This morning Chris and I ran the National 1/2 Marathon along with our friend Rich. It was gorgeous weather and the race went really well. Chris did awesome for his first 1/2 Marathon with a time of 1 Hour 55 Minutes. I held him back a little bit as he stayed with me for the first 10 miles. I finished in 2 Hours 1 minute. I had really wanted to finish under 2 hours but not too bad with two bathroom stops. I managed to shave 7 minutes off of my Miami time so at least I am improving. Just have to work harder at finishing under 2 hours for the Boston 13.1.
I am really happy to have the opportunity to run this race and the 1/2 Marathon in Boston with Team Challenge, but then I think I am going to stick to the 10 miler races. For some reason I just can't get over how much harder the three additional miles are. Good thing I have no desire to do a full marathon! Plus, lately once I have been getting around 10 miles running it sends my stomach into distress afterwards. Apparently Crohn's Disease does not appreciate all the hard work I am putting into finding a cure for it. Oh well a good excuse to spend the day working on the fundraiser in bed, I can take advantage of the warm weather tomorrow!
Due to the race we skipped practice today, but later this week I hope to post about another mentor's experience with Crohn's Disease.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Feeling Very Blessed
I have had quite a fantastic week that I would like to share. My wonderful husband is entertaining the idea of joining Team Challenge with me for this upcoming season. I feel fortunate to have such a supportive husband who is willing to do something so he can better understand me and my disease. And I realize how much he hates soliciting, so you know that he must really care about me!
I have also had such an awesome success this week with my silent auction donations. In the last week alone I have gotten:
I have also had such an awesome success this week with my silent auction donations. In the last week alone I have gotten:
- $500 Flying Gift Certificate from Frontier Airlines
- A $200 value dog training course from Woofs in Arlington
- and a $200 value hotel stay at the JW Marriott in DC with breakfast
Sunday, March 7, 2010
1st Practice
Yesterday we had our first practice. Sadly I didn't get to run because I needed to save up my energy for our 12 mile run today. Thank goodness I didn't run because I got sick late last night and am even more worried now that I will struggle with the high mileage. It was great to see all of the participants come out, I was really impressed that a large majority of them were able to run for the full amount of time!
During our training session one of the girls spoke about how awesome she has felt this week after sending out her letters and webpage. She got an overwhelming response from people who knew either a cousin, sister, brother or other family member that is affected by one of these diseases. The girl herself is doing this race for her sister who was diagnosed with Crohn's and has often felt alone. Hearing all of these responses has really helped her sister feel like she is not the only one living with this burden. This is exactly how I felt before I decided to do Team Challenge.
The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation has created such programs like Take Steps and Team Challenge to give people an outlet to talk openly about their disease and find other affected. CCFA also uses funds to lead support groups for children and adults that have been diagnosed with Crohns or Colitis.
I challenge everyone that reads this blog to bring up Crohn's Disease this week in one conversation with a group of people. I would be really curious to see how many people bring up that they know someone with Crohn's Disease. To put it in perspective, 1.4 million people have Crohn's Disease or Ulcerative Colitis while 828,000 Americans are battling Leukemia or Lymphoma. Though in my opinion many people know a lot more about blood cancer then irritable bowel diseases.
During our training session one of the girls spoke about how awesome she has felt this week after sending out her letters and webpage. She got an overwhelming response from people who knew either a cousin, sister, brother or other family member that is affected by one of these diseases. The girl herself is doing this race for her sister who was diagnosed with Crohn's and has often felt alone. Hearing all of these responses has really helped her sister feel like she is not the only one living with this burden. This is exactly how I felt before I decided to do Team Challenge.
The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation has created such programs like Take Steps and Team Challenge to give people an outlet to talk openly about their disease and find other affected. CCFA also uses funds to lead support groups for children and adults that have been diagnosed with Crohns or Colitis.
I challenge everyone that reads this blog to bring up Crohn's Disease this week in one conversation with a group of people. I would be really curious to see how many people bring up that they know someone with Crohn's Disease. To put it in perspective, 1.4 million people have Crohn's Disease or Ulcerative Colitis while 828,000 Americans are battling Leukemia or Lymphoma. Though in my opinion many people know a lot more about blood cancer then irritable bowel diseases.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Silent Auction - April 20th
I was super excited to come home and find a $100 gift certificate in the mail from Sette Bello to use for my upcoming silent auction (April 20th at Dogfish Ale House). This brings the number of auction items to a dozen!
