Grab the kleenex and watch this video.  This one is for you Heather!

You pretended the snooze button didn’t exist. You dragged your butt out of bed while other slept. While others ate their pancakes, you had a feast of protein, glucose and electrolytes. You double-knotted. You left the porch light on and locked the door behind you. You ran. 5ks, 10ks, 26.2 miles. Some days more, some days less. You rewarded a long run with a short run. And a short run with a long run. Rain tried to slow you. Sun tried to microwave you. Snow made you feel like a warrior. You cramped. You bonked. You paid no mind to comfort. On weekends. On holidays. You made excuses to keep going. Questioned yourself. Played mind games. Put your heart before your knees. Listened to your breathing. Sweat sunscreen into your eyes. Worked on your farmer’s tan. You hit the wall. You went throught it. You decided to be a man about it. You decided to be a woman about it. Finished what you started. Proved what you were made of. Just kept putting mile after mile on your internal odometer. How much farther will you go? As far as you can.

One of the benefits of Social Media is that communication is instant.  So when Coach Anne decided to schedule an impromptu Team Training last night at the track right by my house (thank you Anne:)) it was pretty easy to get a decent size turnout simply by leveraging Twitter and Facebook.

Driving home from work, I drove past my neighbors having cocktails and appetizers on their front porches.  My block has a wonderful weekly tradition in the summer called “Thirsty Thursdays”.  Each Thursday we gather together and catch up over cocktails and appetizers- it’s a lot of fun and I really enjoy spending time with my neighbors.  So there it was - I had to make a choice- exercise or Thirsty Thursday.  This was not an easy choice… after a long day, I seriously just wanted to hang out with my neighbors, but then I thought of my sponsors, I thought of the race, and I thought of Anne, Amy, Sarah, and the rest of the folks that would be waiting for me at the track.  So I put on my runners and started to run.

I ran to the track which is 1.5 miles away, then we ran 3 miles together and I ran home.  It is so much fun running together.  I got to run with Shawna for awhile- and you won’t believe it- she is Canadian too!  It always amazes me when I meet other Canadians in Milwaukee.  The weather was fantastic and the scenery of the trail was beautiful. 

I feel so fortunate to have this team of people to run with.  It was also a reminder that life is all about choices.  Where we are today is a result of every choice we have ever made, and training is no different.  How I perform on race day will be a reflection of every workout I complete.   I’m glad I made the choice I did and ran.  Not only was it a lot of fun, but it felt great knowing I am getting closer to my goal and helping to find a cure for Crohns.

I’ve never met Dawn, and I likely never will, but tonight I ran 5 miles for her. 

My day started at 6:30 am with some early conference calls.  The weather outside was nothing short of frightful; cold, rainy, windy, definitely not running weather (at least not for me :))  By the time I got home I was approaching what I call “the danger zone”; the time when it’s easier to reach for the TV remote than your running shoes.  I settled onto the sofa ready for a night of checking emails and watching TV.

Then I got this donation email:
Hi Katy

Thank you for inviting me to participate - mycousin Dawn also has Crohn’s disease. Enclosed are copies of my donation and company matching. Please let me know if you don’t see it come thru.  Good luck on the training! 

I will leave the donor anonymous- but I cannot tell you how much it meant to me to get this message.  It reminded me how many people out there are impacted by this terrible disease, and also reminded me that every dollar I raise is helping us get closer to finding a cure.  Everytime someone donates to this cause reminds me of how generous and caring people are.

So I got up off the couch, changed, drove to the gym and ran a fantastic 5 miles for Dawn- someone I will likely never meet, but had such a special impact on me today.

Today was our 2nd team training session.  We met at Lake Park Bistro and after our team cheer and question of the day, Coach Tim outlined a 1 mile route that we were to do for 1 hour.  A 1 mile route sounded easy enough until I learned it included running up the stairs to get to Lake Park Bistro.  So off we went- the best part of the run was going down the big hill, which I had only had the pleasure of running up in the past, but running down the hill led us to the bottom of the stairs.  The stairs kicked my but- but how motivating is this- as I was kind of pulling myself up the stairs I looked up and there is Coach Tim at the top with a huge smile and clapping for me!  He also ran with me for a while- I told him I don’t really like to talk while I’m running and he totally understood- but just having him run beside me helped a lot- it kept me running when I was getting kind of tired.
   
