Yay!

Yay, I finished the race!!

Although my goal WAS to finish the race, I was a bit disappointed in myself for not doing it a bit faster. I felt better after realizing that 4 of my 8 5K split times were much faster than my first 5K race last September 2008. Also, I finished ahead of 2,010 people and there were another 1,184 who did not finish at all.

Thank you again so much for your support. This whole thing has made me incredibly grateful. It was a great weekend as it became very clear that the marathon was a team effort between me and Jim, and also highlighted the importance of encouragement from others. I had always heard of people drawing parallels between life and running but until recent months had never seen it so clearly.

Jim not only made sure I had all the time I needed for training (which was a lot) but he took care of me all of this weekend, including driving me around, getting me everywhere I needed to be on time (2 1/2 hours early for the race! Those of you who know us well may be more impressed by that fact than the fact that I ran a marathon!) He made decisions for me when I was too frazzled to think straight, and got all of the worries out of my head so I could sleep the night before. Then he waited in 34 degree weather for almost 6 hours for me to cross the finish line, and he cried when he saw me. I am so blessed.

We are so blessed to have family and friends like you who support us not only with donations to the CF Foundation, but with your words of encouragement. Our Team CF raised over $80,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which will go to research for new treatments and advancing the work of finding a cure. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.

The Time is Now

Well, I'm pretty much a nervous wreck, but after I post this I'm going to lay down and take a nap! :-) This was a rough week in that Jim was running a fever and was looking pretty close to being back on IV meds, and not being able to accompany me to Chicago this weekend. However, he's turned around the corner and our plans are back on for him coming with me tomorrow morning. I will go downtown on Saturday to pick up my race packet, and then we'll stay at my parents' house on Saturday night. We have to drive to Crystal Lake to catch a 4:40 am train Sunday to arrive downtown at 5:55. The race begins at 7:30 but my wave probably won't start until close to 8:00. I've been reviewing the course and making sure that I am not distracted with logistics. We are chip timed so my race time will still be accurate. If you want to track my run you can sign up at www.chicagomarathon.com and look at Event Information then Runner Tracking. My sister is keeping Josie for the weekend as it's too difficult to maneuver with her in large crowds, and it's already going to be pretty difficult for Jim to find me at the Finish Line.

I am disappointed to have missed out on full training for the past several weeks, but am still confident that I can finish the race. I have been doing my "runs" on the elliptical machine because my foot still hurts, and not wearing heels at work. But the doc said that I won't seriously damage my foot with the marathon, so I am pumped! The weather should be in the low 30s as we start, and in the high 40s when we finish. They originally predicted rain but it looks like that has changed to partly cloudy - yay!!!

I received an interesting email for first-time marathoners last week. It said that during the training phase it is 90% physical and 10% mental - You are just working your body hard. But during the race it is the exact opposite - 90% mental and 10% physical - Your body is trained, rested, and ready to go. Your mind is in charge on race day. I'm pretty sure I've been experiencing "taper madness" where you have all this extra energy because you're not working your body so hard. I am sooooo restless!!! I have great music downloaded onto my ipod, and had a very encouraging surprise yesterday from some friends in Virginia. I believe I am ready. :-)

Thanks again for your support!

September 19, 2009

I just got back from seeing the sports med doc - I cried on the way home - WITH JOY!!! He said that I am not in danger of injuring my foot further. There is quite a bit of new bone growth on one of my bones which indicates that it may have been stressed or fractured or whatever, but that it's strong now. In fact, he said it could have happened any time in the past 5 years, and perhaps I've just recently irritated it with all my longer runs, but that it is not stressed now. He advised me on getting different inserts for my shoes (professional orthotics, not just the inserts that I got from the running store) if I plan to run long-term, which I do. He also said to not worry about my last long run, which was supposed to be 20 miles this weekend. Instead, he suggested that I do shorter runs on a frequent basis (instead of my 3-4 runs/week during training.) After Saturday we are in taper mode anyway, only supposed to do short runs until the race. So the doc gave me the go-ahead for the marathon and said "Good Luck on October 11th!" Wooooo-Hooo!!!!!

I am SOOOOOOO ecstatic!!!! - Going to run RIGHT NOW! :-D

September 15, 2009 Update

The past couple of weeks have been very difficult - because I haven't been able to run! It all started on Sunday August 30 on my long run. I got a sharp pain on the top of my left foot after about 8 miles, which seemed to feel better when I tightened my shoe, but then got worse at mile 10 and I had to hobble my last mile home. 24 hours later the pain had gone away when I wasn't running, but still felt tender if I attempted a jog. So I jogged/walked my short run on Wednesday September 2, and by Thursday afternoon my foot was in a *lot* of pain. I called our sports med clinic but could not get an appointment for over 2 weeks.

I did some research and self-diagnosed a stress fracture and decided to lay off the foot for awhile until I felt comfortable on an elliptical. My plan was to continue with strength training and swim or do elliptical until I saw a doctor or until the marathon. (Treatment of stress fractures is complete rest for 6-8 weeks. Since I injured myself 6 weeks out from the race, I figured I could stay off the foot for 6 weeks and then just take my chances and see what happens on race day. This type of injury worsens when you run, turning into excruciating pain as you go.) However, even when I tried swimming, the foot was in pain just from the movement in the water. It wasn't horrible pain, but I didn't want to make anything worse by putting pressure on it. So I have only been stretching and lifting weights for a week. Psychologically it's been very difficult - I love running and it's my main form of stress relief. I'm also worried about my muscles and stamina wasting away before the race.

