Columbus Marathon 2013 - Spectator Report

I love this picture...the start of the marathon! 

One year ago this weekend I was completing my first full marathon. It was amazing and I still can't believe I did it. I was in the midst of fighting the worst Crohn's flare of my life and had no idea what the next year had in store. I loved running Columbus. I enjoyed every moment of the full marathon and really wanted to return this year to participate in the half. In July, I thought I might be able to do that. I wrote this post about how I had signed up for the half marathon. I was feeling unsure about it, but wanted to push myself to do it.

Busy working on the poster....

But then Crohn's had other plans for me once again. I got really sick again in August and decided there was no way I'd be running any distance in October so I dropped out of the race. However, my SIL had signed up with me back in July so she was still going to run it. After spectating in Akron and having such a blast, I decided that I was going to go to Columbus anyway and spectate. And, since my daughter had so much fun and was such an awesome spectator in Akron, I would bring her with me.

Finished product!

It was decided that SIL would bring her daughter as well and we would have a girls weekend. We headed to Columbus Saturday and after picking up SIL's packet at the Expo we checked into the hotel, went to dinner and decorated the poster. We tried to head to bed early since we had to get up early, but it was probably 11 before everyone was asleep.

We got up bright and early at 5AM and after SIL got dressed I could see that the back of her shirt said something. She didn't even put anything on her shirt last year for our first full marathon so I was super curious what it might say. I asked her to show me her shirt and then I started to cry. The front of her shirt says "Never Give Up". I told her that I need to get one of those shirts and she needs to write on the back of it "I am stronger than Crohn's " and we need to wear them to my first race back!

We headed downtown (our hotel was about 8 miles from the city) and really didn't hit any traffic to speak of. We got lucky and immediately found a parking garage that was not full and was quite close to the start/finish lines of the race.

It was COLD so we hung out in the van for a little while before heading down to the start area. This year the security was a little more tight so we were not allowed in the corral area with SIL. We walked her as far as we could and then parted ways to wait for the start. The girls and I decided to find a place right at the start area (as opposed to mile 1 like I had been planning). I texted SIL and another friend I knew was doing the race and told them where to look for me.

On a side note...there were two policemen making me so nervous. They were clearly scanning the crowd looking for anything out of the ordinary. The one guy had this look on his face and obviously saw something that concerned me. I heard him say something about a guy with a backpack. It just made me think and be very aware about what had happened back in April. It made me angry all over again that someone tainted such a wonderful event.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. The girls and I successfully saw SIL and our other friend at the start line. After we saw them pass we started walking to our next spectating spot. Miles 1 and 8 are right by each other and there was a nice church that was open at the same spot. We stopped in the church, got warmed up, made a potty stop and headed out to mile 8 to cheer for the runners. It was SO much fun having a funny sign for the runners to read. So many people commented, laughed, or just smiled at my sign. I truly enjoyed that aspect.

At the start waiting for the race to begin!

We saw SIL...well, actually she saw us and then we moved from that spot. We had to walk about 1.5 miles back to the finish area and she had about 5 miles to go. I figured we had more than enough time, but I didn't want to miss her. When we got close to the finish area we decided to hang out right before mile 13 since it was less crowded. The girls started giving the runners high fives and I think we all enjoyed that. It's so much fun to watch these runners purposely move across the street to high five the kids.

We were waiting and waiting and I swear I was looking intently so that I didn't miss SIL. I saw some of the runners that we had seen around mile 8 and thought she's got to be coming any minute now. We then saw our other friend and I thought it was weird because she was behind SIL at mile 8 (or, I think she was because we didn't see her). I looked at my phone to check the time and saw a text from SIL asking where I was! Somehow we missed her! She was done. It turns out that she was focused at that point and was on the opposite side of the street as us. I was focusing on the side we were on because that's the side she usually runs on. Too funny. I guess I still need to work on my spectating skills!

Another half marathon in the books!

It was a blast. But next year I want to participate in the race. I'd like to RUN it. And I'd like to run it better than I've ever run a half marathon. It's a year away.....and if this year has taught me anything it's that a lot can happen in a year. Right?!?!

C25k - Week 2 Complete

Yesterday I completed week 2 day 3 of the couch to 5k program. It feels really good to be back to running. The food on the other hand, that's still a struggle. Yea, Yea, I know it's ALWAYS going to be a struggle.

So last week the plan was to continue with the running and start tracking my food again. And, as it's been doing lately, that lasted about 2/3 of one day. The good news? I only gained .4lbs this week so it wasn't a horrible amount of damage. The better news? Yesterday was a great day! I tracked all my food, completed week 2 of C25k, and did a lot of cleaning around the house (which means I wasn't sitting on my butt all day like I've been a lot lately).

