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.