I was able to see an internal medicine resident last Friday, September 11, who took x-rays and did not see a fracture. He said that typically he would advise me to stop running for a couple of months until the pain is completely gone, but since I really want to do the marathon he sent me for an MRI, scheduled for tomorrow Wednesday Sept. 16. The x-ray is still grainy enough that it could miss a fracture, but an MRI will not miss it. So when we get the results from the MRI we will know what we're dealing with. My doctor's appointment in the Sports Med clinic is this Thursday, September 17th, where I will hear about the MRI results and get next steps.
I am starting to feel hopeful that it's not a stress fracture. I've been icing it twice daily and starting on Sunday I no longer had any pain while walking. I am still hesitant to try the elliptical until after my appointment on Thursday.

I received an email with a link for people to sign up to track their runners during the marathon. If you want, you can sign up to receive emails or text messages about my status during the race - they will send notifications when I cross the 10K, 13.1 Mile, and 30K marks, and when I cross the finish line. (Be prepared for it to be a looooong time, especially with such little training the past couple of weeks! I'm thinking it will take me at least 5 hours.) Here is the link: http://live.activeresult.com/msg/MSG-signup.tcl?event_id=37

August 22, 2009

They say that pain is weakness leaving your body. There is a Looooottttt of weakness leaving my body today....! This morning's long run was 18 miles. The first 11 were great, and the middle 5 were hell...The last 3 OK. I wore the wrong socks and now I have blisters on the bottom of my feet - yuck!

Next weekend's long run is only 9.5 miles, then the following weekends will be 20 miles each. (This is in addition to the runs, strength training, and yoga during the week, but those are pretty much fine. )

I haven't kept up with this blog, so I am going to try to do a better job of it going forward. I really really appreciate all of your support! This past week Jim and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. We celebrated a day early, Wednesday, because of my training - I couldn't eat or drink what I really wanted on Thursday in preparation for my long run today. He brought me some gorgeous flowers at work and we had a romantic dinner at Sardines on Lake Monona. We exchanged cards and talked about our life so far, and going forward. My "card" to him was a listing of all the different ways I could describe our marriage - some of them serious, some funny, and some unprintable. His job was to choose which one would be my facebook status on the day of our anniversary. He chose one that described how hard he worked to win me over...which he truly did. And I am so grateful. He is a mighty good man.

Of course we discussed how many years we might have left together, but it is always so good to just hope for the best. We have grown as a couple and as individuals through our trials with CF. (Jim gave me a card early in our marriage when he was about to go on his first 6 month Med cruise...he said that he hoped that cruise would be the most challenging time in our married life....Little did we know, those times were a breeze compared to the past 5 years!) These past 15 have truly gone by fast, and the next 15 will go by even faster. Josie will be graduated from high school in 15 years!!!!

We are going to Michigan for the week, so I won't post for awhile - no phones and no internet access up there! Have a great week!

Colleen

Update

I didn't give an update in between these past two weeks, ...but wanted to say that after my 7/28 long run, the next week's long run was pretty aweseome. I am learning how to eat, and focusing on getting enough rest and stretching during the week.

Jim got off his IV meds and is getting ready to participate in a clinical trial for Manitol. This is a powdered med that is supposed to liquify the mucus in his lungs to the point where it is much easier to expel the mucus and the bacteria that is infecting his lungs. I'm a bit nervous about it because it requires him to stop inhaling nebulized 7% saline, which is the "miracle" that turned him around in 2006 (getting him off of oxygen.) However, he has tested Manitol once and he said it seems to work even better than the saline. I absolutely trust his judgement when it comes to his medical care so I can't even worry about it. The only problem that we both see is that he may not actually get the Manitol in the first six months of the clinical trial as 50% of participants receive a placebo. But he says he'll know right away if he is on the placebo and will go back to using saline solution if he needs to. He is scheduled to start the trial when we return from vacation.

July 28, 2009

This past week was my most difficult training week ever. I'm not quite sure why, but I think it may be because I worked really hard on my sprints on Wednesday (they were hell) and my legs were very sore on my long run on Saturday. Or it could be because I didn't do yoga last week…yoga really helps so I will make sure to do it this week.

I use a product called 'Glide' on my body to prevent chafing, but discovered a new area of the body that can also be chafed when I neglected to protect it - my belly button! I never knew a belly button could hurt so bad, but it has been red and raw for a few days! Who knew?

These workouts seem to take so long and they are very difficult. I have moved from running in the morning to running at night, because I need a couple of hours to do it. Plus I need to go to the gym to do yoga or strength. On Saturday I thought about you guys a lot because I really wanted to stop running. But I didn't want to have to tell anyone that I didn't make my 12 miles! Some runs are just harder than others, without a real reason why. The week before I did my 10 miles full of joy and energy. Hopefully this weekend will be back in sync as I run my 13.1 on Saturday. (The other members of Team CF are running in the Chicago Half Marathon but I'm staying in WI and running on my own.)

Thanks again for your support! Jim went back on IV meds this week and I am so glad that I am in a training program to help me deal with stress. Last night I wanted to eat chips and chocolate cake and sulk at home, but I had to do my workout instead. About half-way through my strength training I felt a lot better, and then my 6 mile run was awesome. I ran outside and the moon was amazing - bright and low in the sky like an orange slice glowing in the night. There was a great breeze too, so it was very good.

Motivation

As each grueling mile of training gives way to more grueling miles, I am reminded that all over this country, there are people feeling the affects of cystic fibrosis who work much harder than I am, just to be able to breathe on a daily basis. They would trade places with me in a heartbeat.

Madison Half Marathon, Memorial Day 2009