It all started with an exciting trip..to Urgent Care

I have never felt so blessed, accomplished, and sore in my whole life. :) What an exciting weekend! My parents and sister and her friend flew in from Texas (I wasn't planning on my parents coming so that was a huge surprise!). My mom doesn't like to fly (the last time she got on a plane was for my trip to Puerto Vallarta- sorry I keep forcing you to fly mom!) :) We had such a great time, and I can't believe I actually finished!!! So here is how the weekend leading up went-

As I said in my last blog- I wasn't feeling 100% and had a bad feeling I was getting sick. My head hurt really bad all last week and then come Friday night- my whole body hurt. :( I got in my last run Friday morning and it felt absolutely fantastic. Only 4 miles- but the best 4 miles I've ever run.  But Friday night- I just didn't feel good at all. I had a low-grade fever, extremely sore throat, body aches/chills…and was so worried.

I had picked my family up from the airport Friday evening (like I said- my mom and dad being there was a HUGE surprise so that was so awesome!) We had dinner that night and the only thing that sounded good was a salad (not exactly the "carb load" pre-race meal that I should be eating…) I am probably going to write an entire blog about what I did next-2 words: essential oils. I've had some friends that swear by essential oils and their powerful abilities to fight off bacteria and viruses (or prevent being sick). I have used them before and had ok results but nothing to be completely sold on them. Well- now I am. I used those Friday night (seriously every hour I was waking up and slathering essential oils all over my self and diffusing it all night), and felt a little better by morning. I was convinced it was strep throat so called my doctor to see if I could come in. He sent me to the urgent care that was opened and make a long story short- no strep:viral. Normally I'm a skeptic when it comes to popping a bunch of antibiotics but this was Saturday (the day I was going to pick up my bib number), and the race was days away. I asked him about writing a prescription just to have something  and he said it would only mess with my tummy and cause me more pain on Monday than it would be worth. Bummer. :(

On to the expo- we went to the marathon expo on Saturday and WOW! It was so huge! I was feeling pretty crummy most of the time (but had still been rubbing essential oils down my spine, on my ears and feet), but it wasn't so bad where I absolutely needed to be in bed. Here are some pictures of the expo day

I had to put this shirt on right away! :) 

I mean- just look at my mom's face- that will tell ya how neat it was ! :) 

I got very emotional when I saw the poster in this picture- "start a runner, finish a Boston Marathoner" WOW. That's awesome. :)

We took my family to see the Boston Commons, finish line in Copley square, and then had dinner at Quincy Market that evening (a very touristy area). It was a good time but again- I only wanted a smoothie and nothing to eat. :( I was feeling really worried at this point because I read you should be carb loading days before the race, and I just didn't feel like eating anything.  My throat was on fire, and I just didn't feel real great. Later that night- lots more essential oils.

                    the finish line 

they had bib numbers on the "make way for ducklings" statues!! :) 

Sunday morning (Easter morning) was very relaxed and fun. The kids dug into their easter baskets and played with all their toys (and ate WAAAYYYY too much sugar…lol), and found the Easter eggs that the bunny hid for them. We have the most adorable video ever of them finding the Easter eggs. :) They were so cute. We didn't make it to church that morning, but Palm Sunday was kind of our "Easter" morning the Sunday before. We had brunch at "as good as it gets cafe," and I was finally up for eating like I should be (lots of pancakes, toast, eggs, sausage, potatoes, bacon…I loaded up good!). I was feeling quite a bit better thankfully and getting really nervous/excited!

she was so excited (look on my face is priceless)

We colored eggs later that evening (that was my plan Saturday, but the urgent care visit took WAY longer than I expected), and my mom picked up some pasta from a local restaurant and brought it back to my house. It was just the day I needed before the "Big Day" Unfortunately, we didn't get any family pictures Easter day, but we got plenty the next day. :) Marathon Monday. Sunday night, I slathered RC essential oil all down my spine (again- I will write a blog for all the things I did), drank gallons of water, diffused lemon oil, lavender, and RC, and took a bath in lavender.

This article was run in the Amarillo Globe News. And this was the front of the local paper:

Not going to lie- this freaked me out haha! This photo was after my 2nd half marathon

The article is amazing and really tells our story exactly how it happened. My Facebook was blowing up like crazy when people saw it. I was pretty nervous the rest of the night. haha 


Monday morning- MARATHON MORNING…I woke up very congested and with a foggy feeling so again- oiled up, made a "sniffy bag" for my bus ride to the village, slathered body glide over the oils (I'm sure I smelled interested all day…), put baby powder in my socks (this has really helped keep my feet from blistering), and got all my gear on. I will write a whole other blog on the actual marathon journey because there are so many things I want to talk about. **Spoiler alert- I DID finish! :)** Until then, I'm feeling pretty bad today (about 95% sure it's a sinus infection), so essential oils here I come! :)