Of course the BEST news?!?! I'm feeling more and more hopeful that this Humira is working! I am now down to 10mg of prednisone (from 40mg) and have completed my first 6 starter doses of the Humira. I still feel the BEST I've felt in a long time (about a year and a half) and I even feel like I continue to get better. I'm terrified to use the word remission because I don't want to speak too soon.....

Last night I spent some time planning. Those of you who know me know I'm a planner. I LOVE planning things. I've even thought about trying to get a job as a planner (like wedding planner, event planner, etc) but I don't really want to work weekends at this point in my life. Anyway....so, I started looking at the calendar, my weight, training programs and race dates. The promise I made myself was that I would not attempt another marathon until my weight starts with a 1. I didn't get any more specific than that, but I think I might be ready to do that. Maybe it'll be the motivation I need to stop eating and get my butt back in gear.

I know you all probably think I'm crazy that I'm just barely starting to feel better and I'm already planning on another marathon. It's not like I'm looking at doing this marathon tomorrow. This is what helps me. It helps me to realize that if I stop this terrible cycle now, I might actually be able to write a positive post next year about what a difference a year makes. And between now and whenever this marathon happens, I plan to get back on the race wagon. I plan to come back better and get even stronger (and smaller) than I was at my best.

And with that I'll leave you...until another day!

Couch to 5k...Week 1

Week 1 is complete!

I am so very proud of the fact that this week I decided to start the C25k program and I then proceeded to run every other day for the remainder of the week! This program is so easy and there is NO reason I can't do it. It consists of run/walking 3 days a week for no more than 30 minutes at a time. It's a great program for beginners or for those of us needing to re-start after an injury or illness. What I'm enjoying about it now is that it forces me to take it slow. One thing that doesn't mix well with Crohn's Disease is stress. As much as this kind of stress is different than other life stressors, I believe that I don't want to tax my body too much right now because it's still working on healing.

Back in July I decided I was feeling better (still nowhere near 100%, but better "enough") and I started training for a half marathon. I quickly went from nothing to run/walking 5 miles and ended up getting really sick again. I don't know that this was anything more than coincidence (I think the Remicade was never really working and it took time for the prednisone to be out of my system long enough to realize that), but regardless it's not going to hurt me to start off slow.

And the slow is great because I actually feel really good! The runs are feeling almost easy and I love that. I'm well aware of my pace, but it really isn't bothering me the way it might in the past. I'm happy to be back on that treadmill and doing it. I believe that the Humira is going to work and this disease is going to go back into remission so I can focus on getting fit and healthy again. So now it is time to implement step 2 in this comeback......

I spent last week getting back on track with the exercise. I completed the C25k program with success. So, this week the food has to start (or end..hahaha). Starting tomorrow I am back to tracking my food on my fitness pal. My goal for next week is to stay around 1500 calories. C25k week 2 also starts tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

Calling it a Comeback....

My post yesterday might have been slightly confusing to anyone who doesn't know what's been going on with me lately. The last post prior to yesterday's was about how I registered for the Columbus half marathon. But then yesterday I write a post about completing W1D1 from the couch to 5k program. Obviously if I'm starting the C25K program now and the Columbus half marathon is in 3 weeks, I'm no longer doing it.

To bring you up to speed......after I registered for the half marathon I started training. It was going OK. I think I got to 5 miles, so I lasted about 3 weeks into training. During this time I was still not 100% health-wise, but I had been on Remicade since January and was still hopeful that it would actually work to put me back in remission at some point. Well, it didn't. Not only that, but I continued to deteriorate. By the time I was due for another Remicade infusion on August 12th, I told my doctor that it felt as though I was continuing downhill for the past 6 weeks (since my last infusion). He decided to double my dose and see how that worked. Those were the worst 2 weeks I've had since I was hospitalized in January. At this point I made the decision that I couldn't complete the half marathon in October. I felt horrible and wasn't sure what was going to happen. My doctor put me back on prednisone and I started taking a hefty probiotic, which has seemed to do more for me in the last few weeks than anything else this year. I started on Humira last Friday. I am now tapering off the prednisone and then we'll see if the Humira is working or not. But that's where I'm at now. Last year I was tapering for the marathon....this year I'm tapering my prednisone!

So what motivated me (finally) to get back on the treadmill yesterday?? Here's that story.....

Last Saturday was the 11th annual Akron Marathon. I have never participated in this event, but my sister in law has run the half marathon the last 3 years. She has been telling me for 3 years how awesome this race is and that I must do it. I didn't do it in 2011 because I was training for my first triathlon which was the week before the Akron Marathon. Then, last year, I decided that it didn't fit in with the Columbus Marathon training so I didn't do it then either. I thought about doing it this year, but alas.....

