Murphy's Law

“Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” Runners know this oh so well. Today I ran my 7^th half marathon, but I came really close to not running it at all.

Lucia has been battling colds and ear infections on and off for about a month now, and while I know that I should be grateful that she lasted six months without really ever getting sick, her being under the weather has been taking an enormous toll on my nerves. I hate it when she’s sick. I feel so helpless and totally not in control. I try my best not to freak out, but she’s my little princess, and I get so incredibly nervous when it comes to her health.

On Monday she finished up a week’s treatment of antibiotics. She was doing much better. On Wednesday Jason came down with a hideous stomach bug that had him out of commission for about 36 hours. Of course, psycho mom over here wouldn’t let him touch the baby because I was so worried that she’d catch something else. So Lucia and I went about our normal routine (work, daycare, work, daycare, etc.) for the rest of the week. By Thursday evening all was well in the Neves household and we began making plans for the race weekend.

Jason and I had miraculously found a babysitter for tonight (date-night will have to wait for now) and we were making plans for our first date in a few months. I don’t normally work on Fridays so my plan was to clean up around the house, run some errands, and pick up my race packet. Friday morning, when I got Lucia up for her first bottle, I noticed that she had a little more gunk in left eye than usual. I brushed it off thinking that she laid on it a certain way during the night and brought her downstairs to feed her. That night at dinner Jason so eloquently said “She’s got this green eye booger.” He confirmed what I was afraid of… the little munchkin had pink-eye.

So there we were at 7:00pm, a baby with symptoms obviously consistent with conjunctivitis, and nothing that we could do about it. Our pediatrician was probably about 45 minutes away, and definitely was not in the office that late. So we took her to the Urgent Care. Luckily they were open, and they were quick. By 8:00pm we were out of there with a prescription for some eye drops.

I laid in bed last night cursing the parents who bring their kids to daycare sick. I was so angry. It seems like it has been one thing after another with Lucia and every time I get her better she comes back with something else. I was livid. I toyed with the idea of not running the race, heck , I toyed with the idea of becoming a stay-at-home Mom and quitting my job. I was so upset about her getting sick all the time that all these crazy thoughts were running through my head.

So ,to make a very long story, just a little bit shorter. I ran the race, except I ran sick. The second the race started I realized I had caught whatever it was that Jason had earlier in the week. I had to stop running to throw up twice, and somehow finished in my best time for a half marathon since 2007 by just less than 5 minutes. Instead of enjoying my victory and hanging out with my husband and baby, I curled up in the fetal position on the couch and hoped that whatever was in my system would go away soon. And, on top of everything else, I think I have conjunctivitis in one eye too. I've been in laying down since I got back from the race, Jason has been running around like a mad man taking care of the Lucia and making sure I stay hydrated. Since I am tired of sleeping (is that possible) I figured I would get up and blog a little, it can be very therapeutic at times.

Anyway, whatever could go wrong, went wrong. But I stuck through it. Sometimes running through adversity can teach you a few lessons. I know that I can push my body, I probably shouldn’t, but I know that I can do it. And, if I can keep running, I can certainly keep working (not that I really entertained the whole stay-at-home Mom thing for more than 2 seconds). Running today made me feel awful, but it gave me a little gut check (literally and metaphorically). Lucia is going to get sick, Jason and I are going to miss our date-nights every now and then, I’m going to get tired, there will be rough weeks, and there will be great weeks. You’re never going to see the light at the end of the tunnel if you quit and turn around. You just have to find the energy to keep going!