Outhouses.

Our house has been a bit of a petrie dish in the last couple of weeks.  I blame daycare.  Supposedly all of these bugs will make Gavin's immune system stronger, but I sure could do without them! Gavin recovered very quickly from his stomach flu last weekend, just in time for me to get his sinus congestion.  Thursday night was a rough night when both Jake and my sister came down with his stomach flu also!  They are feeling much better but I was crossing my fingers and toes that I would be spared.

No such luck. 

This morning Michelle and I had 20 miles on the books. Yesterday I felt off, but I assumed that was from taking care of Jake all night. I try not to take medicine of any kind, but I actually took some Zofran (anti-nausea medication) to try to make it through the day. It shook away the quesiness although my tummy was very "rumbly" all day.  I must be a bit of a die-hard because I refused to let any sort of quesy or rumbling stomach hold me back from running 20 miles.  

I woke up at 5:30 feeling great so I quickly threw on my running clothes, had a date with my Medela pump, scarfed down some food, and drove to our meeting place.  (I do not recommend scarfing down food 30 minutes before a 20 mile run! I am horrible about allowing myself extra time in the morning.)  Our plan was a 10 mile loop back to our cars (for a water break), followed by 10 miles out and back. The first 7 miles felt great!  Then, like a thief in the night... it hit.  I somehow made it the 3 more miles to an outhouse (thank GOODNESS for outhouses near the trail!), which helped me feel better slightly.  I was stubborn and still refused to miss out on my long run, so I continued with Michelle until we hit the 12 mile mark.

Despite feeling like poo (no pun intended),
Michelle and I were very excited to see an Eagle on the trail!

Bald Eagle hanging out on our run

At that point, I was slowing wayyy down and didn't want to take away from her workout.  I told her to power ahead and my pace got slower and slower... but I continued!  Eight more miles and 2 more outhouse visits later.... I did it.  I pushed through 20 miles!  (Please disregard my pace! I'm just happy I finished)

Am I proud?  A little.  Am I crazy?  Yes.  I do not encourage you to make the decisions I made today... it was not fun.  But next week is a cut-back week so I am looking forward to decreased mileage next weekend!

My day involved some rest, chugging of Pedialite, bites of applesauce and a lot of entertainment from the cutest little singer and dancer I know.

To all the moms out there, exactly how does one truly recover with a one-year-old in the house? Chasing around Gavin is almost as much of a workout as a 20 mile run!  When my stomach began to feel a bit less angry, we decided to venture into the sun and take Diego for a walk to Gavin's all time-favorite place... the park. 

Heyyyyyy, just dancing.  NBD.
(I promise to never use than acronym again).

Old picture, but one of my favorites from the park!

I'm hoping we're over all of the germs for a while! 

Have any of you ever had a horrible run involving outhouses? What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?? :)

Finding Motivation

Who knew that being a parent was a full time, 24 hour per day job? Gavin went to bed happy last night and at 2am he woke up. I assumed it was to nurse; he still does 1-2x at night (if you must ask, yes I am sleep deprived and tired. And yes, I know I should wean him at night, haha). I went to his crib to get him and he was covered in vomit. :( Jake was at work so I held a crying baby and one-handedly stripped his crib, changed his sheets, and both of our clothes.  He truly needed a bath, but at 2am neither of us wanted to do that. After rocking him for a bit, he wanted to nurse, so I did.  Bad idea. Two hours and three more PJ changes later... He finally stopped vomiting and fell asleep! 

So why am I telling you this other than it's no fun to have a sick baby? Well, today I had 18 miles on the schedule and my motivation was nowhere to be found!  Little sleep coupled with a quesy stomach don't exactly equate to ideal running conditions. So what does one do in a time like this? 

Suck it up. I laced up my shoes and hit the roads. Sometimes it's better just to go through the motions and get out there than it is to think about what you're about to do. For the first few miles, I waited patiently for the run to get easier and my legs to settle into a rhythm, but unfortunately that never happened. Luckily it was a beautiful morning for a run.    

To make the time go by faster, I mentally split the run into 3 parts: a 7 mile loop, and two 5.5 mile runs (11 miles out-and-back).  I finished and that is what mattered!  (And apparently I can't do math because I somehow added on an extra 0.5 mile). 

Sometimes the runs aren't easy physically or mentally, but I definitely never regret putting in the time and effort!

I hope you had a great weekend!  How long was your long run this weekend?