The marathon finisher with my hubby and kids!

This year my brother in law decided that he was going to complete his first full marathon in Akron. In addition, my SIL was doing the half and this would be her "comeback" race after a nasty ankle injury from last November. As a result, I decided that we all had to be there to cheer them on. Then, my sister told me that she was participating in the relay as well. This would be her first ever race and I definitely wanted to be there to support her for that as well. 

So the family and I headed out to Akron on Saturday morning to do some awesome spectating.....

Not the most flattering picture, but an official Akron Marathon pic! 

I had an absolute blast spectating this event. But, for the amount of fun I had doing it, I had even more emotions surrounding it. I can only imagine what the emotions would be if this was an event I do every year (like when I spectated at the Cleveland Marathon in May). What surprised me was how awesome Mary was at spectating....and how much she really seemed to enjoy it. I decided at that moment to go to Columbus in a few weeks to cheer on SIL and Adrienne as they complete the half marathon that I was supposed to be completing.  

Go SIL Go! 

After spending the morning spectating and the day before going to the expo with SIL, I realized how much I've missed participating in these events. It was tough in May when I spectated the Cleveland Marathon, but this event actually resulted in more emotions for me. I felt sad that I couldn't be participating, but mostly motivated to get back on track. Angry with myself that I've "let myself go" so much, but trying to stay positive and focus on the motivation it was giving me.

Waiting for my sister to finish her relay leg

I decided after last Saturday that it was time to start on my comeback. I don't know that I'll be able to actually complete this comeback, but there's no reason not to try. The prednisone and probiotic have helped to make me feel the best I've felt this year which gives me hope that the Humira will work because perhaps it won't have as much work to do! While I'm waiting to see if the Humira will work there is no reason why I can't start my comeback. If the Humira doesn't work, we'll know within the next 8 weeks....and we'll cross that bridge when we get there. But if it DOES work, I'm 8 weeks closer to my comeback! I'll be finished with the C25k program and on my way to a 10k.

So there you have it....I'm officially calling this a comeback. Positive thoughts and prayers are welcomed that the Humira actually works and this damn disease goes back into remission for many, many years!

What a Difference a Year Makes.....

This time last year I was starting the taper for my first ever marathon.

On October 1st, 2012 I ran 3 miles on the treadmill with no walk breaks in a pace around 11:45 min/mile (which for me was/is a pretty decent pace). I was feeling nervous about the fact that my last long run that was supposed to be 24 miles ended up being only 16.4 because I just wasn't feeling it. On October 2nd, I wrote this blog post thanking my mom for being an awesome support.

It's no secret that this year has been tough for me. Today I realized just how tough it's been. Today, October 1st, 2013 I was excited because I completed Week 1 Day 1 of the Couch to 5k program. Yes. One year ago today I was 20 days away from completing my first marathon. Today, I was happy to run/walk VERY slowly for 25 minutes on the treadmill.

The good news
It's so easy for me to be negative. Of course it didn't take me long to figure out the above information...the fact that 1 year ago I was getting ready to complete 26.2 miles and today I "only" did 1.486 miles....in 25 minutes. However, I was able to find some positivity in today's run. So here it is.....even though I decided to start small; it felt easier than I thought it would. I feel like I'm starting from square one. I'm back to being only a few measly pounds from my highest weight and I am probably 10lbs heavier than when I've started running before. But, after completing today's run I don't really think I'm starting from the beginning.

I can remember back in 2007 when I first started to try running. I found the couch to 5k program and decided to try it to run a 5k in June. This was my first ever 5k and funny enough - is still currently my personal record for the distance (35:03). I ran the entire thing with no walk breaks and felt awesome. However, I remember the very first day of the couch to 5k program. On the first day you warm up for 5 minutes, run for 1 min and walk for 1.5 minutes. I remember thinking that 1 minute felt like an eternity. I remember feeling huge and feeling like it took SO much energy to move my body at a "run" for that long. I don't remember what I set the treadmill at, but I know it was no faster than where I had it set today. I also think I weighed 10-15lbs LESS than I do today.

But today it felt EASY. Every time the app told me to slow down to walk I kept thinking...that's it? I could keep going! When the workout was over I felt amazing. I felt like I could easily have kept going and actually wondered if perhaps I should have pushed my pace a bit. However, I'm not interested in pushing myself too hard. I'm still not in a stable place with my health and I don't want to stress my body too much. Anyway, I was happy to know that I haven't lost every ounce of fitness that I worked so hard to build over the last few years.

So there it is. I completed a marathon in October of last year and today I started the couch to 5k program to get me back into running. Let's just hope my health continues to get better so I can continue on this path.