Ass down Feet up.

What a good night for a run. My original plan was to run this morning because last nights run was superseded by the new washer and dryer that I got delivered yesterday. But when I checked the weather as my alarm was going off at 5 am and saw it was 5 degrees outside I reset the alarm and went back to bed. I'm kinda a baby. So after work today I was determined to get that run in. I had a hard time getting my Garmin to load the satellite so I ran my first 0.7 miles without it. Finally when It began working I got these for splits:

Lap 1: 1 mile 10:31
Lap 2: 1 mile 10:30
Lap 3: 0.34 mile 3:45 (11:06/mile pace)

Normally I'm pretty good running 10:30/mile on the street. The last wee bit of my run however I ended up on my butt. Full Fledged slip on some ice. I'm pretty sure I'll be feeling it tomorrow. The worst part is I slipped while trying to stop when I came across the giant patch of ice. Oh well. Its winter in New England.

I brushed myself off, came home and made this:

Like my Valentine's place mat? This was a turkey sausage casserole thing I had seen in a magazine and made one Sunday. But since I make meals big enough to feed an army, I froze a few portions and pulled out out the other day to defrost so I could have it tonight. I had it over some spinach as you can see because I feel you should eat tons of greens. Plus I have low Iron counts when I'm bleeding from the IBD so every little bit helps right?

Then this happened:

Love my new washer and dryer. DESPISE! folding clothes. I purposely empty laundry baskets onto my bed cause I won't throw clean clothes on the floor (although I have totally slept with them on my bed before, don't judge). Now its time to finish my glass of vino, read my magazine (FITNESS) and crawl into bed soon.

On a good note. I have not seen blood for days! YAY! Love Rowasa! Let's hope this keeps up. My Nana told me she was praying for me tonight (she better since she hung up on me cause I interrupted the rosary on TV!). Nana's always praying to heal me...

New Goal...

Whoa. I'm officially the worst blogger ever. But I've set a new goal. Along with my training goals, this blog was supposed to be a part of it all. So No promises of every day, but let's start with 3 times a week. I usually run three times a week, why not blog three times a week.

Phewww, now that that's off my chest - on to the good stuff.

LOVE. I had a killer hot yoga session tonight. Totally needed it. But since it dehydrates me so much I can only participate once a week. Disappointment, but oh well. That's the life of an IBD patient.

After a great workout I was famished! Then this happened.



Is it just me or do I have HUGE plates! Normally I just use my salad plates, and I honestly didn't realize I was on a huge plate until I looked at this picture. It was so delish. Roasted sweet potatoes, kale and onion saute, and a piece of chicken breast (nothing exciting, just an purdue oven backed chicken breast). YUM.What's even better is this - 

 LEFTOVERS! Lunch for tomorrow as well as some kale saute for tomorrow night. Love it. Tomorrow after work I will be running so the fuel above going to be put to use :)

So As I have mentioned previously I am currently flaring. Just like when I was first diagnosed I started noticing blood when I would go to the bathroom, and finally broke down and called the doctor when I would see blood after I farted. I was again put on Rowasa (suppository) which I am to take at night before bed. Just another medicine added to my nightly routine. Things have begun to improve, but if I go one night without using the Rowasa, i notice blood again. So I'll keep at it, but if things don't change after I use up my 1st month's supply I might be calling my Doc again.

Since I have been flaring, I make it a point to get 7-8 hours of sleep. Granted, I make a point to get 7-8 hours of sleep when I'm healthy, but when I'm flaring my bed calls me earlier and earlier. So this is what's waiting for me now -

Yes, I still sleep with stuffed animals. And after my uncle had coronary bypass earlier this year, I have made it a point to educate myself on the heart and heart disease.

Don't forget to DONATE today!

TC looove..

Today was a day full of TC love. One of the most rewarding outcomes of Team Challenge is the friendships created during training. This was extremely apparent today when I went to Dream Dinners for a fundraising party hosted by Vegas '10 Participant Amanda for Vegas '10 and Virginia '11 participant Julia. Oh, and I was one of 5 TC participants who showed up to support Amanda and Julia and the CCFA. It didn't help that I walked away with all the ingredients to make this:

YUMMM! Chicken breast with veggies in a tomato based sauce which I put over some whole wheat pasta. Delish! Accompanied with a glass of red wine, my kind of fuel.

