A Life Full of Win... and Lots of Recent #Fail Moments

I'm two months behind on blogging, and I need to get back to it. It's not that I don't have a million thoughts. I've shared them with best friends and my coach, but that doesn't make it complete. Blogging is a chance to complete the cycle of promoting introspection in others, lending our own perspective to someone's situation, and learning from each other. I enjoy that constantly in friends' blogs so need to get back to contributing. I'm hoping this is the road back to that for me.

My Life is full of win. I have an appreciation for that, as we all should for what we have. A loving husband I've been with for 18 years, two wonderful children, the best friends a girl could ask for, strong heart and body, and I spend my time following my passion and helping other people fulfill their active goals.

But the last few months for me have been full of #FAIL MOMENTS. (yes, thanks to Twitter, when I think of "fail", I've got to make it a hashtag!)

My 2 year old daughter had been vomiting every couple days since late February, and after really stressful testing including checking for cancer and neurological problems and having a scoping and biopsy procedure of her GI tract, we finally learned that she has celiac disease. This is a major lifestyle change for us to deal with and a huge transition for a willful toddler. Celiac disease isn't just going gluten free - it's complete avoidance of any possible cross contamination of wheat products because it can seriously make her sick.

On top of that in the last month, the kids have had scarlet fever, strep, strep again, strep in the other child, and hand, foot, and mouth viral disease. I guess I really should stop them from licking door handles (disclaimer for anyone calling Child Protective Services: I do NOT let them lick door handles... or toilet seats).

I DNFed one impulsive last minute ultramarathon in March when a blizzard rolled in. I got food poisoning 2 days before my next ultramarathon in mid-April, losing 4 pounds in a day. I fell and smashed up my knee at my early May ultra and DNFed 8.6 miles in.

It would have been so easy to just let all that crap consume me. But while my mileage has suffered, I have been getting runs in and serious quality, soul-suckingly awful runs!

And now I hope to be coming out the other side of these moments of #epicfail. Sophie has been puke free for 10 days now and we're discovering new foods she likes to replace the snacks and bread she misses. Kids are still on antibiotics from the illnesses but seem to be on the mend. I'm getting some runs in, I'm excited for Bighorn 50K next month, and I'm focusing on getting to a place where I can have a strong race.