A very late night post ...

I haven't been very chatty on my blog lately, primarily due to ... LIFE.  As a working mom with three children and a husband who has had to work out of town a lot so far this year, I have very little time for me.  The good news is that I have managed to get almost all of my scheduled runs in, although I missed today's run completely (more in a bit).  This past Saturday I ran my longest distance ever--12 miles.  Running Buddy Robin had fallen a bit behind in her training since her vacation, so I agreed to run the 10-Miler course with her Saturday instead of joining our usual group for the full 12 miles.  However, I was ready for all 12, so I opted to run from the training program location home, which is 2.5 more miles.  I stopped right at the 12-mile mark and used that last half mile as a cool down.  It was TERRIFIC!  I felt strong and not the least bit wiped out, and I was grateful to have one more run on the race course before race day.  GrazMan had scrambled eggs and a cold glass of chocolate milk waiting for me when I got home--how awesome is that???

Not my actual breakfast--I did not stop to take a picture--too busy EATING!

I did an easy 4 miles Monday on the 'mill, then RBR and another running buddy came to my house Wednesday afternoon to run in my 'hood--very nice change of pace, as I don't usually get to run in the evenings during the week, and almost never with anyone.

Today, however, I was not feeling up for it.  Youngest daughter was home the entire week last week with a cough and a fever that ranged from bearable to 103, and the dear child seems to have shared it with me.  I have coughed myself silly, and in fact it is now 2:45 AM and I have not been able to get to sleep because of all the coughing.  I'll also confess that I have had a series of mild panic attacks tonight as I lay in bed trying without success to fall asleep.  Seems I have coughed so much this week that my muscles are worn out and I can't even make myself clear out the phlegm that has accumulated, so I feel panicky that I can't breath.  I know in some portion of my brain that I am not going to suffocate, but it is still scary.  It is highly likely that I will be up the entire night.  That does not bode well for work tomorrow (or getting the girls safely to and from school!), or for my 7 mile run scheduled for Saturday morning.

I think I'll be calling the doctor's office at 8:00 in the morning when they open (is that really just 5 hours away???) to see if I can get an appointment.  I have had bronchitis more times than I can count, but this is definitely worse in terms of wheezing.  PLEASE, LORD, DON'T LET ME HAVE PNEUMONIA, particularly 8 days away from the big race!!

While I am in the midst of middle of the night gut-spilling, I'm going to venture away from running for a minute to express the complete and utter SHOCK that GrazMan and I got on Tuesday when we met with the orthodontist and learned just how much braces for two children are going to cost us.  FIVE figures, people.  Five.  Thank goodness they have an interest-free payment plan, but really, five figures?!?  If you've been through this particular pain, give me a shout!  Misery does, after all, love company. 

Hope you all have had a great week!  Happy running!