Speaking of fuel. Training is going to start up soon. And I haven't run since my 2 miles on Wednesday evening. Thursday I had to drive back from Albany, and yesterday I went to a glorious Hot Yoga class. Definitely needed and I'm feeling it today. My plan for tomorrow is an almost three mile run. I think its about 2.75 miles, but I'll know tomorrow since I got a garmin for Christmas that I've only been able to use once.

As you can see, I'm totally ready for tomorrow already. I'm not too sure if I'll be over dressed, but I'd rather take off layers then freeze as I run. It's been raining all afternoon and hopefully it stays above freezing so I don't have ice to deal with in the morning. Although, my sister has already fallen down our front steps and we are out of rock salt. I'll be heading to the store after.

I'm off to make a grocery list and plan my meals for the week. Have a good night!

My shins don't like me lately.

I would say I have been a "runner" for about a year. Actually, I believe it was Feb 7th last year that I gave up smoking and started running. More walking then running at the time, but it got me to the 13.1 miles on June 26th, 2010 and that's all that matter. Ever since then I have done a few 10ks, a few 5ks, but never have gone more then a few days without running. I originally used this training schedule to get me started and keep me on track. This time around it's up in the air whether or not I'll move from beginner to intermediate. I would love to move on and train based on improving time, but unfortunatley my body has not cooperated with me over the last month.

About a month ago two things went wrong. First I began flaring again (and since this blog is dedicated to IBD - that will be in its own post later this week). Secondly I got shin splints, again.

My shins hate me. I don't know if the change from running on a treadmill for a long period, then running outside, then back on the treadmill. Maybe since I have a few decent hills around me. Who knows. But the only way to heal shin splints in to STOP RUNNING. Believe me easier said then done. So I took two weeks off. Ran one day and still had pain. Took another week off, still had pain. Today was the 4th week. Although not pain free, it wasn't so much shin splints that was painful to me. So I did a short 20 min/ 2 mile run on the treadmil this afternoon. Then some ice. Tomorrow I will be on the way home from Albany so it will be my day off.

Maybe tomorrow I'll get into the flare I'm having. Til then.

How it all began....

Back in 2000 I was a freshman in high school. I was a cheerleader and I played softball. I had a great group of friends and I was enjoying being a teenager. Sports. Boys. Cheering. Shopping. School. I was a great student, had a part time job working retail, was a three-sport athlete. Life couldn't get any better, and I thought I knew it all. At some point during late winter/early spring I started noticing blood when I would go the bathroom. HOLY EMBARRASSING! Let's just keep that between me and me for a little while. Softball season starts up and after tryout/double sessions I am having trouble walking. Slight tear in right quadricep. Simple enough -  Rest. Ice. Ibuprofen.

Oh. No. Things get worse. Well, my quad gets better but I am beginning to lose a lot of blood. I remember my Uncle making a comment about how I was cold and tired all the time - that I must be low on iron - HE DID NOT KNOW HOW RIGHT HE WAS! So here I am, 15 years old with no motivation anymore and I'm beginning to bleed whenever I fart. Okay okay, I'll tell my mother.

Ops. Something really isn't right. My mom looks worried. I'm soon meeting with my primary care physician who refers me to Children's Hospital Boston. Now wait one minute. Children's is the best hospital around. And for really sick people. How can I be going here? I'm not in any pain. I'm not sick. It's just a little blood right?

Into my life walks Dr. Higuchi. For any child in the Boston area who needs a GI doctor - I HIGHLY suggest her. I went through the whole array of testing - endoscopy, colonoscopy, blood tests, ultrasounds, MRI's the whole scheebang. It was my colonoscopy that finally diagnosed me. Up until then Dr. Higuchi was concluding that I just had a case of colon polyps. The hour long procedure took nearly 3 hours because Dr. Higuchi was so surprised at what she saw. My mother said my father paced the waiting room the entire time, worried as time went on and I hadn't come out yet.

What Dr. Higuchi found was an inflamed patch right at my rectum (probably where all the visible blood was coming from) as well as one the completely encompassed my appendix that she was afraid to take a biopsy of it fearing that it would cause an appendicitis. Those were the major areas affected. It was official. I had Crohn's Disease.

Who would have thought that that May day would change my life so quickly.

Here is where I began a regime of Rowasa suppositories and Asacol 1200mg 3X a day. It's also where I began my defiance of Crohn's Disease.