I ran 5.1 miles in 60 minutes and felt like a rock star after.  I love running with my Team Challenge teammates and really look forward to our run time together.
Lesson learned on this run:
1) Warm-up takes longer than you think.  It takes me about 3 miles to warm up.  Those 3 miles are tough, but once I make it through- I feel like I could run forever
2) Dress for the weather.  I did not dress properly today.  I wore shorts and my legs were freezing- should have worn pants.
3) Running with other people helps.  I’ve never run with a group before and I was nervous about it- Would I be able to keep up?  What if I was the slowest?  There are people of varying running abilities and we all are there for the same reason: to do our best, support eachother and run for Crohns.  Running with a group helps me a lot!
4) Get good shoes:  I bought a new pair of running shoes yesterday and it feels so much better.  Treat yourself to good shoes- worth every penny.

So my first week of Team Challenge training is complete and was a lot of fun! I am very excited about week 2.

So today I needed to run 4 miles per my training schedule.  The challenge was how to fit them in.  I got up at quarter to 5 and hit the road.  It was dark, and the moon was full and looked like it had a ring around it.  My pace felt slow, and I know I should have eaten something before heading out, but didn’t have time.  Took me 1 mile to warm up, then by mile 3 I really ran out of fuel and my legs felt super heavy.  I saw 8 bunnies on my run- spring is finally here!!!  Anyways- got my run in - on track with my training schedule and I have all of my supporters to thank.  When I woke up and didn’t feel like getting out of bed I honestly thought of everyone who was supporting me in this challenge and y’all helped get me out of bed to start running.  Training schedule is pretty straight forward this week: 4 miles daily with 1 rest day before team training again on Sunday.

This is me running at our first Team Challenge training at the Petit.

We met at the Petit Ice rink to run around the track.  The Petit Center is an Olympic sized speed skating ice rink which has a running track that wraps around the outside of the ice.  I had never been there before so just finding it with all the roads blocked off due to the potential bridge collapse felt like an accomplishment.

Once inside we did and icebreaker and then Get This Everyone- I was recognized for having the most donations this week and I got to go up front and color in the dial up to the next level!!! Very cool and I owe it all to everyone who has donated so far- thank you for all of your generous support- it’s overwhelming and so appreciated!

Then we split up into our groups: walkers in one group and runners in another group.  I’m in the Runners group and our coach is Tim.  He is very friendly and encouraging.  He makes running look so effortless, it makes me want to run forever.  We all ran 1 lap to warm up, then ran for 45 minutes at our own pace.  It was colder in the Petit than outside, but what a cool experience running with the zamboni beside you.  And yes, I’m not going to lie, I was thinking about Apollo Ohno while I was there and all the training he must have done in places exaclty like the Petit.  After watching him in the Olympics, I have a ‘lil bit of a crush on Apollo, but I’m working through it :)   I also thought about my sister, all of my supporters/ donors, and when I felt like stopping it was thinking of all of you that kept me going, so thank you!

All in all I ran about 4 miles and felt great!  The schedule for this week is about 4 miles a day, which would be fine except for this week is Quarter close week which is super busy at work, so I’m facing my ultimate challenge up front- how do I fit in training with work, school, housework, etc… I will find a way and I will let all of you know how I do it :)

This is everyone at the kick-off meeting- it’s a terrible photo of me, but a great one of the team.  

On the left is Mariah- she is 14 and has Crohns disease so badly her entire colon has been removed.  She is part of our team so that people that aren’t personally affected by Crohns and don’t have someone they love to run for can run for her.  She is a total sweetheart- it’s unreal what she’s had to endure in her short life because of Crohns.  I’ll post her story for all of you shortly.

Also- check out the “Cork Necklace” that Becky (on the right) is wearing.  This is a necklace made of Wine Corks and is given to someone on the team each time we meet for training.  I was telling my Mom about it and she said “Is it kind of like the Immunity Idol on Survivor?”  I guess it kind of is except it doesn’t “save” you from getting kicked off the team or anything- it’s more a recognition and encouragement necklace.   I thought it was a really cute idea to help keep people motivated.