Currently we have a great assortment of gift certificates, a golf package, a hotel package at the JW Marriott in DC, gift baskets, artwork and much much more. Full list to items to come out in a few weeks!
Currently we have a great assortment of gift certificates, a golf package, a hotel package at the JW Marriott in DC, gift baskets, artwork and much much more. Full list to items to come out in a few weeks!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Finding a Cure - Round 2
I had one of my friends from my Miami 1/2 marathon race ask me this weekend if I was going to blog about my second round of fundraising and training as a mentor. My initial reaction was no because I have already told my story. However, over the last few days I realized that other people's stories need to be told, as well as, why I would like people to support the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.
Today one of my bosses asked if I raise money because I felt passionate about it or obligated. My first thought was, well I tell everyone in my donation letters that this is my passion, is this really how I feel? My answer to her was, I have a passion for this cause out of obligation. If I did not have Crohn's Disease, I highly doubt I would be participating in my third Team Challenge program in over a year and a half. Because I do have the disease I do feel some obligation to raise funds. However, I do have the option of just raising money for strictly the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. That being said, it is in CCFA's Team Challenge program that I really find my passion. My passion is inspiring and pushing participants to meet both their fund raising and training goals.
I want to inspire people to set a physical goal. I want participants to see me run because I can run. Through this program I realize that people my age have died from complications caused by Crohns; or are currently in the hospital because they are flaring; or simply can't even walk up a flight of stairs because they don't have the energy. I was one of those people at one point, and might some day be back in that position. I think about that often on days I don't want to run, because that is what I use to force myself to get out and run. I have been given this gift and I am going to take full advantage of it and want the other participants to do so as well.
I want others to feel passionate about this cause. You are not going to get very far with fund raising if you don't believe in the cause. Last Thursday I was the keynote speaker at the Team Challenge Kick-Off party. Usually I can talk about anything, but for some reason it was really hard to talk about how Crohn's has affected my life. But I pushed myself to speak because I wanted people to realize that even though I seem "normal", I will never again have a normal life until there is a cure. Everyone deserves to feel normal and healthy, no one should have to feel the way I felt when I was told I have an incurable disease. That is why I am fighting back against IBD and will continue to raise funds to find a cure. I just hope that the participants got that same message and will feel the same way I feel.
Over the next few months I plan to share my experiences with this new group of Team Challenge participants as I mentor them. I will also continue to post on my running and my large event I have planned for April 20th. I hope that you all will continue to follow my progress and will attend my event.
Today one of my bosses asked if I raise money because I felt passionate about it or obligated. My first thought was, well I tell everyone in my donation letters that this is my passion, is this really how I feel? My answer to her was, I have a passion for this cause out of obligation. If I did not have Crohn's Disease, I highly doubt I would be participating in my third Team Challenge program in over a year and a half. Because I do have the disease I do feel some obligation to raise funds. However, I do have the option of just raising money for strictly the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. That being said, it is in CCFA's Team Challenge program that I really find my passion. My passion is inspiring and pushing participants to meet both their fund raising and training goals.
I want to inspire people to set a physical goal. I want participants to see me run because I can run. Through this program I realize that people my age have died from complications caused by Crohns; or are currently in the hospital because they are flaring; or simply can't even walk up a flight of stairs because they don't have the energy. I was one of those people at one point, and might some day be back in that position. I think about that often on days I don't want to run, because that is what I use to force myself to get out and run. I have been given this gift and I am going to take full advantage of it and want the other participants to do so as well.
I want others to feel passionate about this cause. You are not going to get very far with fund raising if you don't believe in the cause. Last Thursday I was the keynote speaker at the Team Challenge Kick-Off party. Usually I can talk about anything, but for some reason it was really hard to talk about how Crohn's has affected my life. But I pushed myself to speak because I wanted people to realize that even though I seem "normal", I will never again have a normal life until there is a cure. Everyone deserves to feel normal and healthy, no one should have to feel the way I felt when I was told I have an incurable disease. That is why I am fighting back against IBD and will continue to raise funds to find a cure. I just hope that the participants got that same message and will feel the same way I feel.
Over the next few months I plan to share my experiences with this new group of Team Challenge participants as I mentor them. I will also continue to post on my running and my large event I have planned for April 20th. I hope that you all will continue to follow my progress and will attend my event.
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