer running means I get to run outside. I don’t have to treadmill it, or find a track, etc. Summer running means race time is hear! Yay!!!

One downer to running in the summer time is the heat. It is HARD to run in the heat. You have to remember to stay hydrated and keep your body cool. When you’re running long distances it’s hard to pack alot of water with you. Yesterday I went on a long run and I could only carry 20 oz of water with me at a time. Good thing I passed alot of city parks and my brother’s house where I could fill up with water.

I remember last year when I did the Las Vegas Ragnar Relay, the thing I was most worried about was the heat. It was SUPER hot and 2 out of 3 of my runs were during the middle of the day when it was the hottest.

One thing that I look forward to for summer running is, if I run in the evening, that is usually when people turn on their sprinklers and are watering their lawn. I make a point to run through the sprinklers on my run. If I can see that somewhere on my run someone is watering their lawn, I will go out of my way, whether it be crossing to the other side of the street or what not, to run through their sprinklers. The only thing I won’t do is run on their lawn.

I feel like this when I'm on a run and get to run through sprinklers!

I find that when I get to run through the sprinklers while I’m running, it obviously helps cool down my body. If I’m close to running out of water, if I can run through some sprinklers, it helps me stay hydrated. Even though I’m not specifically drinking water, my body is absorbing the water that I get to run through.

When I was a little kid, we had a HUGE backyard, and during the summer months, the highlight was to turn on all the sprinklers, invite our friends over, put on our bathing suits and run through the sprinklers. When I’m on my run and I get to run through sprinklers, it takes me back to when I got to run through the sprinklers when I was a kid! I LOVE IT!!!

Happy running!

Necrophobic

I am SUPER necrophobic. I have been my entire life. When my grandpa passed away, I stood in the back of the room the entire time so I didn’t have to get close to the casket. When my grandmother passed away, I used my 1 year old nephew as a shield between me and the casket so I didn’t have to see my grandmother.

I refuse to go in to a cemetery at night. It creeps me out. Some people find it really cool. I find it scary as hell. I see where people build their houses next to a cemetery and I think oh hell no! That will never be me.

I know here in Utah, some funeral homes offer free rent to their tenants if they will go and pick up the deceased during the night, etc. Even if I was poor and had NO money to my name, I would live in a cardboard box under the overpass before I lived at a funeral home.

Earlier this year my friend Heather’s sister passed away. Heather went to the funeral home and did her sister’s hair and makeup for the viewing. Heather asked me to go with her. I went with her in hopes of conquering my fear. Yeah, no, that didn’t happen. Still scared. I even talked with the funeral director and asked LOTS of questions.

Last weekend my dad went to the viewing of one of his old co-worker’s wife. My dad and I went for a Sunday drive the next day and he showed me where this funeral home was. It was about 8:00 p.m. He was going to drive in to the back of the funeral home and show me where you entered the funeral home, etc., and I had to beg him not to because it was going to creep me out.

It creeps me out just to drive by or be passed by a casket coach (hearse) on the freeway, etc.

Now, why do I bring this up? I do have a reason for talking about this.

As I was on my long run yesterday, part of my run took me through the city cemetery. It was quite fascinating. I saw alot of headstones of different people, and I stopped and visited my best friend’s baby’s headstone (he passed away 13 yrs ago).

But, I find it odd that someone who is as necrophobic as I am, at the age of 32 (almost 33), I know where I want to be buried and I know what kind of grave marker I want.

I want to be buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. I don’t know why this cemetery, I’ve just always found it VERY fascinating. I know alot of people want to be buried near their family, but I don’t know ANYBODY buried there. My mom and dad want to be buried in St. George. My grandma and grandpa on my mom’s side of the family are buried in Las Vegas. My grandma and grandpa on my dad’s side of the family will be buried in Bountiful. My great grandparents are buried in a HUGE cemetery in the South/East end of Salt Lake City at Memorial Estates (my 2nd pick).

The main entrance to the SLC Cemetery.

The Salt Lake City Cemetery is HUGE. It’s in the older part of Salt Lake City, up in the Avenues. There is ALOT of history in this cemetery. Alot of the prophets of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have been buried here (not the reason I want to be buried here). I think the history of the cemetery is fascinating.

Weird as it is, I already know what kind of grave marker I want too.

I want a bench!

I want a bench as my grave marker. I always have. When I think of Memorial Day, etc., I want people to come visit my grave, have a seat and visit with me. What better way than to have a bench.

Is it weird that I’m already thinking of this stuff and I’m only 32? Do I need to start drawing up a last will and testament?

Rough Day

Today was a ROUGH day. Anxiety was just NOT good at all. I was feeling very overwhelmed at work because I had ALOT to do today. I was busier than I expected and that threw me off. If I know before I even get to work that I’ve got alot to do, it’s easier for me to deal with it because I can mentally prepare myself before I get to work, ya know?

Plus, the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay is coming up in about 1 1/2 months and I ended up taking over as team captain and it’s not going quite as smooth as it should be. It’s very frustrating how things are turning out with that.

Basically, the anxiety just hit me like a TON of bricks today. I really thought this week was going to be a good week. I woke up Monday morning and I told myself I was going to have a better attitude at work and I was going to try and not let people or things get to me. Monday and Tuesday went REALLY well, and then today came. Ugh.

