Back From MiamI!

I am back from Miami and have had the experience of a life time. This weekend was filled with so much hope and inspiration that I am optimistic that one day we will find a cure for Crohns Disease and Ulcerative Colitis!

I arrived in Miami on Thursday with a horrible cold and at the time it was hard to believe that I might actually be running a half marathon in a matter of day! Friday was spent hanging out with my sister as we searched for sun to cure my cold. Unfortunately, a cold front was just moving out and we didn’t have much luck. That night I had the pleasure of dinning with my sister and her boyfriend before I met up with my roommate for the weekend Laura.

Saturday was spent preparing for the race and visiting the expo to look at the newest and greatest running gear. My sister, myself and two other team mates then hit the beach for a few hours to mentally prepare ourselves for the impending race ;) That night I attended a dinner with 350 other Team Challenge participants from 8 programs across the US. At the dinner there were a number of speakers who spoke about how these diseases had affected their lives. I must admit, it made me start to choke up a little bit, especially when a husband got up and spoke about how he has had to deal with the disease since his wife was diagnosed shortly after they were married. The story reminded me a lot about Chris and me and how even though I have the disease, it still affects him as well. Lets just say I am not the most cheerful when I am having a bad Crohn’s day.

It was so great to see everyone celebrating their fundraising efforts, as a whole, we were able to raise 1.6 million to go towards improving the lives of those affected with these painful diseases. I myself raised a little over $3800, while the DC chapter raised a combined $145,000 to this day. All of our fundraisers, letters and efforts really paid off and I feel so fortunate to have been given the opportunity to contribute to this cause that is so near and dear to my heart.

After the pasta party we tried to go to bed early, which was very hard with the race just around the corner. Soon our alarm was going off at 4am to get ready for the race, despite the early wake up time, all of us were in good spirits as we congregated in the lobby of the hotel to make our departure to the start line.

We arrived at the Start line roughly at a quarter till 6. I would say I was in the middle of the pack with four other runners from my group who all run at a similar pace. The last few minutes before the gun went off at 6:15 am were nerve racking as we were all ready to stopping feeling like cattle and get on the move! Unfortunately, shortly after the gun went off I got separated from a few of the girls I was going to run with. I also was not thinking when I crossed over the start line to look at the clock as I was a few minutes behind the start. This would haunt me the rest of the race as I hadn’t brought a stop watch and could not gauge my pace very well.

Since I had not run in a week due to my illnesses, it felt a little strange to be running and more so that I was not running with 4 layers on, gloves and a hat. For the first few miles I felt a little cloudy in the head due to congestion. During my run we ran by the cruise ships that had just docked and were glowing in the darkness. At about mile 4 we made it to downtown south beach and it started to get light out. It was awesome to run through south beach without all of the tourists around. Kevin, my coach, at that point started running with me and we ran past the beach I had gone to the day before as well as our sandwich shop. Kevin ran with me until about mile 6 or so and then I was back on my own.

After mile 6 was really when I forgot about my cold and focused on all of my other ailments that were bothering me. From about mile 6 to 8 I was having my typical shoulder pain, if only I could learn to have better running posture! Then after that I had a stomach cramp for about a mile, but that went away fairly quickly. What seemed to never go away was the inflammation in my right knee, which stayed with me from about mile 8 till the end. I had had knee issues before so I was not at all surprised.

What I was most surprised about was that I started to slow down more then I had hoped to starting at mile 8 as we headed back over the Vanitan Bridge to downtown Miami and the finish line. I think a good part of my lack of energy was probably due to my cold and I know I slowed down when I had to stop to go to the bathroom in a port-o-potty, which was quite a challenge to due mid-race! I kept my energy up with Gatorade and gels and still managed to keep running. The last two miles were hard but the crowd was great and I knew I could finish without having to start walking. When I turned the corner to see the Finish line, I was so relieved. I also saw my sister in the cheering section which was extra special. I finished the 13.1 mile race in 2 hours and 8 minutes, which is just under a 10 min/mile pace. My goal all along had been to get under 2:10 so I was very happy and tired!

I then spent the next hour or so with my teammates laying on the grass and eating the yummy food that Team Challenge had provided. I then walked with my sister and team mate back to the hotel and then to my sisters. Along the way we saw and cheered for the marathoners and I must say that even after my ½ marathon I still have no desire to do a full one ever! The rest of the day was spent relaxing by the poolside and watching movies. My sister even made me a victory lunch of Cuban sandwiches!

That night we celebrated our race with a victory dinner which was a lot of fun! We even got up and danced for a little bit, which was a little hard as we were all getting sore at that point. My roommate and I then headed up to our room to crash only to find out that some of our other teammates had something else in store. Since we had not seen the Miami nightlife and it was our last night, nine of us decided to head to Nikki’s beach for a little more celebrating. We had such a great time, though we might have celebrated a little too much. We had an early flight the next morning so we only ended up getting three hours of sleep!

It is hard to describe how much this weekend meant to me. It was great to see how much I have bonded with my team mates and to share this experience with them. It was a lot of hard work but it was so worth it to say that I am helping to find a cure for Crohn’s disease. I have felt so blessed to be apart of Team Challenge and I hope to continue to be a part of the team and one day do this again!

Again thank you all for your help and for listening to my story. I actually am seeing my doctor tomorrow and can not wait to share this experience with her as she made it possible for me to do this by keeping me healthy enough. This will probably be my last post, however, please feel free to ask me how I am doing at any point. What I have learned from this whole experience is that if you are open to talking about something it makes your life a whole lot easier. Thank you all and seriously I hope I have inspired each and every one of you to participate in a program like this one day!