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!