I tried really hard to keep my anxiety under control while I was at work. I don’t know if I was successful or not, but I tried.

It  just seems like my anxiety keeps getting worse and worse and worse. I hate it. I wish it would just disappear and never come back. My doctor just up’d my anxiety medication, but so far, I can see a little bit of a difference but not much. I hesitate to bring up the anxiety thing again to him only because he’s my family practicioner. He’s REALLY good at general medicine, but I need someone who specializes in psychiatry to help me get my meds stabilized. I just hate it because the last thing I want to do is take another pill.

The other morning, when I took my morning meds, I counted, and included 2 Excedrin for a headache, I took a total of 9 pills!!! That’s TOO many damn pills. I don’t like it. To me, it seems like doctors are just giving people pills instead of treating the problem, you know? I just don’t want another pill to take.

Honestly, what I really wish I could do is go see a psychiatrist. I do have health insurance, but it SUCKS. I have a $2,000 deductible that I have to pay out of pocket before my insurance will even think about covering anything. I don’t have $2,000. I don’t even have however much a session is with a psychiatrist (probably min. of $100).

If only a session really was 5 cents!

I guess I’ve just got to learn some way to deal with my anxiety.

New York City Marathon

I didn’t realize it until I was on Twitter today, but today was the lottery for the 2012 NYC Marathon. I know it’s a very popular marathon. I know alot of people got in to it, and I know alot of people were saddened with the news that they didn’t get in.

I didn’t even enter the lottery. I didn’t even think about entering the lottery. But, tonight, after I got home from swimming, I decided next year, I’m going to enter the lottery for the 2013 race.

I figure I haven’t got much to lose. I’ve got a free place to stay back there and what a better way to see the city than by running it?

Sinuses & Allergies

Allergies and sinus issues, don’t ya just love ‘em? I sure do (sarcasm)!!! They are honestly taking a toll on my running right now. Tonight I went running and wondered if I’d be able to make it through 6 miles without my head exploding.

Ever since I was the age of 6 (I think), I’ve had issues with my nose and sinuses. Why you might ask? Well, because that is the FIRST time I broke my nose. I remember driving up the street with my mom and her friend Sue to go to JCPenney. I was kneeling in the back seat (I wanted to see out the front window) when someone pulled right out in front of my mom. My mom slammed on the brakes. Well, I had to go SOMEWHERE, so I promptly flew foward and my nose came in contact with a metal portion that was sticking out of the carpet in between the drivers seat and the passenger seat.

The next thing I remember is lying down in the front seat with my mom’s white/cream sweater over my nose (to help stop the bleeding) and we were headed to the emergency room. I remember seeing A TON of blood on that sweater.

Last thing I remember is they were putting tape on my nose and my friend Jennifer’s mom was there reading me a book and then I got to go get a popsicle out of the freezer in the E.R.!

The second time I broke my nose, it wasn’t quite as tragic. You know those big, long, orange extension cords that every man has in his garage? My dad was out working on a car under the carport and I was out horsing around and I tripped over that and went flying, nose first, in to the side of the house. Second broken nose.

Ever since, I’ve had a deviated septum. I’ve always had trouble breathing through my nose. I’ve always been known to breathe through my mouth. Finally, 10 years ago, I went and saw an AWESOME Ear/Nose/Throat doctor, who actually is a family friend, and I had surgery done to fix that.

Well, I think the problem is back. Boo. I’m sure the chlorine from all the swimming I do doesn’t help. For the past couple of months, I’ve had an off/on again sinus/migraine headache. It has just gotten progressivly worse. Tonight, I’d just had ENOUGH. So…have you ever heard of a neti-pot? I went out and bought one.

If you’ve never used a neti-pot, basically, what you do is you fill the tea pot thing with 1 cup of luke warm distilled water, add in a packet of the sinus cleaner stuff, shake it up, lean over the sink, tilt your head, put the tip of the neti pot up to one of your nostrils, and like magic, water goes up your nose and comes out the other nostril.

First off, it drips out your nose, not a steady stream like this picture shows. At least with mine it did.

I’ll admit it. I was nervous to use the neti-pot. The only thing I’ve ever stuck up my nose is my finger, and that’s when I was a kid!

Have you ever had your ears cleaned out (not with a q-tip, but with water)? You know that gushing feeling you get? That’s what I expected with the neti-pot. That’s SO not what it’s like. You literally don’t feel anything. I was SUPER impressed.

So, I did my right nostril, and water came out. Almost all 8 oz of water came out. So, I followed the instructions, blew my nose after, and then prepared for my left nostril. That’s a DIFFERENT story. Lol. It was awful. My left sinus is so congested, that water wouldn’t come out of my nose!!! I could feel the water going up in to my sinuses and trying to break up the crap that was up there, but it’s just SO clogged up.

The instructions from the neti-pot user manual says you can use the neti-pot up to 6 times a day with no problem. I’ll start with twice a day. I REALLY don’t want to call the doctor if I don’t have to. I can’t afford to take time off to go in to my family practicioner just to have him prescribe me a z-pack. Plus, I just don’t want another prescription. I’m tired of filling prescriptions.

So, I really hope that the more I use the neti-pot, the more it’ll clean out my sinuses and these stupid headaches will go away. However, if it doesn’t make a difference by next Monday, I think it’s time to go back to the Ear/Nose/Throat doctor I went to 10 years ago.