Jingle All the Way 8K and the Sickness

Oh my! Where do I even start with this race. I am so sick! I ran the Friday before the race and didn't feel so well - it felt like something was sitting on my chest and I could literally feel snot in my mouth (I know gross right?!). I guess sitting on the couch for a few days snuggling my sick daughter while she coughed in my face wasn't such a hot idea. Who knew?!
My Saturday wasn't much better and Saturday night I got no sleep, seriously, none. I was up and down all night. Maybe it had something to do with the cup of coffee at 7pm? Normally coffee late at night will affect me some, but not like it did Saturday night. Sunday morning I was laying there waiting for the alarm to go off wondering if I should go to the race or not. My running friend Ivana was going too...

in fact we were giving her a ride, so she was depending on us to go. My sitter cancelled on me because she was sick too. Chris was going to push the kids in the double during the race - I couldn't have even if I wanted to. I got up, got dressed, and went to carry some stuff out to the car - it was pouring. Sigh. It was just going to be one of those days. Might as well try and make the best of it.
It was the WORST race I've ever done. Chris says I need to stop saying that because I did finish after all, but I didn't finish well. Thankfully it had stopped raining. The weather actually turned out to be pretty decent for the race. I took my first walk break around mile 1.5, and knew at that point it was going to be a long race. I ended up taking several walk breaks...pretty much whenever I felt like I was going to be sick which was a lot. I kept telling myself, you're not going to get sick, you can do this, it's not much further. Chris tried to keep me motivated too, but I was my biggest critic. Chris pushed the stroller across at 1:01 and I finished right beside him at 1:02. Same amount of time it took me to complete the Turkey Trot 10k.
I guess it really wasn't that bad for being so sick. I still managed to run parts of it. My daughter even leaned out of the stroller and grabbed my hand to give me support. She's a sweetheart like that! I passed out in the back of the car on the way home and stayed that way until this morning.
It's been a really rough couple of days. I've been sleeping on the recliner downstairs since it's elevated and I could breath better, less coughing too. Two days ago I caved and sent Chris to the store for medicine. He bought some stuff I've never had before - it  quickly became my new best friend. Suddenly I could breath and I had energy. I woke up feeling more like myself today, and didn't take any medicine.
In fact, I felt so much better I tagged along to the gym with Chris and the kids. I walked on the treadmill for 54 minutes while he lifted with a trainer (an early Christmas present for him). I almost fell over when I got off the treadmill. I was super lightheaded. I walked at 1% incline at a speed of 3.6 the entire time. I thought I was taking it nice and slow...guess not. Now I'm home showered and relaxing for the rest of the day. I hope to be back up and running real soon.